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Minister Musings

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5.23-24, NRSV).

10/20/2020

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Picture
 
January 11, 2021
 
Dear Friends,
 
     Our nation’s history is fraught with uprisings and violence based on the idea that many White people believe their “race” is the only human race.  Therefore, by right they should control the levers of government and have the power to do as they wish to people of color.
     Racist, wrong-headed, abusive, and brutal ideologies are centuries old.  Their footholds are depressions that must be repaired, leveled out, and healed over so that they can never be created again.  Violence will not win, for either side, because violence cannot eradicate the idea of a “more perfect union” toward which people aspire.  Nor can violence eradicate the ideas on which ideologies of hate are based.  For actions to change, ideas must change first.
     Overwhelming evidence proves that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris legitimately won the election. The “Big Lie,” is that the election was stolen from President Trump.  Promulgation of the “Big Lie” was and is so widespread that some of the people who started it and helped to spread it were and are saying, “People are concerned that election was stolen.  Therefore, we need to hear them out.”
     Having set up that echo chamber, circular reasoning became an inevitable result.  Unfortunately, the leaders of the “Big Lie” knew and know it is untrue.  The “Big Lie” cites as proof of its “truthfulness” its own false and erroneous conclusion, for which there is no evidence.
     Information about last week’s mob scene in Washington, D. C. continues to come to light.  However, silence is not a worthy nor neutral option during these early days of investigations and reporting on the vile, racist, and antidemocratic treachery that took place almost a week ago.  Words attributed to Martin Niemöller express this concern:

        “First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Communist.  Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Trade Unionist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.  Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”1

     Encouraged by years-long repetitions of false and misleading narratives incessantly promoted on the dark web, by several media personalities, by the president and some of his supporters, a vast number of the president’s supporters came to believe the 2020 presidential election results were tampered with and then stolen from them.
     As a consequence, and in the guise of patriotism and liberty, several protesters in Washington, D. C., who were there to “stop the steal,” became rioters, insurrectionists, and domestic terrorists when they violently invaded our nation’s Capital.  At the time, in the Capitol members of the Congress of the United States were engaged in expected and legal though unwarranted elections-related debate in their respective chambers.  Insurrection, sedition, brutality, racism, and White fragility were on full display before and while the mob attacked.
     The news of Vice President Pence’s refusal to act unconstitutionally to overturn the election results appears to have signaled the mob to rush the building.  Which they did with the clear intent to inflict bodily harm.  People were looking for Vice President Mike Pence so they could hang him.
     The violence led to terror and death.  Members of Congress went into lock-down concerned for their safety, and determined to do their duty regardless of the seditious acts occurring around them.  The Capitol was breached for the first time since 1814, during the War of 1812.  Rioters entered the Senate chamber.  Capitol police were outnumbered.  The stench of our nation’s original sin, the enslavement of Black human beings, emanated from a confederate flag carried along a Capitol hallway.
     Strident political argumentation is commonplace.  President Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill were known for their strong disagreements and their friendship.  Peaceful protests in defense, support, and advancement of civil rights, human rights, and the equal treatment and welfare of all people are part of American political tradition.
     Tragically, armed political violence is not new.  Greed, subterfuge, withholding truth, and promoting lies in service of a “big lie” give life to misguided patriotism and marauding hatred.  World history shows that people greedy for power and control over others will use violence and mayhem to achieve it and quell dissent.
     As Christians, how could, and should, we respond?  How can we be proactive so as to still the turbulent waters of fear, especially the waters of baseless fear?
  1. Fearlessly love all people: equally, kindly, affectionately, to and beyond the point you will be thought of as weird J.
  2. Question authority.  This is a long-standing Baptist tradition derived from our Baptist Principles.
  3. Seek and speak truth.
  4. Check assumptions.  They can be wrong as well as correct.
  5. Beware climbing the ladder of inference.
  6. Dive into Scripture.  This is a big one.  Scripture does not always give a direct answer.  It can, however, sensitize us to the atmosphere in which we should formulate our thinking and out of which should act.  Meditate on the content of the Bible, current events, and their trajectories.
  7. Choose that which makes for peace.
  8. Remember the Sermon on the Mount.
  9. Remember Jesus’ distillation of “the law and the prophets”; “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7.12).
  10. Remember Jesus’ overarching commandments: “’He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”’” (Matthew 22.37-40).
 
