Hi Diana, I don't know if you'll read this, however, I just wanted to thank you for The Cottage and for writing so much, so often. It's what I really need right now. This truly is the best value subscription I've ever had. Your writing makes so much sense and helps me as I seek to navigate out of some of the murky waters of fundamentalism and, sadly, evangelicalism and into a more inclusive faith. Your writing gives me an alternative view, options and offers me a different way to believe. Keep up the good work. This article you wrote on True Freedom was posted on June 26th which is my birthday. It's something I'm starting to find and am so grateful to God for it.
To be free is to be able to choose. Even with more restrictions of many kinds, we must continue to choose to respond and assert. When we know many of the choices will be ignored, we must continue with the whole truth.
Thank you for this thoughtful and timely reflection. It really resonated with me, and I have been guilty of an attitude of enmity and strife since 2016.
I believe the worst thing Jesus experienced before his own crucifixion was the beheading of John the Baptist. Right after a brief time alone, he intensified his healing ministry and fed several thousand people.
In addition to the things that bring righteous anger to you and so many of us, we at St. Stephen's, Birmingham, lost three wonderful members to a shooter at a parish supper party. Bad things happen to all of us and with some frequency. That will continue. But, the thing we have control over is how we respond! Jesus was aware that we would be assaulted by evil, "In the world you will have tribulation," he said. But he then said, "But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The loving response at St. Stephen's has been palpable! A huge increase in worship attendance and an observable deepening in contact with one another and the neighborhood. Clear intensity of our increasing awareness of those in need. - Doug Carpenter
These verses from Galatians 5 are my go-to text for the Sunday closest to July 4. (In the Florida Conference of the UMC, that can be your first Sunday at a new appointment, of all things.) "For freedom Christ has set us free!" However...
For many Americans, I fear, "freedom" is a code word for not being accountable to anyone or anything.
When I first started to read this scripture, I was not wanting to read further. However, I did and as usual, you hit the nail on the head! Thank you. I feel connected and share your feelings and truth.
I need to learn how to try to love the neighbors we all like to categorize and judge as “Trump Supporters”. Embracing anger has not worked in bringing them closer to me so that we can share the message of Love your Neighbor. Some friends are “Trump Supporters “ and it is hard…
thanks diana for all your good work(s)! for what it might contribute and as confirmation of your recent 'musing' on freedom, here's something i wrote in 1992 defending my participation in a PRO-CHOICE rally.
Jesus Christ turned to the inquiring pharisee
and asked for a coin. Pointing to the likeness
imprinted on the metal disk he asked, "who is
this?". "Caesar" was the reply. "Then", Christ
advised, "render unto Caesar that which is
Caesar's and unto God what is God's".
Is Christ's answer regarding allegiances timeless? 'Pertinent to contemporary democratic government? Is it possible to 'render unto Caesar' while actually BEING a self-governing 'Caesar'...and still withhold the more proper portion of our faith for that which is God's? The resolution of these questions continues to be a challenging interpretive task, particularly when those distinctions between civil law and the rights of all citizens and the religious persuasions and the rights to maintain them seem to be working at cross purposes.
Since the builders of the American constitution forbade the creation of a 'state' religion while guaranteeing the freedom of worship, the resultant 'balance' produced by this simultaneous restriction and privilege draws us as American citizens into a situation not unlike what courts might refer to as 'personal recognizance'; that is the encouragement of individual faith by the inhibiting of state religion...
And this delicate balance between the competing concerns of faith and control is also found in us as individuals. given the complexity of the multi-leveled concerns that make up the abortion 'issue', it is understandable then that one of the common assumptions within the christian community is that to allow the Roe vs Wade decision to stand is tantamount to giving 'permission for murder'. But we need to be reminded that the Roe vs Wade decision is not a ruling about the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of abortion. It is more particularly a high court's considered opinion as to whether, and to what degree, a person's moral accountability is to God or to the state.
(Actually and ironically, the reversal of Roe vs Wade could provide the legal precedent for the state to 'monitor' the fetal development of its future citizens and, though such control is certainly not the vision of pro-life forces, neither is it beyond the scope of a government grown repressive and whose exercise of control and 'concern' becomes more important than the freedom of its people.)
In a country as diverse in its ethnic base as America, some concerns of the individual cultures will blend some will not. "Life has no quality without Freedom" say some. "You have to give up your life to find Life" say others. "Come to Me..." whispers our Creator. "Within Me there is the resolution of all conflict. Within my Love there is True Freedom. Within my Love there is Life Everlasting."
I do believe that even the most oppositional of perspectives are healed within God. Many would call this 'faith', though after over twenty years as a Christian I find it many times to be just as much a 'trust based on past experience'. Still, call it what you will, by virtue of this trust/faith, I have come to accept some significant concepts as Truth.
For instance, I hold as true that the uniqueness of personhood is present at conception though it is a fact that a child in the womb is NOT physically separate from the mother. However, while I may feel spiritually certain that a mother and child ARE each known uniquely in the Mind of God, it is after all MY certainty and possibly not that of the woman actually bearing the child.
