Take A Breath
John 3:13-17
Another presidential assassination attempt was in the news this week. Fingers are being pointed. The fierceness of political rhetoric is being questioned. Political points are being attempted.
Also in the news is the story of the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, OH being terrorized by vigilante groups descending upon the town after hearing horrible stories about pets being eaten. Parents are keeping their children out of school. The governor is calling for repeated patrols to respond to bomb threats.
This week also carried shocking news about over 2,000 pagers owned by individuals in Lebanon exploding, creating thousands of injuries and at least eight deaths. Tensions continue to escalate in the Holy Land.
It can be so easy to forget to pause and breathe right now, especially if you are paying attention to what is going on.
It can be so easy to encounter all of this and withdraw from what is going on.
It can be so easy to feel angry, and see only violence as an answer to all of this overwhelming evil happening.
Fight or flight certainly feels like an easier response to have right now than to stop, breathe, and ask a simple question: where is God in the midst of all of this? Finding hope and the presence of God’s good news in times like this feels impossible. It feels a little corny, even.
In my own search for hope, I find myself reflecting on the bible verse we all memorized as kids: John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Many of us as kids weren’t expected to memorize the next verse which said, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
What struck me this week is this challenging truth: God loves people I have learned to hate. God loves the people I believe are responsible for all of this chaos and rage and violence today. God loves them! How frustrating and complicated.
But I don’t think God loves what we are doing. God does not love the fear being created by people stoking prejudices against immigrants. God does not love the violence of war. God does not love the rage that is simmering so close to the surface in American politics. But God loves us—all of us.
I keep wondering when our collective tolerance of so much evil happening around us will expire. I wonder what it will take for us to look around at how we have created such vicious enemies out of one another and simply say, “Enough.”
What gives me hope is that the next right thing for anyone to do is simple: stop, breathe, and remember that God loves us. And remember that God loves the people we think are our enemy.
My hope is that sometime very soon, someone might be brave enough who is also on a visible enough platform to be the first person to extend a hand out for a relationship with someone they despise.
My hope is also in the simple truth that each and every one of us can start doing this right now. It might not make the news, but it will still make an impact to choose to be in a relationship with people whose worldviews mystify, terrify, or even enrage us.
For if God did not come to the world to condemn the world, then we can refrain from condemning one another as well. We can condemn behavior without condemning one another’s humanity. It’s very difficult, but if Jesus can extend a relationship with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, then can’t we stop, take a breath, and notice God’s love in the person standing apart from us as well?
