Tag: faith

Poverty and Segregation Kill

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

According the most recent statistics compiled by the Chicago Health Atlas, where you live and what you look like makes a difference in your life expectancy. If you live downtown, you are likely to live to the ripe old age of 88. But if you live in West Garfield Park, you’ll be lucky if you live to celebrate your 64th birthday. That’s a gap of 25 years!

Sadly, the life-expectancy gap can be found in most large cities. A pre-pandemic study of the 500 largest cities in the US by the Department of Public Health at NYU school of Medicine revealed similar large gaps in Washington DC, New York City, New Orleans and Buffalo. And the gap is most evident between Black and non-Black residents. In Chicago, the gap is currently 11 years.

So what’s the cause? Before you say, “Gun Violence!”, the largest contributor to the gap is actually chronic disease, which cuts off 4.7 years of life. Diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are the main killers. Dr. Simbo Ige, Chicago’s public health commissioner, isn’t surprised by the link between where a person lives and health outcomes. Maps of Chicago’s household income, demographics, unemployment, infant mortality, and food access consistently overlap with the life-expectancy map. (See the Chicago Health Atlas for access to dozens of maps related to health and wellness.) For the record, gun violence is also a contributing factor for shortened life-expectancy, but it is not enough to explain the 25-year gap between the loop and West Garfield Park. In poor, segregated communities of color, there is less income, less access to medical care, fewer job opportunities, and fewer healthy food options. As a result, people in those communities die younger.

Why should we care about the life-expectancy gap? God’s vision of “shalom” articulated by the prophet Isaiah includes a vision of a complete elimination of infant morality and extended life-expectancy. (See Isaiah 65:20) We often point to individual behaviors as the determinants of health and life-expectancy, but when we look at the data, it goes beyond whether a person choses to eat fruits and vegetables or doesn’t. We need to ask deeper questions about why the maps clearly overlap? And we need to talk about root causes of poverty and segregation and the social determinants of health.

The bottom line is that pre-mature death is preventable, but do we have the social and political will? According to Dr. Ige, it takes a long term commitment. “”Reversing these trends will require consistent, long-term commitment to increase access and uptake of health protective behaviors and resources,” she told Axios. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, she added, “The challenge here is the failure of societal attention for those who are most impacted. There is a zero-sum mindset, like if we try and put additional resources and some support in communities that are more impacted, everybody else feels like it is taking something away from them.”

Unfortunately, reducing the life-expectancy gap also takes resources (ie funding). Since 2022, the city of Chicago has poured resources into long-neglected communities, and it is making a difference. But much of the funding came from Federal pandemic-era programs that have dried up. Proposed cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs will only make reducing the life-expectancy gap challenging.

When Philip went to the Samaritan city, his proclamation and works of healing brought great joy to the city (Acts 8:5-8). We are called to be bearers of light and life wherever we go. Every act of love and mercy–no matter how small–is life-giving. Even a cup of water given in Jesus’s name makes a difference. Go, make a difference.

Faith, Healing

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

After President Jimmy Carter left office, he and his wife Roselyn embarked on a mission of humanitarian aid and international peace-making. As you probably know, they also were devout Christians. Jimmy famously taught a Sunday School class at his church each week, and he wrote 30 books–many of them related to faith, morals and ethics. In his book, “Living Faith”, he wrote, “To me, faith is not just a noun, but also a verb.” And he and Roselyn “faithed” well.

The Carters are probably best known for working with Habitat for Humanity, building housing for low-income families. But their mission through the Carter Center has also included health initiatives. In the 1980’s, the Carters took on what most thought was an impossible task: the eradication of neglected tropical diseases. They first set their sights on Guinea Worm Disease—a parasitical infection that afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people in Africa and Asia each year.

I had never heard of the disease until Mike, a member of my congregation, introduced me to both the disease and the work of the Carter Center. Trust me, Guinea Worm Disease is not something anyone would want to contract. According to the Carter Center, Guinea Worm larvae live in stagnant water. When people consume that water, the larvae enter the body. Inside the host’s abdomen, Guinea worm larvae mate and female worms mature and grow. After about a year of incubation, the female Guinea worm–which grows to a length of about 40 inches–creates an exit wound somewhere–anywhere–on the host’s body and begins it’s slow and very painful process of emerging from the body. The worms can take months to fully emerge, completely incapacitating the host. The burning sensation is so intense that only by immersing themselves in water does the host experience relief. However, immersion allows the female worm to release larvae into the water. The cycle begins again.

