Unity

I have found a new blogger that I love. Rachel Held Evans. http://rachelheldevans.com/blog. I have only read a few things of hers, but what I have read has refreshed me beyond measure. My spiritual journey has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Lately it has been more of a spinning teacup that makes me feel sick. The reasons are deep, personal and complex, and too complicated to address here. But to read the words of a woman who seemingly has had many of the same thoughts and even experiences regarding faith is almost astonishing to me. I've even clicked on other links from her blog and there are more people out there like me!

The point of this particular blog post, though, is to reiterate some of the things she recently said regarding faith, but to apply it politically. These past several years have been most hostile as far as politics go. Causing arguments among friends and family members. Causing polarization and separation. Disdain. Judgement. Sometimes even hate, it seems. I have become overwhelmed and what I used to find intellectually rousing and even fun has come to be tiring, draining, annoying and frustrating. Since the midterm elections were just two days ago, and I read Rachel's blog today, I thought it would be nice to share what she said, applying it to both faith and politics.

(prior to the following paragraph Rachel was sharing about her experience with Calvinists, a doctrine of faith different than her own, and how she found herself being criticized and so criticizing, being attacked, and so attacking, etc.) I have added political words and phrases for my point as she goes on to say:

"I share this with you not to pick a fight but to plead for a truce. As a new generation preparing to tackle the age-old debate about predestination and free will, (government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all and personal responsibility, limited government) our positions don’t have to change but our attitudes can. We can criticize one another’s interpretations of the Bible (or the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or the intentions of our founding fathers) without assuming motive. We can point out the inconsistencies in certain faith (political) traditions without attacking the people in them. We can talk about our disagreements knowing that what we have in common far outweighs our differences...We are the future of the Church (this nation, this world) and we have an opportunity here to change the tone."

Just think about it. In politics. In faith. WITHIN our differences, we can respect each other. We can uplift each other. We can embrace each other. We can love each other. I have been challenged here, have you?