Habakkuk 1:5 Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. -LORD God
July 13, 2022: State of the culture, United States of America. Compare and contrast.
Genesis 5:1-2 This is the book of the generations of Adam. On the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them “mankind” on the day when they were created.
Berkeley Law Professor Khiara Bridges: "Do you believe that men can get pregnant?"
Sen. Josh Hawley: "No, I don't think men can get pregnant."
John 16:21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
Sen. Cornyn: "Do you think that a baby that is not yet born—let's say the day before the mother delivers—do you think that baby has value?"
Prof. Bridges: "I think that the person with the capacity for pregnancy has value & they should have the ability to control what happens." pic.twitter.com/8iTKP7fQYf
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
For those interested in the full testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
There was an older black woman who lived off Prospect, and every year around the holidays she would holler at me. She called me “Blondie.” She had a large bowl of neck bones and taters with amazing tiny peppers. The peppers weren’t hot, just spicy enough for flavor.
She’d always tell me, “Now, honey, you can keep that bowl, but don’t you be leaving it out just anywhere. If you can make it back this way, just leave it on the steps. If not, then at least find it a home in a trashcan. You eat all of that, honey, ’cause you ain’t nothing but skin and bones, a walking skeleton. I say now, go on now and eat all of that, and God bless you.”
Those neck bones and taters were amazing. Year after year, she never forgot me. Once she even walked down the street about two blocks from her house because she said one of her boys had seen me out there. She always reminded me to eat every bit because I was just skin and bones. She always offered me a warm smile. She always made a point to touch my hand and look me in the eyes when she spoke to me.
One year she put $5 in my hand and kissed my cheek. Another year she tossed me a pair of gloves and an old jacket and cautioned me not to catch a cold. She even told me I had a lovely smile. I never knew her name, and she never asked mine, but I did feel human each time I heard her voice. I wasn’t invisible to her.
In the wee hours of many nights, doubtful thoughts would drift through my mind, tormenting me for a while. Would someone eventually find me? Did anyone even know I was alive? Would someone look for me if I were dead?
Everyone else who offered me food or other such necessities had strings attached—I could have it if I provided sexual services for them. After all, I was a prostitute, and my purpose in life was for their pleasure.
My neck bone and tater patroness, however, never forgot me and never asked for anything from me. When she saw me, she simply acknowledged my humanity. I always felt that, for some reason, she loved me just as I was. Somehow, this woman, if only once or twice a year, gave me just enough hope and genuine compassionate care to keep me going. Her gentle concern ignited small embers of hope and made me question if there might be more to my life, after all.
From time to time I would wonder: Did she watch for me so she could speak to me or bring me food? Was she the one person in her home, with her family, who truly knew I existed? Did she ever wonder about me? Did she wonder if I were cold or hungry or alive or dead? It seemed like she thought of me. Maybe I did exist. Maybe she alone had the ability to see my invisibility.
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
Let him who is without sin among you throw the first stone. John 8:7, Jesus
We all at times experience a sense of disconnection from the world around us. We wonder if anyone truly sees us. We can be completely surrounded by people who know our name, yet they are completely clueless about us and what is really going on inside. We crave connection, acknowledgement, validation—some sign that we exist, that we are known, and that we have purpose.
As we explore some poignant moments of recognition that once gave me glimmers of human connection in an otherwise invisible existence, let us consider how we can give others in our life the gift of visibility. Intentionality, appropriate touch, and eye contact are free and simple to give.
If you are feeling that disconnect today in your life, don’t wait for someone to see you. See someone else, and they will see you back. Just as we will discover in my story, if we will acknowledge others’ humanity, even after years and years have passed, they will acknowledge ours back. I will never forget the woman who never forgot me.
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
While I was walking along, keeping an eye out for a spigot, I saw some beautiful flowers in a yard behind a fence. Knowing that the owners must have a water hose around somewhere—and drawn by the flowers—I climbed over the fence. I just wanted to smell them at first. Then I saw the butterflies fluttering around and saw the sparkles from the morning dew, like tiny pearls on the petals. It was all so beautiful: the rich mixture of colors, so bright, with the lush, vibrant green grass that blanketed the ground in front of the flower bed. So I walked over and began picking some flowers of each color: a red one, a blue one, a yellow one, and a few purple ones. The purple seemed so calm, so peaceful and rich.
As I was picking them, a man came out from the house with a phone in his hands. He was yelling, and he had an accent. “Get away!” he said. “I’m calling the police! Get away from my house!”
I had spotted the water hose, and I was thinking about how badly I needed that drink of water. But I realized the man would not let me near it.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and headed for the gate, with the man still yelling at me about my trespassing in his yard and picking his flowers. I still had them in my hand, and I dropped them by the fence as I exited the yard. I turned as he yelled once again that he was calling the police.
