Hey girlies, I've been thinking about this letter for a while now, and it's such an important one. I know that you won't understand much of what I am going to write about for a while now, but I still want to write it. Life is a series of events and our response to those events are what shape our future. They are what shape our character. The world is a very interesting place right now.
We have a new president and he officially took office this month. In his first few days of office he has done some big things and our country is reeling in both good ways and bad. I am amazed at how a simple change of power has brought out the best and the worst in people and it is important that you understand one thing.
Darkness will never snuff out the light as long as the light continues to shine against all odds.
Harsh, unkind words have been spoken from our top leaders to our fellow neighbor. We have all been unkind. We are afraid of what we don't understand, and have judged each other under the harshest of guidelines. People in our country who once considered this place a safe haven no longer feel welcome and thousands of people are marching in protest. We are divided, we are hurting. In our division, we are angry and afraid and we are doling out our version of retribution all the while creating a further darkened and chaotic home. We are spewing blame and pointing fingers all the while refusing to look inward and hurting the most marginalized people in our country. The darkness is pressing.
But the light always shines brighter......always. Love always wins......always.
I have taught you that words have the power to speak life, but that they also have the power to speak death and destruction. How dearly I wish that so many others would have been raised with this small understanding. In a world of harshness, bitterness and anger our words can truly be the way to change. Our words can be the way our light shines.....or the way we usher in the hurt. Shine Girls....shine brightly.....for the darkness is pressing.
Our country is saturated in fear right now and it is seeping into every area of our lives. We are afraid of people different from us, we are afraid of those not born here, we are afraid of being too tolerant, we are afraid of not being tolerant enough. We are afraid of loosing freedom and loosing money and loosing jobs. We are afraid of loosing our rights, we are afraid of being afraid, we are afraid of the what ifs, we are afraid of a future we can't predict and afraid of the influences we feel are dictating it. We are afraid.
And fear is the currency of the oppressed.
So I am writing to you girls to tell you, I am not afraid and you shouldn't be either. I have traded in my fear for hope. I have traded in my uncertainty for trust. I have traded in my anger for joy and I have traded in my judgement for grace. I am free from oppression because my Jesus told me so. No, our current leader was not my choice, and I disagree with much of what he is doing and how he is treating many people, but I am not afraid, and I stand in respect. I will oppose decisions he makes that I disagree with, but I will do so without fear and with kindness. I will shine brighter.
So girls, from your Momma's heart remember who you are. Remember how I raised you. Remember that light will always pierce the darkness, but will only shine if you let it. Jesus has set you free, so BE FREE and take others with you. You are not bound by the trappings of this world. This place is not your home. Your home is in the Kingdom of Jesus and the Kingdom of Jesus is here. Its in the grace, kindness, hope, joy, peace, patience, self-control and gentleness we extend to others. It is in the way we stand up for justice and the way we care for the marginalized. It is in the way we lay down our lives and serve the very ones who have hurt us. It is in the way we see others.......as faces of Jesus.
Jesus changed the world, not because he fit into it, but because wasn't of it. He had a Kingdom agenda and lived a Kingdom life. Here is the hard part.......it went against the culture.....it went against the norm. The Kingdom life extends grace where the world would yell condemnation. The Kingdom life isn't afraid.......its kind, its LOVE.
And love ALWAYS wins.
Amen!
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