This week I have been affected by two (there are more) accounts of persecution. One, the death of the “butcher” or Iran, infamous for killing women, even young girls, for refusing to wear the hajib and follow strict anti-feminine edicts. I was appalled when out President invited a “moment of silence in his honor.
The second is the reading of a book for our book club. It accounts the horrendous persecution of the Jews in World War II and those who dared help them. I cannot finish the book. It is so depressing.
I know of intense persecution of Christians in India and Nigeria and China, and even in the U.S.
The world is in a sad place.
I know it is not new. People always have been, and always will be in this mortal life, self-centered, proud, egotistic, and haughty, thinking themselves better than others. They make themselves idols, little (or even medium-sized) gods in their own image. They break the first commandment, either because they are oblivious, or because the think “the man upstairs” (itself blasphemy) won’t notice or is not worthy of their attention. It leads to oppression, self-centeredness (even in driving) and persecution.
Ephesians 3:10-12, holds a different view, the one that I espouse. “Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels. All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in Him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go.”
When persecution comes to us (and we see clear signs in the denigration of our justice system among other emerging attitudes) may it stir us to be ever vigilant in protesting its invasion into our culture. As Susan Larsen writes in her Blessings for Every Day, “May you understand on a greater level your secure standing in Christ. May you approach Him with fresh boldness and faith assured of His glad welcome. May your prayers move heaven and earth and may you remember that everywhere you place your feet, God’s kingdom comes to earth.”
As we prepare to observe Memorial Day, may we mindfully celebrate the efforts and sacrifices of the men and women and their families that have guarded and fought for and been killed and maimed as a result. May we not memorialize the hedonists and allow protestors to bellow about their causes when freedom is at stake. Yes, war is loathsome, hideous, and ugly, but freedom is worth fighting for. Wherever there is injustice or there is tyranny, wherever there is persecution and racial and ethnic hatred, wherever there is political misuse of power–as our first patriots know, and as partisan politics is now showing, we need to be vigilant and vocal to diminish its power over people.
Now that artificial intelligence tries to overcome the creator’s plan to make us in His image, we need to espouse the positive nature of God: His guidance, His trustworthiness,, His wisdom, and His love for us. Let us think on those things, and the positive attributes for which moral mankind was created.
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