REFLECTIONS / REV. JANICE L. SUTTON

Season of stillness brings time to unplug and reflect

In my sermon on Sunday morning I challenged the notion of a God who is all-controlling, even all-powerful. I suggested that God could not have had any idea what humans were capable of, or any idea that the faithful would miss the ever-so-sacred stories, commanding that we beat swords into plowshares, and make war NO MORE. Instead, pious people would isolate texts that seem to insist that nations should rise against each other, or that we were made free to develop precision targeting methods and cluster bombs.

We see the images of school shootings, and experience local lockdowns. We are alerted to abuse and abductions, and the ever-so public dis-play of loneliness and licentiousness (affect vs. affection.) Our children serve as adults', even clergy's, prey. And we have hundreds of channels to replay these tapes, and these stories, not-so-sacred, over and over a-gain (gaining power over us). These are messages are nicely juxtaposed to televangelists promising personal power and prosperity to those who are already quite rich.

It is tempting to stay in places of despair, under the covers, during the holidays (if we have a bed) when anger and loneliness and sadness are illumined by cocktail-spirits, rather than the coming of any Word and Wisdom, or the divine spark that IS absolutely within us. Spiritual people tell us that we can "start the day over any time". This is necessary because judging the times of our lives is part of what we do: bad year, lousy week, horrible day. Better days are coming!

Really? Not unless we speak up. We need to claim our voices and rise to the occasions of our lives and the times. We must believe it's possible and know it's imperative that we break the cycles of depression and violence, beginning with the wars that rage in our souls, our homes, our churches, temples and mosques, and our communities.

I will never forget one Sunday morning at First United Methodist in downtown Dallas: two leaders were role-playing for the children's sermon. They were arguing and swatting each other (attempting to teach something). And after this bit of bickering, one child stood up and shouted at the top of her tiny little lungs "stop fighting!!!......RIGHT NOW!"

It was the cry of every child in every home, school, church, and community, at home and abroad, Asian, African, Middle Eastern et al. It was the cry of something incredibly Divine. For a child will need to lead us --and show us the way to play happily, joyfully, peacefully. There is a balm of Love to be administered. Let's get out of the mall, turn off the computer, come home from the office and the frontlines, please!

Let's live peacefully pleasing to the One who gave us life that we might create new earth as it is in a heaven.

Rev. Sutton is the pastor at Trinity United Methodist in Highland Park