Undaunted by the immensity of the task, the Carters teamed with infectious disease specialists who discovered that the solution to ending the cycle was simple—a $5 water filter that prevented the larvae from entering the body. Through fundraising, education, and distribution of the filters over the past 35 years, the rates of contracting the disease have fallen dramatic. In 2024, there were just 14 documented cases of Guinea Worm Disease in the world! This is what can happen when people of faith take Christ’s call to be healers seriously.

Though the Carters are no longer with us (Well done, good and faithful servants!), the Carter Center has been working to eradicate another parasitical infection found in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America called “River Blindness”. They are making progress. The disease has been eradicated in Mexico, Guatamala, Columbia and Ecuador. You can learn more about the disease and their progress HERE.

The eradication of River Blindness is progressing, but there is some concern about the future. A portion of the funding for the program came from USAID, the agency that was illegally closed by the new administration—supposedly for its corruption, waste and fraud. The State Department now oversees USAID funds and approves grants that “align with the administration’s goals” on a case-by case basis. Thankfully, the Lion’s Club International Foundation has renewed its partnership with the Carter Center to facilitate continued progress in eliminating River Blindness. Maybe there’s a billionaire that could step up to help too. I’ll believe THAT when I see it.

Waking Up to Affliction and Disease

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

On the Second Sunday of Lent, March 16, I preached about health and wellbeing. This is an adapted (and a bit expanded) version of the sermon.

Of the 37 miracles performed by Jesus that are recorded in the gospels, 28 of them involved healing people who were afflicted with all kinds of physical and mental illness. That is a full 75%! And that doesn’t begin to count the number of people who were impacted. There are stories of single individuals experiencing healing—like Peter’s mother-in-law. There are also stories of small groups being healed at the same time—like the 10 lepers who were cleansed. And then there are the two healing events that sound very much like the emergency room at Cook County Hospital—dozens of people waiting in line to see Dr. Jesus so he could touch them. Scores of people may have received healing. All of those who came to Jesus were given renewed health. Not once did Jesus ask if they had insurance or if they were documented or what religion they followed or what gender they were. He, in essence, offered free universal healthcare.

All this begs the question. Why? Why was healing illnesses and physical infirmities so central to Jesus’s ministry?

While there may be numerous insightful answers to the question, the Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:8, that Jesus “came to destroy the works of the devil”. Jesus’s mission of the deliverance of humanity from the devil’s realm of disease, death and destruction is central to our understanding of the coming of the Messiah. It is Jesus’s mission—and by extension, it is the mission of the church—to end the works of the devil—which I would define as anything hostile to the abundant life Jesus came to provide (John 10:10). Anything that is opposed to life and human thriving is satanic.

The Apostle Peter adds to our understanding of Jesus’s mission in Acts 10:38: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

God (aka Jehovah Rapha—’God who heals’) was in Christ, proclaiming the in-breaking of God’s realm not just through words, but through the works of healing—the sign of ‘shalom’ and the new creation. God was in Christ, breaking the satanic chains of affliction and setting the oppressed free. And the forces of hell were powerless to stop it. And Christ shared that anointing with his followers.

When Jesus gathered the twelve disciples, the first thing he did was give “them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases”. He then sent them out to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2). This was repeated when Jesus sent out another 72 disciples (Luke 10:1, 9). After the Pentecost event, the pattern continued. The followers of Jesus, filled with the Spirit, go out proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and do the healing works of liberation in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:42-43, Acts 8:5-8, 12)

This is not just a spiritual healing of the soul with no connection to the body. It is liberation from the demonic chains of oppression and affliction that are manifested in the physical realm. Those chains of oppression and affliction present in the systems and policies that allow disease to flourish; and in the structures and programs that deny access to healing. I see those chains of oppression and affliction being re-established in the draconian proposals to dismantle healthcare and eliminate nutrition programs for the poor and vulnerable. Limiting access to these life-giving, life-sustaining services is satanic. Period. And every act that promotes health and wellbeing is of God. Period.

