When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
PEACE BE WITH YOU
In a world on the verge of nuclear war with individuals at the helm of countries like the United States, Russia, North Korea, Syria and others, who behave like angry despotic leaders -- many of us are far from having any sense of peace these days. POTUS 45’s behavior is like that of a lumbering freakish middle school playground bully who generates terror at nearly every turn. He is responsible for fanning the embers of more potential flashpoints for the start of a World War than any other POTUS since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Interestingly enough -- even then -- it wasn’t a US president who generated the missile crisis but rather the Soviet Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev. It was however President Kennedy who courageously navigated and resolved that conflict with the finesse of an intellect far more superior and advanced than that of POTUS 45. Kennedy and his aides possessed a skill that POTUS 45 does not have, i.e. how to avoid painting oneself into a corner and they do so through the tactful use of diplomacy, compassion, and courage.
So what are we to do about 45’s behavior of lumbering about freakishly and bullying others on the world stage? What do we do about a person’s behavior that appears acquainted only with habitually lying, sabre rattling, loving to be at war at every turn, even wanting to war with nukes? What do we do about a person’s behavior that demeans women and minorities, refuses transparency his tax returns to the public would provide, who hates Muslims, who hates immigrants, who hates Meals-On-Wheels, who hates Planned Parenthood, who tries not once but now four times to take away his fellow citizens’ healthcare coverage, who violates the Constitution’s emoluments law, who so predictably on a Wednesday or Thursday of every week does something to ensure that he alone dominates the weekend news cycle? Perhaps what we most need to acknowledge is that the behavior of POTUS 45 very much resembles the behavioral pattern of an abuser determined to maintain highly intense emotional flooding of his victims, in our case the citizenry of the US & the World. With a new round of terror for every weekend so we are kept frightened and exhausted, which is what abusers want their victims to be in each and every moment of their lives – we end up hiding away like Jesus followers did immediately after the Romans and religious authorities pursued Jesus’ humiliation even to his very death.
One thing we must not do in the midst of the times in which we find ourselves is to despair. As US Senator Bernie Sanders has put it, “Despair is not an option.” As the recent Women’s March put it, we must shout, “Hear Our Voice!” As I have put it, “Remember the Alamo!” for we are indeed a besieged people fighting with POTUS 45 and his “GOP Do-Nothing Congress” for the right to a future that it is just, compassionate, peaceable, and egalitarian toward all. Every day I shake my head seeing what hypocrites our GOP Congress is. If the current POTUS was a Democrat behaving the way 45 is now, the GOP Congress would have initiated and completed Articles of Impeachment and the Senate would have convicted and removed him from office. But no that certainly has not happened -- not happened because party and party agenda is more important than being a patriot.
Do not despair. Be vigilant. Demand daily that a “Do-Nothing GOP Congress” do something. And keep peace with you at all times -- for the behavior noted above shall not stand!
Brad Shumate
Free of Encumbrance
Eugene, Oregon
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