Cleaning House

CLEANING HOUSE

JULY 4, 2018

I write as a woman of faith...

Today I cleaned the house. Last night was one of those nights when sleep eluded me as I fretted over the happenings in our country: A child of five sitting before a judge all alone in a courtroom. Babies in cages (I won’t stop writing about this). An administration not clear about how they will put families back together again. The gains of the rich and the plight of the poor. A long list.

I am a Christian. I respect your faith, or your choice not to have one. But this is an interesting story from my faith. It’s the time when Jesus got mad. Violently mad. He was at the temple and the money changers were charging more money than they should have been. They were taking advantage of those who had to make a sacrifice to be rid of their sins. The money changers had the upper hand. They could take what they wanted from everyone. And they did. Even from the poorest poor…

Today I vacuumed. I hoped the whirring sound would drown out the babies’ cries in my head. It didn’t.

I dusted pictures of my son when he was six months old, four years old, and six years old. Good God! Wes in a cage? Wes, sitting alone in a court room before he could even spell his own name?

I cleaned bathrooms ferociously and left mirrors and faucets shining.

I mopped kitty paw-prints off the kitchen floor.

All clean. Everything in its’ place.

Jesus cleaned up the money changers. He pushed over their tables and sent their blood money scattering across the stones of the temple. He screamed at them to stop making a mockery of God’s Holy house.

He cleaned things up. Everything and everyone in the right place.

I am pondering a few things this afternoon as sit in my clean house:

When will the families be families again?

When will babies be loved and nurtured by their parents, and small children be spared from going to trial alone?

How will the school kids of our own country, the ones who watched their friends attacked by a gunman and shot and killed, handle fireworks tonight? I only hear bullets.

How can I escalate my love for the poor, the stranger, the sick, the fearful and the outcast, while at the same time speak truth to corruption and cruelty?

Where would Jesus be turning over tables today? Where would he demand the end of the mockery of what is purely good? Where would he be defending those most in need? Those who have already made their sacrifice?

On this Independence Day, I wonder about that other house? The beautiful House of the People, the White House? It belongs to the country, not to a person. How in the world will we ever clean up the mess that is being made by the administration in that house? How will we remove the stains of bigotry, racism, misogyny, and corruption? When will the People’s House be clean and shining and the beacon of hope for hopeless people?

I think we can do some cleaning now. We are a majority of people who value justice, kindness and mercy. We are a majority of people who want sensible gun laws. We are a majority of people who want families reunited and fair immigration policies. We are a majority of people who respect the rights of others, all races, all religions, every socio-economic status, the freedom to love who you love, and be who you are innately meant to be.

We are a majority of people who can give our time, our money, and our votes for equity. We will turn over the tables.

The stains will be scrubbed away. The mess will be sorted.

Everything in its’ place. The House will be clean again.

Happy birthday America. Today we celebrate the history of all who are now within the borders of the land of the free and home of the brave.

And we live into the promise of liberty and justice for All.