Tag: Christian witness

Trump’s Ukraine Negotiations: A Recipe for Disaster

by Steve Harsh, posted in Government Reform, peacemaking, spiritual discipline

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Jesus, Matthew 5:9

If you haven’t seen the video of the Trump-Vance vs. Zelensky “negotiations” in the Oval Office yet, please stop here and see it for yourself.  Try to suspend whatever opinions about the encounter you have heard or read about from commentators, although I know that is hard to do.  It is even harder to divorce oneself from personal bias, and if you have read any of my posts in the last few months you probably know my political bias.  These thoughts however came to me as I watched the White House meeting live and before I had heard other commentary.

President Trump has said repeatedly and again today that he wants peace in Ukraine.  By that he means he wants the killing to stop; he wants the credit; and he also wants to be paid back for what the U.S. has provided to Ukraine in the last three years, even though that was never part of the deal.  The Biden administration and a bipartisan Congress gave armaments to Ukraine so they could defend themselves from a Russian invasion.  Yes, Russia is to blame for this war, even though that is not the case in Trump’s alternative facts universe.  The point here is that the military aid was a gift, not a loan.  There is nothing to repay to the U.S. or the other nations who have supported Kyiv through these three long, bloody years. We did it because it was the right thing to do, period. 

And yet here we are again with Trump trying to coerce a deal with Ukraine for some rare earth minerals in exchange for continued support just like he did in his first term when he tried to get dirt of the Bidens from Zelensky as pay back for U.S. support.  That was the reason Trump was impeached the first time, remember? 

So enter these three key players today – Trump, Vance, and Zelensky.  I said to my wife as soon as I saw J.D. Vance was there that he had no business being there, and if Trump really wanted peace he would not have included his Vice-President in this delicate meeting.  The inexperienced Vance has already insulted Ukraine and most of Europe in his disastrous speech in Munich a couple of weeks ago.  He has so little political experience that his fellow Republicans called his Munich blunder “a rookie mistake.”  So why have this rookie even in this critical meeting in the first place? Apparently so he and Trump could gang up on Zelensky, and in fact it was Vance’s intrusion into the conversation when the meeting was nearly over that set off the shouting match.  Vance is the apprentice who should be fired.

Side bar: I heard later that someone had the audacity to criticize Zelensky for how he was dressed, saying it was disrespectful for him not to wear a suit and tie for this important meeting.  Have you seen how Elon Musk dresses for cabinet meetings and other events in the Oval Office?  Methinks Zelensky was set up to be ambushed from the get go, and that’s what bullies do, not what peacemakers do.

The other Scripture that came to mind as I watched is the very familiar passage from I Corinthians 13 where Paul says, “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.”  Both our President and VP were boastful, arrogant, and rude.  They both insist on their own way and keep records of every real or imagined wrong ever done to them.  And let’s not forget the matter of truth.  Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. has provided Ukraine $300-360 billion in aid when the real number appropriated by Congress is less than $200 billion.  Trump was caught on video last week calling Zelensky a “dictator,” but when asked by a reporter Thursday if he still thought the Ukrainian president was a dictator, Trump straight-faced said, “Did I say that? I can’t believe I ever said that.” He never did answer the question.  As for the demand from both Americans that Zelensky needed to be grateful for our aid the fact checkers tell us the Ukranian President has already expressed gratitude publicly over 30 times. 

You will of course get two different assessments of how President Trump did in this made for television spectacle.  His Republican allies loved his “tough” handling of Zelensky while his Democratic critics saw what transpired as a disaster for our country and for our former Western Allies.  But here’s all you need to know about the impact yesterday’s events will have on the future of democracy.  First, a Russian reporter was allowed into the oval office for this delicate meeting (which should have been held in private) so Trump’s reprise of his role in the Apprentice could be reported directly back to the Kremlin.  Second, the loudest cheers for the Trump-Vance tag team performance came from Putin and his oligarchs in Moscow, and all the while the bombing and destruction of Ukraine continues into a fourth year.

My father and all the other brave men and women who risked their lives to defeat fascism in WWII are turning over in their graves. 

March 1, 2025

Searching for Calm in Crisis

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Government Reform, hope

I’ve been struggling a lot since January 20 to keep my sanity, and I know I’m not alone. No matter how many times I tell myself that I need to not dwell on the political mayhem I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from checking my phone or turning on the tv or radio to see what the latest chaotic news out of Washington is.

