FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024 - TO THE CHURCH OF MY YOUTH

FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024

NOTE - THIS IS NOT MINE (until I add my thoughts later).  I took it from Lorri May, who took it from Chris Kratzer (who I don’t know). 

*****

To the church of my youth,

What the hell did you expect me to do?

You told me to love my neighbors and model Jesus's life. I want to be kind and considerate and stand up for the bullied.

You told me to love people and consider others more important than myself.

You taught me to sing, "Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight."

We sang it together, pressing the volume pedal and leaning our hearts into the chorus. We sang, “Jesus loves all the children of the world.”

You told me to love my enemies and do good to those who wish for bad things. You told me never to "hate" anyone and always to find ways to encourage people.

You told me it's better to give than receive, to be last instead of first, to help the poor, the widow, and the stranger at the gate.

You told me that Jesus looks at what I do for the least of as the true depth of my faith. You told me to focus on my sin and not to judge.  You told me to be accepting and forgiving.

So, I paid attention.

I took in every lesson.

And I did what you told me.

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But now, you call me a libtard. A queer-lover. You call me "woke." A backslider.

You call me a heretic. You make fun of my heart. You mock the people I’m trying to help.

You say I’m a child of the devil.

You call me soft. A snowflake. A socialist. You shun the very people you told me to help.

What the hell did you expect me to do?

I thought you were serious, but apparently not.

You hate nearly all the people I love and oppose almost all the things I stand for. I'm trying to see a way forward, but it's hard when I consider all the hurt, harm, and darkness that comes in the wake of your beliefs and presence.

What the hell did you expect me to do?

I believed it all the way.

I'm still believing it all the way.

Which leaves me wondering, what happened to you?

- Chris Kratzer, with edits

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Okay. Karen thinks this is accurate. I’m in Texas. We have no consistent border policy. Last week, President Biden and former President Trump both visited the Texas-Mexico border, and there was more rhetoric and finger-pointing. The locals said, " Border, border, border, is that all you politicians think about? What about water rights between Mexico and Texas? There is little water when the Rio Grande gets to the fertile plains.   Some say all the immigrants at the border are thugs, drug dealers, and gangsters.    THESE ARE HUMAN BEING FOLKS!!  Love your neighbor.  Where is “innocent until proven guilty”?!  NOPE - we are going to send them back.   

We’ve put razor wire in the middle of the Rio Grande River - that’s not very inviting!!  The attorney general for Texas is harassing a Catholic Hispanic mission in El Paso for possibly harboring illegal aliens.    

I’ve mentioned this many times: ( Part of the New Colossus Poem on the Statue of Liberty)  

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

*****

Yes, Jesus loves the Little Children of the World, Red,  Yellow, Black, and White—not just the children but ALL PEOPLE.  LOVE WINS - NOT HATE.  Where did Christianity go wrong?  (Did it become aligned with a particular political party?

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, March 22, 2024