Therefore it seems that what is understood as True for one of us may not be necessarily understood as True for another until such time as another's faith allows. And, while pregnancy may represent a joy and a promise to one, it very well may be an overwhelming responsibility and danger to another.
Then, of course, there is the matter of the 'mandated baby'. If the mother does not want the child but is nonetheless forced to bring the pregnancy to full term, who then bears the responsibility for the infant should the mother still not want the child after birthing? Do opponents of the roe-wade decision assume that private adoption agencies will have enough parents standing in line to adopt the three or four million children 'saved' annually? Or will the child become a ward of the state? There's something very orwellian about the concept of several million babies per year becoming orphans of the state.
Though many of us have learned that hardships bring growth, maturity and wisdom, there is no temporal law that commands us to face hardships with nobility and trust and faith; that is rather for us to discover...
If we 'render unto Caesar' our moral accountability, we will find that we have sacrificed the future of even those we are trying to save. For, it is in the commitment of error, and yes, occasionally sometimes irreversible, devastatingly permanent error, that we come to learn certain eternal truths; our own limitations, and the resultant 'pain' of freedom.
It is lamentable that the 'unborns' die daily; victims of a battle that began before their conception. But coercion, violence, selfishness, manipulation and ignorance will not cease simply because we pass a law forbidding them. One cannot engender within another heart, by the passage of a law, the understanding of the preciousness of life or a vision of pregnancy in its miraculous nature anymore than the granting of a marriage license can produce a 'desire' to make a marriage work.
Yes freedom to choose , to work on kin-dom , neighborhood ness. And to call people out when need be in love. You have shown a way to use our justifiable anger and to try to work with people who only see it in personal to self. Suggestion for any one on this blog, if you are young enough to have always known the freedom to choose medical care for self, talk to some of the elder retired professionals who were giving care during that time, and to people who may not have had to make personal hard choices but had so many friends who did and to walk with them. And who were
mainline Christian during that time and maybe still are Christian. Or not but they have experience and wisdom to offer.
"Frankly, I feel angry right now. I want to march down the street yelling and screaming and quarreling with every single Trump voter I see. When I look at the “bad” list I’m currently guilty, guilty, guilty of enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions — not to mention that I’d like to get drunk to forget all this messed-up political garbage we’re going through."
Exactly how I feel. Thank you. Now I need to work through the positive ways you and Paul offer to deal with it (Here comes the hard part).
Hi Diana, I don't know if you'll read this, however, I just wanted to thank you for The Cottage and for writing so much, so often. It's what I really need right now. This truly is the best value subscription I've ever had. Your writing makes so much sense and helps me as I seek to navigate out of some of the murky waters of fundamentalism and, sadly, evangelicalism and into a more inclusive faith. Your writing gives me an alternative view, options and offers me a different way to believe. Keep up the good work. This article you wrote on True Freedom was posted on June 26th which is my birthday. It's something I'm starting to find and am so grateful to God for it.
To be free is to be able to choose. Even with more restrictions of many kinds, we must continue to choose to respond and assert. When we know many of the choices will be ignored, we must continue with the whole truth.
Thank you for your words. You gave me the quote for my protest poster.
FREEDOM = CHOICE!!!
Thank you for this thoughtful and timely reflection. It really resonated with me, and I have been guilty of an attitude of enmity and strife since 2016.
I believe the worst thing Jesus experienced before his own crucifixion was the beheading of John the Baptist. Right after a brief time alone, he intensified his healing ministry and fed several thousand people.
In addition to the things that bring righteous anger to you and so many of us, we at St. Stephen's, Birmingham, lost three wonderful members to a shooter at a parish supper party. Bad things happen to all of us and with some frequency. That will continue. But, the thing we have control over is how we respond! Jesus was aware that we would be assaulted by evil, "In the world you will have tribulation," he said. But he then said, "But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The loving response at St. Stephen's has been palpable! A huge increase in worship attendance and an observable deepening in contact with one another and the neighborhood. Clear intensity of our increasing awareness of those in need. - Doug Carpenter
This has been so helpful to me in trying to deal with the emotions I’ve experienced since Friday. Thank you!❤️
Jesus must have been angry when he overturned the tables in the Temple!
Praying for anger at the right time - now!
These verses from Galatians 5 are my go-to text for the Sunday closest to July 4. (In the Florida Conference of the UMC, that can be your first Sunday at a new appointment, of all things.) "For freedom Christ has set us free!" However...
For many Americans, I fear, "freedom" is a code word for not being accountable to anyone or anything.
When I first started to read this scripture, I was not wanting to read further. However, I did and as usual, you hit the nail on the head! Thank you. I feel connected and share your feelings and truth.
I need to learn how to try to love the neighbors we all like to categorize and judge as “Trump Supporters”. Embracing anger has not worked in bringing them closer to me so that we can share the message of Love your Neighbor. Some friends are “Trump Supporters “ and it is hard…
thanks diana for all your good work(s)! for what it might contribute and as confirmation of your recent 'musing' on freedom, here's something i wrote in 1992 defending my participation in a PRO-CHOICE rally.