When a friend asked me recently how I was, my reply was something like this: “I’m dismayed, disgusted, depressed, disillusioned, displeased, despondent, and distressed. (Full disclosure – this was at the beginning of a zoom call and knowing I would probably be asked some version of “how are you” I had rehearsed my answer knowing that this friend would immediately understand what I was saying.

While I certainly intend no implication that my situation resembles what Jesus was dealing with in the Gospels, the need for finding peace and relief from my anxiety brought to mind two passages in Mark’s Gospel.

“In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” (Mark 1:35-37)

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:30-34)

Jesus can’t escape the demands on his time and healing power no matter where he goes. I bet he was glad he didn’t have a cell phone so people could text or call him 24/7 with their requests for help!

But seriously, how do mere mortals like you and me cope with a world gone mad. When there seems to be no end to the pain and suffering the Trump/Musk duo and their minions are willing to inflict on the most vulnerable people in our country and around the world, and we feel powerless to stop them, what can we do?

A friend recently shared a breath prayer from author Sarah Bessey: “Inhale: Show me who to be. Exhale: And what is mine to do.” (From “Field Notes from the Wilderness”). I find the prayer relaxing, but I still am searching for a clear answer to those questions for living my life in 2025.

Paul tells us in Romans that when we don’t know how to pray the Spirit intervenes for us with “sighs too deep for words.” But right now those sighs are too deep for me to understand.

I keep coming back to one of my go to verses in Micah 6:8 where we are told what God requires of us and number one on the list is “to do justice.” But what does that look like in a world where injustice seems to have all the power? Nothing new, of course. That’s the story of human history, but it’s not something I ever expected to have to deal with in my democratic country.

I should have known better. History is full of examples of civilizations and empires that have ceased to exist in any recognizable form. And God knows the United States in spite of many admirable qualities and achievements has an ugly underbelly of racism, genocide, and imperialism that never seems to go away. And here we are in 2025 with a would be dictator using all of those ugly sins of our fathers to try and destroy the foundations of our democracy from the most powerful position in our government.

In the Judeo-Christian Scriptures when God’s people build golden calves or pursue earthly power by putting their faith in monarchs or foreign alliances things never end well. The nation of Israel is split into two opposing countries, carried into exile, and overrun in succession by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans.

But in all of those biblical disasters somehow there is always a faithful remnant that survives the injustice to renew the covenant with God. If we are living in such a time I am haunted by doubts that I am brave enough to be part of such a faithful remnant. What price am I willing to pay to stand up to the forces of evil?

The good news about being in a time like this is that it is a crucible where the rubber of faith meets the road. All questions are laid bare. Do I really believe in resurrection, or in that moving verse in Romans 8 that I have quoted so often that nothing, “not powers or principalities, or life or death, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God?”

One of my favorite images of faith is the story of Jesus and his disciples caught in a storm out on the Sea of Galilee and these brave fishermen who make their living on the sea are scared to death. When they look around for Jesus to save them they find him sound asleep in the back of the boat. He is literally sleeping through the storm.

As much as I’d like to be that calm in this or any crisis, I am much more ore like the father in Mark 9 who brought his son to Jesus to be healed. When Jesus tells him all things are possible to those who believe the father cries out, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief!”

Or there is this example from American history. “These are the times that try men’s souls” is a quote from Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis.” Paine wrote this during the Revolutionary War to encourage the American colonists to persevere and fight for victory. Well, we are in another American crisis 250 years later, and the question is will we persevere and keep the faith in the aspirational dreams of equality for all people written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by all the founding fathers who pledged “their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.”

The answers to all those questions for me and for our nation are yet to be revealed, but I want to close with a powerful statement from James Weldon Johnson that I read recently in “Sojourners” magazine. His words inspire me.

“I will not let prejudice or any of its attendant humiliations and injustices bear me down to spiritual defeat. My inner life is mine, and I shall defend and maintain its integrity against all the powers of hell.”

May it be so for me and thee.

