As the story goes, The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors asking the question “What’s wrong with the world today?” to which author G.K. Chesterton replied:
“Dear Sir,
I am.
Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”
Although there is no proof of this since neither letter has been found, The American Chesterton Society comments, “This story has been repeated so often about Chesterton that we suspect it is true.”
Laura liked the connection I made yesterday between Kris Kristofferson’s “Why Me, Lord?” and Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?” Both of them speak of a deep awareness of sin and marvel at being selected to be a recipient of God’s grace.
“What did I ever do that was worth loving you, for the kindness you’ve shown?” wrote Kristofferson; to Wesley’s: “’Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!” Both talk about being overwhelmed and undeserving of God’s kindness — the least likely candidate to receive it. To which Laura commented, “My friend and I are reading Bonhoeffer’s Life Together together. The last chapter on confession and communion talks about that dynamic of realizing our sin, confessing it to God and our community, and then living in the freedom of God’s love and forgiveness.”
But wait … there’s more.
Charles Wesley Kristofferson
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
This great hymn by Charles Wesley has long been one of my favorites, and to understand its meaning you need to hear it a certain way. To hear it one way is to hear that last line without any real inflection. That Christ should die for me along with everyone else is a grand enough thought. But to make it even grander you need to add an embellishment on that last “me.” How can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die “for ME?”… and the question mark is appropriate. It’s in the original lyrics. Charles Wesley would have resonated with Kris Kristofferson’s “Why me, Lord?”
It started with the police shootings in Dallas eleven days ago. That was followed six days later by the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France. Two days after that was the attempted coup in Turkey, and then yesterday, another attack on police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Each one of these events was announced in the Los Angeles Times with a completely separate front page section called the “Extra,” with huge 3-inch headlines and lots of pictures. It’s almost as if they knew there was going to be a run on horrendous events that would require a new news format for reporting. It makes me wonder what’s happened since I went to bed last night that would need a separate section to cover.
Well folks, after a week spent on the topic of racism I can truthfully say I know no more about this than when I started. I spent a good deal of time on today’s Catch and it ended up in the trash. It wasn’t right. I was talking about something I thought I understood — something someone else said that made sense to me, but I realized I do not have a good enough handle on it to pass it on to you. I looked over what I wrote and realized I didn’t know what I was talking about.
Shetamia Taylor
“He has a gun; run!” That’s what Shetamia Taylor, an African American mother of four sons, heard a white police officer yell at her last week in Dallas as he was shot and falling to the ground. Shetamia, too, was hit, in the calf, and she later recalled this story as she was in the hospital recovering from surgery and being reunited with her “babies,” who were all safe, thanks to other officers who shielded them and got them out of harm’s way. But she’ll never forget that officer concerned about her safety as he, himself, was going down. She never even knew if he survived or if he was one of the casualties.
Wayne Bridegroom, aside from being my roomie in college (which means very little in the grand scheme of things except that it provides for our personal connection), is the pastor of a multiracial church in central California. The church has been in an area of town that has changed over racially three different times and the church never moved. It just adjusted to the predominant culture around it. It’s the main reason why the church is mixed, racially. When others moved out, they stayed. As the world around them shifted, they shifted to meet it. As a result, he’s learned a thing or two about race relations from the best school there is — the school of life, and from that school he’s learned three important lessons that he shared with us on our BlogTalkRadio show last night — three simple things to do to get along with someone who is different from you.
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” Matthew 23:23
Maybe it’s just me, but I find justice hard to define. It’s almost easier to get at a definition by defining its absence. For instance, my wife is always claiming that it’s an injustice that where you live should determine whether you live, but it’s true.
It’s clear from the events of last weekend that race relations in America are strained to the breaking point. How is this possible? African Americans have broken into all levels of society and economics, all the way up to and including the office of the President of the United States, and yet the black ghetto of any city is still the black ghetto, education and job opportunities are not the same, and crime is disproportionate, leading to the attitudes of white law enforcement officers that caused these wounds to fester and bring all kinds of hateful attitudes to the surface.
We have a facade of equality, but we are far from equal.
In light of the shootings in Dallas and the inflamed attitudes that have and will be appearing on all sides of this issue, we offer the story of David and Abigail and pray for the spirit of Abigail to prevail among all who are close to these events and the events that caused them, which would be all of us.
John Fischer The Catch 