The recent spate of sexual harassment/sexual assault claims is horrifying.  Again, we see the effects of dehumanizing people and the effects of an inward mindset.

At times, it might be hard to know where flirtation ends and sexual harassment begins.  I have seen office affairs spin up because it started as something small and worked into something much bigger that was accepted, albeit wrong, by both parties.  Then there is the line that gets crossed between flirtation and harassment.  Then there is another line that is immediately crossed with power and intimidation and fear.  It would seem these are fairly easy lines to identify and, if so, one would know where the line between mutual interest and harassment, or assault, lies.

What happened in the past that made people think they could take advantage of someone emotionally or physically?  What happened to make people think forced or coerced sex was acceptable?

While I am perplexed about what drives people to these dehumanizing steps, I am even more flummoxed by people who say they love/fear God and defend these things as “boy-talk”, “locker room humor” and other ways of saying they accept bad behavior.

I accept no one is perfect and there is danger in pointing fingers.  I have a past with many mistakes as does everyone I know (who is willing to be honest) but it doesn’t mean we accept our failings with off-handed descriptions that make it seem acceptable.  I’m all for second chances but those chances need to come after true remorse has been expressed at the least.  There are also times when the offense is so heinous that a second chance isn’t appropriate at the time or for a certain position.

All that to say, before we need second chances, I sure hope we as a society can start valuing others more, see human life as something sacred and special and worthy of honor.  Let us all seek to be kinder, more compassionate, more loving.  Let us all seek to show empathy and care for others.  Let us all do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, to lift others up when they need a hand, to see “the least of these” as equals in worthiness of dignity, respect and value.

Grace and peace.

Part 1 of more to come…

Knee-jerk reactions.  I’ve had them often.  When we see the tragedies of Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs it is easy to focus on the end and not the beginning.  It is easy to blame the easy thing and not the hard thing.  I am not here to advocate for guns or gun rights but to call attention to a bigger problem.  Why do these people behind the guns not see the people they are killing as humans, as someone of value, as something we should cherish and build up, not tear down and kill?

One article I read called it dehumanization.  That’s a good word for it.  What has happened to the hearts of these killers that they do not value human life?  What has caused them to lose the decency and morality and goodness that allows them to take human lives, innocent lives?

I am not hearing people call for a hard, deep look at our society.  It has reached a point where our biggest politicians have resorted to name calling and mud slinging and it has filtered down to hatred of people of a different color and religion and it has filtered down to someone killing another.

What is going on in our society that allows one person to treat another so worthlessly?

The problem is in our politics.

The problem is in our schools.

The problem is in our churches.

The problem is in our homes.

The problem is…us.  There is a rampant problem in valuing others who are in a different economic level, social level, racial level.  There is a rampant problem on looking down on those who are poor, sick, homeless, less educated.

I read posts on Facebook by people who are more worried about refugees and statues and taxes and the majority of them proclaim to follow Christ.  (If Christ is first, wouldn’t we see refugees as an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel, wouldn’t we see concerns of racism as a time to talk and heal and wouldn’t we see money as something to give away the way Jesus calls us to and highlights in parables?)

I am taking broad swings.  I am writing big strokes.  I know many will disagree and denounce (and confident most will do it before spending 5 minutes thinking about it) all that I have said.  Yet, killings continue.  Sexual predators continue.

If we aren’t the problem, who is?

Grace and peace.

Empathy is a word that has been on my mind lately.  I think it is something our society, country and world need and should exhibit right now.

I’m scared by politicians who think they can make a country great and who use their power to build themselves and their “foundations” more wealth.  I’m scared by politicians who don’t put regular, working-class people into positions of advisor and counselor and say they represent the regular, working-class people.  How can they have empathy for the mainstream when the only time they visit with them is a 30 minute stop at a diner during campaign season?

I’m scared by Christians who show a heightened interest in politics and brush off the beggar with “they need to get a job” comments.  I’m scared by “right-wing evangelicals” who have a very different message of truth and love than Jesus displayed.  I’m scared by “fundamentalists” who drive nice cars and live in big houses and sit in million dollar churches and don’t know a poor person, a person of color, a person who is psychologically wounded.

I’m scared of a world where we think that looking good means we are doing good.  I’m scared of a world that makes someone who has suffered physical/emotional/spiritual abuse be quiet about it and “push through it” instead of letting them be vulnerable, broken, and grieving.  I’m scared of a world where facades are more acceptable than truth and where toughing-it-out is more acceptable than crying a river of tears over pain.

These things scare me because I have been that person in all those examples.  I played the game until life drug me over rocks and briars and I was bruised, bloodied and ready to die.  It was then I experienced empathy and unconditional love from people I thought would turn away from me and despise me.  It was then I really met Jesus and learned he saw me all along, knew my failings and still provided a door to heaven one day.  It was then that I learned how to be empathetic to others and share the love I had been given in abundance.

Our world needs more empathy.  If you have experienced it, if you understand it, if you are willing to dole it out to those who want it and those who don’t even know they need it yet, join me in giving freely what we have experienced freely.  Let’s help the broken walk again.  Let’s help the bruised smile again.  Let’s help others set the burden of pain and brokenness and fear free from those things.  Let’s start an #empathy tour of such magnitude the world finds peace again.

Grace and peace.