In a short encouraging email article, “Honoring the Pause Between,” Savannah’s Ordinary Magic looks at the week we are in right now:
“This week between Christmas and the New Year often feels a little untethered. The calendar keeps moving, but something in us slows down.
It’s a liminal time — not quite behind us, not yet ahead. A space where nothing needs to be decided, named, or improved. Where rest doesn’t have to justify itself. Where listening matters more than planning.
January will come soon enough, and with it we’ll begin tending the inner hearth — warmth, protection, intention, and care. For now, this week belongs to rest and gentle noticing.” ordinarymagic.com
May we all experience—and gift—peace during this in-between time.
From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
Just a couple of days before Christmas, Fugelsang reminds us that “Jesus blessed the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), forgave his enemies, even on the cross (Luke 23:34), and taught his followers to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).” p. 275
From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
Today, Fugelsang takes a magnifying glass to the uncomfortable topic of … white supremacy:
“All forms of white supremacy—belief in the superiority of white people over others—stand in direct contradiction to the life and teachings of Jesus, who consistently commanded love for all people, especially the persecuted or marginalized. Jesus was about humbling oneself, not exalting one’s own group. White supremacy divides humanity into superior and inferior groups, giving a pasty middle finger to Jesus’s message of radical unity.” p. 267
“Modern white supremacy exists on a broad, and expanding, spectrum. From the KKK, neo-Nazis, and armed militias to bloviating public intellectuals lending credibility to white replacement theory, from dog-whistle politicians and media to smiling church folk who oppose every racial justice movement, generations of white Christians have resisted any changes to a racially exclusive status quo.” p. 267
“White supremacy is a system that can’t merely be reduced to its most violent expressions. Supremacists don’t all necessarily hate anyone; it’s often easier to just stay pleasantly indifferent to racial injustices and talk vaguely about ‘traditional demographics’ and ‘heritage’” p. 267
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“Christian theology teaches that every person is made in the Imago Dei-the image of God (Genesis 1:27). White supremacy rejects this by implying that some humans look more like that image than others.” p. 267
“No one can serve both Christ and white supremacy. It’s not merely un-Christian; it is anti-Christian.” p. 268
So the other evening Robert and I drove over to daughter Amy‘s house on Skidaway Island (Savannah) to walk doggy Coastal while her fam was out of town.
Coastal was a tad impatiently ready.Coastal’s Parents’ Holiday-Happy Garage Doors
When Coastal, HR and I started meandering toward the next-door neighbor’s house, we saw this …
Wait, you need it in color. So let’s send Robert closer.
Either very cute or terrifying! This Rudolph has to be the biggest reindeer in the history of the world.
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I was so startled that a few of my photos came out quirky because of my nervously, shaking hands …
Or did that Holiday Giant have special Holiday Powers?
We urged Coastal to finish her business quickly and hastened our way back to the safe house.
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We left Coastal and her brother-from-another-mother Little Kitty at peace and watching the chimney with care.
NealEnJoy 