An Open Letter to Congresswoman-Elect, Karen Handel

Ms. Handel:

America is waking up to the news that you have defeated Jon Ossoff in the special election to become the Congressional Representative for the 6^th District in Georgia.  While the rest of the country will begin to analyze what this means for our new Administration, its agenda, and what this means in a very divided nation, it is my hope that you will take moment to pause and reflect on what being elected in the place where you are, in a time such as this means to those people that you represent.  I’m sure that no one has to tell you the election results were much closer than anyone would have predicted when this race began. And while you are the winner in this race, you do not have a clear mandate.

I am writing to you as someone who doesn’t live in your district, but as someone whose job has put me into a situation similar to the one in which you find yourself in now.  I am not a politician. I am a pastor. I am one of the pastors of a large church that has people on both sides of the political spectrum and all of those in between. I am a pastor to many individuals who live in your district, some who supported you and some who worked very hard to #flipthe6th. With that said, here is what I would ask you to remember: You serve and represent ALL of them. ALL of them, whether they supported you or not. All of their concerns are now your concerns.

As someone who has made missteps in leadership in this divided time in our nation, it is easy to ignore the divisions that exist in our political districts and even our churches.  Every Sunday, I stand before a congregation that, along with their hopes and joys, bring their burdens and especially their fears with them into the church.  Some fear they will lose their healthcare, and some fear that the ACA will continue.  Some fear that the current immigration laws will allow the US to be overrun with terrorists, while some fear that if our country does not allow for broad policies of immigration the humanitarian crisis in our world will become a crisis of an epic scale.  Some of my parishioners fear the pervasiveness of guns in our society, while some fear that their second amendment rights will be stripped of them and they will lose the right to protect themselves and their families. Ms. Handel, I often have to remind myself that I have been called to be a pastor to all of them, with all that they bring with them. But here’s an even more important lesson that I have learned, while the people that I serve are all over the political spectrum, they are all part of a Christian congregation.  They all stand shoulder to shoulder on Sunday morning, confessing their sins, confessing the Apostles Creed, and they all come to the altar to receive Holy Communion. The people that you are now elected to serve have diverse political beliefs, but they are all Georgians, and they are all Americans.

My hope for you is that you will begin your service to the people of this State with the courage to make fair and just decisions that will benefit all of your constituents.   I am sure that it will be tempting, and perhaps even easy, to go to Washington and live inside an echo chamber with those who believe exactly the way that you do. As pastor, I can tell you that temptation exists even for myself. Again, it is my hope that God will give you the courage to govern with wisdom to do what is right instead of what is easy.

Finally, I want you to know that each week my congregation prays for our elected officials.  We will be praying for you.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Karen Stephenson Slappey 

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Atlanta, Georgia

casting stones: aka rant, repent, repeat, part 2

god is funny. and (today, at least) i don't mean funny, ha-ha. now, there are moments of epiphany that i often experience that cause me to laugh, in a good way. today, however, i am experiencing god's wit in a different manner that can only be described as ironic. (at least, i think ironic is the best word, lest i pull an alanis morrissette and use ironic to describe what are really a series of unfortunate events.) anyway... this morning, i was having a conversation with a friend about a debate she attended last night. this debate was between the three candidates that are vying to become of head of the republican party of georgia. she started telling me about how the night proceeded, and some of the highlights included hearing that god was a republican (i wonder if god knows this?), bashing president obama, and observing one of the candidates take a picture of another candidate's skirt length. (it was above the knee. obviously too short for a political event in jackson county, ga. she must have been from atlanta.) when she told me that she and her husband had to step outside to get some air, i interjected, "i never would have made it." i then proceeded to verbally vomit on my friend about conservatives, words in red, backward people, etc. my vomit turned to dry heaves when she stopped me and said, "well, you might not have liked what they had to say, but at least you would have had the chance to talk to the candidates and share your opinions and beliefs with them. i didn't enjoy all of the night, but if you're gonna talk the talk of change, you have to walk the walk."

we will now pause for dramatic effect

yep, that one still stings! and. she. is. right. and. i. don't. like. it. i'm okay with my friend being right. mind you, she's a very smart person and is a regular contributor to the ongoing conversations in my life. what i don't like is the fact that i realized i was doing exactly what i criticize others of doing. this can range in concepts from creating us v them mentality to enjoying the division our country, and christianity, that we currently face. i'm casting stones, and i am not without sin. sometimes, i really wish i knew what jesus wrote with his finger in the sand that day...

on twitter yesterday, i wrote "rant. repent. repeat." lord, help me to truly consider the middle word and find a way to replace the latter. amen.

the twitter. karmic justice. mohair. honey.

so, i am now on "the twitter", and i am ashamed to admit this, but i have had a hard time getting into the groove. goovin', for me, includes things like setting up my acct/bio, getting my spelling (and most of my grammar) correct because i often tweet, or reply, impetuously and/or past my bedtime, not to mention actually expressing my sentiments is less than 140 characters. i can't do anything in less than 140 characters!

