I was at a 67’s game the other night and one of the referees made a bad call which disallowed a goal. It was interesting to watch the crowd “turn” on that official so that he could do nothing right after that. It was a spiral downward in terms of response – boos when he returned to the ice, cheers when he fell down.
While it was just a hockey game, it is an example of how it is so easy for a group, a crowd, a nation to spiral into the worst of our humanity. In such a climate, fear and hatred breed and become a toxic attitude or worse. We lament the acts of violence/hate we have seen in the news, but we also need to reflect on how this toxicity and backlash affects all of us.
Over the past few weeks we have been reflecting on Brian McLaren’s book, The Great Spiritual Migration and one of the insights out of that book that has struck me is how a traditional view of a violent God – violent stories of God sanctioned killing, but also violent theology of condemning some and blessing others – leads to a “faith” stance of some that it is okay to dismiss, to hate, to kill those who are different.
So – let’s continue to live in these strange times – with renewed conviction of what MClaren calls an inclusive “we”. And let’s embody and share an understanding of the Holy that is loving and filled with grace.
