Thoughts and
Prayers
“Sometimes
the best way to bring good news to the poor is to bring actual good
news to the poor. It appears a good way to bring relief to the
oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's almost like
Jesus meant what He said. When you're desperate, usually the best
news you can receive is food, water, shelter. These provisions
communicate God's presence infinitely more than a tract or Christian
performance in the park. They convey, 'God loves you so dearly, [God]
sent people to your rescue.'”
Jen
Hatmaker (7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess)
We Westerners are big on
sending “thoughts and prayers” to people in distress. I think if
I hear one more well-heeled politician say “our thoughts and
prayers are with the people of...” before they rush off to have
dinner in some posh Washington watering hole—well, I just may
scream. Not that there's anything wrong with thoughts and prayers—I'm
a true believer in the power of collective prayer, but what people really
need is help. The people of Puerto Rico are still reeling a year
after a hurricane leveled their islands, and the American West is once again
burning to the ground, with people's homes up in flames in several
states. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you...” but we're busy
planning a state visit for the dictator who interfered with our
democratic system. Does that seem a little off to anyone else?
Jesus' disciples appealed
to him to send the multitude away so they could find food in the
towns, saying it would cost a year's wages to feed the more than 5000
gathered there in the wilderness. He declined, saying, “They do
not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (Matthew
14:16) That's pretty clear, isn't it? Simple sentences, simple
instructions. He didn't say, “Let's pray for these people that they
may survive their hunger out here in the wilderness.”
I saw Jen Hatmaker
several times at the Wild Goose Festival. She's vivacious,
charismatic and genuine in her dedication to her call. When she and
her husband, also a minister, came to the elders in the church they had founded in Austin,
TX, and told them they could no longer support the notion that LGBTQ
people were not equal to others in the sight of God, they were
summarily fired. What followed was totally unreal—hate
mail, death threats, a period of time with no jobs with five children
to feed, and crushing depression. The thing that kept them going was a core group of people
who gathered around them and helped them in real-world ways until they could get to the other side.
She told the story of a photograph a friend sent her of elephants
standing in a circle, trunks out, tails in, shoulder to shoulder. In
the center of the circle, one elephant was giving birth, or was
injured and vulnerable. The others encircled her to protect her until
the threat had passed. In Jen Hatmaker's words, “They had her
back. Nothing was getting to her as long as they were there.”
That's what is expected of us. “Sometimes the best way to bring
good news...is to bring actual good news” in the form of hands,
feet, food, clothing, shelter, and moral support. And, along with all
of that, thoughts and prayers are helpful as well.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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