     From the past comes the lesson of “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12.31b), the way of love.  Peaceful protest, resistance, and action, exemplified by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights and social justice movements then and now, offer truthful counter-narratives, countermeasures, and alternative actions to “big lies.”  The way out of racism, hatred, and fear passes through the bold actions of repentance, redemption, transformation, forgiveness, education, and reconciliation.  It begins with love.
     We have no choice except venturing through the current crises.  Always, and most assuredly now, be encouraged by the spirit of Love.  Seek the heart of Christ.  Treasure the faith.  Hold close to one another.  Be in peace.  Have compassion.
      “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5.23-24, NRSV).
 
                                                          Blessings Always,
 
                                                                             Jim
 
1As found in the Introduction to Then They Came for Me, by Matthew D. Hockenos.  Published by Basic Books, New York, and copy-written in 2018 by the author, the quote is found on page 8 of the EBook.

​
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Feeling another's pain

6/2/2020

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6-1-20
 Dear Friends,
             On the urbandictionary.com website, the definition of “I feel your pain” is, “I compassionately understand what you are going through and there may have been some times I have undergone the very same thing or similar.”
            If it is true that most people have an aversion to pain, then feeling the pain of another human being would not be high on anyone’s bucket list.  Some folks like doing things that almost guarantee they will feel pain, such as playing sports.  However, those folks do not do those things for the pain, they do them because they like playing sports.  Pain as a byproduct of an activity is one thing, purposely searching for pain is something else.  Feeling the pain of another human being is something else again.  Yet isn’t that last thing desperately needed now?
            In the wake of the brutal killing of Mr. George Floyd, yesterday I spoke with a dear friend.  As a black woman and mother of grown children, she expressed profound fear for her son, who lives in the south with his wife and children.  Her fear was palpable.  I could hear and feel it in every syllable and nuanced tone of her voice.
            Her life as a black woman and mine as a white man are quite different.  Situations I never give a thought to, terrify her.  A lot of people do not drive at night because of poor night vision.  My friend does not drive at night because of the color of her skin.
            She lives in a beautiful home.  A cast iron fence closes off a large portion of the lawn.  The fence is a beautiful, decorative piece of art which serves as a barrier.  It makes it more difficult for intruders to get in, and for little children to run into the street.  However, the main reason my friend appreciates the cast iron fence is that it might slow down law enforcement should they mistakenly approach her home.
            My friend has a very clear memory of shedding tears of sorrow while looking at her son when he was three years old.  She was not grieving because her son was sick.  She was grieving because he would grow up black in America.  She was grieving because she knew and knows how dangerous that can be and is.  “The talk” is real.  The fear is real.
            As our conversation was drawing to a close, she said, “Life makes me tired.”  Daily she is on pins and needles.  When she is having fun with friends, when she is worshipping, when she is in her own home, or at work, or commuting, or talking with friends on the phone, some part of her mind is always on guard to keep her safe from the worst consequences of the daily racism she encounters.
             I wish I could say I feel her pain.  I cannot.  I feel kindred pain, but not her pain.  I can never feel her pain, but I can try.  I can cry with her.  I can grieve with her.  I can cherish her as a dear friend and speak up against the injustices of racism.  I can be there when she calls, and I can call her.
            We met nearly forty years ago when she and Julie became coworkers and then dear, lifelong friends.  Blessed to be Julie’s husband, I became blessed to have that same close friendship.  I cannot say to our dear friend, with any honesty, that I “compassionately understand what you are going through and there may have been some times I have undergone the very same thing or similar.”
            What I can and did say to her is something along these lines, “I have compassion for you, my dear friend.  I grieve because you grieve.  I cry because you are crying.  I am angry at the racist injustices you have faced because you have faced them.  Your struggles are my struggles.  I will add my voice to yours.”
          The problem of racism lies not with the people who are victimized by it.  The problem of racism lies with those who espouse, teach, and perpetuate it.  It is long past time for the choking weeds of racist ideologies to be plucked and thrown from the garden of life.  All people deserve the same good soil.
 
