"Only in an environment in which abuse of all kinds is normalized could sexual abuse on this scale happen."
I read that statement two nights ago while scrolling through Twitter and was astonished at my absolute visceral reaction of rage to it.
That sentence comes from a new forward to Joan Ryan's book Little Girls In Pretty Boxes, which details the toxic environment that gymnasts and figure skaters are too often subjected to. American gymnast Jamie Dantzscher, who wrote the new forward, describes the verbal and emotional abuse she endured while training for the Olympic Games. She made the women's gymnastics team for the 2000 Olympic Games, they placed fourth overall . . . and were made to feel like complete failures. She trained with numerous injuries and when she told her coaches that she was hurt, they didn't believe her.
She was also one of the over 200 women abused by Dr. Larry Nassar, and one of the first to file a civil lawsuit against him.
"Only in an environment in which abuse of all kinds is normalized could sexual abuse on this scale happen."
I've never been sexually abused. But I know where my visceral reaction of rage came from.
It came from the fact that the abuse I suffered--the abuse from being bullied and from being spiritually abused--was absolutely normalized.
The bullied are told, like I was, that they should just "ignore it" or "tell an adult" or "stand up to them" or "it's just part of life, suck it up and get over it" or "they do it because they're jealous of you" or "they just have low self-esteem and this is the way they build themselves up" and, if the victims are Christians, they are told, "forgive them and turn the other cheek". They are also told that "no one likes a tattletale or a snitch" and "if you fight back, you will be the one punished and the bullies will not be".
In the meantime, the pushes and shoves, the gossip and the embarrassing questions, the blocking in the hallway and the torment in gym class go on and on.
"Only in an environment in which abuse of all kinds is normalized could sexual abuse on this scale happen."
The spiritually abused are told, "we are the only ones with the truth" or "if you leave us, you leave God" or "The Bible says to rebuke others when they sin" or "You need to be held accountable" or "The Bible says you need to be bold in sharing your faith" or "They're your leaders and you must submit to them, even if they are ungodly" or "When you get married, you can't leave your husband even if he beats you" or "If you don't show up to every single meeting of 'the body' you are uncommitted and in danger of falling away".
The spiritually abused are expected to put up with harsh sermons, blasting, yelling, orders to "push through" exhaustion and illness, and questioned as to why they didn't get up early in the morning to have a 'quiet time', why they didn't invite anyone to church that day, why they struggle so much with depression, why can't you just repent of your sin and move on?
Yesterday I asked myself the question, what is normal faith?
I understand that Christianity is counter-culture by its very nature. I follow a man who claimed to be God and whose followers claim that he died and he was raised from the dead. His followers taught that we needed to love one another and not repay evil for evil. In an environment where the emperor was worshiped as God, they were taught to honor the emperor but confess Jesus as Lord and worship him only. In today's culture of "tolerance" and "there are many ways to get to God", Jesus says that no one comes to the Father except through him. If you want to be popular with the "in crowd", Christianity is not the way to go.
But is normal faith being told that you have to walk up to strangers on the street, or go up to every cashier you meet, and invite them to church, otherwise, you are disobeying God's command to be bold?
Does normal faith involve putting up with the advances of a leader because "he's your leader and you have to submit"?
Is normal faith attending every single gathering of a body of believers even when you are exhausted down to the bone marrow and can barely put one foot in front of the other?
In normal faith, is "forgiveness" defined as, "I say I'm sorry, you say I forgive you, and we both pretend it never happened?" in cases of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse?
What is normal faith? There are times I just don't know.
When abuse of all kinds is normalized, not just sexual abuse on a grand scale can happen, but any kind of abuse: bullying, spiritual abuse, emotional/verbal abuse between spouses or between boss/employee or any kind of leader/follower.
It is time for us to stop normalizing abuse. Bullying is not to be normalized. Neither is sexual abuse. Neither is spiritual abuse.
It should never be normal for someone to go to school and be afraid that their lunch will be stolen, that they will be gossiped about, that they will be pushed and shoved in the hallways . . . and it should never be normal that when they tell an adult, the adult won't believe them.
