By Lilly Lewin
The presidential election of 2024 is over. It’s’ been a week. A heavy week. I have had anxiety and dread about this election since January.The tense division, the us verses them mentality, the anger, the verbal hatred and the threats of violence have kept many of us on edge and living in the land of anxiety. I’ve been envious of my Canadian friends as they only have to endure 50 days of an election season. Thanks to our process here in America, we don’t seem to ever get a break. And I detest how much money is spent on adverts and promotions for a campaign. I think often how we could solve so many problems here…hunger, homeless, etc with the amounts of money raised for campaigning. When one short commercial on TV has a 3 million dollar price tag, I know we have lost our way.
Last week I was truly dreading the election. I didn’t have anything to say for freerangefriday…I just felt numb. But over the weekend God changed my heart and I realized I needed to change through action. I realized that regardless of who won, I was called to love my neighbors so I decided that I would put some love and light out into the world in the form of Chocolate Chip Cookies. We have had several new people move into our neighborhood and I hadn’t met them or welcomed them yet. In Pre-covid times I did this a lot, but I’ve been out of practice making cookies and meeting the neighbors. So on Sunday I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies with dark, milk, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I walked next door and met the new family who just moved in with their 5 month old little girl. I met the new neighbors who moved in behind us who have young adult daughters. I reintroduced myself to the young woman who moved in a couple of doors down who was dog sitting for her parents. Then I headed down the hill.
Last week we had an altercation in our neighborhood whatsapp group that worried me. One person made a snide remark about the new family that moved into the old duplex at the bottom of the hill. This made me really interested in meeting them. I had noticed that they shared both sides of the duplex as the kids went in and out. I had noticed while walking the dog that they had laundry hanging outside. Not usually a normal thing in our neighborhood as everyone has a clothes dryer. The new family in the duplex is amazing! They are refugees being resettled by the UN. Three brothers and their mother and their spouses and children. They have only been in Nashville for three weeks. And only two weeks in our neighborhood. They accepted my cookies and welcomed me into their home and served me tea. I got to meet the kids and we had a fun time figuring out words and translation together. I asked the kids if they liked art because it didn’t look like they had much to play with yet. They said yes so I returned later in the day with a basket filled with art supplies, bubbles and books.( Having a garage filled with experiential worship gear is a real plus! ) We talked about their need for jobs and for a washer and dryer. I called a couple of neighbors and we are going to see if we can get them some appliances. This was all on the day of the election! Meeting these wonderful people who have been through so much brought me both hope and joy.
On Election night our thinplace house church met and shared communion together. We shared poems, scripture and songs that are bringing us peace and hope right now. We have people who vote differently but we are able to love each other deeply. We prayed Psalm 146 together and listened to (lectio diva) Mark 12:28-34 . Take some time to read through the passages and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
Psalm 146
146:1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
146:2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
146:4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
146:5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
146:6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
146:7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;
146:8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
146:9 The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
146:10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!
MARK 12: 28-34 ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
MARK 12: 28-34 FIRST NATIONS TRANSLATION
28One of the scroll keepers overheard Creator Sets Free (Jesus) opposing the Upright Ones. When he heard the good answer he had given, he asked him, “Which instruction in our tribal law stands first?”
29“The first and greatest instruction is this,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “‘Hear me, O tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), there is only one Great Spirit and Maker of us all. 30You must love the Great Spirit with your whole being—with the strength of your arms, the thoughts of your mind, and the courage of your heart.’
31“The second instruction is like the first,” he added. “You must love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourselves. There is no other instruction greater than these.”
32“Wisdomkeeper,” said the scroll keeper with a smile, “you have answered well and spoken the truth, for the Great Spirit is One and there is none other except him. 33To love him with your whole being—with the strength of your arms, the thoughts of your mind, and the courage of your heart, and to love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourselves—is far greater than all ceremonies and offerings we make to the Great Spirit.”
34When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) heard the scroll keeper’s wise answer, he said, “You are not far from Creator’s good road.”
After that, no one dared to ask him any other questions.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
What are you feeling today? Talk to Jesus about where you are. There are no wrong answers or emotions.
Consider you neighborhood, work, school, etc. Do these places change according to who won the election? Why or why not?
What about the people in your neighborhood, work etc? Do you change how you love them according to who won the election?
Sit with the Gospel and the Psalm and the other scriptures that have been shared and let Jesus speak to you. What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit Highlight for you?
A Prayer of Confession. From The Book of Common Prayer, Seabury Press, 1979
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
How can you get to know your neighbors? Who might need some cookies to brighten their day? How can you practice loving God and Loving your neighbors …even the ones who don’t look or think like you in the days ahead?
PRAY FOR AMERICA
We are in need of healing as a Nation.
Our country is divided and there is much pain & fear.
There is much anger and hostility.
And too much Us vs Them.
There are layers of brokenness and systems of evil and oppression that have deep roots.
How do we bring the Love of Jesus into all of this?
How can we be people who bring HEALING, who bring LOVE ? As Followers, Disciples of Jesus, who are about BLESSING how do we bring HOPE to our neighbors and our neighborhoods?
ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU
Hear this Benediction and Prayer of Protection for your spirit , for you to hold above all things your identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Rev Jes Kast
When others hate, may you love.
When others curse, may you bless.
When others hurt, may you heal.
When others divide, may you unite,
When others rage, may you calm.
When others deny, may you affirm.
You are a servant of the Light
You need not to be afraid of the darkness.
God strengthen you to carry on with your work and faithfully live who you are in Christ:
Love for the stranger, Love for enemy, Love for neighbor. AMEN
Based on a prayer by Steven Charleston, Native American Theologian and former Episcopal Bishop of Alaska
Seek joy in God and peace within; seek to rest in the good, the true, and the beautiful. It’s the only resting place that also allows us to hear and bear the darkness. RICHARD ROHR
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com