                                                                        Blessings My Friends,
                                                                                   
                                                                                                      Jim

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Solace Inside the Darkness

4/10/2020

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4-7-20, Ruminations
 
Dear Friends,
 
            This is Holy Week.  In our Christian tradition, Holy Week is rich with somber meaning.  Beginning with Palm/Passion Sunday, each day of the week is Holy.  Maundy Thursday is a time to reflect on the Last Supper.  Good Friday gives us time to ponder the Crucifixion.  Holy Saturday, as it is known in some Christian traditions, is a day of emptiness, a day of darkness, a day of not knowing. 
            It is said that on this day, Jesus descended into hell to defeat the devil.  It is thought of the day that Jesus rested, and the day the church waits near the tomb.  Other meanings have been imparted onto Holy Saturday, too.  Interestingly, the Bible does not speculate at all about what Jesus “did” on Holy Saturday.  Nonetheless, that has not stopped people from thinking about what might have happened.
            Today, we too imagine the significance of that bleak and empty day.  As we do, we will find solace.  Centuries of Holy Saturday reflections become personal.  We relate to the day’s candle-black, sooty, dusky-hole darkness, of which we have no knowledge.  In the empty places we float, light-less, the voice of Holy Saturday speaks a word of solace.
 
            We hear it say, “Jesus was here, too.”

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.  But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.  This is my message for you.’  So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”  And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me'” (Matthew 28.1-10).
 
                                                                        Blessings,
 
                                                                                    Jim
​

​

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Read a good book lately?

3/21/2020

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March 19, 2020, Ruminations
Dear Friends,
            If you are staying home more than usual because of concerns over Covid-19, here are a few things you might enjoy reading.
  1. If you are interested in exploring ancient sacred religious texts to a number of religions, you will enjoy (www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/)  The link brings you to the British Library, and to almost 300 texts.  You will discover articles about Hinduism, Buddhism, the Sikh faith, and the Abrahamic religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
  2. If you like a good book, then of course read the Bible.  I know it can be daunting to think about it, but it can be done.  Overall, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible; 929 in the Old Testament, and 260 in the New Testament.  Reading 40 chapters a day, you will finish it in 30 days.  Reading 15 chapters a day, you will finish it in just over 79 days.  Reading 12 chapters a day, you will finish it in barely over 99 days.  I have found that 10 chapters a day is manageable for me.  At that pace, I finished reading the Bible in four months.  Just in time to start again!
  3. Other good books include:
    1. The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem, by Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan.
    2. Faith and Feminism: Ecumenical Essays, edited by B. Diane Lipsett and Phyllis Trible.
    3. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, by Elaine Pagels.
    4. Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?, by Brian D. McLaren.
    5. Good Girls, Bad Girls; The Enduring Lessons of TWELVE WOMEN of the Old Testament, by T. J. Wray.
    6. Treatise on Thermodynamics, by Max Planck.
    7. The Case for God, by Karen Armstrong.
    8. Edvard Grieg, Little Great Man: The unorthodox life of Norway’s greatest composer, by Brendan Ward.
    9. All About Weeds, by Edwin Rollin Spencer [this book has scores of illustrations]
    10. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, by Gabor Maté, MD.
 
            If you have ideas you would like to share in this space, please let me know.  We are in this adventure together.
                                   
                                                                                    Blessings,
 
                                                                                                Jim
 
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Do not worry -- posted 3/12/20

3/21/2020

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​Seven times in the gospels Jesus says,“Do not worry.”
(Matthew 6.25, 31, 34; 10.19; Mark 13.11; Luke 12.11, 22). 
 

Paul wrote, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4.6).  All Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.

     With Covid-19 in the news, we certainly “live in interesting times,” as someone once said.  Grocery stores are packed.  Supplies are flying off the shelves.  Sports leagues have canceled their seasons.  Universities have sent their students home.  People who can work from home are doing so in greater numbers. 

     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov), National Institutes of Health (nih.gov), World Health Organization (who.int), and state governments (mass.gov) are keeping their websites up-to-date with Coronavirus (COVID-19) information.  Cities and towns are making decisions based on what they know about COVID-19.  Religious institutions are taking the new virus seriously, too.