The Trump-Musk Coup: A Call to Action for Democracy

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Government Reform

“I don’t ever want to lose sight of how short my time is here. I don’t ever want to forget that resistance must be its own reward, since resistance at least within the lifespan of the resistors, almost always fails…” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy”)

Spoiler alert: this post may seem unfocused and fragmented because by design the Trump-Musk coup is throwing so much chaos at us all at once that it is nearly impossible to stay focused or to know how to resist. Like Will Rogers said, “I am not a member of any organized political party — I am a Democrat.” So we have once more underestimated the depth of organization and evil of the Trump led GOP – Gutless Obsolete Party.

My only hope for democracy’s survival is that the better-late-than-never legal challenges to the Musk led destruction of our government will save at least part of our constitutional democracy. I am still searching for what I personally can do to resist. I write here still believing the pen is mightier than the sword, but knowing full well that Trump’s racist, hateful sharpie with which he signs a daily barrage of unconstitutional executive orders carries more weight than my meager words.

I hate what the Musk/Trump duo is doing even as I pity both of them for the total lack of any compassion or human kindness in them. I do pray for them because they both must have led horrible lives of empty searching for love and affirmation to be so void of any empathy for their fellow human beings.

But what bothers me much, much more is the response or lack thereof by the Republican members of Congress to this obvious attack on our democracy. The January 6 insurrection failed by violent means to overthrow our government; so Trump spent the last four years planning a bloodless coup that has moved with astonishing speed in just three weeks. And the tragedy is that it would only take four of the 53 Republicans in the US Senate to have the guts to put their precious seats of power on the line to stop the parade of dangerous, incompetent cabinet appointees from being handed the keys to power. That has not happened because we are told they are afraid of being primaried and losing their seats.

The irony of course is that by failing to do their constitutional duty to provide checks and balances on an unbalanced President they are handing over any power they have. The precious jobs they sell their souls for are empty and meaningless, and if they think this coup will stop before eviscerating the role of Congress completely they simply are not paying attention.

Former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was interviewed last week on 60 minutes by Leslie Stahl who asked some hard ball questions. She reminded McConnell (1) of his brave speech after the January 6 insurrection when he said Trump was unfit to ever serve as President again and (2) that he soon changed his tune to say that if Trump was the Republican nominee he would support him. When Stahl asked him why he changed McConnell’s lame excuse was “Because I’m a Republican.”

No, Mitch, first and foremost you are an American who took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, and you and your cowardly colleagues should be impeached for failing to keep that promise. McConnell gets an extra helping of my ire because of his conspiracy with Trump to stack as many of the federal courts, from the Supremes on down, with equally spineless yes people who have granted Trump immunity and enabled him to avoid any real repercussions for his many crimes.

And it is all so unnecessary. If McConnell had shown courageous leadership after January 6 Trump would have been impeached and prevented from ever doing any further damage to our democracy. So the Gutless Obsolete Party is getting what they deserve, but at the expense of all Americans and millions of people around the world who will literally die because of the selfish, transactional motives of Trump and his acolytes who are cutting off critical life-saving aid to impoverished people all over the world.

If we were truly a Christian nation we would know that we help other people because they need help, not for whatever they might be able to do for us in return. The Good Samaritan didn’t stop to ask what was in it for him if he helped the man in the ditch. He did it because he could, and it was the right thing to do. We must demand nothing less from ourselves as the richest nation in the world.

Oligarchy Inaugurated

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, Government Reform

January 20, 2025 was a day of extreme highs and lows for me and for many of my friends. It is a day that may go down in history as the day the American experiment in democracy died. As of yesterday we are living in an oligarchy, and whether we the people can survive it hangs very much in the balance. It will depend on how much courage enough people can muster to fight for their freedom before it is too late. Our democracy is on life support, and only the citizens of this country can determine if it will live or die.

For millions of Americans January 20 was also a unique and special day in the world of sports. The first ever 12-team College Football Playoffs culminated that evening with a championship game between two historic football power house teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Being a life-long Ohio State fan it was a special treat for our local team to play in that game, and for 3.5 hours it was a riveting and welcome distraction from the threat unfolding in Washington D.C.

After enjoying the post-game victory celebration for Ohio State for about an hour I made the foolish mistake of checking my phone for the news before going to bed. Needless to say reading about the plethora of executive orders signed yesterday by our new Supreme Leader quickly put a damper on my spirit. It wasn’t unexpected, and I should have known better; but it was a reminder that a much more important contest is being waged than a football game. It was time to come back to reality.