It should never be normal for someone to be tense around other Christians because they're afraid of being rebuked for not inviting a large number of people to church or Bible study. Or, for not living up to the standard that the leader has set.
Abuse is not normal. And it never should be.
Not in any environment.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
Statcounter
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Are we talking about the same person here?
On Mother's Day some years ago, I read a tribute to a mother talking about how the child admired her and how she was such an example to her.
I read that tribute and thought, "Are we talking about the same person here?"
You see, that child was my niece . . . and her mother is my sister.
Don't worry, this is not going to be a "sister dearest" post, where I say, "Oh, everyone thinks my sister is this wonderful, great person, but she has everyone fooled. Only I know the real story!" Rather, this is a post about perceptions and how they change over the years.
I think one of the major problems with siblings is that we still tend to see each other as children. We see each other as we were at age 2, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17. We remember fighting over the bathroom, fighting over clothes, fighting over who got what side of the bed, ("Mom! She's hogging all the covers!" "She's kicking me!") Older sister is still bossy; younger sister is still the brat.
We don't allow ourselves to see our siblings as the grown-ups they are. We don't allow ourselves to think that hey, they're people who haven't necessarily had it easy in life. We immobilize them in concrete, so to speak, and we don't allow them to break out of the mold we've put them in.
Today is my sister's birthday. She's three years older than I am (and when we were younger, she didn't let me forget it, either.) We have had our share, and probably more than our share, of arguments, fights, and other conflict.
But lately, I've been thinking through my sister's life, and I realize that she has not had it all that easy.
My sister was eight when we moved to Florida from Kentucky. She was the one that had to leave friends behind. She'd already started school; she had to leave teachers behind and a familiar school. She left behind a best friend. I remember my sister's best friend writing her letters after we moved to Florida. She was the "new student" in third grade, wearing short sleeves when everyone else was wearing sweaters in cold weather. It just didn't feel that cold to her!
She started working around the age of 14, not because she "had to" but because she wanted to. I can't remember if her first job was working with kids or working at the ice cream shop in the mall. Later, she went to work at a drugstore. One Saturday, she came charging into the house, not terrified, but furious, and announced, "We got robbed!" Someone had come in and demanded money. They cooperated. No one got hurt. (Afterwards, she said, "I need a donut, bad!") Although that had to be frightening, she handled the aftermath with good humor.
Like most women, she wanted a relationship, and like most women, she had to kiss her share of toads before finding her prince. She got married in the mid-80's and for the next few years balanced work and marriage. (I remember visiting her one time and seeing a magnet on her refrigerator, "Never trust a cook under 30.") She found a successful career working with municipal bonds.
Her daughter, my niece, was born in the mid-'90s; and soon after, my sister's marriage ended.
I don't know what it's like to be a single parent. I can only imagine my sister's thoughts about raising a daughter alone. She was fortunate in that she was able to live with our mother. "Nana," (my mother) babysat, and together, they made a family.
Did my sister imagine that she would find love again? I don't know. But she did. At this writing, she's been married for 18 years. Her relationship with her second husband can be summed up in this sentence: My niece asked if her stepfather could adopt her so they could all have the same name . . . and the stepfather agreed.
When her job at the municipal bond firm ended, she partnered with her husband in their business. (She had a good role model; my parents worked together running a day care center for many years.) They stay busy, meeting the challenges of satisfying their customers.
She's been the one that my parents have relied on when they've needed help. When my father got sick with ALS, she was the one who came and mowed the lawn, who did what needed to be done and what my mother couldn't do.
When my mother's health began to decline, she was the one that took charge of her care. I don't think it ever occurred to her not to advocate for our mother. After all, Mom raised us. How could my sister not do the same?
She kept me informed, and she made the difficult decisions that had to be made along the way. I had no doubt that she would do the right thing where Mom was concerned; and when the time came to carry out Mom's final wishes, she did it.
