Category: Kim’s Blog

Are you the kind of person who wants to change the world? Do you want to make a difference? These are fundamental questions that affect how we live our lives.

We all know people who choose to be activists and truly try to make a difference. Maybe they write letters to the editor, or work on electoral campaigns, or run for office, or donate money to significant initiatives for change, or volunteer for social justice organizations, or live with environmental awareness, or work in jobs that change peoples lives and the world. We know many activists like this. Many of us are these activists trying to make a positive change in the world.

Are you the kind of person who wants to change the world? Some people may respond, “No. Not really. I don’t think so.” But what does that mean? If you are not an activist for change, then you are going along with things as they are. You are part of maintaining the status quo. What might that mean? It means continuing the destruction of the environment. It means widening the gap between the rich and poor. It means perpetuating a system in which only some children succeed academically. It means a tacit acceptance of racial, ethnic, and gender bias in society. It means maintaining a world in which thousands of children die due to lack of clean, safe drinking water. We could give countless examples of what it means to maintain the status quo. So, by not working for change, we may be passively part of keeping things as they are. So, we really are making a difference, because we’re keeping things the same; endorsing the inequities and problems that currently exist. As the contemporary adage puts it, “If you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” In the New Testament, we hear Jesus saying it another way: “Whoever is not with me is against me. . .” [Matthew 12:30] There really is no “neutral” position. There is no “indifference” or “impartiality.” We are all making a difference. The question is what kind of difference.

Prayer: As followers of Jesus, we celebrate our call to live as he did, making a positive difference in the world, especially for those who are suffering, poor, or forgotten. We pray that our lives be focussed on bearing the fruit of justice, compassion, equality, and peace. Jesus’ commitment to the well-being of the world led to conflict, contention, and upheaval. May we have courage as he did to turn the world right side up. Amen.

Today is International Women’s Day. It is a day to celebrate the contributions of women to the well being of the world. And a day to remember the need to continue to work for women to have complete access to human rights and power so that they can offer their contributions to society the world over.

This is also a day to remember Tawakkol Karman, a journalist from Yemen who has spent her life working for freedom of the press, full inclusion of women, and democracy in Yemen, in Arab countries, and around the world. Karman was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia. Karman is the first Yemeni to receive a Nobel Prize. She is the first Arab woman to receive a Nobel Prize. She is the second Muslim woman to receive a Nobel Prize. And she is the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in the history of the prize.

In her Nobel acceptance speech, Karman, a journalist referred to the strong religious traditions of peace that come from the Middle East:

Since the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, millions of people have died in wars which could have been avoided with a little wisdom and courage. The Arab countries had their share in these tragic wars, though their land is the land of prophecies and divine messages calling for peace. From this land came the Torah carrying the message: “Thou shalt not kill” and the Bible promising: “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and the final message of the Koran urging “O ye who believe, enter ye into the peace, one and all.” And the warning that “whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind.”


However, in spite of its great scientific achievements, the history of humanity is stained with blood. Millions have fallen victims in the rise and fall of kingdoms. That is what ancient history tells us and what recent history confirms! Today’s recent evidence tells us that the essence of messages calling for peace has repeatedly been trampled, and the human conscience has often been overrun by the voice of warplanes, rocket and missile launchers, bombs and all means of killing!

Karman offers us a stark view of the weakness of the church and the Christian community to truly adhere to the teachings of our faith. We have ignored and even rebelled against Christian teachings of peace. Many of the leaders of our country and countries around the world claim Christianity as their faith. Countless voters in the US and around the world consider themselves Christians. And what do we have to show for it? Where is the commitment to peace that was at the heart of the life of Jesus?

Prayer: We give thanks for women and men around the world who work for peace in many settings from their homes and villages to the community of nations. We pray that we would have the courage to nurture the teachings of peace at the heart of the message of Jesus. May we, like Tawakkol Karman, take the risks needed to truly be peacemakers. Amen.

Love of God and love of neighbor are cornerstones of Christian teaching. These commitments come directly from the Jewish heritage of Christianity. In the New Testament, Jesus is asked about the definition of neighbor. He tells a story that basically conveys that everyone is our neighbor. From a different ethnic group, nationality, religion, race, still, a neighbor, whether your actual neighborhood is diverse or not. Everyone is a neighbor according to the teachings of the New Testament.

But one of the most unique teachings of Christianity is not love of God, or even love of neighbor, with the broad definition of neighbor. What sets Christianity apart is the teaching to love your enemies. Yes, we can say that the broad definition of neighbor given in the gospels includes enemies. So when we say love God and love neighbor we are saying love enemies, too.

But the word neighbor and the word enemy don’t come across as synonyms, even though a neighbor may be an enemy and an enemy may be a neighbor. Even so, the two words send very different signals. Neighbor implies someone in your community, a potential friend, someone you have things in common with. Enemy implies separation, hostility, difference, antagonism, threat, violence, and fear. The radical, extravagant, revolutionary dimension of Christianity is expressed in the command to love your enemies and those who persecute you.

