Jim Winkler is the Chair of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. This is our denominational witness on Capital Hill, advocating on behalf of the church and resourcing local churches for social justice witness.
I receive the email "Faith in Action" each week. Every time I open it, I am blessed by the writing of this man.
I have attached a link for this week's reflection "What might have been"
I commend it to you as worth your time. His overall focus is poverty. The issues range from unions to civil rights to the economic crisis being the result of Washington believing that "what is good for Wall Street is good for America" to the idea that there are three big challenges of our nation relating to three myths.
I found this to be the most thought provoking part of his writing:
The economic crisis is a good opportunity to change things. For me, Christianity is a way of life summed up by the passage in 1 John 4:8, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Why is it that the God of Love so often, it seems, has to fight an uphill battle against the God of Law? The God of Love is not only nurturing and sustaining, but requires us to face up to three great myths that have damaged and distorted our lives: white supremacy, male superiority and American exceptionalism. The damaging effects of these myths have made it difficult for love to express its full power.
I bet that "American Exceptionalism" is a term that has been coined for a while, but this is the first I have encountered it. It gives a name to something that has been driving me nuts for years. Who says we are the best nation on earth? Why are we any better than the rest of God's creation? I find this arrogance is maddening.
Happy reading!
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