“I’m homeless,” I said. Then it hit me that I was barefoot, that I was standing in the cool of the grass, and that his flowers were beautiful. “I don’t see much beautiful stuff,” I said, and then I started walking again.
I realized then that he had stopped yelling at me. In fact, I heard him behind me, saying, “Hey, lady.” I turned, thinking for sure that the police had arrived at his house to arrest me for trespassing. Instead, I saw that he was holding the flowers I had dropped. He handed them to me.
I smiled and said thanks. He made eye contact with me very briefly, as if for a moment connecting with my humanity, something that happened so rarely for someone like me. And then he looked down. When he looked at me again, it was with a stern glare.
“Now go,” he said, “and stay out of my yard.”
I walked with those flowers, smelling them along the way—the smell so sweet, so fresh, and so pure—looking at the bright colors against my hands, which were riddled with open sores and blisters. My hands were so dirty, so dark, but the purple stood out against them, so vibrant, clear, and bright. The color itself seemed to shout happiness and goodness. The brilliant colors of the petals across my blackened, filthy flesh were so beautiful, and the smell was so fragrant and sweet!
That day in the sunshine, I slid the flowers behind my ears as I walked to the corner where a trick was waiting, flashing his brake lights as a signal for me. My beautiful moment was over; it was back to my reality.
The winter wind was bitterly cold. I was curled up, with no shoes or coat, barelegged and in a skirt. I was too tired to get up from the spot I had found beside a cold brick building. I was alone. There was no one bugging me, no one wanting anything from me that I was not willing to give. I longed for rest…sleep…a friendly word…a rescuer. Could someone find me?
The concrete was so damp, the cold causing my frail, 88–pound body to ache. Yet with my head against a vent, where part of my body found warmth, the brisk aroma of ground coffee beans brought me comfort of sorts, transporting me to a different world. This aroma was occasionally overpowered by the stale, musty smell of urine, reminding me of my reality.
Was I invisible to the world around me? Was anyone trying to find me? Wouldn’t someone please take me home! I wanted a kind person, someone who didn’t want me as an object, a thing, but someone who would allow me to belong, who would keep me safe and warm. I wanted someone to see me as a person.
My body ached; my stomach grumbled for food. Eating food is such a seemingly basic human need. Yet out here, even food came at a price. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t turn another date just to eat. The thought of what I had to do for the money to eat revolted me. I couldn’t dare to put food in my mouth. Instead, I’d get high to make it all go away—the hunger pains, the shame, the hurt, the despair. Tonight, however, I was too weak and frail to even ponder the idea of standing, much less putting on the show necessary to earn money for food or dope.
Photo: Toronto Star
This corner, this building, the warmth from the vent…if only I could meld into the bricks for a rest, a long rest. Oh, to sleep safe, to sleep without expectations of my body. To sleep in a clean, safe bed with no one touching me, no one expecting sexual deeds for that sleep—another basic human need. A shower…oh, just to soak in a tub. Oh, my! And with bubbles to wash away the filth, the grime, the smells of all those men, of all the shame.
Psalm 115:2-3 Why
should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; He
does all that He pleases.
God is in control over the nations. Yet, the nations have free will to choose their destiny.
Click on the link above for video/audio.
A nation’s destiny is based on one simple foreign policy decision.
How will that nation relate to God’s chosen people, Israel? And God states…
Genesis 12:3 “I will
bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” -God
A nation’s course of history is determined by their interaction and response toward nation Israel. The Old Testament is full of examples of God’s judgment toward the enemies of Israel. Likewise, nations who show favor towards Israel are blessed.
In Psalm 2, God makes it perfectly clear who is in charge. Notice, the nations are exhibiting their free will. They are “raging” and “plotting”. Nations are gathering together under their sovereignty. Their choice is to take on the Creator, God. And the nations think they can break free from God and His will.
Psalm 2:1-3 “Why do
the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and
against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away
their cords from us.”
God’s response to humanity’s rebellion towards Him… He laughs. He taunts. Then God explains how things are going to be. The Creator is in charge despite the creation’s free will. Note the terms wrath, terrify, and fury. God means business and He will emphatically put down the rebellion. His answer is The Lord Jesus Christ. Jerusalem is the headquarters.
Psalm 2:4-6 He
who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then He will
speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, “As for me, I
have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
It is stated that He (Jesus) will rule with a rod of iron and shatter them (the nations) like clay pots. Yes, nations can choose the destiny of their nation. Their free will and choice are no match. Nations are either with God or against Him. God will rule and Christ will be in charge.
