Coldhearted and Christian are not compatible…

EDITED AND REPOSTED FROM OCT 25, 2021…

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Haitian Family at the US-Mexico border...

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I’m writing this as I enjoy being out on our roofed deck. It’s my favorite spot to sit, think, write, and sip hot coffee. The deck overlooks a green space replete with deciduous trees and creeping blackberries. It slopes steeply down to a creek, which we should start hearing again soon.

Fall is here in all of its splendor and northwest wetness. I love the gray, the steady rain, the damp cold, the falling leaves, and the shorter days. The chattering birds sound like they enjoy it as much as I do. I’m looking forward to being out in it later for exercise.

The wind is gusting now. I might have to move inside to warm up, but I can afford to gut it out a while longer. I’m sitting 8’ from warmth and dryness.

And that forces me to remember…

I live in a house I can call home… in a place now where I am free from the agonies of passports and visas. I’m no longer called “Gringo.” And Carol would have said no one pointed at her anymore and called her “Gaijin.”

Many people only dream of a place to call home… a safe space protected from the elements. For some, a tarpaper shack with a dirt floor would be a relief. Uprooted… no place to be… little food or water…, and no prospects. We count them by the millions now…, and it’s almost incomprehensible.

Add to their travail the reality of rejection. In country after country, nationalistic protectionism and economics take precedence over compassion. The assumption of an underlying respect for the dignity of fellow humans is just that… an ephemeral assumption… as distant from reality as a fairy tale.

My eyes burn, and my heart bleeds from the memory of displaced people under a bridge on the Texas side of the border with Mexico… herded and beaten back by uniforms on horseback… like something not quite as human as the rest of us. And this stuff happens in “God’s country” — as some have dared to label the USA.

The breadth and depth of injustice will always exceed our capacity for making things right. It will take the return of the King of kings to make the crooked paths straight. What a wonderful day that will be…!

Meanwhile, coldheartedness and Christlikeness are never compatible traits. A blind eye, a “God bless you” with a tinge of pity, and prayer are inadequate responses from a Jesus lover—to say nothing of treating other humans like our civil governments often do.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (James 2:15-16, ESV)

The Bible describes the fruit of God’s righteousness in those who belong to him. He transforms the way we interact with the disadvantaged and dispossessed.

He [the righteous man] has distributed freely; he has given to the poor. (Psalms 112:9, ESV)

She [the righteous woman] opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. (Proverbs 31:20, ESV)

Sobremesa (after-meal table talk)

I have wondered if my Sobremesa thoughts seem too insular. It can’t always be about a meal or coffee with people we already know and have fun with.

Here’s a thought… how about inviting someone to eat who actually needs to eat? That would change the dynamic for many of us. The conversation would undoubtedly go in a different direction. We might learn new things about people… and about ourselves, too. Who knows, maybe it would push us out of a waiting-for-a-door-to-open mode into a which-door-to-walk-through-first mode.

One person at a time… one meal at a time… one friend at a time… one disciple at a time. And the glory of it is… One true disciple turns into more than one…!