The road has not been easy for my sister, and I don't think I appreciate that as much as I should. It's too easy for me to still see her as "bossy older sister", and to immobilize her in concrete, rather than appreciate that she's an adult with a good head on her shoulders and who knows how to take care of the people and circumstances around her.
So, if you have a niece or nephew, and one day you see a Mother's Day tribute to them, and you wonder, "are we talking about the same person here?" you have a few choices.
Maybe it's true that your sibling really is the bossy, bratty sibling that you grew up with.
Or maybe, just maybe -- as in my case -- your niece or nephew just might be right!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
I read that tribute and thought, "Are we talking about the same person here?"
You see, that child was my niece . . . and her mother is my sister.
Don't worry, this is not going to be a "sister dearest" post, where I say, "Oh, everyone thinks my sister is this wonderful, great person, but she has everyone fooled. Only I know the real story!" Rather, this is a post about perceptions and how they change over the years.
I think one of the major problems with siblings is that we still tend to see each other as children. We see each other as we were at age 2, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17. We remember fighting over the bathroom, fighting over clothes, fighting over who got what side of the bed, ("Mom! She's hogging all the covers!" "She's kicking me!") Older sister is still bossy; younger sister is still the brat.
We don't allow ourselves to see our siblings as the grown-ups they are. We don't allow ourselves to think that hey, they're people who haven't necessarily had it easy in life. We immobilize them in concrete, so to speak, and we don't allow them to break out of the mold we've put them in.
Today is my sister's birthday. She's three years older than I am (and when we were younger, she didn't let me forget it, either.) We have had our share, and probably more than our share, of arguments, fights, and other conflict.
But lately, I've been thinking through my sister's life, and I realize that she has not had it all that easy.
My sister was eight when we moved to Florida from Kentucky. She was the one that had to leave friends behind. She'd already started school; she had to leave teachers behind and a familiar school. She left behind a best friend. I remember my sister's best friend writing her letters after we moved to Florida. She was the "new student" in third grade, wearing short sleeves when everyone else was wearing sweaters in cold weather. It just didn't feel that cold to her!
She started working around the age of 14, not because she "had to" but because she wanted to. I can't remember if her first job was working with kids or working at the ice cream shop in the mall. Later, she went to work at a drugstore. One Saturday, she came charging into the house, not terrified, but furious, and announced, "We got robbed!" Someone had come in and demanded money. They cooperated. No one got hurt. (Afterwards, she said, "I need a donut, bad!") Although that had to be frightening, she handled the aftermath with good humor.
Like most women, she wanted a relationship, and like most women, she had to kiss her share of toads before finding her prince. She got married in the mid-80's and for the next few years balanced work and marriage. (I remember visiting her one time and seeing a magnet on her refrigerator, "Never trust a cook under 30.") She found a successful career working with municipal bonds.
Her daughter, my niece, was born in the mid-'90s; and soon after, my sister's marriage ended.
I don't know what it's like to be a single parent. I can only imagine my sister's thoughts about raising a daughter alone. She was fortunate in that she was able to live with our mother. "Nana," (my mother) babysat, and together, they made a family.
Did my sister imagine that she would find love again? I don't know. But she did. At this writing, she's been married for 18 years. Her relationship with her second husband can be summed up in this sentence: My niece asked if her stepfather could adopt her so they could all have the same name . . . and the stepfather agreed.
When her job at the municipal bond firm ended, she partnered with her husband in their business. (She had a good role model; my parents worked together running a day care center for many years.) They stay busy, meeting the challenges of satisfying their customers.
She's been the one that my parents have relied on when they've needed help. When my father got sick with ALS, she was the one who came and mowed the lawn, who did what needed to be done and what my mother couldn't do.
When my mother's health began to decline, she was the one that took charge of her care. I don't think it ever occurred to her not to advocate for our mother. After all, Mom raised us. How could my sister not do the same?
She kept me informed, and she made the difficult decisions that had to be made along the way. I had no doubt that she would do the right thing where Mom was concerned; and when the time came to carry out Mom's final wishes, she did it.
