August 20, 2023
It’s Sunday, August 20, 2023. I wonder how many prayers there are from churches, directed toward Yellow Knife, Kelowna, Maui. Asking God to ‘be with them’ and/or our leaders. Those ‘in prayer’ will feel that they’ve done their part, that God will do the heavy lifting.
What ignorance! That is, how can those praying, ignore the foundations of their faith, that God so loves the world that the Holy Word came to all people that we might better fulfill our original mandate to ‘Keep and Till’ the Earth, because the Earth is Holy? Those who ‘believe’ in Christ, should be the leaders in ‘saving the world’. The tragic fact is, Christianity has been the bane of the world, and shows no signs of changing.
Where are the churches that are actually doing something, (besides praying)? There are a few exceptions, but too few to mention. Where are there Christian communities that are using their land for community gardens or tiny homes for those in need of housing. How many churches are urging and organizing their people to share their homes, helping those who are renting, to move in with the older singles who are in large and empty houses? How many churches organize ride-sharing to their events so the huge parking lot can be better used? Are there any communities where churches are the leaders in life-changes that are needed? How many churches have solar panels or heat pumps instead of furnaces?
If we hear anything about climate action and Christianity, it’s about how the Fundamentalists are either denying the whole thing, or that they see our crisis as the beginning of the End Times, something that the Second Coming of Christ will straighten out, eventually, so why bother? Many Christians feel that to do anything about our crisis is to interfere with the will of God! And they’re spending money to prove it.
The world is burning, or being flooded. It’s time for ‘moderate’ churches to decide what to do, to declare it, and to DO it. Or please, just close down and get out of the way.
The message of Jesus, almost two-thousand years ago, was simple. “Follow me.” Back then it meant to literally become a new person, one who chose to follow the way of shared and involved community that Jesus showed. It wasn’t a matter of ‘believing’ that there was a Way, but of living it. You left your old way of spending, owning, collecting. Your old family became secondary to those on the same path. Your past didn’t matter. The shared path forward was open to all. There was no need to fear.
It’s the same now. Churches, hear the Call once again. It’s for you. You’ve got a lot of baggage to leave behind. I doubt that many of you will. But anything is possible. You have the power and the opportunity to lead and become a difference. As the song says, ‘Please get out of the new world if you can’t lend a hand, for Times, they’ve been a-changing’. You’ve been standing on the roadside, cheering as Jesus walked by. It’s time to join, become new, and follow. Christians, please, become your prayers. Keep and Till. Start to live as if you love the world. We need you. God is with us all. Let’s have the love and smarts to live up to that fact.
Anthony, mad, sad and still hopeful.
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Anthony Gifford
118 Ford Street Kingston, ON K7K4Z6
Judy’s phone number 613 985 1029
House phone number 613 344 2322
anthonygifford42@gmail.com
