Last week we paused to consider the idea that we are God’s
Holy Ground, and God’s co-workers. We each bear fruit in and for the Kingdom.
The hypothesis would be: If I am God’s Holy Ground: then every other person on
the planet is also God’s Holy Ground.
That can be difficult to believe when there is so much
hatred and violence. There are wars and shootings, there is pain and suffering,
there is loss and death. How can the person or people who cause the death and
suffering be God’s Holy Ground? It’s easy to see that someone like Mother
Teresa is Holy Ground. It is harder to identify Holy Ground in a drug addict or
terrorist.
However, isn’t that exactly what we are called to do? Called
to see God’s flame in each and everyone we meet? Called to notice the Holy
Ground in the lost and frightened? Called to recognize that God is present in
those we’d prefer to categorize as ‘other’ or ‘different’ or ‘bad’ or…all the
other titles we can give one another?
On Oct. 15 in her Episcopal Café Speaking to the Soul post, Linda McMillan quoted Anne Lamott, “You can safely assume you‘ve created God in
your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
McMillan goes on to note, “A lot of times our actions and our talking have an
edge, an undercurrent of hostility, to borrow a phrase.” She is talking mainly
about social media interactions that are mean-spirited. However, it has become
the norm in many face-to-face conversations to have just the slightest edge
when talking about some topics, or to be snide or sharp about this or that
person. Perhaps it’s a co-worker, or a politician, or another public figure, we do what my mother used to call ‘damn with a word’. We don’t necessarily
even say anything, but the sigh, the rolled eyes, the slight sneer all say
volumes.
McMillan reminds us, “another danger is to become so angry
that we forget the real answer to that question my friend posed. Who do they
think they are? I know who they are. They
are beloved children of God; complicated, and reviled, but also loved. I
don’t like it, but there’s no getting around it. It is neither just nor wise to
judge a person’s life based on the worst things they’ve ever done. I want to be
judged on the best, kindest, noblest things I’ve ever done, after all, how
about you?”
In the Epistle from last Sunday, Paul says, “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes,
and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have
struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the
rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say,
Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not
worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever
is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the
things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God
of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:2-9)
Paul urges the community at Philippi to be like-minded, not
mean-spirited. He encourages them to think about GOOD things-honorable, just,
pure things, rather than focusing on the negatives of circumstances or of one
another.
How can we see God’s face in everyone? How do we respond to
the question of ‘Who do they think they are?’ Can we possibly look for the good
in those we would rather categorize?
Linda McMillan concludes her meditation, “When you feel the
hostility rise, and the blanket of being right enfolds you, ask yourself this?
What kind of person am I becoming? Who will I be when this is all over? Then go
out and actually be the kind of change you want to see in the world: Do a
kindness for someone who needs it, or for yourself! You probably need it! Let
some joy enter the world by letting it enter your own life. Laugh, and dance,
and sing as if the kingdom of God had already come, because it has!”
Perhaps this week you can find something uplifting to post
on Facebook instead of responding to a negative comment. Perhaps, instead of
entering into conversations demeaning another of God’s beloved ones, you can
find something positive to say. Look for the Holy Ground in each and every
person you meet, talk about, or see on TV. It won’t be easy, but it might take
just a touch of the anger out of the cosmos and replace it with something
beautiful. It might replace hatred with Holy Ground
McMillan adds a PS to her meditation. She says, “And I will
keep looking for [the image of God] in you, in my students, in my boss in whom
it is also fairly dim… You get the idea. Our sacred pledge in baptism is to
seek and serve Christ in every person. If
you don’t even seek Christ, you can’t serve Christ. So, keep looking. Even
if you never find any image of God in another person, don’t let it be because
you weren’t looking.”
