Thread by @jeffblack945

#RevThread #96a
Comments on Redemption and Contrition

1/ Ramsey Cooper sent me a tweet saying that the crisis of the children can be seen as an opportunity for national redemption and acts of contrition, and asked me to comment on that idea.

2/ It’s a great idea. The Bible recommends national repentance. Abraham Lincoln called for days of fasting and prayer, seeking God’s help during the civil war.

3/ Thomas Jefferson, thinking about the conundrum of slavery in which he was so personally entangled said, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”

4/ As a young man of 21, I sat in Riverside Church and listened as the Rev. Martin Luther King called for repentance for our involvement in the war in Vietnam.

5/ The repentance is about what we as a nation have done to asylum seekers, especially to their families. I invite us all to repent. An act of contrition is never about what someone else is doing wrong.

6/ As the good folks in AA say, “the trouble-maker is the one who takes other people’s inventory”.

7/ So why would people in the #resistance repent for what administration goons are doing? Good question.

8/ It is true that the burden of individual guilt lies directly on President Trump and his enablers. But what gives them the authority to hold and wield their power?

9/ Their source of power to do these things is “We the People.” The nation is doing this. We are one nation. We failed to persuade our fellow citizens not to support this administration. Those of us in the resistance failed to act in time to set the captives free.

10/ Maybe we need a single day of repentance with simultaneous big rallies across the land. I sense that we’re not ready for that yet (if I'm wrong, let me know). I do think we could do lots of small events in homes, houses of worship, or parks, this summer.

11/ It seems wise to trust the Spirit, and let lots of easily accessible redemptive acts of contrition arise in many places, and then see if there’s enough interest to call for a national day of repentance.

12/ I've written a sample service which I will post soon. If congregations of various denominations and faiths decide to use the service I’m preparing, those congregations can adapt it as appropriate....

13/ If, however, these events are done outside of places of worship and the public is invited, then we need a service that would empower people of all different belief systems, as well as people who claim no faith tradition, to participate meaningfully.

14/ I imagine heaven being delighted to see a surprising, generous, spiritual coalition appear in our land.

Coming next: a template for a service of repentance anyone can use.