The Cost of Discipleship

July 24, 2025July 24, 2025 ~ Pam Marolla ~ Leave a comment

Luke 14 – ²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

Paraphrasing Martin Luther.

“What does this even mean?!!!

This passage has been troublesome for me and many for a long time. Our congregation has a Wednesday morning Bible study group that has been together for a while now. We discussed the passage just yesterday. There were as many thoughts as there were people in the group. It is difficult to overlay our admittedly middle-class US lifestyles over this in a way that makes sense in any meaningful way. Though I think “hate” is a strong word for translation, I’m pretty convinced it is a First Commandment situation: You shall have no other gods.”

The first disciples who were called by Jesus literally left their nets, the family business, and everything else to follow Jesus. But we have families. And we have stuff. And we have responsibilities – God knows!

It has been quite a week. My husband and I live in a small city, a college town. Last Friday, we were eating out at a really nice restaurant for the first time in a long time. By “long time,” I mean that our anniversary was on June 1 (40 years – yay us!) and we were having our first nice meal out since before then. I got a call about a church related crisis during the meal. I won’t go into details. We did order dessert. But then, we went and addressed the situation. We were out until 11 pm until things were adequately sorted out for the night.

I spent an afternoon in court related to that event and more time during the week.

A couple of evenings ago, a dear friend, colleague, and parishioner – all in one – had a medical emergency. Because of our relationship, and my husband’s no-nonsense attitude and professional experience, he had been named Power of Attorney for healthcare by this beloved Child of God. That was before dementia started to steal her away from us. We, her out-of-state family, and the nurse at the facility agreed it would be best to have her checked out at the local hospital. This was early evening. She went in by local ambulance. We met her in the Emergency Department. Having worked in hospice for decades, hubby is big on individual dignity and autonomy in healthcare.

We had many conversations with her out-of-state family and her local friends that night. The attending physician wanted to transport her to a larger hospital 45 minutes away, in the opposite direction from all of her support people. If we could take her 45 minutes in the OTHER direction, she would have had many, and I mean MANY people who love her, who could visit and offer support as needed. We all decided that our friend should not be transported until morning because an overnight transport would frighten her and take her out of her support community. And she was at a point in her life where she wished no extraordinary measures be taken to prolong her life. Her wishes had been put in writing quite some time before her memory started going. A transport would temporarily rescind her wishes. If she were in transit, they would be required to resuscitate her by any means necessary. We talked with this friend, who seemed relieved to not travel overnight. We talked to the Dr who seemed to understand. We thought everyone was on the same page, finally. We could weigh more options in the morning. Exhausted by decision fatigue, my husband and I left for home at about 10:45. At 10:58, the ER doc signed orders to have her transferred to the community that no one else agreed to. (Paperwork later showed that this was a “non-emergent” transfer. No lights, siren, or rush.) The ER doc called at 1:30 am to leave that message that she had been transported. We were so exhausted, we did not hear the notification and only found out at about 7 am.

My husband took the next day off work to be with her, answer questions, and communicate with everyone who needed information.

Another friend is with her today.

I will go tomorrow (Friday).

Family

Today is still only Thursday. On Monday, we received notice that my husband’s uncle passed away. This was someone who was in the family business with hubby’s dad and grandpa. They lived in the same small town. The cousins all grew up together, went to Catholic School, mass, and high school together. They had family meals where grandma would make homemade ravioli from scratch – sauce, sausage, dough, and everything! They dropped in on each other’s homes without notice. They were very close. The funeral is on Saturday. We had talked about going. The funeral is a five-hour one-way drive. On a Saturday. We are both preaching on Sunday. I found myself sending this text to hubby’s three sisters this morning.

Even if we could find someone to cover our Sunday responsibilities, we are probably too tired to make the drive. It is one of the many decisions we have had to make in the past 40 years or so in which we have chosen the person in the greatest perceived crisis to direct our attention toward.