Ironically yesterday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the contrast between his dream for America and the Trump oligarchy could not be starker. One is a dream of justice for all described in the amazing founding documents of our nation 248 years ago. King’s dream is also grounded in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures which describe all people as being created in the image of God. King gave his life as Jesus did proclaiming a Gospel of love and non-violence.

 But the Trump oligarchy is one founded on capitalistic selfishness and greed. It is based on the exclusive doctrine of racism and white supremacy where strangers and neighbors in our midst live in fear of imprisonment and deportation. It is a message of imperialism and American exceptionalism where might makes right. President Trump’s promise of a new Golden Age is a barely disguised reference to the Gilded Age of robber barons which will take us back 100 years,  undoing the hard won progress on women’s rights, unionization, minimum wages, civil rights, global cooperation, the climate crisis, and humane working conditions. We have to look no further than Putin’s Russia to see what the nightmare of oligarchy brings.

Jesus directly warned us in the Sermon on the Mount that we cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24), and the proof that we worship the latter in this country was blatantly obvious as the richest men in the world were given the seats of highest honor at Trump’s inauguration. Today I am overwhelmed with feelings of anger, fear, and depression. I feel helpless to know how to combat the evil on full display in the White House. But tomorrow or one day in the future I will find a way to join the 50% of my fellow Americans who did not vote for oligarchy and together with God’s help we will find a way to turn this nightmare into a brighter, stronger, and more just democracy than ever before. I may not live to see that day, but in God’s due time I do believe that “justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

Jimmy Carter, Servant Leader Par Excellence

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics, spiritual discipline

I came of age politically in the bloody year of 1968, a year of political assassinations and a violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Hubert Humphrey, badly weakened by those events and the increasingly unpopular Viet Nam War, lost that year’s Presidential election to Richard Nixon, who won a landslide re-election over George McGovern four years later. I was 0-2 in presidential election votes.

Nixon was forced to resign in disgrace by the Watergate scandal just two years later in 1974, setting the stage for a little-known Georgia governor/peanut farmer to launch an unlikely presidential campaign in 1975. Elected by a razor slim margin in 1976, that 39th U.S. President was Jimmy Carter who died recently at the age of 100.

I have great admiration for this President who was one of the most honest and compassionate to ever serve as our Commander in Chief. His record of human rights promotion and tireless work for peace and justice while in office and for forty years afterward is an example of faith-based servant leadership that few have achieved; but all of us should emulate if we want our badly broken world to survive the current political, economic, and ecological crises facing us.

Much more eloquent tributes than mine have poured in from all over the world since President Carter’s death, but I have a personal memory in addition to all of his remarkable accomplishments. Jimmy Carter was the first presidential candidate I ever voted for who actually won the election. In fact in my first six presidential election cycles Jimmy Carter was my only winner.

In retrospect Carter was too honest and kind to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of Washington politics. So he will not go down in history as a very successful President in spite of remarkable legislative accomplishments, significant civil rights and women’s rights actions, and the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.

I had forgotten that the two things that doomed Carter’s re-election in 1980, the Arab oil embargo and the hostage take over of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, were done in retaliation for Carter’s peacemaking efforts and his compassionate welcome of the former Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment.

There was also some underhanded dealing by Carter’s Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, who struck a deal with Iran to hold the hostages until after the election. As I said before, Carter was too honest and kind for political infighting.

As I have listened and read about President Carter in the last week I have been humbled by his faith-based commitment to a life of service in spite of illness and advancing age. He created a new vision of what it means to continue to serve humanity after “retirement” from public service.

He and Rosalyn did more for humanity after the age of 90 than most of us ever accomplish in a lifetime. At the age of 78 I personally have trouble making it through one day at a time, and yet as a cancer surviving octogenarian Jimmy and Rosalyn circled the globe building houses, curing diseases, and promoting democracy.

And in his spare time Carter taught Sunday School for decades and wrote 30 books! How he managed that much writing given his schedule is way beyond me. I self-published one small book 13 years ago and haven’t had the discipline or energy to attempt another one since.