Through this understanding, any threat to eliminating Medicaid for poor people is satanic. Any threat to school lunches for children in need is satanic. Any threat to reductions in SNAP benefits for working families is satanic. Any threat to rollbacks in regulations that protect clean water is satanic.

The church must wake up! It must wake up to the demonic attempts to restore the chains of oppression and affliction and oppose them, but it must also wake up to its divine mandate to proclaim release to the captives, dismantle the structures of oppression and work to preserve and promote public health.

Death and destruction are Satan’s domain. Life and wellbeing are God’s realm. Which side are you on? In Christ, we have been awakened from death into life, and now we “live woke”—creating with God a world where everyone can thrive and flourish.

Those with ears to hear, let them hear.

David, the Asylum Seeker

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

As a political rival to King Saul, David had a target on his back. Saul and his army had been attempting to find him and kill him again and again without success. Knowing his life was in danger, he considered his options. 1 Samuel 27:1 records his decision.

“David kept thinking to himself, ‘Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.'”

David took his 2 wives and a group of men and their families who were loyal to him and left Israel for the border of Gath. Achish, the King of Gath, gave David political asylum and even provided him the town of Ziklag as a home for him and his companions. David lived in Ziklag–safe from Saul–for a year and four months. When Saul learned that David was in Gath, he stopped searching for David.

The fear of political violence is real for many people, and that fear motivates them to seek asylum and safety. But will they be welcomed and protected? Or will they be turned away and returned to their home country? King Achish saw David’s plight and welcomed him. But what would have happened to David, his friends and their families if they had been turned away at the border? Remaining in Israel could have resulted in David’s death.

The United States government has–in the past–vetted asylum seekers after their arrival in the US. However, current policy does not allow people to apply for asylum at the border or ports of entry, and people seeking asylum must remain in Mexico–effectively condemning them to limbo. They become people without a country, without nationality, and without protection or any guarantee of security. As such, they are especially vulnerable to exploitation and harm.

Whether people are coming to the US because of political, religious or societal persecution, the decision to deny them asylum makes us complicit in their persecution. Turning them away or returning them to their unsafe home country places them in danger. Should they be killed, their blood is also on our hands.

Fortunately, God watched over David and his family during their time in Gath through the welcome of King Achish. When we welcome and watch over asylum seekers today, we are doing God’s will, acting on behalf of God, who is the protector of the foreigner. (Psalm 146:9)

Putting Xenophilia into Practice

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Here are some suggestions for making sure you’re not hitting the “snooze button.” There are videos to inspire, stories that stir up feelings–including righteous anger–and actions to engage. Let these daily disciplines help you “get woke” and “live woke’ for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

  • PRAY DAILY that the Church in the US will wake up and defend the aliens and strangers among us. And pray for God’s protection of those who are living in fear of deportation or loss of their protected status. 
  • “GET WOKE” by reading the New York Times article (excerpt below) about Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a Christian woman from Iran that came to the US to seek asylum because of religious persecution.  
  • ACT to protect those who are vulnerable by calling your elected officials. Find the phone numbers for your elected at https://5calls.org/  Tell them to restore funding for refugee resettlement, unfreeze asylum applications and vote against increased funding for ICE.
  • FAST from at least one purchase this week and give your savings to help refugees that have already arrived in the US, and are still in need of support. Organizations like “REFUGEE ONE” a Chicago organization that resettles refugees and provides rental assistance for 6 months so families can get settled and find work. Refugee One, along with World Relief, Catholic Charities and others, lost their federal funding thanks to an Executive Order. They need private funds to make sure these families don’t lose their housing and support. Learn more about the plight of refugees and the organizations that want to help HERE.
  • WATCH this inspiring video about a couple of 90+ year old nuns in Chicago who have been advocating for immigrant rights for decades. You’re never too old to ‘get woke,’
  • PROTEST or sign petitions that oppose Executive Orders that target migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.  

This Christian Convert Fled Iran, and Ran Into Trump’s Deportation Policy

By Farnaz Fassihi and Hamed Aleaziz
Published in the New York Times on 2/23/25 & Updated 2/26/25

She first entered a church on a visit to Turkey. She remembers feeling a sense of calm so overpowering that she purchased a small Bible. She wrapped it in her clothes and smuggled it back to her hometown, Isfahan, in central Iran.
Artemis Ghasemzadeh’s conversion from Islam to Christianity evolved over a few years starting in 2019, through an Iranian network of underground churches and secret online classes. Three years ago, she was baptized and, in her words, “reborn.”

