Happy Easter!

 

 

From the Easter Pug Bunny!

(Not MY Easter Pug Bunny, of course, but THE Easter Pug Bunny!

Other than that, I guess I don't have anything pious or pithy to say today, because as of late, I have gone from confused, to discouraged, to now disgusted by the things that my fellow self-proposed Christians are saying and doing to others in Christ's name ...

... to include false-prophet, rich-and-powerful politicians - the fruits of their labor clearly and obviously having nothing to do with Jesus - literally rewriting, endorsing, and hocking $60 bibles in idolatry, just to help pay for their own mounting legal fees, after finally being held accountable for very self-serving, illegal things they know they shouldn't have done, half of which we saw them do before our very eyes, which were NOT justified.

Now, I'll admit, my faith has been shaken by the way modern Christians have behaved and what and who they've supported.

I'll even go so far to say that if their version of Christianity is the true nature and intent of Jesus, then I'd want nothing to do with him and denounce Christianity altogether.

But thank God he isn't. 

And the evidence he has nothing to do with most of the political points Christians are making today are his own words in the four Gospels versus virtually anyone else in the bible 😊 

Thus, I remind myself that my faith shouldn't be dependent on how other Christians behave, and I offer up this prayer ...

Heavenly Father,

I pray that one day, we will look back on this time in history, shaking our heads at ourselves, for not helping to heal, as Christ intended.  

Instead, we "further tie up heavy burdens" of judgment on others' already-breaking shoulders "without lifting a finger to help," as Christ actually warned against in Matthew 23. 

I pray that we will not continue to simply gloss over all the exclusion from benefit, pain, and suffering that we have caused others in Christ's name, but take full responsibility and ask for forgiveness for it - rather than using backlash reactions to us having done so as both evidence and excuse to not make amends;  and worse, as some sort of a measuring stick to affirm our false sense of moral superiority and entitlement, vainly imagining that Christ's blessings come in the form of material prosperity because of our own harder work or better Christian works.  

I pray that we will return to more mission work and community service to help those in need, in your service - without labeling who is most deserving, as if we are God - as well as not to continue to use these things as a means of national or international Christian conquest out of our own insecurity with others not being like us.

Though we have had even worse moments in Christian history, we have barely scratched the surface of taking responsibility and making amends for it, helping others heal, as Christ intended us Christians to be; thus, we repeat this pattern, over and over.  

Thus, I pray that on that day, when we do finally look back on this time in Christian history with eyes wide open, the effect will be permanent, having finally learned our lesson - that we will have permanently evolved into Christ's true message of mercy, self-sacrifice, and love, because we have been given those things, and not by our own merit, but as a free gift.

I pray that by then, we will finally realize the purpose of Christianity isn't "all about us" or "me, me, me" - in fact, Christianity is mostly about helping others heal from pain and suffering as Christ did.

Jesus set an example that he expected us to follow to help serve and heal others, Christian or not, doing our best to make this world a better place than we found it. 

 

Thus, I pray that instead of demanding everything our own way, by our interpretation, we will learn to share - not just money material possessions, or even the right to various interpretations of Christianity, but to share the right to representation with others, to have a stronger voice in decision-making that affects us all, thus abandoning our selfish need to have the largest share and loudest voice. 

  

Along those lines,  I pray that when we DO share these things, we stop making ourselves the false victim, just because we don't take the largest piece of the pie for ourselves, anymore.

Further, I pray that we will stop using Jesus as just our own personal drug to cope with life and uplift ourselves, as well as a get-out-of-jail-free card, as well as to realize that he's more than just a ticket to a better place for ourselves when we die; again, it's about leaving this world in better shape than when we found it, before we leave it for a better place.

I'm admittedly confused by who you really are and where you are, in all of this, but I do trust that it's not this ... not this.  

Thus, I feel more confused today, and even a little sad, separated from my Christian brothers and sisters, even angry with them, rather than being uplifted by your sacrifice for us all - not only out of my own hurt (and actual former abuse) by fellow Christians, but out of empathy for all the pain we have caused others in Christ's name - including causing my own, during my own exclusionary, arrogant evangelicalism in my youth - as well as out of true remorse for the pain and suffering we have caused.  

I now humbly ask for your forgiveness on our behalf - forgive us, as you said, we know not what we do. 

I ask all of these things in the name of the Father, your son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.