Three quick sayings that get in my mind from time to time:

The opposite of love is not hate. It is silence.

The opposite of faith is not doubt. It is certainty.

The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth. It’s justice.

The third one is newer to me. Bryan Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiative is credited with that saying.

The second saying grips me in this moment of time. The upheaval of our culture and the loss of Christendom has been upsetting to conservative white Christians. It is a mad scramble right now and in the midst of it we have not been listening to the voice of the Spirit and asking the Lord which way we should be looking. Instead, we are doubling down on trying to be “certain” of things, and it’s coming out in anger and domination and working hard to shut off all voices that don’t agree with our “certainty.”

We have lost faith. Or at least lost sight of faith.

We want to lock in on Western Civilization and its (white) roots and somehow equate that with Christianity. It’s getting ugly.

There is a striving for certainty.

As I move through life, I find that my love for Christ has only grown, as has my love for humanity, and at the same time I have very sure of only a very few things. Far fewer things than 25 years ago.

Richard Rohr in his book, The Tears of Things, mentions this: “If we’re trying to understand how God moves in the world, searching questions will do us so much more good than firm answers.”

I have come to a place of holding onto Jesus tightly and letting a lot of other things just fall off. I embrace the beauty of Christ. Or try. I am a hot mess more often than not.

What I do want more than anything is Christ. All other things can float away if the Lord wants that. I don’t need certainty in a lot of other areas. I’ve heard arguments for such secondary and tertiary issues become “first order” issues with people these days and it is disheartening. It’s because we are in a world of upheaval and instead of clinging to Christ we are clinging to certainty. We think we’re clinging to Christ, but love for others is diminishing. That is not Christ. Compassion for others is diminishing. That is not Christ.

There are people teaching that Christians are not to be “empathetic.”

That is not Christ.

Richard Rohr’s book, well, even just the title, sums up my life in this time period. I carry tears with me a lot. I move through anger more quickly. I have far more probing questions and try to carry an ear to hear. Again, it’s a work in progress.

In all of it, I find myself with tears more close at hand… and there is Christ as well. Close at hand.

In a world of upheaval, may we walk away from the “certainty” of dualistic thinking and walk more maturely in the mystery of Christ.