The road has not been easy for my sister, and I don't think I appreciate that as much as I should. It's too easy for me to still see her as "bossy older sister", and to immobilize her in concrete, rather than appreciate that she's an adult with a good head on her shoulders and who knows how to take care of the people and circumstances around her.
So, if you have a niece or nephew, and one day you see a Mother's Day tribute to them, and you wonder, "are we talking about the same person here?" you have a few choices.
Maybe it's true that your sibling really is the bossy, bratty sibling that you grew up with.
Or maybe, just maybe -- as in my case -- your niece or nephew just might be right!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Sit, Christian, sit!
Some time back, a Facebook friend of mine, Bobby Valentine, wrote a Facebook post about the concept of "precision obedience". The concept goes something like this: God has precise requirements and he expects us to obey them precisely. Or, God wants us to do exactly what he says exactly the way he says it.
This got my attention. I'm a Christian, and I want to obey God. What Christian doesn't? Wouldn't it be good to "precisely" obey God?
So I did a trusty Google search of the phrase, "precision obedience".
Know what else came up in my search, besides articles on the teaching of "precision obedience"?
Dog training.
Yes, this doctrine, that we are supposed to do "exactly" what God says "exactly" the way he says it, apparently is on the same level as teaching Rover, Fido, and Spot how to sit, stand, heel, lie down, roll over, and play dead!
Does this mean that we have to do "exactly" what God says "exactly" the way he says it and be rewarded with the spiritual equivalent of a doggy treat?
Look, I get that God calls us to obey him. Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." We are called to obedience and we are called to a particular standard of living, a particular "code of conduct", if you will, as Christians.
But here's my problem with the whole concept of "precision obedience".
One, it's not possible. No one can "precisely obey" anything. I found it interesting that this article about "precision obedience" appealed to the book of Deuteronomy -- the "second giving" of the Jewish law -- to support the argument that yes, we are called to "precisely obey" what God says. Apparently the writer forgot that the purpose of the law was to lead us to Christ, and now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:25).
Two, how do you quantify "precision obedience"? Jesus himself said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27.) How do you measure love? How do you "precisely obey" the command to "love your neighbor as yourself"? Is there a standard that you can point to that says, you "precisely" obeyed the command to love?
Three, and this is my biggest problem with this entire concept:
Who decides?
Who decides what "precision obedience" is? And do not tell me, "God decides," because there are plenty of places that he doesn't give us precise guidelines of what to do. He tells us to "love our neighbor". He doesn't tell us exactly how to do it. He tells us to "forgive as the Lord forgave you". He doesn't give us a formula of how to forgive. (Believe me, I wish he had!)
Are you not "precisely obeying" if you drop off your church contribution at the office on Friday instead of putting it in the offering plate on Sunday? Or, if you do your contribution by direct deposit instead of putting in the offering plate?
If you do Sunday School first and then worship service, are you "precisely obeying"?
What about if you use an overhead projector instead of hymnbooks?
What if you use multiple cups for communion instead of one? Or pass a plate that has BOTH the bread and the grape juice on it, instead of passing a plate with bread and then passing a plate with juice cups?
And don't get me started on instrumental music. (For those who comment that the early church didn't use instruments, the early church also didn't use four-part harmony. If we REALLY want to do things the way the first century did, we'd be singing in something similar to Gregorian chant!)
Although the desire to find out what God wants us to do and to do it is right--and we should find out what God wants us to do and then do it!--this whole concept of "precision obedience" is nothing more than salvation by law-keeping. Paul wrote an entire book, the book of Galatians, on the fallacy of salvation by the law. And James wrote that anyone who keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) Peter, in the book of Acts, refers to law-keeping as a yoke that neither they nor their ancestors were able to bear (Acts 15:10).
"Precision obedience" puts a believer, metaphorically speaking, on a tightrope walking over Niagara Falls. One slip, and they're doomed! They will fall into the bubbling waters of Lake Ontario, and the Maid of the Mist will probably not be there to catch them.
This whole idea of "precision obedience" reminds me of the very end of Family Ties, although I'd probably change it to the following:
"Sit, Christian, sit!"
"Good dog."
