Inaugural Blog

This is my first blog and it should be memorable, don't you think? I struggle with whether to play it safe, stick with my peacemaker nature or if this is an avenue to take some chances, share thoughts and ideas that may be considered by some to be controversial.

Yesterday the World Cup final took place. I decided to watch, fell asleep, and awoke to the on-going drone of the horns, but the score remained 0-0. Didn't miss much! However, while I was peacefully slumbering on my couch, in another part of the world people were preparing to commit murder. Bombs went off in Kampala Uganda at a Rugby Club and an Ethiopian themed restaurant killing people who had gathered to watch the World Cup match between Netherlands and Spain. News of this spread around the globe overnight.

As I read various news accounts online of this tragedy, a quote by a leader of the group suspected of being behind the bombs astounded me. "Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy," Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, a militant commander in the Somali capital Mogadishu told the AP, although he refused to confirm whether his group was involved in the attack. "May Allah's anger be upon those who are against us." Quote found in http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/bomb-blasts-kill-dozens-of-world-cup-fans-in-kampala-uganda-al-shabaab-suspected/19550092

Back up to yesterday morning. I sat in my church listening to a young pastor share deeply about his journey with forgiveness. Jesus said to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. The pastor talked about how easy it is for him and for people in the church to be accusers rather than forgivers. We are cunning, saying just enough to let another know we have been wronged and who is responsible. We are experts at subtly pointing fingers, casting blame. The Bible says that if you do not forgive your brother/sister, God will not forgive you. Deep. Heavy. "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother/sister will be subject to judgment." -Jesus.

All in one day. Connect the dots. See the difference. Jesus followers should be radically different from the world. Am I? Are you? Really? Or have we become numb because we sit safely in our homes and churches? It is too easy to point to things like bombings and feel we are OK. But God says differently, he looks at the heart. Mistreating a fellow Christ-follower is wrong. Holding a grudge and refusing to forgive is wrong. Jesus came to fulfill the law and bring it all the way to the heart. As a man/woman thinks in his heart....

'till next time

...and the greatest of these is love.