Converting was colossally risky. While Christians born into the faith are free to practice, Iran’s Shariah laws state that abandoning Islam for another religion is considered blasphemy, punishable by death. Some members of her Bible-study group were arrested. So in December, Ms. Ghasemzadeh set out for the United States.

“I wanted to live freely, to live without fear, to live without someone wanting to kill me,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh, 27, said in a series of phone interviews.

Her journey has landed her in a migrant detention camp on the outskirts of the Darién jungle in Panama. She and nine other Iranian Christian converts, three of them children, are among dozens detained at the Saint Vincente camp. Their fate remains uncertain.

People fleeing violent religious persecution are normally eligible for asylum. But they have been caught in the Trump administration’s deportation push as the president tries to fulfill a campaign pledge to close the southern border.
“We don’t deserve this. We are in a place where we feel helpless,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh said. “I am waiting for our voices to be heard, for someone to help us.”

Panama, which is separately under pressure from the Trump administration over control of the Panama Canal, has become a landing place for migrants who otherwise would have languished in detention in the United States — or potentially been released.

Panamanian officials have said that United Nations agencies are helping the migrants return to their countries or seek asylum in other nations, including Panama.

Read the full article HERE.

Waking Up to Xenophobia

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn into office of President for the second time. Following the inaguration, he went to Capital One Arena, where several thousand fans cheered as he signed 28 Executive Orders before several thousand fans. Almost 1/3 of those Order (9) specifically targeted the Southern border and the entry of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers into the US. . The 13th Executive Order he signed was titled, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”

For years, Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked migrants, claiming that other countries are sending “the worst of the worst” across the southern border—rapists, murderers, drug dealers and criminals released from prisons—to take American jobs and destroy our country. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are to be feared and must be stopped from entering the US before they take over. Since January 20, the Executive Orders have continued to be issued, militarizing the southern border, ending “birther” citizenship, freezing asylum applications, stripping Temporary Protected Status from Venezuelans and Haitians, and even making English the nation’s official language.

This is what xenophobia – the fear of strangers – looks like, and xenophobia is antithetical to our God and our Christian faith.

The Hebrew Scriptures include a classification of people known as “aliens” that resided in a place that was not their original home. The words “stranger” and “foreigner” are used synonymously or in conjunction with the word “alien.”. Aliens are outsiders. Aliens are people who are different. Aliens are “other.” In our context, we use another word to describe this group. Aliens are immigrants. And aliens are, by virtue of their “otherness”, a vulnerable people—at risk of oppression and abuse.

So what do the Scriptures say about them and how are they to be treated? While God recognizes “difference” between alien and native born, God does not does not advocate exclusion. In fact, God advocates special attention that leads to full inclusion and acceptance.

  • In Deuteronomy 10:17-19, God is identified as the “Defender of the alien.” God loves the stranger, providing food and clothing for them.
  • In Leviticus 19:34, God’s people are told to love the alien and stranger as themselves.
  • In Isaiah 56:6-7, God envisions the day that foreigners will enjoy full participation in the life of the community—including religious life.

And the Gospels—Matthew’s gospel in particular—flesh out God’s identification with the alien. Matthew presents Jesus, whom he has identified as “Emmanuel: God with us”, as an alien. In two instances in Jesus’ formative years, Jesus is the immigrant. First, he becomes the refugee in Egypt when Joseph makes a nighttime escape from Bethlehem and the coming genocide of Herod. Then, Jesus becomes the immigrant in Galilee after Joseph—out of fear for his family’s safety—settles in the backwater town of Nazareth—a place that is hardly on the map. (See Matthew 2:13 ff)

In both cases, Jesus would have experienced of being the outsider. In Egypt, Jesus would have experienced the “otherness” of language, religion and culture. He would have been an ethnic, cultural, and religious minority. And his returned from Egypt only to settle in Nazareth did not enhance his résumé. Nathanael expressed the prevailing distain for outsider Nazoreans when he asked Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Galileans were considered lower class. They were identifiable by their accent. (Remember Peter warming himself outside the trial of Jesus and being identified by the servant girl as “one of them.”) They were rubes, suspicious characters, not to be fully trusted. Sound familiar?

