peace on earth
THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT in this country has caused great concern among many of us, Christian and otherwise. This month’s scripture passages spark various theological and socio-political hauntings that shed insight for us on how to respond.
For instance, we need to understand that God does not seek the destruction of creation to manifest God’s plan. No calamity can be justified as somehow being “God’s intention.” In addition, we need prophetic peace with all of God’s creation. This peace demands justice and reparations. I continue to pray for Palestine, Israel, and other nations where violence abounds. Third, we stand with all the queer people who are experiencing tremendous hardships because of intentional policy choices. Fourth, we will not be fooled by hate speeches that pretend to be freedom speeches. Words matter. We are responsible for what we say on any platform or in any capacity.
Our circumstances require us to respond, in whatever ways we can and on the issues that speak particularly to us. As we do so, even while we create room for self-critique, we are invited to be generous and patient with ourselves as we seek to navigate as wisely as possible these challenging times.
The letter arrived at work about two weeks after baseball’s opening day in 2003. It had a Zanesville, Ohio, postmark. A return address sticker mentioned a Mrs. Howard Richardson.
What‘s this about?
Inside was a handwritten note along with a neatly clipped copy of my Cincinnati Reds season preview story from the Zanesville Times Recorder. I didn’t have to read far to get the gist.
This Mrs. Howard Richardson — she wasn’t happy with me. Not at all.
In beautiful cursive — the kind of handwriting you don’t see anymore — she pointedly took me to task for suggesting the Reds could be awful that season. I should be more positive, she insisted. It would help the players.
“You get more flies with honey than vinegar!!!!!” she wrote. (Yes, underlined and topped off with many exclamation points.)
The note was signed: Evelyn Richardson.