As a pastor I also have great admiration for Carter’s prophetic witness about human rights for women and LGBTQA+ people. He humbly credits his mother Lillian for his inclusive attitude toward all people, and they were both way ahead of their time. Carter was such a man of principle that he left his life-long membership in the Southern Baptist Convention over his denomination’s discrimination against women pastors and leaders.

If anyone has ever deserved to hear the words, “Well done, you good and faithful servant,” it is James Earl Carter, Jr., humble peanut farmer, 39th President, and exemplary servant leader. As I begin 2025 one of my goals is to in some small way live a life worthy of Jimmy Carter’s example.

The Demise of Empathy

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, climate change, Faith and Politics, Government Reform, Uncategorized

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Jesus, The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:4

Of all the things I am sad about from the recent election, one of the most is my realization that a lack of empathy is largely responsible for the huge chasm dividing one half of this nation from the other.

That should have been obvious to me months, if not years, ago. A President-elect who mocks disabled Americans, who calls a decorated POW a loser, who denigrates gold star families and WWII dead, who calls insurrectionists “patriots,”and who threatens revenge on his political opponents and mass deportation to struggling immigrants is certainly no poster child for empathy.

Full disclosure, empathy or the lack thereof cuts both ways. I cannot bemoan the lack of empathy among others without confessing my own antipathy for those who voted for Trump and his fellow MAGAmaniacs.

That said, I have experienced the lack of empathy on a very personal level as I have tried to cope with my own anxiety and depression about the election outcomes. And by the way, the recent clown car arrivals at Mar-a-Lago containing new cabinet nominees has only deepened my concerns over the future of our nation and world.

To those who have mocked the grief and mourning of those like me who are genuinely fearful about the future, I would says this: Feelings are not debatable. They just are. So when I say I feel like I’m living thru a bad SNL, skit you can’t argue me out of that feeling. It is how I feel and no argument is going to change that.

Even if my Trumpian friends make some good points that we can agree on about the current state of our nation, we continue to disagree on who is to blame for the immigration, health care, economic, and a host of other problems.

While the MAGA crowd holds the government responsible for our societal problems, I argue that big business is to blame for most of our woes. not the government. And that unregulated capitalism will be a total disaster for the only planet we have.

Some justify Trump’s cabinet selection of “successful” business people makes sense because the government is one big business. I disagree strongly that our government is a business. The purpose of a business is to make profit for its owners and stakeholders. That is not the purpose of our democratic government, which is to defend and protect the rights and welfare of our citizens.

Those are two very different purposes. From our history we know that the business leaders/“robber barons” are the very folks who drove us into a worldwide depression in the 1920’s. Unregulated capitalism always favors profit over people. Those same geniuses of business also began the destruction of our planet with the greed fostered by the Industrial Revolution.

Most Titans of business lack empathy for the very people who earn their profits from them, and that same lack of empathy is on full display in the dystopian version of the GOP Trump has and is creating. We dems are so anxious and depressed because we’ve seen this movie before, and it didn’t end well.

And yes, anxiety and depression are also emotions which just are and cannot be argued away. They require empathy for as log as necessary and not argument. I’m sorry some people are frustrated with the prolonged mourning of those who lost the election by a slim popular vote margin, and I hope the MAGA crowd’s optimism about the future holds some truth.

Only time will tell, but my values in life require me to oppose and resist evil and injustice where I see it; and I see it in every policy, threat, and cabinet pick Trump has made so far.

Vote for Jesus over Leviticus

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, spiritual discipline, Uncategorized

In a recent blog post (Oct. 9, “Why I Vote the Way I Do”) I told the story of a very satisfying, respectful political argument I had with a friend who holds very different political views than I do. That story ended happily as we agreed to respect and affirm each other’s points of views.

Fast forward to 4 days before Election Day and emotions are running high on both sides of the political spectrum because there is so much uncertainty about how the votes will come out and how supporters of either candidate will respond to the results. I used to love staying up late on election night to watch the returns come in, but I have no illusions this time that we will have a clear winner Tuesday or for several days or weeks thereafter.

Given that context I have been posting everything I think might make any difference in stopping Trump from reclaiming the White House, and my friend from October took strong objection to a post I shared about old rich white men destroying our planet by ignoring climate change to protect their fortunes. I respect her right to disagree, but then she said that I should basically shut up and stop posting because my intelligence level is very low.