Woof!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
This got my attention. I'm a Christian, and I want to obey God. What Christian doesn't? Wouldn't it be good to "precisely" obey God?
So I did a trusty Google search of the phrase, "precision obedience".
Know what else came up in my search, besides articles on the teaching of "precision obedience"?
Dog training.
Yes, this doctrine, that we are supposed to do "exactly" what God says "exactly" the way he says it, apparently is on the same level as teaching Rover, Fido, and Spot how to sit, stand, heel, lie down, roll over, and play dead!
Does this mean that we have to do "exactly" what God says "exactly" the way he says it and be rewarded with the spiritual equivalent of a doggy treat?
Look, I get that God calls us to obey him. Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." We are called to obedience and we are called to a particular standard of living, a particular "code of conduct", if you will, as Christians.
But here's my problem with the whole concept of "precision obedience".
One, it's not possible. No one can "precisely obey" anything. I found it interesting that this article about "precision obedience" appealed to the book of Deuteronomy -- the "second giving" of the Jewish law -- to support the argument that yes, we are called to "precisely obey" what God says. Apparently the writer forgot that the purpose of the law was to lead us to Christ, and now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:25).
Two, how do you quantify "precision obedience"? Jesus himself said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27.) How do you measure love? How do you "precisely obey" the command to "love your neighbor as yourself"? Is there a standard that you can point to that says, you "precisely" obeyed the command to love?
Three, and this is my biggest problem with this entire concept:
Who decides?
Who decides what "precision obedience" is? And do not tell me, "God decides," because there are plenty of places that he doesn't give us precise guidelines of what to do. He tells us to "love our neighbor". He doesn't tell us exactly how to do it. He tells us to "forgive as the Lord forgave you". He doesn't give us a formula of how to forgive. (Believe me, I wish he had!)
Are you not "precisely obeying" if you drop off your church contribution at the office on Friday instead of putting it in the offering plate on Sunday? Or, if you do your contribution by direct deposit instead of putting in the offering plate?
If you do Sunday School first and then worship service, are you "precisely obeying"?
What about if you use an overhead projector instead of hymnbooks?
What if you use multiple cups for communion instead of one? Or pass a plate that has BOTH the bread and the grape juice on it, instead of passing a plate with bread and then passing a plate with juice cups?
And don't get me started on instrumental music. (For those who comment that the early church didn't use instruments, the early church also didn't use four-part harmony. If we REALLY want to do things the way the first century did, we'd be singing in something similar to Gregorian chant!)
Although the desire to find out what God wants us to do and to do it is right--and we should find out what God wants us to do and then do it!--this whole concept of "precision obedience" is nothing more than salvation by law-keeping. Paul wrote an entire book, the book of Galatians, on the fallacy of salvation by the law. And James wrote that anyone who keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) Peter, in the book of Acts, refers to law-keeping as a yoke that neither they nor their ancestors were able to bear (Acts 15:10).
"Precision obedience" puts a believer, metaphorically speaking, on a tightrope walking over Niagara Falls. One slip, and they're doomed! They will fall into the bubbling waters of Lake Ontario, and the Maid of the Mist will probably not be there to catch them.
This whole idea of "precision obedience" reminds me of the very end of Family Ties, although I'd probably change it to the following:
"Sit, Christian, sit!"
"Good dog."
Woof!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Ninety years . . . And that's the truth!
I've been off social media for a while, partly to regain my sanity and partly to enjoy a Florida vacation with my family. One of the events I was honored to attend was my mother in law's 90th birthday party.
My mother in law does not welcome people into her family.
She adopts them.
I am blessed to have a mother in law to whom mother in law jokes do not apply. I first met her in 1991, along with her husband and one of her sons, and the first thing she did was give me a hug. She later wrote me a letter telling me that I was a "wonderful girl".
During my visit last week, I noticed that it was the anniversary of when Apollo 11 went into orbit around the moon, preparing for the moon landing. One of my sisters in law asked, what did we think was the defining moment of the 20th century?
Alice, my mother in law, responded with, the death of my father.
