God I’m tired of it…all the lies, and the blame. In Jesus’ time it was the lepers, the prostitutes, the poor, all of them deemed “unclean”. Today, the list of those targeted as unclean is even longer because our access to information is so much more widespread, and with that comes an even deeper vitriol, because we can hate them from afar in perfect anonymity. It appears that as people of faith we have not yet mastered the basic tenets of behavior required of us. “Judge not, lest ye be judged”, Jesus said, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother or sister’s eye, but do not perceive the beam in your own eye” he said. “Amen I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” he said. “I will tell you, on the day of judgement people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned” he said. And most importantly? Jesus said: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” And when asked who our neighbor is, he told them the parable of the good Samaritan, which briefly is a story about a victim of a robbery who is passed by those who hold high rank and esteem in society, and yet it is one of the unclean of the time who helps him. When asked who the “neighbor” was in this story, Jesus replied, “the one who treated him with mercy”

So I think there is a pretty clear expectation of how we are supposed to respond to each other as people of faith in this time. More importantly, the behavior I described above is foundational for anyone in a leadership role, and not just in a religious sense. Empathy, careful choice of words, discerning judgement, objectivity and most importantly mercy is what I am looking for in my future leaders…not those who lie and blame others for our difficulties. The quality of character should be forefront in moving forward in choosing who to lead. Checking the veracity of the plethora of nasty tropes out there isn’t that hard, even a child can google. And if you choose to stay in your bubble or go down a rabbit hole because it appeases your bias, your own personal algorithm that is your choice. But, and this is a big one for people of faith…the one thing highlighted and despised by the most of the religions of the world….HYPOCRISY. Read Matthew 23 in the Christian gospel just to see how much Jesus despised it

I would think this would be obvious to people, but the level of growing rage against those who are different, or lesser than, renders me speechless. The hope moving forward, for me anyway, lies in letting go of blame, and embracing those who better emulate those qualities taught to me, mercy, compassion, truth and loving my neighbor.