Piloting Faith: Creating what you want in life...
A Word for the Day...
The term "microaggression" was first used in 1970 to mean a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority). Our President has perfected the art and sadly unleashed a movement of others who feel emboldened to act in demeaning and harmful ways to others.
I now find myself wondering if the rest of us are unconsciously (or hopefully consciously) acting as an antidote to that trend.
I spent this past week in New York, a city many would describe as aggressive in pace and practice. But this trip, I was deeply touched and at times overwhelmed by the countless acts of kindness that I witnessed.
The woman on the train who gave $5 to the teenager who said he was hungry.
The man who helped an elderly woman push her cart across the intersection.
The police officer who held the hand of a little boy in the park separated from his mother.
The Uber driver who was delayed picking me up because his last ride was a blind man who needed help up the stairs to his apartment.
Every time I turned around I witnessed people being kind to each other.
Could it be that some of us - more than we think - are becoming micro-loving? Is that what happens to decent humans who reject what we see from our President and hear on our news? If so, I have hope for our nation and our world.
It was in the face of the worst persecution that Jesus showed the most compassion. Maybe that is happening to us too.
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight
Prayer for the Week
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
- Reinhold Niebuhr