{"id":17023,"date":"2018-07-16T07:55:07","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T11:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=17023"},"modified":"2018-07-16T09:06:28","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T13:06:28","slug":"another-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=17023","title":{"rendered":"Another Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/52LIC1VtgRc\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Another Power<\/strong><br \/>\nSunday, July 15, 2018<\/p>\n<p>Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims\u2014laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. \u2014Isaiah 10:1-2, The Message<\/p>\n<p>Beside the streams of Babylon, we sat and wept, trying to remember Mount Zion. \u2014Psalm 137:1<\/p>\n<p>As a follower of both Jesus and Francis of Assisi, my primary moral viewpoint is not based in the well-being of those who are on top but at the bottom. Parker Palmer describes the impact when this is not our priority: \u201cWhen we forget that politics is about weaving a fabric of compassion and justice on which everyone can depend, the first to suffer are the most vulnerable among us\u2014our children, our elderly, our mentally ill, our poor, and our homeless. As they suffer, so does the integrity of our democracy.\u201d [1]<\/p>\n<p>In light of this, I will be sharing parts of a document I helped compose with a group of twenty-three Christian leaders and elders of various denominations. We presented \u201cReclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis\u201d to the White House on May 24 in a pilgrimage of over 1,000 believers. [2] As a Franciscan Catholic, I proudly wore the habit of St. Francis. For the vulnerable who have been rendered more vulnerable by the current United States\u2019 administration, we lament and pray and promise to stand with you. We acknowledge and affirm:<\/p>\n<p>We are living through perilous and polarizing times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches. We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith are now at stake.<\/p>\n<p>[As Christians,] it is time to be followers of Jesus before anything else\u2014nationality, political party, race, ethnicity, gender, geography\u2014our identity in Christ precedes every other identity. . . . \u201cBy this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another\u201d (John 13:35). [3]<\/p>\n<p>Parker Palmer broadens this shared responsibility to those of other faiths:<\/p>\n<p>All three traditions [Christianity, Judaism, and Islam] are misunderstood because some of their alleged adherents engage in hateful and violent behavior that distorts and defies the values they claim to represent. At their core, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and all of the major world religions are committed to compassion and hospitality. . . . In this fact lies the hope that we might reclaim their power to help reweave our tattered civic fabric. [4]<\/p>\n<p>The Hebrew prophets, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammed first appear to be \u201cnothing,\u201d outside the system, and really of no consequence. But like leaven and yeast, their much deeper power rises, again and again, in every age, while kings, tyrants, and empires change and pass away.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p><strong>Service Instead of Domination<\/strong><br \/>\nMonday, July 16, 2018<\/p>\n<p>May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. \u20142 Corinthians 13:13<\/p>\n<p>Without the nondual mind, it\u2019s almost impossible for us to find another way of doing politics. Grounding social action in contemplative consciousness is not a luxury for a few but a cultural necessity. Both the Christian religion and American psyche need deep cleansing and healing from our many unhealed wounds. Only a contemplative mind can hold our fear, confusion, vulnerability, and anger and guide us toward love.<\/p>\n<p>Contemplative Christians can model a way of building a collaborative, compassionate politics. I suggest we start by reclaiming the wisdom of Trinity, a circle dance of mutuality and communion. Humans\u2014especially the powerful, the wealthy, and supporters of the patriarchal system\u2014are more comfortable with a divine monarch at the top of pyramidal reality. So Christians made Jesus into a distant, imperial God rather than a living member of divine-human relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Spiritual power is more circular or spiral, and not so much hierarchical. It\u2019s shared and shareable. God\u2019s Spirit is planted within each of us and operating as each of us (see Romans 5:5)! Trinity shows that God\u2019s power is not domination, threat, or coercion. All divine power is shared power and the letting go of autonomous power.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no seeking of power over in the Trinity, but only power with\u2014giving away and humbly receiving. This should have changed all Christian relationships: in churches, marriage, culture, and even international relations. Isaiah tried to teach such servanthood to Israel in the classic four \u201cservant songs.\u201d [1] But Hebrew history preceded what Christianity repeated: both traditions preferred kings, wars, and empires instead of suffering servanthood or leveling love.<\/p>\n<p>Since this is so ingrained in our psyche, we must work hard to dismantle systems of domination. I emphatically state, together with my fellow Christian elders and leaders:<\/p>\n<p>We believe our elected officials are called to public service, not public tyranny, so we must protect the limits, checks, and balances of democracy and encourage humility and civility on the part of elected officials. . . .<\/p>\n<p>We reject any moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule. . . . Disrespect for the rule of law, not recognizing the equal importance of our three branches of government, and replacing civility with dehumanizing hostility toward opponents are of great concern to us. Neglecting the ethic of public service and accountability, in favor of personal recognition and gain often characterized by offensive arrogance, are not just political issues for us. They raise deeper concerns about political idolatry, accompanied by false and unconstitutional notions of authority. [2]<\/p>\n<p>What if we actually surrendered to the inner Trinitarian flow and let it be our primary teacher? Our view of politics and authority would utterly change. We already have all the power (dynamis) we need both within us and between us\u2014in fact, Jesus assures us that we are already \u201cclothed\u201d in it \u201cfrom on high\u201d see Luke 24:49&#8212;-\u201cAnd now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>SELF-PITY IS A SLIMY, BOTTOMLESS PIT. Once you fall in, you tend to go deeper and deeper into the mire. As you slide down those slippery walls, you are well on your way to depression, and the darkness is profound. Your only hope is to look up and see the Light of My Presence shining down on you. Though the Light looks dim from your perspective, deep in the pit, those rays of hope can reach you at any depth. While you focus on Me in trust, you rise ever so slowly out of the abyss of despair. Finally, you can reach up and grasp My hand. I will pull you out into the Light again. I will gently cleanse you, washing off the clinging mire. I will cover you with My righteousness and walk with you down the path of Life. <\/p>\n<p>He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. \u2014PSALM 40:2\u20133 <\/p>\n<p>Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence. \u2014PSALM 42:5 NASB <\/p>\n<p>The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. \u2014PSALM 147:11<\/p>\n<p>Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another Power Sunday, July 15, 2018 Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims\u2014laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. \u2014Isaiah 10:1-2, The Message Beside the streams of Babylon, we sat and wept, trying to remember [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17026,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17023\/revisions\/17026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}