Alice lost her father when she was 15. He had a heart condition that eventually killed him. He left behind a wife and four children. Alice was the oldest.
The death of a parent, no matter how old you are, alters your world forever. I think in Alice's case, it spurred her to be self-sufficient and to take charge.
Later, she became a military wife. She married a man who was career Air Force, part of the "greatest generation" who served in the Second World War. When you're a military wife, you have to be organized and ready to go at a moment's notice, and you learn how to be flexible and work around military orders.
They had six kids. I'm not sure, but I think each of them may have been born in a different part of the country. I do know that my husband was born in Massachusetts, one of his brothers was born in South Dakota, and one of his sisters was born in Minnesota. Among other places, they've lived in Massachusetts, the Philippines, South Dakota, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Montana. When Alice's husband retired from the Air Force, they moved to Florida.
Alice went to work at a bank, eventually becoming a loan officer.
Currently, she makes coffee at her church, participates in a Bible study, and volunteers at the local hospital's HealthPlex. Some years ago, she had a seizure and was put in the hospital (she had low magnesium levels) and when I talked to her on the phone, her main complaint was that it was an interruption in a busy week for her. I am convinced that if she's ever forced to be inactive, that will be what kills her.
Last Sunday was her 90th birthday, and what she wanted was her family. So she got her family. She also got a celebration at her church which she called "90 years of God's blessings".
People got a chance to stand up and talk about Alice and what she meant to them. She was honored as a servant of God and someone who was a good friend and faithful worker. I told her in private that I was grateful for a mother in law like her.
But here's what I liked the most:
Everything people said about her was the truth.
You've heard the saying, live in such a way that the preacher won't have to lie at your funeral? Well, I guess you can also say, live in such a way that you can have a 90th birthday and people will tell the truth about how you have lived your life.
It is refreshing to hear tributes to someone that you know are honest tributes.
So, happy birthday, dear Alice; and I hope there will be many more.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
My mother in law does not welcome people into her family.
She adopts them.
I am blessed to have a mother in law to whom mother in law jokes do not apply. I first met her in 1991, along with her husband and one of her sons, and the first thing she did was give me a hug. She later wrote me a letter telling me that I was a "wonderful girl".
During my visit last week, I noticed that it was the anniversary of when Apollo 11 went into orbit around the moon, preparing for the moon landing. One of my sisters in law asked, what did we think was the defining moment of the 20th century?
Alice, my mother in law, responded with, the death of my father.
Alice lost her father when she was 15. He had a heart condition that eventually killed him. He left behind a wife and four children. Alice was the oldest.
The death of a parent, no matter how old you are, alters your world forever. I think in Alice's case, it spurred her to be self-sufficient and to take charge.
Later, she became a military wife. She married a man who was career Air Force, part of the "greatest generation" who served in the Second World War. When you're a military wife, you have to be organized and ready to go at a moment's notice, and you learn how to be flexible and work around military orders.
They had six kids. I'm not sure, but I think each of them may have been born in a different part of the country. I do know that my husband was born in Massachusetts, one of his brothers was born in South Dakota, and one of his sisters was born in Minnesota. Among other places, they've lived in Massachusetts, the Philippines, South Dakota, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Montana. When Alice's husband retired from the Air Force, they moved to Florida.
Alice went to work at a bank, eventually becoming a loan officer.
Currently, she makes coffee at her church, participates in a Bible study, and volunteers at the local hospital's HealthPlex. Some years ago, she had a seizure and was put in the hospital (she had low magnesium levels) and when I talked to her on the phone, her main complaint was that it was an interruption in a busy week for her. I am convinced that if she's ever forced to be inactive, that will be what kills her.
Last Sunday was her 90th birthday, and what she wanted was her family. So she got her family. She also got a celebration at her church which she called "90 years of God's blessings".
People got a chance to stand up and talk about Alice and what she meant to them. She was honored as a servant of God and someone who was a good friend and faithful worker. I told her in private that I was grateful for a mother in law like her.
But here's what I liked the most:
Everything people said about her was the truth.
