the unlikely orange

as a pastor, i constantly struggle with what it means to pastor people with passionate differences of opinion.  the congregations i have served have always been made up of both red and blue, black and white, gay and straight, conservative and progressive, passionate and apathetic, and so on and so forth.  in the midst of these differences, i wrestle with how to love and act and speak in a way that welcomes all of this diversity of belief and thought. when i find myself struggling with how to do this, my guide is always and ever Jesus. and Jesus had one pretty major rule (he called it a new commandment): "love one another as i have loved you." so on this day, when i am a bundle of emotions, and i find myself swinging between them freely and rapidly; when i find that i am blessed and humbled to be an american, but not nearly as proud as i have been before; when i see some of my facebook friends giving one another virtual high-fives, while others are openly weeping and...

i'm not sure how many americans right now are feeling optimistic about the government.  i know i'm not.  in fact, while i didn't live through the civil war or anything, i have to think that faith in our elected leaders - indeed the whole system of electing them in the first place - is at one of its lowest points.  i just don't have a great deal of confidence in those individuals who have been elected, or in those who want to be.  i find myself slipping at times into what feels like a swamp of apathy: sinking, to be sure, but not sure that i care enough anymore to do much about it.  i see this attitude all around me: in conversations, on social media, and in popular culture.  perhaps there is no more clear indication of our nation's view of the government than this current election season, when we would teeter on electing liars and thieves, crooks and clowns.  which is why i was so startled as i sat down to read psalm 72 this morning. as i read the...