Are we willing to be wrong in order to be loving?

You may know the story of what Jesus said in response to charges brought against the woman caught in adultery: "Those who are without sin cast the first stone." It is iconic in so many ways and functions for the Church as a standard for forgiveness, grace, mercy and creativity in the face of difficult situations. 

If you continue to read in John chapter 8, Jesus is engaged in a conversation with the powers that be. Here is the tail end of the conversation:

They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.’ They said to him, ‘We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’

As you may be picking up in the story Jesus is echoing the story of when Abraham did not kill his son. Abraham may have thought that he heard God's voice tell him to go and kill his son, but when the time came to do that he was confronted with the reality that in fact, God desires mercy and not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6).

The Pharisees and Scribes that are talking with Jesus are so convinced that they are correct in their understanding of the law and of what should happen to the woman caught in adultery and what should happen to Jesus that in their pursuit of being right they were willing to kill others in the name of "being correct". 

Abraham and the Pharisees were both convinced they were right in their understanding of the desire of God. Abraham was humble enough to recognize that he was wrong. The Pharisees were not.

Are we willing to be wrong in order to be loving? Are we able to admit we are wrong when our convictions lead us to kill, destroy, remove, scapegoat, or condemn another? 

As Ghandi said, "I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill." 

Lady Justice, Father Time, Mother Earth and the Devil

This past week I have had a difficult time trying to write anything in part because sometimes it is difficult to make the time and in part because I have hit a bit of a dry patch. Mostly, however, the reason I have had difficulty is because I heard some news this week that stopped me in my tracks.​

​What I cannot understand these days is our resistance to talk about the Devil. Perhaps it is because we do not think the devil is real or perhaps we do not think there is a personified red horned creature roaming the earth. 

Lets get beyond that. There is no red horned creature walking the earth. But do not be fooled, the Devil is real. ​

Just like Lady Justice is real.​

Just like Father Time is real.​

Just like Mother Earth is real.​

These are all personifications of a reality that is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Thus we tell stories of these "characters". We tell our family that "Father Time catches up with you" or "you cannot escape Lady Justice" or ​"care for Mother Earth." And no one raises a stink that there is no such thing as Lady Justice or Mother Earth. No one says these characters are lies or figments of our collective imagination. 

Because we all know that justice, time and the earth are real. The best ways we have to talk about them are in the characters. ​

And yet, when we talk about evil (which I think most agree is real in this world)​ we shy away from personifying it. 

Perhaps personifying evil is not something we want to do? When we personify something then it hits closer to home. It becomes more real, more personal, more intimate. ​We respect/fear Justice, Time and the Earth. But we keep our distance to Evil. 

The more we distance our selves from it the more mysterious it is. Evil cannot and should not have that sort of mystery or power over us. And yet, it does. ​

I will not hesitate to talk about the Devil or Satan because I have, and I bet you have too, seen evil in this world and in our lives. We have seen evil that has gone unnoticed, unrealized, and kept in the shadows only to continue to raise all sorts of hell in this world. ​

The devil is not "real" but I have no better way to talk about Evil, which makes the devil worth embracing.