     During the last several days, the leadership of our church, the First United Baptist Church in Lowell, has been absorbing information about the virus and making decisions day-by-day as new information becomes available.  In light of what we learned, we decided yesterday to cancel today’s worship service.  Worship is very important for all of us.  So is getting together afterward to catch up with each other.

     We do not know what new information will surface each week.  Therefore, we do not know if we will need to cancel upcoming worship services.  If we do, we will be sure to let you know.  This week, in lieu of being together in worship, we can make use of other means of communicating with each other.  Fortunately, there are many ways to communicate when we cannot be together in person: telephone (landline, cell, Apple’s Facetime, Facebook’s Portal, Google Duo), Facebook, Instagram, email, text, and of course, letters, cards, and postcards.  Using the means available to us, we can keep in touch one way or another.

     During these uncertain days, music can help.  Especially the music of prayer.  A popular praise song has these words in its lyrics, “Our God is an awesome God.”  With that song in my head as if it is part of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, I am reminded of another playlist, the Psalms.  During times of plenty and of want, people have turned to the Psalms for comfort and insight.  Reading them as prayer songs, and singing them to your own melodies, can bring great joy.  I invite you to try it.

     As your pastor, I assure you that our leadership will remain on top of the news and continue to make decisions together regarding our church’s gatherings.  We will communicate that information to you via email as well as via WCVB TV and WHDH TV.  If you do not have email, and would like us to call you, please let us know.  You can call or text me directly or leave a message with the church office.  Closing information also is available online at wcvb.com (Channel 5) and whdh.com (Channel 7).  (See below for specifics.)

     By the grace of God, our faith community is very strong.  The love of God we share is more than enough for all of us to get through our COVID-19 concerns together.  I am praying for each of you by name, and invite you to do the same.

     My Ruminations are sent out via email on Thursdays.  If you would like to receive them, please call the church office (978-452-9281).

     Remember, “Be of good courage” (1 Chronicles 22.13, 28.20, and 2 Chronicles 32.7).
 
                                                                        Blessings,
                                                                         Jim


On wcvb.com, you will find it under the Menu item “Closings.”  After clicking on “Closings,” enter “First United Baptist - Lowell” in the “Search” bar under “Closings & Delays.”
 On whdh.com, you will find it under “Closings-School Closings”.  Under “School Closings” scroll down through the sub-headings “Public Schools” and “Private Schools,” to the sub-heading “Religious Education,” where you will find the houses of worship listed alphabetically.

Posted March 15, 2020
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On the Intersection of Faith and Politics Today

2/2/2020

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1-16-20 Ruminations                                                     
                                   
         
​              “[Jesus] knew what they were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand’” (Matthew 12.25, NRSV – see also Mark 3.23-27, and Luke 11.17).

            The divisive politics of the moment, ongoing Russian interference in our elections and the inadequate countering of it, the predominance of false information, the highly questionable and allegedly illegal, and unethical and immoral behavior of key national leaders, are among the many things dividing and endangering our nation and the world.

            On January 14th, the Southern Poverty Law Center featured an article on its homepage, splcenter.org, with the following lead-in, “White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller went against many Republicans when siding with white nationalists and other extremists on the issue of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, more commonly known as DACA, emails show.”

            Our nation has been divided over numerous things; the Vietnam war, the Civil Rights movement, integration of public schools, and prayer in public schools, to name a few.  The five-day Detroit Riots, which began on July 23, 1967, had their deep roots in the extreme poverty, oppression, racism, segregation, discrimination, and prejudice within and against Black Americans by politicians and law enforcement (see Britannica.com).

           As far as our nation has come, our house remains divided.  Racial, class, gender, health care, and age discrimination persist.  According to a November 5, 2019 article by Erin Duffin on Statista.com, at 265 to 1, the United States was first in the “ratio between CEO and average worker pay in 2018, by country”.  In the January 6, 2020 article entitled, California Officially Bans Hair Discrimination, on globalcitizen.org, Leah Rodriguez states, “California just became the first US state to ban discrimination against natural hair at school and in the workplace.”

            As difficult as our struggles have been, the very institutions we rely on “to form a more perfect Union, established Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” (Preamble to the Constitution of the United States) are under duress from without and within.

