Leading up to the Special Council on Human Sexuality in April, the Reformed Church in America has published a series of 21 devotionals to help the denomination and participants prepare. We encourage all Room for All supporters to sign up to receive these devotionals via email and follow along as we pray for the church and particularly those LGBTQ people who are participating.
In addition, Room for All has commissioned a series of 21 Inclusive Prayers and Devotionals written by supporters and friends of Room for All to coincide with and complement the RCA’s series. We will publish those here on OUTsights over the next 21 days.
These readings and prayers are solely the words and opinions of each guest writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Room for All, their staff, or the board.
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Day 7
A Devotional from Valerie Van Kooten
“And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” Matt. 5:41
You can’t be living in the United States and not be thoroughly sick of the entire political process at the moment. Anger, riots, hate-mongering, ultimatums—they all run rampant across our TV screens and in our newspapers. But the common thread, really, that ripples behind all of this is fear: fear of people not like us. Fear of people with different skin colors. Fear of people with different sexual orientations. Fear of the Far Right or the Radical Left. Fear of the Other. The problem is, the Other is really like you and me. When you strip away the skin color and the sexual orientation and the economic status and the birthplace, we’re all pretty much alike. We all want our families to thrive. We all want meaningful work. We all want to be able to express an opinion that is our own, even if it’s not popular. As the RCA goes through the process of discerning where the denomination will go in the next few years, it might be helpful to remember that we are all the Other. We all need to be patient and forbearing. We all need to go the extra mile, even when we’re tired and cranky and are sick of the whole process. So put on your walking shoes and get ready.
Prayer: Lord, help me to go the extra mile, even when I feel that I’ve already run a marathon. Make me accepting of the Other. Let me graciously listen and contemplate and respond. Amen.