I have always felt that to apply this verse from Luke to my own life and ministry would have been self-aggrandizing. Who am I to say I am that unselfish or such a good follower of Jesus. I’m not. I try, but I always fall short of my own expectations. I can only imagine the Almighty frequently doing a facepalm about me. i can twiddle away time with the best of procrastinators. I didn’t always handle our stress in the best way. Sometimes, I just wanted to forget, or not feel. There is an old theological saying that goes back to the Latin which is basically that “we are all saint and sinner at the same time.” Lutheran theology generally leaves us pretty humble.

I know this has often left us letting family down. We have grown children. We tried to make family our priority as much as we possible could, but we couldn’t always. There is no way to take back time we missed with them. We did the best we could as much as we could. We had vacation time, and took some cool vacations, day trips, and adventures in our own home, but when they had weekends off, we usually worked. I’ve missed some big extended family Easter Dinners when we only live a half hour from hubby’s family – because after Easter at church, my energy and ability to socialize were running on empty. Same with Christmas.

We will try our best to pay our respects to Uncle Julius. Somehow. He was a pretty remarkable guy who paid some big prices for being a truth teller. I’m pretty sure he would understand. But, he’s already on the other side of these kinds of worries. RIP.

I don’t think those early disciples that were simply called to “follow me” had any idea what Jesus had in mind when he talked about making choices between following him and family priorities. Certainly, there is a weird balance between self-care/family-care and outward ministry. I do know, that in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus already had his “face set toward Jerusalem” by chapter 14. That means, he was trying to prepare the disciples for the awful things to come.

I am relieved by the Gospel of John’s account (ch 21) in which even though Peter denied even knowing Jesus 3 times during the “night in which he was betrayed,” AFTER the resurrection, Jesus addressed Peter directly.

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

God be merciful to all those who are trying to be faithful followers, screw it up, try again, screw it up, try again . . .

Help us to choose our priorities well. Help us to hear your words of absolution when we cannot declare them to ourselves. Give us rest when we need it. And give us clarity of YOUR vision for all your children.

The Wedding At Cana

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025 ~ Pam Marolla ~ Leave a comment

Good Wine for Everyone

(Theology of the Cross vs Prosperity Gospel/Theology of Glory)

John 2

On the third day,

There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to the woman, “What concern is that my hour has not yet come to you and me.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever, he tells you to do.” Now standing there were six stone jars of water for the Jewish Rites of purification each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to them. Fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them. Now draw some out and take it to the chief steward.

So, they took the water from the steward, tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from though, the servants who had drawn the water knew the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “everyone serves the good wine first. And then the inferior one after the Guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.

Jesus did this, the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory and his disciples believed him,

Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator, our Savior, Jesus, and the Spirit that dwells within and around us.

The Wedding at Cana

In our lectionary cycle or cycle of readings for the church year – his comes up every three years, right, after Epiphany. It’s in the Epiphany Season introduction (proper preface) to our song: “Holy Holy, Holy.” It was part of the story of how Jesus was made known (epiphany)

The preface includes the wedding at Cana at Cana as a sign of Jesus being revealed, The Epiphany is about Jesus being revealed in many different ways.

I used to preach on this text – I preached about how much wine Jesus made. – The physical miracle. The amount of gallons was astonishing. So, to get that out of the way – scholars believe that six cisterns equated to 120 or 180 gallons. of wine or 340 to 510 bottles of wine.

My Christian friends who believe that drinking alcohol is always a sin don’t know what to do with this text.

Because from the surface, it looks like Jesus is encouraging drunkenness.

He is not encouraging drunkenness.

First off wine or fermented beverages were the safest thing to drink before water treatment facilities were a thing. Second, and more importantly wine, in the Bible, among the people of Faith – wine was a symbol of God’s abundance and steadfastness

Isaiah 27. These verses are often read at funerals.

“On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples, a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines of rich food filled with marijuana. Well-aged wines, strained, clear and he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples.”