Jesus Christ turned to the inquiring pharisee
and asked for a coin. Pointing to the likeness
imprinted on the metal disk he asked, "who is
this?". "Caesar" was the reply. "Then", Christ
advised, "render unto Caesar that which is
Caesar's and unto God what is God's".
Is Christ's answer regarding allegiances timeless? 'Pertinent to contemporary democratic government? Is it possible to 'render unto Caesar' while actually BEING a self-governing 'Caesar'...and still withhold the more proper portion of our faith for that which is God's? The resolution of these questions continues to be a challenging interpretive task, particularly when those distinctions between civil law and the rights of all citizens and the religious persuasions and the rights to maintain them seem to be working at cross purposes.
Since the builders of the American constitution forbade the creation of a 'state' religion while guaranteeing the freedom of worship, the resultant 'balance' produced by this simultaneous restriction and privilege draws us as American citizens into a situation not unlike what courts might refer to as 'personal recognizance'; that is the encouragement of individual faith by the inhibiting of state religion...
And this delicate balance between the competing concerns of faith and control is also found in us as individuals. given the complexity of the multi-leveled concerns that make up the abortion 'issue', it is understandable then that one of the common assumptions within the christian community is that to allow the Roe vs Wade decision to stand is tantamount to giving 'permission for murder'. But we need to be reminded that the Roe vs Wade decision is not a ruling about the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of abortion. It is more particularly a high court's considered opinion as to whether, and to what degree, a person's moral accountability is to God or to the state.
(Actually and ironically, the reversal of Roe vs Wade could provide the legal precedent for the state to 'monitor' the fetal development of its future citizens and, though such control is certainly not the vision of pro-life forces, neither is it beyond the scope of a government grown repressive and whose exercise of control and 'concern' becomes more important than the freedom of its people.)
In a country as diverse in its ethnic base as America, some concerns of the individual cultures will blend some will not. "Life has no quality without Freedom" say some. "You have to give up your life to find Life" say others. "Come to Me..." whispers our Creator. "Within Me there is the resolution of all conflict. Within my Love there is True Freedom. Within my Love there is Life Everlasting."
I do believe that even the most oppositional of perspectives are healed within God. Many would call this 'faith', though after over twenty years as a Christian I find it many times to be just as much a 'trust based on past experience'. Still, call it what you will, by virtue of this trust/faith, I have come to accept some significant concepts as Truth.
For instance, I hold as true that the uniqueness of personhood is present at conception though it is a fact that a child in the womb is NOT physically separate from the mother. However, while I may feel spiritually certain that a mother and child ARE each known uniquely in the Mind of God, it is after all MY certainty and possibly not that of the woman actually bearing the child.
Therefore it seems that what is understood as True for one of us may not be necessarily understood as True for another until such time as another's faith allows. And, while pregnancy may represent a joy and a promise to one, it very well may be an overwhelming responsibility and danger to another.
Then, of course, there is the matter of the 'mandated baby'. If the mother does not want the child but is nonetheless forced to bring the pregnancy to full term, who then bears the responsibility for the infant should the mother still not want the child after birthing? Do opponents of the roe-wade decision assume that private adoption agencies will have enough parents standing in line to adopt the three or four million children 'saved' annually? Or will the child become a ward of the state? There's something very orwellian about the concept of several million babies per year becoming orphans of the state.
Though many of us have learned that hardships bring growth, maturity and wisdom, there is no temporal law that commands us to face hardships with nobility and trust and faith; that is rather for us to discover...
If we 'render unto Caesar' our moral accountability, we will find that we have sacrificed the future of even those we are trying to save. For, it is in the commitment of error, and yes, occasionally sometimes irreversible, devastatingly permanent error, that we come to learn certain eternal truths; our own limitations, and the resultant 'pain' of freedom.
It is lamentable that the 'unborns' die daily; victims of a battle that began before their conception. But coercion, violence, selfishness, manipulation and ignorance will not cease simply because we pass a law forbidding them. One cannot engender within another heart, by the passage of a law, the understanding of the preciousness of life or a vision of pregnancy in its miraculous nature anymore than the granting of a marriage license can produce a 'desire' to make a marriage work.
some things we must learn for ourselves...
in Love,
noel paul stookey (1992)
Yes freedom to choose , to work on kin-dom , neighborhood ness. And to call people out when need be in love. You have shown a way to use our justifiable anger and to try to work with people who only see it in personal to self. Suggestion for any one on this blog, if you are young enough to have always known the freedom to choose medical care for self, talk to some of the elder retired professionals who were giving care during that time, and to people who may not have had to make personal hard choices but had so many friends who did and to walk with them. And who were
mainline Christian during that time and maybe still are Christian. Or not but they have experience and wisdom to offer.
Thank you.
"Frankly, I feel angry right now. I want to march down the street yelling and screaming and quarreling with every single Trump voter I see. When I look at the “bad” list I’m currently guilty, guilty, guilty of enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions — not to mention that I’d like to get drunk to forget all this messed-up political garbage we’re going through."
Exactly how I feel. Thank you. Now I need to work through the positive ways you and Paul offer to deal with it (Here comes the hard part).
This atheist loves this post. So glad I recently subscribed.