Theological Thoughts for Thursday

I often wonder if I could do something truly heroic.

I was just reading about Irena Sendler, a catholic who helped 2,500 jewish children escape during WWII.

It's not an issue of courage, becuae I often feel that adrenaline counts more than courage in most cases and I generally have good amounts of both, but an issue of seeing and recognizing the problem.

I wonder if I lived in Nazi Germany if I would have even noticed the jews disappearing. I see my small handful of jewish friends on a semi-annual basis, if that, so it would take months before I realized any of them had fled the country.

And I wonder if I'm silly for making modern day comparisons. I know that our government isn't killing GLBT people, but at what point should I as a Christian and a minister of social justice get involved in the fight for their rights? Am I missing my opportunity to be a hero?

And so often things start so small. It's just one black joke, right? Afro-turf. It's funny, because their hairdo of choice is an afro and they play football. Haha. Why would I think I could be a hero who could dismiss country and cultural loyalty in order to save repressed minorities if I can't even shut down a racist joke?

I always assumed that if I had lived through the civil war I would have sided with the north - against slavery - it's a no brainer. But now I wonder if I would have sided with state's rights. And I wonder if that would have been wrong?

I would like to think that some day I will do something heroic and courageous, but this day I just pray for the eyes to see the opportunity and the courage to stop the small, painful wounds we inflict against each other every day.