So why is the “alien” status of Jesus important? Why does Matthew go to great pains to show us “refugee Jesus” and “immigrant Jesus” right at the start of his gospel?

Matthew is committed to presenting Jesus as one who understands the immigrant experience and identifies himself with the alien and stranger. He ministers to Samaritans and Canaanites and Roman centurions. Scandalously, he welcomes tax collectors and sinners at his dinner table.. He has a tax collector (Roman collaborator?) and a radical Zealot (terrorist?) among his closest disciples. People who would have been considered aliens, strangers and foreigners were not feared or rejected by Jesus. Jesus practiced xenophilia – love of strangers, and he expected his followers to do the same.

In his parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that the rejection of the stranger is a rejection of Jesus. Conversely, when we welcome them and treat them with dignity and inclusion, we welcome Jesus,

I look at Jesus’s treatment of the alien and stranger and say, “Jesus was ‘woke.'” He understood the mistreatment. He witnessed the discrimination. He spoke the truth no one wanted to hear (see Luke 4:25-30), and he defended those who were vulnerable to attack. Jesus expects us to be ‘woke’ too.

Coming Up: Practicing Xenophilia Daily, David the Asylum Seeker, and Welcoming Resources .

Living Woke

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday (March 9), was the First Sunday of Lent and the first in our “Living Woke” Lenten Compact series. A lot of people are triggered by that word, “WOKE.” For many, being “woke” is a terrible thing–even antithetical to Christian faith. A March 2023 USA TODAY/Ipsos poll found that roughly 39% of those surveyed believed the word meant “to be overly politically correct and police others’ words.” Many people associate “wokeness” with left-wing politics, DEI hiring policies, and boys playing in girls’ sports. For them, “wokeism” is a threat to our way of life and they wish it would go away. It seems their wish has been granted. Last week, in his address to Congress, Donald Trump announced an end of “the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies” adding, “Our country will be woke no longer.” Republicans in Congress responded with a standing ovation and shouts of approval.

So, is “Wokeness” really a bad thing that is going to destroy America? I say, “getting woke” isn’t just a good thing; it’s a necessary thing. For me, it isn’t so much a political ideology as an ongoing spiritual practice that is founded on Scripture. Yes, you heard me right. “Woke” is Biblical. In both the Prophets and the Apostles, we are urged multiple times to “Wake Up!” Or “Stay Awake!” Or “Be Alert!” In the letter to the Church at Sardis (Rev. 3:1-2), the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ says,

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”

This is a call to the Church that is asleep–the equivalent of being dead. It is unaware of its own spiritual condition and has disengaged itself from the conditions of the world around them. God calls the church to “get woke” in order to honestly and truthfully assess their relationship to Christ, and then “live woke” by actively pursuing the life-giving mission of Christ as articulated in Luke 4:18-19.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because [God] has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. [God] has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim [God’s year of Jubilee].”

A “woke” church connects with the lived reality of “the least of these” (ie the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the migrant, the incarcerated, and the sick of Jesus’s parable in Matthew 25:35-40). A “woke” church understands that the mission of Jesus is more than just personal salvation, but includes a socio-political aspect that stands against injustice and the systems of oppression. A “woke” church rejects a world where those with power demean, dismiss, dehumanize and destroy those without power. A “woke” church works the works of Christ that result in abundant life (John 10:10) and the year of God’s favor – Jubilee!.

Today, I see a Church that needs to “get woke”. In too many churches, the socio-political mission of Jesus is ignored or seen as secondary or optional (ie “if we have the time or inclination”). As a result, Christians live a bifurcated life that separates the spiritual from the secular and that permits the continuation the status quo. Such a church may preach a gospel, but it’s not Jesus’s gospel. The Bible Jesus read is clear: What does the Lord require? “Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8). The Church–especially the Church in the United States–has some “unfinished deeds” that can only be done when it “gets woke” and repents. The time has come to re-align ourselves to the mission and vision of Christ.

The season of Lent is the right time to reassess and realign and reactivate.. The conditions of our world require our involvement. It’s time to “get woke,” Church. It’s time to return to the words and works of Jesus. The one with ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

During Lent,, I’ll be posting thoughts about “Living Woke.” I invite you to join me (along with Kimball Avenue – Nuestra Señora de las Americas) on this journey.

