A Servant's Heart
Sometimes there is something really genuine on FaceBook. This week I listened to a YouTube video from Arnold Schwarzenegger of all people. He spoke about the situation in the States this past week and the response of people to violence, lies, and evil. Schwarzenegger grew up in Austria, he was born two years after the war ended
He grew up in the aftermath of what happens when people turn a blind eye to hate and evil and start to listen to political lies. It is not shocking to hear that the Nazi regime was evil and the acts they committed were atrocious but Schwarzenegger points out that the whole situation began because people stopped thinking independently and just followed along with whatever their political heroes were saying. And the political heroes of the day forgot that they were supposed to be there to serve the people, the people were not supposed to serve them.
That is the servant’s heart. Living your life to make things better for others is the way we Christians have been shown to live our lives. This political unrest in the United States seems to be focused around two different political ideologies but there is much more to it. The groups that stormed the Capital building were racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and self-indulgent. These very same groups operate here in Canada.
These very same political ideals and hateful messages are spoken by people who run for office here. As Allies of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, we must be vigilant and keep our ears and minds open and alert. When hateful messages are being spread about, don’t turn away, speak up, and shine a light on the lies. When lies are not challenged, they gain ground, set their roots, and start to grow and spread. Each one of us must be prepared to root out untruths and support those who are being persecuted. We must learn how to find leaders who have A Servant’s Heart as their vision of public office. We must teach our children and grandchildren how to stand up for those who fall outside the “norm” because the norm has expanded to include all of us. Even the hate-filled ones must be called into the circle and shown the error of their ways.
This is what Jesus has taught us, to love your neighbor as yourself, to always be present to the possibility of helping someone else have a better chance, to be the one that turns the other cheek but not to turn away but to stop the spread of violence and hate. Together we can learn to do this!