Is This Your Jesus?

I got a text from Tammy late Sunday morning just as I was getting to work and hurrying to find a cubicle for my laptop. She was at church working the information desk and had met a homeless couple who have been living out of their truck since last February. They spend much of their time hanging out at Walmart to stay warm in what's been a very frigid winter. Tammy said they were in need of at least a shower and a hot meal and she was wondering if I had any problem with her inviting them home to get them out of the cold for a few hours. My first reaction was a concern that she was maybe getting into more than she was prepared for and that I wouldn't be there to help. They were complete strangers to her. She assured me that everything would be okay. They were in their 50s and appeared a little mentally challenged she said—just simple people with very little to live on, trying to get by. There's no way I could or would say no.

They followed her home where she spent the next several hours waiting on them, cooking a meal for them and doing their laundry before sending them on their way. Tammy doesn't just talk the talk. It's who she is.

But keep it on the down-low that I said anything here. She didn't want me to mention it to anyone but then she seldom ever reads my blog so shhh.

I've heard some absurd things in my life but it's quite possible that I heard the most absurd thing ever from a cousin last week in a discussion on Facebook. That being that Jesus would be supportive of our gun culture in the United States.

Say what?

I kid you not.

This really troubles me because it's talk like that which only serves to give Christians a bad name and undermine everything that Jesus did in his time on earth. Considering how Christians have flocked to the Republican party in a disturbing display of ignorance, it now makes me embarrassed that I ever got a Christian fish tattooed on my ankle to signify my walk with Christ. I sometimes feel a need to defend myself in public for that decision, concerned that people will think I'm of the same mindset of the group that has co-opted the Christian faith and turned it into a political party.

I know that sounds harsh but it's how I've been feeling for too long. The run-up to the last election only worked to drive that point home for me, leaving me questioning so much about my faith and the church. Can we really worship the same God?

I'm curious, is this your Jesus?

It may come as a surprise but I'm not against all guns. I have no problem with people owning hunting rifles. I used to own a Winchester Model 94 years ago until I gave it away. It had no scope. If you were going to use it for hunting you actually had to have some hunting ability to get close enough to shoot something with it. Maybe that explains why I never shot anything. What I'm troubled by mostly is our society's attitude toward guns. Our embracing of them by so many in a most over-the-top way. It should trouble us all.

Moving on...

My ant-farm is in its 2nd week and thriving but there's just one problem: there's a short in the wire that powers the LED lights and so they are no more. It's too bad because I liked the look of the lights at night but I'm guessing that the ants like it just fine the way it is.