Repeal and Replace
So we have heard the “repeal and
replace” mantra for some time now. After
observing the turn of opinion in our land of late I think something much deeper
is needed than a new health care system. What is needed is found in some very
old advice given by a crusty old prophet: Ezekiel 36:26
26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put
within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a
heart of flesh.
Jane
Goodall, who has observed the great apes for years was once asked if she
thought apes had souls since 98% of their DNA matched that of humans. Her response was worth noting; “O yes after
observing their behavior they definitely have souls but after viewing human
behavior I sometimes wonder if we do.”
As
a people we are acting like we are terribly afraid; afraid someone else is
going to get what we deserve, afraid that those not like us are going to take over, afraid that terror though it is what it is
will rule, afraid….
Fear
it seems turns hearts to stone. It narrows thinking and constricts the flow of
the spiritual part of us. It turns
hearts to stone and limits vision.
I
have been told that the recent election was in part because Christian
evangelicals were willing to “put aside their faith” in order to elect someone
who would give them many of the desires that they have been wanting for years
and not getting. What kind of faith was
it that they put aside?
Was
it the faith of a man who said, “take the board out of your own eye before you
talk of the speck in your brother or sisters eye…take care of the least of
these…be willing to be last in order to be first…pray for those who are not
like you, even your enemies…love enough to let go.”
We
need a repeal and replace program for the heart. We need the one who first started our hearts
beating in a moment of infinite mystery to give us a new heart and a new
spirit. We need spiritual surgery to
remove our hearts of stone.
Repeal
and replace, for sure. So be it.
