{"id":199,"date":"2011-03-19T10:54:19","date_gmt":"2011-03-19T17:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/amusingamma\/?p=199"},"modified":"2011-03-19T10:54:19","modified_gmt":"2011-03-19T17:54:19","slug":"discern-the-truth-name-the-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/03\/discern-the-truth-name-the-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Discern the Truth, Name the Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Lent 2: <\/strong><\/em>Luke 19: 41-48<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em>Spirit of truth and judgement, who alone can exorcise the powers that grip our world, at the point of crisis give us your discernment, that we may accurately name what is evil, and know the ways that lead to peace. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Evil shows up is two of the most well-known prayers of Christian people: from the 23rd Psalm,\u00a0I will fear no evil; <\/em>and from the Lord\u2019s prayer, deliver us from evil. <\/em>But Janet Morley\u2019s prayer for this week is really daunting to me\u2013do I know evil when I see it? \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the one hand, we live in the Land of the the Adversarial, not the Peaceful. So if I disagree with someone among my family, friends, church community or political conversation partners, someone else is very willing and able to paint us the colors of Black and White, one as good, the other as evil. That easy caricature masks my true discernment all too often. I either resist the label as as simplistic and judgmental, or carry the label forward, plastering Black and White bumper stickers on others in the conversation with aplomb. Neither one is God\u2019s intention for the community of followers of Christ.<\/p>\n

If I want to live the heart of the matter, how do I start? How to I discern the truth? How can I name the evil? How can I know the ways that lead to peace?<\/p>\n

One of the great exemplars of discernment in Hebrew scripture is Solomon, who when offered ant thing he wanted by God, asked for wisdom: \u201cGive your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil\u2026\u201d (I Kings 3:9). I must begin with my rendition of this prayer. I am very comfortable praying for discernment for my own decisions, a road to travel, a choice to make; but to pray to distinguish between evil and good, then to say the name of the evil aloud is more frightening. What if I\u2019m wrong? What if someone mistakes me for a fundamentalist? What if I hurt someone\u2019s feelings? \u00a0And then these days in this cultural\/political\/religious climate, the rhetorical currency du jour is name-calling, reputation tarnishing, character assassination. Not very spiritual!<\/p>\n

So if I pray to discern Evil, recognize it, then how do I name it in a way that does not participate in further Evil? Let me see if I have identified any Evil of late:<\/p>\n