I am hurt, angry and disappointed by that attack. I thought we had a better relationship than that. So a few days later I am still pondering how or if to respond. My first instinct was to respond in anger and then hide her responses on Facebook. Then this still, small voice in my head reminded of Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount that we are to “love our enemies.”

That’s probably great advice in these contentious days; so I am praying about what that might look like in this situation.

Meanwhile, the Sermon on the Mount, also was on my mind a lot with regard to Trump’s most egregious threat to date, namely a detailed comment he made on a Fox News interview recently. Trump zeroed in on one of his “enemies within” and suggested former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney should face a firing squad for her opposition to his fitness for office.

The closer we get to Election Day the more paranoid and unhinged Trump becomes. But his threats against his political foes come from a logical progression of his abysmal knowledge of the Christian faith he has co-opted to gain political leverage.

I first noticed this basic theological flaw in Trump’s use of the Scripture to fit his own narcissistic values way back in the 2016 campaign. Trump was asked what his favorite Scripture is. His response was “An eye for any eye and a tooth for a tooth” from the Hebrew Bible book of Leviticus.

Had he read the New Testament where Jesus corrects and updates our notions of God, he might have noticed in the Sermon on the Mount this direct dismissal of the Hebrew commandment.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42)

And if we dare to read the next verses Jesus ups the ante even more.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5 43-44)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not for sissies. We who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior strive for a higher standard; so no matter what unfolds after next Tuesday’s election, Jesus needs to win out over Leviticus.

Why I Vote the Way I Do

by Steve Harsh, posted in Christian Discipleship, Faith and Politics

Recently I got into a friendly political argument with a friend who helps keep me honest when I get carried away and tune out my better angel. She, my friend, asked me to give her reasons to support my political views, and below is what I wrote to her after a few days of wrestling with that challenge.

“I want to respond to a question you raised a few days ago about reasons to support my political positions. I’ve been giving that a lot of thought, and here’s what I’ve decided.

First, I grew up in a very conservative, Republican family and community in deep red NW Ohio. I don’t think I ever met a Democrat until I left home for college at age 20. I was exposed to a whole new world view at Ohio State and then in seminary, and that broader, more liberal world view made much more sense to me than what I grew up with.

I was converted by that exposure to a new way of thinking and became convinced that the Democratic Party, even with all it’s flaws, is much closer to my theological beliefs about the Kingdom of God than the Republican Party. The Democratic Party as I was coming of age supported Civil Rights and women’s rights, and continues to stand for more programs that help the poor and marginalized members of society than the GOP. Those are the people I believe Jesus calls us to care most about.

The differences between the two parties are more clearly visible now than ever before. I find it hopeless to argue over campaign promises or to fact check either party because they all exaggerate and lie to make their points.

The bottom line is that I vote democratic because those candidates in general are more in harmony with the values I try to live by shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus. I hope that makes sense, and I do thank you for pushing me to think more deeply about these issues and for helping me realize when I’ve screwed up when you call me out. Peace and grace, my friend.”

And the best part of this story? My friend replied with a beautiful emoji shower of hearts.

A New Independence Day

by Steve Harsh, posted in Faith and Politics, Government Reform

How ironic that Donald Trump’s handpicked Maga Supreme Court should choose 3 days before Independence Day to eviscerate the founding documents that have been the foundation of our freedom for 248 years! At least now the stakes are clear for what the 2024 election is all about, and there can be no excuse for anyone ignoring the danger posed by our only President who has ever staged an insurrection to try and cling to power and overthrow a free and fair election.

Lost in the obvious failure last week of President Biden to withstand the barrage of Trump’s lies is the appalling lack of honesty coming from Trump’s mouth. He is such an accomplished liar that only the well-informed listener would see through the bull crap he spouted for the entire 90 minutes. And sadly we do not have a well-informed electorate. A dangerous portion of our population have been so indoctrinated by the right-wing media to believe Trump’s lies uncritically. He has cult-like control over just enough minds to possibly win another election while again losing the popular vote.

