Especially in these divided times, Christians have to be agents not just of justice, but of reconciliation.

The following is my reflection for the Midweek Vespers service from November 4, 2020.

“Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. 14 And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Colossians 3:13–14

It’s almost over. …

Liberals and Never Trump Conservatives must learn Donald Trump was a warning from the Working-Class.

Alex was a worker at an Ohio factory. When his plant was bought out by a multinational corporation, he learned he learned how expendable he was to to the company.

Alex came down with the flu, which put him out of commission and out of work for three days. When he returned, he came armed with a doctor’s note explaining why he called in sick. The new plant manager didn’t accept the note because the doctor never said when Alex could come back to work. Alex got a revised note. This time the plant manager said he should have called in each day he was out. Alex explained in the past calling in on the first day was sufficient. …

2020 has been a rough year. But like my hometown of Flint, Michigan there is joy amidst the grief.

The year 2020 hasn’t ended yet. Unfortunately, we still have about six weeks in the year. Very few of us will be looking back fondly on this year of a pandemic with a quarter of a million dead, tons of canceled events, massive numbers of jobs lost, racial strife, and an incredibly divisive election that did damage to democracy. There was nothing good about the year 2020.

Right?

A few years I was back in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. As I drove down Dort Highway on the east side of town a memory came back to me. The memory was from the 1970s when I was in grade school. Up and down Dort Highway, auto carrier trucks would lumber down the road. The trucking company had it’s main garage on this side of town and you would see truck after truck filled with Buicks and Chevrolets going to all points. That memory came back to me forty years later because as I drove down this road, I realized that those carriers no longer lumbered down the road. They hadn’t driven on that road for years. …

A corny commercial from two Utah politicians urging civility and respect seems out of place in a society where differing ideologies want to fight.

The commercials are reminiscent of the “I’m a PC/ I’m a Mac” ads of the mid-oughts. Two younger men are standing in a greyish background. Both wear gray suits. One wears a red tie with an elephant on his lapel and the other wears a blue tie with a donkey button on his lapel.

The two men are Republican Spencer Cox and Democrat Chris Peterson. Both are campaigning to be next governor of Utah. In the final month of the campaign, the two politicians took the time to make a series of commercials-together. The two decided to make a series of commercials to urge people to learn to live with each other in spite of our differences. …

If Trump critics want to rid the GOP of Trumpism they are going to have to play the game of politics.

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse made news on October 15 when a tape bearing his speech to donors was taped. He was incredibly upset with President Trump’s actions and how that will affect the Republican Party. The response was mixed. Some were glad he said something, but the overwhelming response was that it was too late. He was a strong critic against the President, until he faced a challenging primary. Then he went dark. Now he is starting to be the critic against Trump again now that he won his primary and is headed to an easy win for his second term. …

Republicans went from Supporting Civil Rights to Donald Trump.

In August of 2013, the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. This milestone in Civil Rights history was an occasion for a number of politicos to show up and be seen at this remembrance. But there was someone missing. Actually, it was a group of someones. Republicans.

Former President George W. Bush had a legitimate excuse; he was recovering from a coronary procedure. His father wasn’t able to make it due to age and declining health. But other politicians such as then-House Speaker John Boehner and then majority leader Eric Cantor didn’t have a health excuse. …

Civility and Manners matter more to democracy than we thought.

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.

1 Corinthians 10:23–24 (New Revised Standard Version)

In the days since we learned of the passing of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one observation has come to mind: no one is doing anything illegal.

People may talk as if rushing a new justice before the election is illegal, it really isn’t. …

2020 has been a difficult year. It’s about to get much worse.

If you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, it just did.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the longtime Supreme Court justice passed away Friday evening at the age of 87 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. While we mourn the passing of a great legal mind and trendsetter for women’s rights, we also have to steel ourselves for the coming political maelstrom. It will be epic.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he plans for the Senate to vote on Ginsburg’s replacement which President Trump should name in a few days. …