You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-29)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things
there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by
the Spirit. (Galatians
5:22-25 ESV)
For everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)
So with all these Supreme Court Rulings, the issue with
Paula Dean and some of the many injustices we see our Marines and many in the military
having to face on a daily basis; I was reminded of a paper I once wrote back in
undergrad school. We were evaluating the differences between Dred Scott and
John Brown both who have been historically linked as cogs in the great wheels
of the Civil War. Please bear with me as I share with you my last paragraph of
that paper and I hope and pray it will help you with some thought provoking
ideas of just how we might respond even to the injustices of today’s society.
For those who respond
to those injustices I applaud them for their courage, but caution all of us to
make sure we are living within the laws that surround us and to remember that
there are always consequences for all of our actions. There is also that eternal
judgment that we will have to stand and face one day that should not be ignored
through our passions, even those that are on the side of justice. The case of
Dred Scott and the death of John Brown both helped hasten the Civil War and
further polarized the differences between Northerners and Southerners (today
between racists and bigots or between gays and heterosexuals between men and
women, military and civilians etc…). I
truly enjoyed a quote that I read from Frederick Douglas “my hopes were never
brighter than now,” this was after hearing the decision not in his favor from the Supreme Court
regarding the Dred Scott case. For Douglas the decision would bring slavery to
the attention of the nation and was a step toward slavery’s ultimate
destruction. As my great grandmother would say “that’s looking at the glass
half full,” this is definitely how I try to look at all things. I think it is
clear that John Brown’s tenacity unto death and Dred Scott’s persistence unto
so called defeat were for many an eye opener to the true depths of the problems
facing our fledgling nation. The problem of slavery had to be dealt with or we
could never move on as a united nation. As I stated earlier I don’t know that I
could sit in judgment of either John Brown or Dred Scott, but I can say that I
personally would choose the path of least resistance and least violence. I
think it is clear that Dred Scott was able to accomplish getting people’s
attention regarding slavery just as John Brown was but I think I prefer Scott’s
passive resistance over Brown’s violence. (As for today I want us to stop
firing folks for having a difference of opinion or using language which we
might find offensive, I don’t want bombings of abortion clinics, West-borough
Church members picketing and rioting outside military funerals and the Supreme
Court may hand down judgments which I don’t agree with but my plan will be to
make calls to senators, write letters to congress members, vote and never be
shy to share my opinion while doing my best to not be judgmental of my friends
and neighbors in the process…mostly because this is what I believe God wants us
to do as His followers and healthy members of society). Thanks for letting me
babble on, I hope it encouraged you or inspired you to think.
Father in Heaven
in today’s complex society it is so easy to get derailed and lost. Tonight we
ask for your guidance and direction in all of our thoughts, words and deeds.
Please help us despite our circumstances to keep a cool head and be ever
mindful of Your higher purposes. Please give us Your peace which passes all of
our own understanding and bring us comfort in our grief’s, illness and our
often broken spirits. Thank You for the compassion and mercies of Your Holy
Spirit and help us to remember that our actions are and should be a reflection
of the heart of Christ. Thank You for Your Son’s Awesome example of Sacrifice
and Devotion and may we always look to Your Living Word for Unconditional Love
and All Encompassing Assistance.
In Jesus Holy &
Precious Name We Pray all these things…AMEN!
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