What does the world need from Christianity? I think an answer is found in that ridiculously bizarre and outlandish dictate to love your enemies. Other good values and good words can be found in other religions. Love your enemies is a unique contribution that Christianity has to offer to the world. And it is a contribution that is needed as people divide and separate east from west. north from south, upper income from lower income, light skinned from darker skinned, English speaking from non English speaking, etc. The Christian teaching love your enemies can help to diffuse the hostility and fear and competition that is growing in the world and will only get worse as natural resources become more needed and more scarce. Love your enemy. This is the word of hope and help that Christianity has to offer the world.

In recent months, the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ has adopted the “motto” Love God and Love Neighbor. It is on all emails and communiques from the Conference. I would like to see the motto be Love God, Love Neighbor, and Love Enemy. But that does not sound gentle and pleasing. We don’t want to think that we have enemies. After all, we tend to be good, kind people. How could we have enemies? And yet we do have enemies. Yes, in other countries. Even in our own communities, though they may not know our names. We have them in our families. And we have enemies within ourselves; character defects that prevent our full wellbeing in the spirit of Christ. To mention our enemies is not only to be more radical, but also more honest. But if we say it, we are committed to doing it. It’s easier to say Love God and Love Neighbor.

As part of our Lenten journey, this is a time to consider how we are doing at loving our enemies. Naming our enemies, those with whom we feel antagonism, hostility, and fear. Naming our enemies within by examining our own character and behavior for that which is not consistent with the radical love of the teachings of Jesus. Then, it is time to love and to pray.

Prayer: We pray for our enemies. Enemies as near as our own breath, enemies across the street, enemies around the globe. We pray for the highest good of those who hate us and those whom we fear. We pray that we can be part of creating a world where all people are treated with dignity and respect and have what they need to flourish. Then there will be little cause for enemies or violence. We pray for the honesty to confront our own character weaknesses and for the strength to defeat the enemies within. Love does have the power to conquer all. Amen.

The political is personal. The personal is political. Much as we may try to keep the realms of our lives separate, our commitments have implications that overlap. Being Christian is not just a matter of what we do on Sunday morning, but what we do and who we are 24/7. So there is no aspect of our lives that is not under the influence of our Christian commitment.

For Martin of Tours this had significant implications. Martin lived form 316 to 397, in the first years that Christianity was a state sanctioned religion in the Roman Empire. He was from a military family. His father was an officer in the Imperial Horse Guard of the Roman Army. As required, Martin joined the cavalry when he was 15. This was his “political” life.

In his personal life, he had begun participating in Christianity at age 10. It was not a dominant religion and his parents were not part of the Christian movement. Finally at age 18 he was baptized.

The personal and political connected when Martin decided that because of his commitment to Christianity he could not carry a weapon and use it. He said: “I am a solider of Christ now and may not fight with a weapon in my hand.” Martin was charged with cowardice and jailed. He then volunteered to go unarmed before the enemy troops. After this he was released from military service and he went on to live as a Christian hermit.

Because of his Christian faith, for Martin the personal and political came into conflict. He had no choice but to follow his Christian convictions, whatever the outcome. Ironically, he became the patron saint of soldiers. Maybe soldiers pray to him to give them the courage to do what he did and forsake armed conflict.

We, like Martin, also face conflicts between our faith commitment and much of what is expected of us in the culture around us; between the personal and the political. Can you think of a time that you made a decision that went against the grain and you did it because of your Christian commitment? We like to think of our country as a Christian nation so that we don’t have to experience this conflict, so that we don’t experience tension between our faith and our citizenship, between the personal and the political.

May we be inspired by Martin to be true to our faith commitment and to the pacifism of Jesus. Then the personal may even transform the political.

Prayer: In our faith commitment is life; full, abundant, and joyful. As we make compromises with our faith, we sacrifice its blessings. May we fully invest ourselves in our faith so that we find our heart’s desire. May we have the courage to live our faith even when that presents challenges and difficult decisions. May we let our faith be personal and political. May we especially honor our faith commitment to peace and anti violence in the spirit of Martin of Tours. Amen.

When is the last time you asked someone for help? Can you think of a recent experience in which you asked for help from a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger? Someone who was not being paid to help you, that is? And not a family member or a co-worker; these people are expected to help.

My guess is that we are more likely to be helping others than to be asking for help. Can you think of the last time you helped someone? A friend? A neighbor? A stranger? Does that come to mind easily? Can you think of several examples?

When we help others, we are embodying divine love. We are being “God’s hands.” We are conveying God’s love in deeds. This is one of the ways God loves the world.

Giving and sharing divine love is important. But to give this love someone has to receive it. There has to be someone willing to accept the love. For people to save their lives by serving and find their highest good by living for others, as Christianity teaches, someone has to accept their efforts. When we ask for help and accept support, we are saying “yes” to God’s love. We are receiving what others need to give. We are helping others become whole through other-centered living. We are giving value, worth and dignity to others by receiving their help. When we try to maintain self sufficiency, to tough it out, to cling to rugged individualism, we may be depriving others of the opportunity to serve. It may be a refusal of the love of God waiting to be given to us.

So, just say “yes.” Accept God’s love offered to you through the help of others. This is an affirmation of the interdependence of humanity, of our common human frailty, and of our need to serve.

Prayer: We find our highest good in service. We accept our vulnerability and our need by receiving help from others. For divine love to be shared it needs to be given as well as received. May we be part of that flow. Amen.