Fourth: thinking for oneself
For today, with Fourth of July hymns at church yesterday, my intent for my journaling would have been to lay out one of our hymns, "O beautiful, for spacious skies" and point out that it's not an acclamation of what God has done for America, it's a prayer, a hope for what God MAY be pleased to do:
(may) God shed his grace on thee
and (may God) crown thy good
with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.
But a respected friend posted something on Facebook that stirred me to go that way instead:
For all of you who aren’t sure,
It is possible to be gay and Christian.
It’s also possible to believe in God and science.
It is possible to be pro-choice and anti-abortion.
It is equally possible to be a feminist and love and respect men.
It’s possible to have privilege and be discriminated against, to be poor and have a rich life, to not have a job and still have money.
It is possible to believe in sensible gun control legislation and still believe in one’s right to defend one’s self, family, and property.
It’s possible to be anti-war and pro-military.
It is possible to love thy neighbor and despise his actions.
It is possible to advocate Black Lives Matter and still be pro-police.
It is possible to not have an education and be brilliant.
It is possible to be Muslim and also suffer at the hands of terrorists.
It is possible to be a non-American fighting for the American Dream.
It is possible to be different and the same.
We are all walking contradictions of what “normal” looks like.
Let humanity and love win.
Author Unknown
We don't have to agree, we don't have to all be the same. We don't have to be divided by our differences, we don't have to be filled with hatred and contempt for each other.
Points of view: I love about my own, the Episcopal Church, that no one tells us what to think. That no two people in the pews have the same set of opinions, and none of us shun each other because of it. I love about the Episcopal Church that when our General Convention takes a stand on an issue, a political or social issue, that I don't have to agree and fall in line, and I over the years of my lifetime in the Episcopal Church I have often disagreed. I love that I can disagree if I damn well please, and no one can challenge me or deny me Holy Communion. I love that when our Presiding Bishop speaks out, or writes, including "ex-cathedra", nobody takes him as infallible, and he is not necessarily speaking for me; and if I disagree, no alphabet bishop can rule that I may not receive Holy Communion. I love being in a church where it isn't expected that everyone inside be of the same viewpoint on social, political, religious issues; and where the church won't drill its viewpoints into me until I grow vehemently certain that my church possesses absolute truth; and where I don't have to check my mind at the door.
Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop, is a great and good, vibrant and earnest man who grew up in and came here from a particular place in life that gave him particular experiences of people and instilled in him particular points of view. Part of his See is to support and carry out rulings of General Convention, which he does. He sometimes issues statements that half of Episcopalians agree with and half disagree. But we don't have to agree with him, and no Episcopalian with a mind of their own leaves the Episcopal Church because of what the Presiding Bishop or any bishop or priest says, to join a church where everyone is required or expected to be of a certain mindset and, God forbid, worship in a place where, if you look around, everyone is nodding their heads in agreement and smug certainty.
We are free. Free to have minds of our own. That's not true with every church, denomination, or religion.
On the Fourth, For 2¢ Plain.
T
