Mirror

 “To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger—these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

I'm finding lately that I am struggling finding words for the current state of our world.

Many of us are waking up today with hearts heavy after a harsh day of violence yesterday.

It's getting harder and harder to recognize democracy and Jesus in the streets of America. News photos make me think I'm seeing a small foreign country. I've been struggling to figure out why that is so.

This week I had the privilege of being our church's volunteer to read to children in our community. I stepped into their world for a brief hour.

I told my team a few weeks ago that our goal in going into our community is not to solve the literacy problem in our community. I hope we build language nutrition, but that is not the goal.

Our goal is to earn the trust of the kids.

Because without trust, you can't build skills.

We are going to step into their world and we are going to connect with them.

We may never finish a book. We are going to stop and make space for conversation. Because conversation breeds connection.

And connection builds community.

I gave up on reading my books aloud and decided what the kids needed that day was for me to sit with them. They wanted me to hear about ALL THE THINGS.

I looked into those sweet faces and thought "wow - that's the image of God."

I mirrored for them how God sees them. "You are kind." "You are creative." "You are persistent."

That's not the story told to them by everyone. They are "too much." They are "disruptive." They are "selfish."

The world today does not tell us how God sees us.

Because when we look at each other, we don't see with the eyes of God.

We are searching for differences. Defensive in our beliefs. Divisive in our language.

And thus we begin to see ourselves in the light of the world.

I'm overweight. I'm unattractive. I'm a bad person because of something I said.

We don't offer ourselves the grace and space that God does - so how do we expect to pour that out?

How we treat people, and how we talk about people, is not political.

We have to stop being afraid of being "political" and start speaking out about how those made in the image of God are treated.

Mama Warriors, it may feel like we are raising kids in unprecedented times. But that's just not so.

History tells us many stories of times when there was unrest. Times when people wrestled with right and wrong and landed on different sides.

I want my kids to have empathy for the whole narrative.

I want my kids to remember EVERYONE they encounter was born in the image of God.

I want them to speak to others, and about others, with that in mind.

And so that is what I model.