            How do we come together as a nation?  How do we stitch ourselves together?  How do we overcome our own contributions to the divisions?  How do we heal, restore, and create solid and peaceful relationships?  How do we disintegrate the hard and soft barriers that keep us apart?  What construction materials shall we use rebuild and modify our broken nation’s institutions and attitudes?
​
            The best secular and religious teachings center on love and caring for all people and all creation.  Being in favor of equality, egalitarianism, restorative justice in all areas of life, building up the human family, setting aside our negative generalizations and biases, establishing a better balance between self-protection and suspicion, remembering and reiterating the enormous boundary-breaking nature of love, which casts out fear, claiming the enormous power of repentance and forgiveness, recognizing the difference between constructs intended to suppress freedoms, and those designed to allow them to flourish, and standing up to gas-lighting on our quests for truth, are among things that can help us unite and stay united, for each other.
 
                                                                        Blessings,
 
                                                                                    Jim
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The sphere of our thoughts

1/17/2020

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​             On any given day, what is the diameter of the sphere of our thoughts?  How far out and all around do they go?  Every day, I experience spheres of many diameters; from the small sphere of focusing on what I need or what I need to do in the moment – such as writing a Rumination – to a larger sphere of, for instance, meditating on the state of the world, then to still larger spheres, such as the universe, life, death, spirituality, and God.
            The smaller spheres are encased in the larger ones. For instance, working backward, musing about God leads to reflections on spirituality, which lead to thoughts about life after death, then to wondering how to define life and death, and if life, intelligence, and consciousness can be separated.
             Further, such musing leads to wondering about parallels between the birth and death of stars and planets, etc., and birth and death as it relates to life throughout the universe.  Then, still working backward, thoughts turn to wondrous planet earth which is our home.  In turn, those reflections narrow to the world on the world – which is the world of living creatures, plants, humankind and nations, all of which depend on planet earth for survival.  To a substantial extent, all life depends on the good will of peoples and countries toward one another and toward the rest of the natural world.
            The world on the world is made up of countless, ever-changing communities of various sizes, conditions, and levels of poverty, wealth, and mutual care.  Then there are the communities made up of those smaller communities.
           Finally, there is the internal world of the human mind, how it gains information, how it motivates action, how it determines its value structure, how it regulates the body, and how it is impacted by its choices.
           How short or long is the diameter of your thought right now?
 “...strive first for the kingdom of God and its righteousness…” – Matthew 6.33
                                                                         Blessings,
                                                                      
               Jim
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November 15th, 2019

11/15/2019

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11-14-19 Ruminations
                      
Dear Friends,
 
            On any given day, what is the diameter of the sphere of our thoughts?  How far out and all around do they go?  Every day, I experience spheres of many diameters; from the small sphere of focusing on what I need or what I need to do in the moment – such as writing a Rumination – to a larger sphere of, for instance, meditating on the state of the world, then to still larger spheres, such as the universe, life, death, spirituality, and God.
            The smaller spheres are encased in the larger ones. For instance, working backward, musing about God leads to reflections on spirituality, which lead to thoughts about life after death, then to wondering how to define life and death, and if life, intelligence, and consciousness can be separated.
             Further, such musing leads to wondering about parallels between the birth and death of stars and planets, etc., and birth and death as it relates to life throughout the universe.  Then, still working backward, thoughts turn to wondrous planet earth which is our home.  In turn, those reflections narrow to the world on the world – which is the world of living creatures, plants, humankind and nations, all of which depend on planet earth for survival.  To a substantial extent, all life depends on the good will of peoples and countries toward one another and toward the rest of the natural world.
            The world on the world is made up of countless, ever-changing communities of various sizes, conditions, and levels of poverty, wealth, and mutual care.  Then there are the communities made up of those smaller communities.
           Finally, there is the internal world of the human mind, how it gains information, how it motivates action, how it determines its value structure, how it regulates the body, and how it is impacted by its choices.
           How short or long is the diameter of your thought right now?
 
