Friends,
This past Sunday, we heard the good news that God’s Kingdom doesn’t rely on propaganda or power plays, but that Jesus is freeing us to be people of truth.
“Truth” can become co-opted into power plays and propaganda, but reckoning with that is part of the good news. When truth is being wielded coercively, or free from love, it ceases to be truth.
This good news feels especially pertinent and important as we move into the holiday season. Starting this week with Thanksgiving, many of you will spend a LOT of time around family. These times together can be fraught with peril. Questions arise like, Do I engage and interrupt if I hear a harsh word spoken or a political opinion shared that I feel strongly opposed to? Is it best to just keep quiet to keep the peace? Our relationships with the folks we see (or don’t see) this time of year are often complicated and fraught with nuance.
It can be stressful, overwhelming, and downright exhausting.
Thankfully, this good news is multifaceted. To be people of truth does not just mean that we are free to say how we really feel and think about things, although that is part of it. Being people of truth means being free from making power plays ourselves in how we communicate. We are free from having to convince or coerce, which also frees us to be gentler and kinder with ourselves.
It is not your job to convince anyone. It is not your job to keep everyone comfortable. It is not your job to master eloquence while also getting your timing exactly right. You are free to show up as you — just as you are today. Bring your convictions and passions with you. Bring your love of justice and your heart for the least of these with you. Bring your complicated feelings about your family of origin with you.
You don’t have to nail it this holiday season. You are free to show up as yourself and to be a person of truth. For some of you, that might mean having a smaller circle around you this holiday season. You are free to be a person of truth by setting and holding boundaries, too.
This is hard work. Committing ourselves to love and truth can be very scary and that’s okay. There’s no shame in it. God is the one forming us into people of truth.
May you walk in love and truth, with yourself and with others, this holiday season. And may the God of truth grant you peace, rest, and joy — have a happy Thanksgiving!
Spencer+