in related news: if you are noticing a disturbance in the cosmic forces that administer justice and you're wondering, "oh, karma; where art thou?" she's been spending some time here in rural, north georgia serving up her famous humble pie. i'll explain. about a year ago, my parents decided that they wanted to get on "the facebook", and they asked me if i would teach them. this not only involved tutorials in social networking, but the mysteries of email, too. being the good daughter that i am, i took on the challenge which included telling my parents how to get onto the internet, setting up various accts, and enduring duplicate emails from my mother as she always sends things twice because she doesn't trust gmail to deliver her msg the first time. (whew) then, there was a period of a few weeks where i was getting more calls than usual from my parents. i would answer the phone thinking, "how lovely, my parents just want to talk, with me, their oldest offspring."
me: hi, dad.
my dad: karen, i'm sitting at this stupid computer and cannot get on "the facebook". are you sure you gave me the right password?"
me: over-exaggerated sigh and dramatic rolling of the eyes...
the karmic twist here involves my asking my husband to help me with my twitter deficiencies. imagine my surprise when i was met with (oh, how should i put it?) an over-exaggerated sigh and dramatic rolling of the eyes. he even suggested that when discussing this new (to me) form of social media, i should refer to it as "the twitter". what can i say? i'm a sucker for sarcasm and that muscle soccer players have that's located right above their knees.
so, delores and bill, aka mom & dad, i'm sorry.

fast-forward to the season of lent, 2011. my family has recently forged the denominational river from the evangelical side to hang out with the mainline protestants. thus, we are embracing, dare i say enjoying, the events that occur on the christian calendar for the first time. this included the epiphany, shrove tuesday, and lent. (as in, giving something up for lent) my youngest is fasting from chocolate. if you know the small child, or have read my earlier post re her um, problem, with abuse of the chocolate-y goodness, you would realize what a big deal this is for her. if you know me, then you would know that my decision to fast from facebook was huge, as well. i have used fb in a number of ways over the past few years. mostly, it has been a vehicle for procrastination, and/or the general suckage of time. so, the plan was to not waste time on fb and replace that time re-reading the gospels, which i have been doing and absolutely loving. btdubs: the gospel of mark still rocks my world!

this blog has a point...
it was during my fast from fb that my husband suggested to me using the twitter account that i set up last summer. i was skeptical. besides my aforementioned deficiencies, you can't "friend" anyone on "the twitter", ie most of the 300+ people i am "friends" with fb aren't on "the twitter". how will i ever know what whitney is making for dinner, tonight? how will i see pictures of andrea's kids, and how can i fb stalk my teen-age daughter? seriously. i want to know and do these things. (whitney is a good cook, i love andrea's kids, and i do fb stalk my teen; don't judge me!) but, fb, at least for me, could be a source of frustration (read: having to do yogic breathing to calm myself upon reading certain posts and comments). true story: i am not a conservative. not only am i not a conservative, i live in an area where everyone else (well, almost...360 people in my county did vote for the democrat in the last gubernatorial election.) is a conservative. therefore, when sacred cows in the area have been tipped over, i am asked by the local authorities if they can check my shoes for manure. i am oft called a socialist, communist, and a sinner. my daughter was recently ambushed, i mean approached, after an recent american government class and asked if she wanted to become a christian. this came as a result of sharing some of her pov's regarding DOMA and why you can't make the bible part of the constitution. i know people who fervently hold to the beliefs that barack obama is a muslim, the anti-christ, or not born in the u.s. (or all of the above) so, the fact that i'm "different", or at the very least geographically misplaced, is glaringly obvious on my fb home page. my fast will end on easter sunday, but i may keep on fasting. besides, i owe god 5 days due to a number of reasons that include germany, beer, and the boston marathon.

the truth is out there...
so, reluctantly, i took the plunge. it wasn't a plunge really, it was more like a dipping of one's toe in a frigid pool. however, i have found the waters to be be rather pleasant. as illustrated by my earlier ramblings, i'm surrounded by people who are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to buy their trump/palin 2012 bumper stickers. not that i mind rubbing up against people who have differing viewpoints from myself; but *insert some trite statement about growth here and be sure to use something by john maxwell*. so, monday i am on the twitter when i realize i am feeling lighter, and i'm smiling. i had gone from a tweet to a blog to another person on twitter to their tweets to the blog of someone else. i had, in my mind left what i affectionately refer to as "hee-haw hell", and found that there are others out there that believe similar things to myself. i am not so narcissistic that i didn't know that such thoughts existed outside my little micro-cosmos (i mean i watch 30 rock and modern family), but sometimes, living in a conservative wilderness can wear on a girl, especially when politics mixes with religion. i wouldn't go so far as to compare myself to john the baptist, but i can rock out some mohair, and i do really like honey. i am simply dumbfounded when i have conversations with fellow christians who hold political views that totally ignore the words in red. not just where i live, but in many places throughout america, being a good christian has become synonymous with being a good american, and being a good american is synonymous with being a christian. this scares me!!! a lot!!!

i realize that this blog has been a bit of a rant, but i truly want to be a person that is about unity, not so much within american politics, but within the kingdom of god. on good days i am prayerful and contemplate how i can be a vehicle for change. on bad days, well, i compare myself to john the baptist. so, back to the "the twitter" thing. i have only scratched the surface, and already i see many people who feel the same way and are intentional about the work that needs to be done. i am hopeful that i will learn from these individuals and be able to contribute to action that comes from open, honest conversation.