I will with God's help?

Some of the greatest forms of human suffering and tragedy came at the hands of those who were absolutely certain they were doing the right thing. Think about that, great suffering has resulted from those who were convinced they were absolutely right. I heard Richard Rohr say this recently and it made me think about the times that I thought I was doing the right thing only to later discover it was wrong.

Have you ever known for certain that what you were doing was right only to later discover that you were wrong?

Wonder why we want to play God with others lives? Fear? Control? Anger? I think of the Church and how many people throughout history have died for worshipping God in a different manner than another Christian; those who died were called heretics by those who lived. Those who lived were orthodox-- just ask them.

We still do it today, don’t we? We may not physically harm those who disagree with us, but we exercise our power in other ways. I am not suggesting that I need to hold hands with you and tip-toe through the tulips, but I am suggesting that I need to be conscious of my motives, especially when I am convinced I am right.

In my Baptismal Covenant I make some fairly bold statements.
"Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?"
"Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?"
"Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" After each statement I reply, I will with God’s help.

Most days I am lousy at living out my end of the covenant. I have to be willing to let God help me. This requires me examining my heart and motives. If it is not about the dignity of every human beings I can be fairly sure I need to proceed with caution. I recall watching a lady in Blockbuster slap her five year old in the head. How do I stand for the child's right while in some way serve Christ in the abuser? That is why I need God's help for left to my own sense of justice I would have repeated the same act toward the woman only perpetuating the violence.

This mornings headlines prompted this post. Six million Jews died in the Nazi camps, along with millions of others, including Roma gypsies, Soviet prisoners of war, political opponents of the Nazis, homosexuals, beggars, alcoholics and mentally ill and disabled people. Today survivors join world leaders at Auschwitz to remember the horror of the Holocaust. May it never happen again.

With all respect to those that suffered and continue to suffer from the Holocaust, I wonder how some on that list feel today? Read the list in the above paragraph again. Any thing look familiar? "May it never happen again." Somedays I feel nearly powerless and overwhelmed by the injustice, hate and human suffering in the world. Today is one of those days.

Word and example? Serve Christ in all persons? Strive for justice and peace? Respect the dignity of every human being? "May it never happen again". May we be willing... with God’s help.