Responding with our " Larger Selves"

  Facebook profile photo of me { taken by Brian} with a decorative frame with the now-famous Kamala Harris quote " I'm Speaking"

There is no doubt in my mind that we are living in divisive times. There are three weeks left until Election Day, and for those of us who are empathic, we can literally FEEL the tension when we are out in public. Oddly enough, one of the surprise blessings of Pandemic Life is that everyone is forced to totally isolate or select people with whom to socialize very mindfully. 

 Yesterday, during Evening Prayer via Facebook Live, my priest prayed these simple words. She prayed: "LORD, help us to go to our larger selves and not our smaller selves. ~" RevCol"

Never in my lifetime has this prayer been needed. As followers of Christ, we are called to be people of action. We have a responsibility to follow Jesus' footsteps and tend to the needs of the poor, marginalized , lonely, and disenfranchised. We are called to be agents of change and to find  ourselves making  #GoodTrouble. 

  However, I confess that I often find myself wanting desperately to stoop to a lower level of human thought by " returning evil for evil". This political season has seen the worst of people from all along the spectrum of thought, and I confess that I occasionally let my fondness for snark get the better of me. 

I am human. I can and will make mistakes. That is why I found the prayer " .... help us to go to our larger selves...." so relatable to where I sit at this point in Year 2020. It requires absolutely no effort on the part of a thinking human to draw from our lower, more primitive self.  Animals such as snakes and alligators have the same basic ' flight or fight' reaction wired into their brains as do humans. Yet we were created for something better-- bigger, than reptiles and our Creator gifted us with the soul and intellect to live together as one people. 

  As Christians, we are called to do prophetic work. But in order to be effective prophets, we must be mindful of our own words and actions. Additionally, I've discovered that effectively responding to others' negativity requires intention. 

Creator of the Universe, help us all live into our larger selves. 

Amen. 

~Sarah McCarren

9 October 2020