“...strive first for the kingdom of God and its righteousness…” – Matthew 6.33
 
                                                                        Blessings,
 
                                                                                    Jim
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September 02nd, 2019

9/2/2019

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Ruminations
8-29-19
 
Dear Friends,
 
            In the movie, Date Night, Claire and Phil Foster (played by Tina Fey and Steve Carell) make up stories about some of the people they see.  Claire and Phil are not the only ones who have done that, are they?
            Sitting on a stone wall, people watching, folks can entertain themselves for hours by making up stories about the strangers that go by.  The stories are informed by the strangers’ appearances, speech, facial expressions, gait, height, weight, and age.  Some stories rely on stereotypes, others on going against stereotypes.  Making up stories about the people we see can be rather harmless fun.
            On the other hand, making up stories about strangers is not always benign.  Relying on falsehoods, people have been known to make up malicious stories about strangers.  Rooted in lies, untruths, and harmful stereotypes, some stories lead to malicious and deadly actions against the people about whom the stories are made up.
            Questioning stereotypes and assumptions counters falsehoods, prejudgments based on them, and the notion that the whole lot of “them” must be dealt with severely.
            Thinking about difficult issues from various angles and perspectives results in the development of a fuller, more four-dimensional, moving picture of them, and of the people involved.  It creates room for malicious thought to dissipate.  Starting from the viewpoint that no one has more and no one has less value than another human being can help people let go of feelings of superiority and inferiority. 
             Having the viewpoint that each person has, or should have, equal agency, can help set aside the desire to control another person.  These things are not always easy to do, and some people might be uneasy testing them out.                                  Nonetheless, getting rid of baseless assumptions and stereotypes, and forming a more holistic way of thinking about the world, are worth it.
 
                                                                                    Blessings,
 
                                                                                                Jim
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Lessons from my mother

9/2/2019

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The day my mother died in 2017, great Joy overcame me, and it has not gone away.
            The Joy came quite unexpectedly, as I was driving to the hospital in Worcester to be with our family.  And it kept increasing.
            My first encounter with death was when I received word as a 10-year-old that two of my backyard friends had drowned.  From that point, I have had numerous encounters with death, each one teaching me something.
            Mom was a teacher.  She gave my sister and me piano lessons.  She taught in a one-room schoolhouse.  She taught our family countless things.  She is teaching now.
            It has been said that, “God does not give dying blessings on non-dying days.”  For me, that was no truer than when Mom died.  That very day Mom taught me all about Joy.  It was a lesson I wish I had learned another way.
            Here is what I learned.  Thanks, Mom.
            Joy is a frame of mind, and a frame of reference.  Joy is found through giving thanks for life, no matter what.  Joy is found through acceptance of others and ourselves as we are.  Having Joy does not mean we stop growing and learning; it does mean that we have stopped growing and learning to please others.  Joy is found in being who we are and giving thanks for who we are becoming.  Joy is the laughter that comes to us when we look at the stars or at a blade of grass and think, “Amazing!”  Joy is being in awe of the waves of life happening each millisecond.  Joy is discovered in being thankful that so many lives overlap with ours.  Joy is found in instant friendships.  No longer is there time for anything less.
           It is possible to be joyful in plenty and in want.  It is possible to be joyful in sorrow.  It is possible to laugh in thanksgiving in the presence of grief, and as we grieve.  Joy is independent of happiness and sorrow.  Joy stands alone, it captures everything.  Joy is found in memories, including the unpleasant ones.
          Joy, that deep-seated feeling of appreciation and thanksgiving for all things; Joy, that deep-seated and tenacious feeling of the interconnectedness of all things (stardust is awesome!), will not let go even when we let go of it.  Joy is seen, heard, smelled, felt, tasted, and appreciated.  Joy is profoundly one of the best experiences, feelings, thoughts, and frames of reference in the entire world.  Joy sits in pain.  Joy rises above strife.  With open affection Joy greets the world.  Joy heals.  Joy gives.  Joy sustains.  Joy laughs.  Joy cries.  Joy feels.  Joy enriches.  Joy hopes.  Joy is subtle.  Joy is over-the-top.  Joy wonders.  Joy awes.  Joy thanks.  Joy tastes.  Joy is here.  Joy is in a way of understanding creation.  Joy is beyond vocabulary.  Joy is beyond symbol.  Joy is reality.  Joy is a gift to be shared.  Joy is Love’s twin.
        Love one another.  Live into Joy and bring people with you.  Joy is divine!
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    Rev Jim Sinclair

    Pastor Jim is the minister for First United Baptist Church

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