Justice Takes Sides

~ Bruce Ray ~ 1 Comment

My wife has a collection of T-shirts that express a variety of opinions depending on the circumstances. One says, simply, “Ugh!’ (She got that one while running a school during COVID.) Another shouts, “I dissent,” quoting Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (She dissents a lot lately.) Yet another defiantly declares, “We will not go back.” Last week, she announced that she has found her next T-shirt. It says “Justice Takes Sides.”

The T-shirt is available at https://justicetakessides.com, a site developed by Dr. Jemar Tisby, a public historian, author, speaker and a Christian.. I regularly follow his Substack, “Footnotes”. Here’s why he created the T-shirt:

Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, included the following statement in his acceptance speech:

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.

Neutrality has consequences. As Tisby writes: “Neutrality in situations of injustice only supports the status quo. It only aids the empowered and further harms the disempowered.”

The prophets of Hebrew Scripture took sides, calling out and condemning injustice and demanding accountability for the perpetrators of oppression. There was no space for neutrality; no room for fence-sitting. .

Isaiah shouts: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 – NRSVUE) and “Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans!” (Isaiah 10:1-2 – NRSVUE)

Jeremiah cries out: “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbors work for nothing and does not give them their wages.” (Jeremiah 22:13 – NRSVUE)

Amos calls out: “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall…, who drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!” (Amos 6:4, 6 – NRSVUE)

And in the tradition of the prophets, Jesus announces: ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25 – NRSVUE)

In this precarious time, it is the right time to ask ourselves, “Which side am I on?” The side of justice or the side of oppression? The side of the prophets or the side of the oppressors? The side of truth or the side of disinformation and alternative facts? The side of the marginalized or the side of the powerful? The side of healing or the side of harm?

When the most vulnerable are being sacrificed on the altar of “efficiency” and threatened by the forces of “unbridled greed”, sitting on the fence isn’t an option. Because sitting on the fence is actually taking the side of injustice.

The Lie of Inevitability

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Y’all have heard the quote: “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I’ve heard it; I’ve seen it; I’ve affirmed its truth. I’ve also listened to others speak it with a despairing tone. No matter how much we want justice, truth and integrity to thrive, it won’t happen. Those with power will be corrupted. And corruption will ultimately win. It’s too late. There is nothing that can be done about it. It is inevitable.

Psalm 11 is written by David as a response to people who are watching the foundations of the social order crumbling around them. They see what is happening: “The foundations of law and order have collapsed! What can the righteous do?” In their minds, the only option in the face of this inevitable collapse is to find the exit. They say, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!”

But David refuses to flee. He refuses to believe the lie of inevitability and the despair that leads to giving up. He writes: “I trust in the Lord for protection.” David’s not going anywhere. Instead of “flight,” he is going to stick around to “fight”, trusting in the God of justice and righteousness.

Let me go back to the quote ab out corrupting power. When English Catholic historian Lord Dalberg-Acton wrote it in 1887 in a letter to a Bishop , it was not to state the inevitable, but to issue a warning of the dangers of concentrated authority. Power becomes abusive and corrupt when there are no checks, no guardrails, no resistance. Concentrated authority is the problem. Steadfast resistance to autocracy is the solution.

Sherrylin Ifill, a civil rights attorney, writes on her Substack:

Despair and believing that you are powerless is a form of “obeying in advance” which ensures the victory of autocracy. I understand the exhaustion, anger, the feeling of being overwhelmed and the grief that those of us who believe in democracy, equality and justice are experiencing right now. And painful as it is, I have accepted that there are no guarantees that we can overcome all that we are facing. But I do know that unless we fight, we cannot prevail.”

Autocracy wants us to believe that we are powerless. Autocracy thrives on despair. When someone asks, “What can the righteous do?, autocracy is standing behind us, whispering in our ear, “There’s nothing you can do, so do nothing.” But it’s a lie.

What can the righteous do? The are many ways to resist autocracy, but the one way that is available to 100% of us is to raise our voice. Whether it be on the street in non-violent protest or calling our elected representatives and senators to voice our demands as their constituents, our voices can make a difference. Don’t know who represents you? Don’t what to say? 5calls.org is a simple tool to help you speak clearly and simply on issues you care about. I used it today. I encourage you to check it out.

