Who Disturbs Our Peace?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

Peace won’t upset God at all.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

Do we entertain you, amuse you, keep you young?
Do we frustrate you, whine too much, make bad choices?
Do we bring you joy, make you weep sometimes, surprise you?
Do we please you, at times warm your heart, puzzle you frequently?
Yeah. I’m a parent, too. I can identify.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“Jerusalem or Bust!”

[Busted there, but He didn’t say it.]

D. Blog: Religious Disturbance

Too often religion and religious people disturb peace of mind rather than provide it. That might be necessary on occasion in the interest of justice and peaceful relations. At other times, the disturbance hinders our relationship with divinity. It does so by distorting understandings of the Divine as we give too much authority to a religion and to those who claim to speak for it and for the Divine.

When the Divine speaks within us, we hear of love, compassion and forgiveness for us and the divine urge that we extend those same qualities and actions to our neighbors. Then it’s the proverbial lightbulb: “Oh! I should have known that.”