We Can Do No Less

From the mind and heart of Steven Charleston: “Do not read these words unless you are willing to accept them and stand responsible for their meaning. To you, authority has been given to work a wonder in another life. To you, authority has been entrusted to shape a new reality. Be accountable for that gift. Use it with wisdom, aware and intentional, and arise a healer, both born and blessed.” This little paragraph is marked for today’s reading in Charleston’s book Hope As Old As Fire. May I focus just on the first sentence.

In these days of deepening disappointment with the course our nation is taking, there will come a day when even the most hesitant among us will say: Enough. Until then we will read the articles, commentaries, and internet musings of people calling us to hope, to pray, to trust and we will feel an increasing uneasiness about the march of history. But we will continue to search for glimmers of hope,
all the while watching a systematic dismantling take place. I ask you to read Charleston’s first sentence as if the words are addressed to you: “Do not read these words unless you are willing to accept them and stand responsible for their meaning…” Be the prayer you pray. Be the healer you hope for. Be the voice instead of the thought. This is the way of Christ. He became what he was. We can do no less.