You know what I noticed about the gospel reading for this morning? It's the amount of snark. People are just talking smack to Jesus, aren't they?

"Save yourself..." they said.

And those who killed him taunted him too, and gambled for his clothes.

It reminds me a lot of what is happening to that poor county clerk in Kentucky. Oh, I don't support her cause, not for a minute. But she is getting crucified in social media. And she is getting mocked, even taunted. Look, this woman hasn't been a follower of Jesus for very long, only about four years. She is bound to make some mistakes. I've been following Jesus for 47 years and I make mistakes, and I think some of you do too. She is not perfect, but she is trying. She is willing to put it all on the line for her faith, and I admire that. I disagree, but I admire her for what she thinks she's doing. She has sacrificed more for her faith in these last couple of weeks than most of us ever will. Let's give her that. She is trying.

If we have to find someone to blame, let's blame ourselves. Mainline Christianity doesn't speak out about these sorts of "theologies" which imperil the saints. If the rest of us had reached out to the saints in Kentucky back when it first became apparent that they were a bunch of wack-o nuts then we might have avoided this, and God only knows how much more. Some have said that she won't listen to us if we reach out to her. Well, she probably won't. But this is a good time to make some inroads into alien territory. This is the time for religious leaders to speak out with compassion to show this county clerk how she can be true to her faith AND follow the law. Write her a letter, or write to her pastor. (If you find contact information on the church or pastor let me know because I don't have it.) Don't mock, don't even judge. That is not our job. You can just say, "Here is how I see it... This is what the Bible says to me... " and treat them like colleagues in the Kingdom, because that is what they are.

Even the chief priests had a meeting about Jesus in which they asserted that if he did come down from the cross, then they would believe. The Bible says that they were mocking Jesus. but I don't know. I have been in more than a few meetings where it was clear to me that we were merely absolving ourselves and planning our strategy in the event we were questioned. You know, you can kind of feel it. It's that little voice that says, "We are fooling ourselves." Well, poor chief priests...

There is enough compassion for them, for the county clerk in Kentucky, and for all of us. I guess that's what I got from the readings today.

I have to get going. My hair color, which I paid a lot of money for, and which took ALL afternoon to get, is not right. It's too dark. I hate it. And, NO I am not having much compassion for they guy who did it. But, I'll try. I will. That's on the agenda for today. I want to get this hair situation sorted. Add that to the list of other things... Have a good day everybody.