GOP Senators - "The Kingdom of Heaven is Like..."

Walking & talking with my mind stayed on #healthcare4all @BRepairers @TheRealFPL @RedLetterXians @AuburnSeminary #BlackClergyUprising pic.twitter.com/HnsXnUPBji

— Macky Alston (@MackyAlston) July 18, 2017

(Middle Collegiate Church leaders via Twitter @middlechurch and retweeted by @MackyAlston) Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52 (NRSV)

31 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." 

44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Dear GOP Senators & Faith Leaders Everywhere:

The Kingdom of Heaven is God's Just and Peaceable Reign for all. It is happening NOW!!  It is for the benefit of all God's creation -- not just some.  The mustard seed is the smallest of seed, but when it is grown it is the greatest of shrubs and trees, even birds come and nest with their young in the safety of its branches.

The ACA is like the mustard seed, it is our healthcare system growing, maturing, eventually becoming Single Payer Universal Healthcare that protects and provides for the well being of all American Citizens.  Single Payer Universal Healthcare will be half the cost of a system that now has to make obscene profits for insurance corporations and other entities.  Those obscenities will become even worse if the healthcare system is allowed to revert to the old days of insurances corporations being in charge of what they will pay for and what they will not.

Reverting to the old days of insurance companies in control and Congress handing our states severe cuts to Medicaid and/or elimination of the Medicaid Expansion means that American lives will again be devastated and bankrupt by expensive medical costs that only the rich and powerful can afford.  Employers will no longer have to provide health insurance coverage.  Essential Health Benefits will no longer be covered.  The ACA repeal-minded congresspersons will continue to enjoy their extravagant and luxurious health coverage while seniors, the poor, and working poor will suffer tortuous bare bones totally inadequate despicable McConnellcare/Trumpcare/Ryancare policies.  Pro-repeal advocates claim Americans have been hurt by ACA -- that is bull.  Millions upon millions have healthcare coverage they were never able to access before.  Frankly and rightly in the eyes of God, all American citizens should have the very same incredibly generous health insurance you have Senators!!  Why is that so hard for you to figure out and compassionately advocate for??? 

Yes, costs need to come down and come down now!!  You, GOP Senators, along with your democratic colleagues, have the power and means to do so -- if you would simply find the courage to stand over and against the so-called leaders driving our country to the brink of disaster with McConnellcare/Trumpcare/Ryancare.

Your fellow citizens call on you, GOP Senators, to find and discover the pearl of great value that is Single Payer Universal Healthcare.  As your Republican Party once did so sacrificially freeing Americans from the evils of slavery, the pearl of great value that is Single Payer Universal Healthcare will free all your fellow citizens from having to ever worry again about skyrocketing medical costs financially enslaving and bankrupting their live and their families           

GOP Senators, you are like the earliest followers of Jesus, you are having "....to learn what it means to be in relationship to God and with others in new ways"* -- to learn that you are in Washington DC beholden only to ALL the citizens of the state you represent, not just some -- especially when only 16% of Americans approve of McConnellcare/Trumpcare/Ryancare.  You are not beholden to a political party, or a wing or leader of that party.  You are especially not beholden to a POTUS who makes and breaks promises to Americans about their healthcare.

Stand over and against all the evil that acts against the interests of the Americans you represent.  Be the voice of your constituency that's calling for courage to buy the pearl of great value, the pearl that is Single Payer Universal Healthcare.  The pearl that the third richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, said we can easily afford because we are such a rich and great country.  Single Payer Universal Healthcare is an expression of The kingdom of heaven for it will be like "yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."   

Single Payer Universal Healthcare is that mustard seed in the above scripture.  A senator only need have the smallest bit of faith and Single Payer Universal Healthcare will grow into a solid foundation for all Americans.  It will be a means of safety -- as crucial to our nation's well-being as presently are our Military and Defense.

Have but a mustard seed of faith, Senators, and you will be able to move mountains like POTUS out of the way.  You will be able to cast nets far and wide and drag in all fish regarding Single Payer Universal Healthcare, and then begin to sort the good from the bad -- what should be kept alive and well in our system of healthcare and what needs to be discarded.

JESUS MAFA - "The Hidden Treasure"

For those who have forgotten themselves and what they are in Congress to do in this most urgent of times, there will come a day that they and their evil are separated out and their constituencies will replace them in Congress with persons more ably suited to serve and likely those individuals replaced will leave Congress weeping and gnashing their teeth -- for they never truly cared and never truly understood that God's Just and Peaceable Reign requires our compassion and generosity for all to have and lead healthy lives.

Your small act of faith to vote against repeal of the ACA and to instead set in motion a bill for Single Payer Universal Healthcare is enough to set change in motion -- a change that will move us and humanity one step closer to the time of God's Just and Peaceable Reign here on Earth.

May God's Peace be with You as you contemplate your vote this coming week.

Brad Shumate
Free of Encumbrance
Eugene, Oregon