Let’s stand firm in our faith and act for God’s justice. Remember the word of the Psalmist: “The righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see [God’s] face.” (Psalm 11:7)

Is This What You Voted For?

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Every day, there is yet another assault on our faith, our freedom, our constitutional rights, and our democracy. The government is methodically being dismantled by unelected, unaccountable appointees using illegal and unconstitutional means. We are watching an internal coup.

And while some (mostly Democratic) Senators and Representatives have spoken boldly in opposition to the take over the Treasury Department, the closing of USAID, the unconstitutional firing of Inspectors General, the illegal withholding of grants, the elimination of DEI policies and programs, etc.; many more congresspeople have either been silent or are publicly supporting the takeover.

Why are we shocked at what is happening? This is what #47 said he would do, and he’s doing it with a speed that would impress Adolf Hilter (who dismantled the Weimar Republic and its constitution in 53 days)! When he was campaigning for President, #47 made his agenda clear–a policy agenda articulated by Project 2025 (though he strenuously denied knowing anything about it). Mass Deportations. “De-weaponizing” the Department of Justice and the FBI. Scaling back USAID and placing it under the direction of the State Department. Ending DEI programs. Drill, Baby, Drill! It’s all there and the executive orders mirror it–sometimes almost word for word.

Lots of people I know voted for #47 because he was going to secure the southern border and make sure “the worst criminals.” would be taken off our streets, restoring order–especially in our cities. But something different happened. On the day of his inauguration, he signed an executive order to begin the deportation. Six days later, ICE agents descended on Chicago and other “sanctuary cities” and arrested hundreds of undocumented individuals–many with no criminal arrests or convictions. When asked about the arrests on January 28, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that “the Trump administration sees all undocumented immigrants as “criminals” and isn’t just seeking to deport those who commit violent acts.” Families were separated; children were traumatized; non-citizens with and without documents felt fear and anxiety.

And then it got worse. By executive order, #47 rescinded Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans. And announced daily arrest quotas for ICE agents. Could it get worse? Yep.

#47 placed a 90-day freeze on Refugee Resettlement and the funding agencies tasked with helping refugees (including Christians experiencing religious persecution in their home countries) count on. Those agencies (World Relief, Church World Services and many other faith-based agencies) have been forced to furlough staff and end assistance for those in the process of resettlement. The closure of USAID has also shut down humanitarian assistance provided by organizations like World Relief. The innocent will die.

On February 2, billionaire Elon Musk and his unconstitutional “Department of Government Efficiency” called funding of Lutheran Family Services–a faith-based organization with a 150 year history of service in multiple states including Illinois–“illegal payments,” that “must be shut down” citing General Michael Flynn, who posted on X: “Now it’s the “Lutheran” faith (this use of “religion” as a money laundering operation must end): Lutheran Family Services and affiliated organizations receive massive amounts of taxpayer dollars, and the numbers speak for themselves.” The work of the gospel is under direct attack!

Is this what you voted for? Maybe it isn’t, but it is what you got. I’m fighting the temptation to say, “I told you so!” but pointing the finger and blaming isn’t helpful. It only shuts people down, So, instead of heaping guilt on those who voted for this administration but may be having second thoughts, I want to say this:

If the acts and executive orders of the past two weeks are taking this country in a direction that is different than you expected or want, please consider changing your own direction. It is difficult to admit when we’ve been scammed, and we tend to try to hide it because we feel shame and guilt. We’ve all experienced it, but hiding isn’t helpful for our souls. Adam and Eve know something about that. They hid after making a life-altering (bad) decision, afraid of exposure. But, God still sought them out. There were consequences, but God mercifully covered their exposure. Voting for Donald Trump has had real-life consequences–many of them threatening to human flourishing, but God is still seeking us, ready to help us confront our complicity and lead us to transformation.. The apostle John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, [the one] who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It’s time for an altar call!

Will you stand up and speak up for Jesus’s kingdom values of neighbor-love and justice, or will you minimize (or worse–justify) the current crisis and just hope that things will work out? I hope you have the courage to honestly face this existential crisis, turn from the way of destruction, and walk anew in the way of Jesus.