Psalm 2:6-9 I
will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today
I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and
the ends of the earth your possession. You shall breakthem with a rod of iron and
dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
A warning has been issued to the leaders of Earth. Use some
common sense. Homage to the Son is expected.
Psalm 2:10-12 Now
therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with
fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you
perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take
refuge in Him.
Use your free will and choose the Son, Jesus Christ. Take safety in His provision for sin. He has you covered. Otherwise, sin will be judged. There is accountability and consequence to your free will sin. The destination is an eternal lake of fire.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord
is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance.
It is God’s will that each created, individual human being should not perish or face judgment. God wants all of us to have a change of heart and mind and return to Him.
But God created us with the capacity to choose our own way and
choose the things we want. Every day we make multiple decisions. For example, I
chose to hit the snooze button when the alarm clock went off this morning. I
had oatmeal instead of bacon and eggs for breakfast. I put on brown pants and a
sweater. I did not want to shave but I chose to brush my teeth. You get the
point.
On this planet, there are over 7 billion individual wills
who have this same capacity. People are acting on their own behalf. Religion, culture,
and lifestyle influence and dictate behavior on a global scale. Some have
chosen sides for either good or evil. Some have not chosen sides and drift to
their own drum. Some choose to believe in nothing.
As altruistic humans, we love to believe our free will is for
the greater good. We conveniently neglect the consequences of our sinful choices.
When we screw up, we blame God. The reality is, we are responsible for our
thoughts and actions.
James 1:13-15 Let no
one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God
cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each
person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.Then desire when it has conceived gives
birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
With eternal consequences for sin, humans love to blame God
as an overbearing, unfair task master. “God wants to crush us with His thumb like
a bug! God is a mean, cruel ogre!” This just is not true. Listen to what the
prophet Ezekiel has to say. And this
is even in the Old Testament…
Ezekiel 33:11 Say to
them, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back
from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
The issue is us, humanity. We have a choice. Do we choose
Jesus or not? Do we accept His payment for sin or not? Eternal judgment is the
cost for sin. God provides a solution for the consequence of sin. The solution
is Jesus’ death on the cross.
1 Timothy 2:4-6 who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For
there is one God, and one mediator also between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at
the proper time.
God knew before the creation of time and Earth who was going
to choose His path. He also knew who was going to refuse His path. This is God’s
plan for all of humanity before time. He Chose Us, Every Single One of Us.
Ephesians 1:4 just as
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy
and blameless before Him. In loveHe
predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the kind intention of His will…
see also Romans
8:29-30
But, humanity has free will.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Christine has assisted with writing legislation for Federal block grant dollars to states for substance abuse.
Perspective truly is everything. As you read, give yourself permission to alter your perspective. Give yourself permission to imagine for yourself a very different childhood, leading to a very different teen stage, and landing you in a very different adult world.
We have desensitized ourselves to only consider a person’s current behavior, passing judgments on them for the random snapshots we see rather than considering the whole scope of their life. If we dig deeper to see the humanity of our fellow brothers and sisters, perhaps we will walk away with better ways to help and serve that demonstrate the genuine love and compassion we carry for them in our hearts.
Maybe you can’t do much about economic exploitation or repressive political policies. But you can listen with love, lend a helping hand, share a meal, and speak an affirming word. So can I. That may not seem like much. I mean it’s not a cure-all for man’s inhumanity to man.
But if we can make just one person’s load lighter, one person’s dream a little brighter, if we dare to give into goodness now and then, then maybe, just maybe, someone else will be inspired to try goodness too. And who knows what might happen then.
“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. -God
A few years ago, I operated a street outreach. We went to the streets and parks where I myself had existed for nearly two decades. We took sandwiches and basic hygiene items to the women and men in that area.
I was contacted by a TV news show who wanted to join us. The news crew had done food service during the holidays, but always in an artificial environment. They had never actually gone to the streets where the many who avoided the long feeding lines dwelled.
We brought bean burritos from Taco Bell that night, as well as water and condoms. As I handed the condoms out, the reporter stopped everything. She turned off the microphone.
I knew the deal. I had heard it before from women of faith who had joined us on these outreaches. The ladies who had so much church. I suppose, that they forgot about the human in us all.
I listened as they ranted all the reasons she couldn’t be a part of us giving out condoms. I had heard all the reasons, so I’d just hear them again. My mind raced, thinking maybe she had a new reason. She didn’t; nobody ever did.
“We are promoting their actions of prostitution” or “We can’t promote prostitutes to sell their bodies out here” were reasons commonly cited. But I was geared up and ready. Goodness knows I had given this speech at least fifty times.