There is no time to correct the flaws in the Electoral College which is protected by the very system it perpetuates. There is no time to re-educate the Maga base. The biased court system created by Trump and Mitch McConnell has successfully prevented any legal recourse happening before the November election. The only defense of democracy we have left is exactly what President Biden called for tonight in his forceful and courageous dissent from today’s Maga Court ruling. That defense is ironically what the Trump supporters have also been calling for — let the voters decide.

Well, by God, we will. Today’s court decision is discouraging, and it is very tempting to just give in to despair. But instead what I plan to do is let the rockets’ red glare of our July 4th fireworks inspire me to renew my commitment to the “self-evident truths” that gave birth to this great nation. I will celebrate the vision that all people are created equal, which means no one, NO ONE is above the law. It matters not that six Maga Court justices have forgotten that sacred truth – what matters is that “we the people” have not forgotten.

Those brave men in Philadelphia 248 years ago pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” to the dream of equality and independence for all. Now it’s our turn to do the same.

Jesus and Stages of Grief

by Steve Harsh, posted in Aging to Sageing, Faith Development

As we made our way through the passion story of Holy Week this year it occurred to me that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last week are an interesting case study in the classic stages of grief proposed by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying.”

The stages do not occur in a linear order but ebb and flow like the phases of the moon, and we always need to remind ourselves that the Gospels are theological works, not historical biography; but given that, it strikes me that we can learn about the universal human experience of grief by studying what the Gospel writers tell us about the final days of Jesus’ earthly life.

Kubler-Ross’ stages include anger and depression which are often two sides of the same emotion – one expressed outwardly and the other turned in upon oneself. Because of that anger is easier to identify and that is true with Jesus also. The cleansing of the temple which is described in all four Gospels is one of the few times we ever see Jesus angry. He sometimes is verbally angry with the Scribes and Pharisees, but when he overturns tables and drives the money changers out of the temple with a whip that is the rare incident where Jesus is obviously and physically very angry.

Another scene which could be motivated by either anger or depression would be one of the “last words” from the cross where Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Hearing the tone of voice and seeing Jesus’ body language when he uttered these words might help us better understand his mental state at the time, but both Matthew 27 and Mark 15 describe his tone as “crying out with a loud voice,” and that is the best evidence we have.

Depression can certainly not be diagnosed from a few 3rd person accounts of Jesus’ actions, but the three incidents that come to mind when I think about that stage of grief are when Jesus weeps over the death of his friend Lazarus, when he weeps over Jerusalem and says, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:42-44). And perhaps in all four Gospels where Jesus refuses to answer any questions in his trials before Pilate, Herod, and the Chief Priests. Those incidents however I interpret more as a strong, silent resistance to the unjust power of oppression rather than depression or resignation.

The stage of grief that stymies me when it comes to Jesus is denial. If you readers have ideas about this one I would love to hear them, but for now I cannot think of examples of times where I see Jesus being in denial about his fate. He sets his face toward Jerusalem in spite of the protestations of his disciples. He stages a protest entrance into Jerusalem riding on a humble donkey, and he returns daily to teach and heal in Jerusalem that last week and to celebrate the Passover, all of which seem like acts of faithful determination and not ones of denial in any form.

The stage of bargaining seems to me to only appear in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus says, “If this cup can pass from me, please make it so,” but those words are immediately followed by “But not my will but yours be done,” which move us toward the final stage of acceptance.

It should come as no surprise that examples of acceptance are easier to find with Jesus. When Peter pulls out his sword to resist the soldiers in the garden Jesus sternly tells him to put it away. And then on the cross where it would require the greatest amount of acceptance and courage, at least 4 of the recorded “seven last words” reflect the confidence that only comes with acceptance of death as the final stage of human life.

Those four include Jesus commending his mother into the care of one of his disciples, assuring the repentant thief that he will be with Jesus in paradise that very day, commending his spirit into the hands of God, and finally saying “It is finished.” I suppose one could also make a case that forgiving his executioners is also an act of acceptance, but that amazing act of grace really defies categorization.

Grief is a very complicated emotional process, and the Kubler-Ross stages are one very helpful lens through which to understand it. I find it comforting to find connections between my own experiences of grief and those of the incarnate life of God in Jesus. For me sharing the human condition of these grief stages with Jesus affirms the reality of his humanity and also the hope for achieving some degree of acceptance of my own mortality that he exemplifies for us.

I welcome your comments and insights on any of the above.