Courage and Kindness

Lots of things on my mind this week!

I thought about how much fun it is to dance and how we are much too inhibited because we think we’re not good dancers and we’ll look silly. But really, who cares? I LOVE seeing people dance – especially the ones who look silly! They get caught in the moment and move to the music. They’re letting go and enjoying themselves, no matter what other people might think.

I think we all need to dance more, celebrate and just have fun! There’s so much heaviness and darkness in our world. So much division, disrespect and even hatred. One person mentioned that people are increasingly unkind.

Why is that? They’re not bad people. They’re just hurting and that’s why they hurt others. Or maybe that’s the only way they think they will get attention. Maybe they want to be part of a group and so they follow the tone of that group.

We hosted our second Active Bystander training at Trinity yesterday afternoon. Because people are genuinely concerned and they want to learn how to deal with situations of unkindness or even conflict without making them worse. “Moral courage” was one of the terms that was used. What it means is that we are afraid to get involved, we are afraid we might get hurt – but we do the right thing anyway.

It’s ok to be afraid. That’s a natural instinct to protect us. But real courage means overcoming that fear and speaking up anyway.

Rudeness, disrespect and hatred are acceptable these days because the silent majority accepts them. We need to become the vocal majority and show that we do not accept it. We need to stand up for justice, for dignity, and for love.

My sermon yesterday focused on 1 Corinthians 4:1-4. The Apostle Paul calls us stewards. “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” A steward is someone who manages someone else’s property. We are stewards of God’s property: Of the world we live in, and the people we live with. They are God’s and God has entrusted them to us.

My prayer is that we may be found trustworthy, and that this world will become a better, safer and kinder place because of us.