When does the spiritual become the political? Almost every time I see a headline my heart is broken. I am a seventy-four-year-old white woman living in an active retirement community. I am privileged and somewhat protected, and for that I am grateful. But when I read of daily mass shootings, book bans, lack of affordable health care, women almost dying because they can’t get an abortion, attacks on gay and trans people, racism, police brutality – my heart breaks, and I wonder what I am called to do to make a difference.

I was reared as a Christian, but I no longer recognize the Christianity of my childhood. I believe that Jesus would be appalled by the so-called Christians who are in the headlines. In my opinion people who wrap themselves in scripture but who have no compassion or empathy for anyone who is not white and straight are not Christian, no matter how loudly they proclaim their faith.  

I grew up in a Christian home, and what I am seeing perpetrated by the Christian right is not Christianity. Jesus would be appalled at what people are doing in his name. Jesus’ message was one of love. He sat down and ate with the despised of his day. He accepted women as equals. He opened his heart to all. He invited people to become the most loving individuals that they could be. He did not judge, and he was not cruel.

Jesus, however, did call out injustice. He drove the money changers out of the temple in a fit of righteous anger. He was not always meek and passive, but rather he was a radical who called out the wrongs of his day. As a spiritual person, I no longer believe that it is enough for me to meditate and send out loving thoughts. I must do something. And the first step is to name the wrongs I see. All I have to do is to look at the headlines:

1. Six officers on leave after tasing black man to death
2. GOP blocked gun reform a year before MSU shooting
3. Marjory Taylor Greene and George Santo co-sponsor bill to limit LGBTQ books in classroom.
4. Six Dead as ‘Shooting Spree’ Rocks Small Mississippi Community
5. At least 1 dead after gunfire at Texas food court
6. Illinois man pleads guilty in Planned Parenthood clinic fire
7. 71 mass shootings to date in 2023
8. Tennessee bans gender transition treatment for minors
9. Search warrants for menstrual tracking apps legal in Virginia
10. Near Total abortion ban passes South Carolina House

Guns, violence, misogyny, racism, sexism, homo and trans-phobia – all these arise from fear and lack of love. All these societal ills come from not being able to see God/Source/ Creator/Goddess in ourselves. What I can’t see in myself, I can’t see in others. When I can see the sacred in myself, I can see the sacred in others. I can open myself up to love. I can transform myself into a river of love flowing out to everyone in my path. I can see the world through the eyes of empathy and compassion.  

So what am I called to do? I can call out injustice and wrongdoing when I see it. I can work for peace and justice in my own community. I can vote. I can write this blog. I can listen to people who are not like me. I can consume less. I can love. I imagine a golden river of loving energy flowing out from me to embrace everyone I meet. What are you called to do?