If you are one of those individuals who might have concerns about giving out condoms in ministry work, then please continue to read this. Give this a fair shot of thought. Consider for a moment that maybe your moral indignation isn’t as productive as you think it is.
We all know by now that I was prostituted. As a formerly prostituted person, my voice provides a different perspective. During my exploitation, I was rarely in a position to go to the store to purchase condoms. If I was working for my “man” or “pimp,” my priority was to make my funds as fast as I could so I could eat and avoid drama. To state it bluntly, condoms were a luxury I couldn’t afford.
Additionally, it wasn’t uncommon for a trick or John to pay an extra twenty bucks to have sex with you without a condom. Statistics tell us that about 68% of all tricks are married or in a “committed” relationship. Do you think their loved ones at home have any clue they are paying for a prostitute to have sex with them, much less without a condom?
The prostitute might turn twenty dates in a 24-hour period, not to mention the times she has been raped. Keep in mind that her man or pimp has other girls he is having sex with – other prostitutes who are having unprotected sex with many others. Are you doing the math here?
A girlfriend or wife learns she is pregnant, and during this joyous announcement from her doctor she is also informed of another piece of highly unexpected – but far from joyous – news that she is now HIV positive. This is an extra “gift” contracted from her husband or her boyfriend – the john who purchased sex from a prostitute. Of course, this means he is infected as well. So, stop and think of how this woman and her unborn child’s life are forever affected by the man’s urge to purchase sex from a prostitute.
Please note. I am not saying all prostitutes have HIV. I worked the streets for nearly two decades and am HIV free! But I have friends who have died of AIDS and some who live with it daily.
This is yet another reason we must end the purchase of human beings. This cycle of exploitation and suffering affects not only the purchaser and the prostituted individual. There are also innocent victims who are affected who play no role in the event yet end up suffering from it.
If we are truly attempting to connect to the humanity of this complex issue, then offering condoms for the prostituted persons we encounter is not only responsible help; it is loving help. Withholding something that could save a life simply because of our moral objections to its use doesn’t stop the activity. Nor does it convict the buyer or seller of sex. All it does is place additional conditions on love and help, therefore devaluing both love and help until neither is recognizable.
HIV is only one of many damaging effects these acts have on unintended victims. The collateral damage abounds in so many ways we can’t easily see. If we are going to truly help, we must be careful of misapplying our moral objections in ways that further compound, rather than help, the problem.
Our ministry is not only for the buyer and seller, but the unintended victims whose lives can be unknowingly changed forever by someone else’s choice to pay for another human being for their own sexual gratification.
“Love your neighbor… ALL of ’em!” -Christine “Clarity” McDonald
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me… -Jesus
Featuring Christine “Clarity” McDonald
Christine is a Member of the Missouri State Advisory Council for Behavioral Health & Substance Disorders.
Trigger warning. Do you see them? The unseen all around you?
So yesterday we did street outreach. Every time I hear these words from women when I offer them food…
“I am starving, I have not eaten in days” or “I have been trying to figure out when I was gonna be able to eat again.”
I hear the almost tears as they say thank you for the food. I continually pray I never forget all those years I was hungry. I was just wanting someone to see me, to see my pain, see my hopelessness, my longing to be cared about. I just wanted my simple humanity to be noticed.
There are times when we all want to slip into crowds unnoticed. But there is still a part of us that deeply longs to be known and seen and cared for. Jesus offers this to believers. Being known by the Creator of the Universe is the most profound “knowing” we could possibly experience.
However, the world around us is full of broken individuals who feel invisible because they don’t yet know Christ. The rest of humanity either ignores them or only sees them when they can be used.
In John Chapter 4, we read the story of Jesus and his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. The most profound aspect of the story isn’t that Jesus calls her out for being married multiple times. Nor is it that He knows that the man she is currently living with isn’t her husband. What is profound is that He truly knew her. He saw her. Because Jesus was able to see her. When He offered her living water, she believed.
We claim to feel moved by the hurts and sufferings of others. Yet we fail to truly see those who are hurting as individuals. Our efforts to relieve suffering or bring healing fail. Sometimes, such efforts even do more harm.
God doesn’t ask us to take on the world, but to offer the world hope. We are His ambassadors to a hurting world. Being intentional and thoughtful in our interactions can go a long way in offering hope to those in our sphere of influence. What if we open our hearts to Him? Let Him help us see those around us as He does.
Each and every soul on this planet was fearfully and wonderfully made. Each one is a treasure to the One we love most. He is calling us to see them as precious treasures too.
Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
“Love your neighbor… ALL of ’em!” -Christine “Clarity” McDonald
Featuring Christine Clarity McDonald
Featuring Christine “Clarity” McDonald