You've heard the saying, live in such a way that the preacher won't have to lie at your funeral? Well, I guess you can also say, live in such a way that you can have a 90th birthday and people will tell the truth about how you have lived your life.
It is refreshing to hear tributes to someone that you know are honest tributes.
So, happy birthday, dear Alice; and I hope there will be many more.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Day 12 of prayer . . .
Dear God,
I Corinthians 13:4 also says that love is kind.
Donald Trump does not come across as a kind person. Perhaps, as a businessman and later a politician, he has learned, or been taught, that kindness sets you up to be taken advantage of, exploited, and walked on. Kindness perhaps is equal to weakness, and one cannot afford to be weak in the world he lives in.
God, change his mind and his heart.
Please send him people who will show him what true kindness is, that it is a mark of strength.
Give him an example of how a president and politician can be kind both in public and private life, how he can be kind to those he interacts with in public--such as Congressmen and heads of state--and how he can be kind to his family in private; to Melania, to Barron, to his children and grandchildren.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
I Corinthians 13:4 also says that love is kind.
Donald Trump does not come across as a kind person. Perhaps, as a businessman and later a politician, he has learned, or been taught, that kindness sets you up to be taken advantage of, exploited, and walked on. Kindness perhaps is equal to weakness, and one cannot afford to be weak in the world he lives in.
God, change his mind and his heart.
Please send him people who will show him what true kindness is, that it is a mark of strength.
Give him an example of how a president and politician can be kind both in public and private life, how he can be kind to those he interacts with in public--such as Congressmen and heads of state--and how he can be kind to his family in private; to Melania, to Barron, to his children and grandchildren.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Day 11 of prayer
Dear God,
I Corinthians 13:4 tells us that "love is patient".
Donald Trump probably knows "love" as a way to manipulate and to be manipulated. Please help him to know that true love only comes from you.
True love is patient. True love knows the value of waiting, and waiting calmly, instead of demanding what they want, right now. True love knows that people are not perfect, and that they will make mistakes. True love does not demand that people live up to an image.
Please give Donald Trump the patience that only can come from you. Please transform his hear with that patience.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
I Corinthians 13:4 tells us that "love is patient".
Donald Trump probably knows "love" as a way to manipulate and to be manipulated. Please help him to know that true love only comes from you.
True love is patient. True love knows the value of waiting, and waiting calmly, instead of demanding what they want, right now. True love knows that people are not perfect, and that they will make mistakes. True love does not demand that people live up to an image.
Please give Donald Trump the patience that only can come from you. Please transform his hear with that patience.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Friday, June 29, 2018
Day 10 of prayer
Dear God,
You say in Matthew 5:10 that those who are persecuted because of righteousness are blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Donald Trump has claimed persecution because of his beliefs and his actions as President. I don't know if he has ever been persecuted because of righteousness before.
Please help him to understand that those who disagree with his beliefs or his actions may not be guilty of persecution.
Please help him to understand and perceive what true persecution because of righteousness is.
Help him to find true righteousness.
If he is persecuted, may it be because of true righteousness.
Where he is persecuted due to true righteousness, please be his defender.
If he is simply being disagreed with, give him the wisdom to see that disagreement is not always persecution.
And please help him desire not the kingdom that is on earth, but the one that is in heaven, for those persecuted for the sake of righteousness will inherit it.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
You say in Matthew 5:10 that those who are persecuted because of righteousness are blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Donald Trump has claimed persecution because of his beliefs and his actions as President. I don't know if he has ever been persecuted because of righteousness before.
Please help him to understand that those who disagree with his beliefs or his actions may not be guilty of persecution.
Please help him to understand and perceive what true persecution because of righteousness is.
Help him to find true righteousness.
If he is persecuted, may it be because of true righteousness.
Where he is persecuted due to true righteousness, please be his defender.
If he is simply being disagreed with, give him the wisdom to see that disagreement is not always persecution.
And please help him desire not the kingdom that is on earth, but the one that is in heaven, for those persecuted for the sake of righteousness will inherit it.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
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