Jesus is for lease!

For the record:
I have picked coffee for the Sandinista Government during the height of the Contra War. I have worked along side 15 year old boys with AK47's and US grenades.

I have protested outside of the US Embassy in Honduras, marched on the White House, The Capital and the UN.

I have written so many letters and made so many phone calls to politicians that I have lost count.

I have learned to salsa from Cuba communists and drunk beer with members of the IRA. I once even played the opening protest music at a lecture from Castros' former economic adviser Ed Boorstein.

...and I love Democracy...and I love America

As an undergrad at a small liberal arts college in Southampton, NY I was surrounded by professors who were on the edge in the 60's (which really happened in the 70's). At the start of a lecture one evening my prof's leaned back and dropped a bomb that sent me a quest:

"in order to remove tyranny from society, you must eliminate from the mind"

So I ask you  Mr(s). Republican, Mr(s). Democrat, Mr(s). Tea-Party...how do you do this? How do you legislate out hatred, greed, bigotry, corruption? More taxes, less taxes, flat taxes? More spending, less spending, no spending? More laws, less laws, no laws? 

And you all claim Jesus...and mainly during election time. Is Jesus really for lease? 

If you want to change the world, change yourself. There are no thought police, no micro-chips. Just you and your interior life, the place where God dwells. If you really claim to be a follower of Jesus (whatever your political affiliation) did you forget that his is more concerned with what we do than what we say?

"You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me"
                                                                          Matthew 15:8 

I have at various times in my life claimed to be an atheist, agnostic, republican, democrat, communist, and even was a member of the Young Socialist Alliance. My good friend in college was Gus Hall's granddaughter (Leader and chairman of the American Communist Party). And all the while after all the phone calls, letters and marches my neighbors still loved or hated, supported or condemned...and I was right along with them.

So what is a person to do who is paying attention and desires justice? Join my new "political party". I call it the "dinner table party". The cabinet consists of myself, my wife, and our two daughters. We do our best to follow God's desire for us. We pray for each other and those around us. We ask for God to change us so that we can be Holy, kind, merciful and loving like He is. We ask for the empowerment and indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we can eliminate the tyranny in our minds. Then we walk out the door and try our best to live it out; we love all, don't use the words "us" or "them", we feed people, bring them furniture and say we are sorry for our wrong actions and words when we make mistakes or hurt.

...and at night we read stories about how God pursues us with a never stopping love. We pray for our friends around the block and the world.We tell God we are sorry for where we did wrong, and ask him to forgive us (he always does)....and the next day, we start all over again.

Governments rise and fall. We all judge, we all condemn, we all fall short of what we know is right. The Lord endures forever.

Peace,
Fr. Bryan