My mother is nervous. She's planning to take a bus into Austin this Saturday to be part of the national rally called "Hands Off." For only the second time in her life, she's anxiously taking part in a rally, because she's concerned about the direction of the nation (the first time was in 2017 marching in solidarity with women's rights). My mother, who is an eldest like me, is prone to being responsible, deferring to authority and following rules. As Southern Women we are steeped in the gender norms that say it is unseemly or rude or even unladylike to protest. I still remember the horror of my picture being on the front page of the paper at a campus anti-apartheid demonstration back in college.
And yet our faith demands a moral courage that unsettles and disrupts. Our decisions of conscience can be risky and cost us, but they will also set us free. We have plenty of Biblical examples, the Egyptian midwives defying Pharaoh's order, the prophets who stood before kings and called for justice. The disciples who chose Jesus' teachings over empire.
Cameron Trimble writes:
We are called to be prophets and mystics. The mystic in us is the lover, the one who says "Yes"–to life, to goodness, to what is sacred. The prophet in us is the guardian, the one who says "No"–to what threatens love and justice. A life of faith requires both. Without love, our resistance turns brittle. Without resistance, our love turns shallow.
May we be bold enough to say "No" when the world bows to injustice and tender enough to say "Yes" to the beauty, the love and the sacredness of life.
Pastor Kelly
