Day 6: Can I get me a witness?

Today, beloved, we were the church.  

It began at 9:30 am by gathering with people in a park to pray, sing, and listen to the witness of a family destroyed by gun violence.  They pleaded with us to take action; to no longer be complicit in this senseless violence that is an epidemic in our nation with our silence and our willingness to let other folks make the change happen.  We listened to a prophet of today, a freshman in high school, who demanded that enough was enough. She proclaimed that we cannot be satisfied with our youngest school-aged children having to learn lock-down drills, with our young folks being afraid to go to school, with legislators and gun enthusiasts demanding that their desire to have assault rifles somehow justifies one's ability to kill multiple lives in seconds.

From there we rode by bus to the Hutto Detention Center where women, who came to this nation for asylum, are held---apart from their children. This wasn't a protest, but a prayer service. But this wasn't simply "thoughts and prayers; " this was a call to action and a reminder of what our nation is truly about.  A call to make America great again by making America good again. This was a time to be reminded of our core values---our values of welcome because we are called to love our neighbor.  To love without exception.

Beloved, now is the time to be a witness.....to be a prophet.....to proclaim love, to point to love, to be love in action.  God is waiting: Can God get a witness? Will we be witnesses to this profound love? Will we show the world the Way by living and being the Way?  Let us be the witnesses God calls us to be. There is no other time but now.