When this was written, God’s people were in Exile. They had been conquered and sent away from their community and relocated. They were war refugees.

They had no place to worship, and for them not having a worship place meant God wasn’t with them anymore.

But the prophet writes, basically, “God is still with you. And will take care of you.” For people who were now unsettled, they didn’t have their own Vineyards. They didn’t have their own community. They didn’t have their own temple.

Think about what well-aged wines would represent.

Stability. It meant they were going to stay in one place long enough to age their wines.

Not having to search for every meal, meal by meal by meal.

And so, Jesus shows up at this wedding.

And he provides this rich abundance that the prophet promised hundreds of years before.

The water turning into wine – is called his first sign.

And Jesus says to his mother that he’s not ready, it’s not my time.

because as soon as he started performing the signs, the very religious, rule following people lost their minds.

Jesus performed signs.

And extends his grace to everyone.

This wedding would have been time to go home now. Event, when the wind.

But that’s just why Jesus produced the best wine. Anyone present who tasted knew it was and it was the best. It was in abundance. It was for everyone.

My dear siblings. Our whole country has been co-opted by Prosperity Gospel. Or Theology of Glory

Prosperity Gospel. (theology of glory)	Theology of the cross
Talks about how much you will get if you call upon the name of the Lord.	On the other hand, theology of the cross. It is a very Lutheran Concept that goes all the way back to Martin Luther himself. Ask any of my Seminary professors.
It’s also a Theology of scarcity. They are always worried that there is not going to be enough. I need to make sure I have enough for me. I will take what I get and say that God blessed me.	Theology of the Cross says that God’s abundance is for everyone. Everyone – no asterisks.
You are always worried that someone might get more than they deserve.	Theology of the Cross says, we are all children of God, made in the image of God, each person on this planet. and we look out, especially for the lowly and outcast. Because that’s what God does.
Theology of prosperity says good is bad and bad is good.	Theology of the cross calls a thing what it is
	Remember Mary song from advent, “my soul rejoices? Because God has lifted up the lowly.” That was T/C

Theology of the cross is about grace and inclusion. Especially to those who have been cast out of other communities.

Prosperity Gospel enslaves some to the benefit of others.

Theology of the cross liberates the oppressed.

Did you know, during World War Two? There were Christians who were very opposed to Nazism. People of our faith. Because the vast majority of other Christians, figured, if we just keep them happy, they’ll, leave us alone.

That never works out. They just find more and more people to oppress.

And they have more and more money. To tell you there isn’t enough for everybody. So you’re going to have to look out for those people. Those people, those people.

There were Christian leaders, the clergy, emergency league who stood up to that. Most of them were murdered.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Niemoellers, you can look it up Clergy Emergency League, or the Confessing Church. All those powerful Christian writers from WWII era knew, the Theology of the Cross.

And their conscience could not let them do otherwise

The Civil Rights era, the 60s and 70s. Those black leaders that got murdered? They were all people of deep faith. Deep faith that God is what liberates? Not Power

The dedication of this church.

My husband found this when he was scanning the 75th Anniversary Book.

The dedication of this church reads,

it is our hearts desire and prayer that this Sanctuary may be a house of prayer for all people. It is erected to serve the people of this community, to minister unto them. In the name of Jesus Christ, The riches of God’s mercy and grace. It is consecrated to the Lord for Christian worship. In his name amost hearty welcome is extended to everyone.

At First Lutheran. We open our doors. Not so that people can experience us because as great as we are and you’re wonderful. You’re not Jesus.

We open our door so that the Hope House can serve hundreds and thousands of meals more than we can alone.

They’re opening up the good stuff to everybody and that is part and parcel of the mission of the dedication of this church.

I was asked to give the keynote yesterday at the people’s March.

One of our members was there.

The topic was “Hope Healing and Human Rights.’

Human Rights

The UN Declaration on Human Rights, came about beginning in 1945 and was ratified in 1948. Countries all around the world realized how awful and dehumanizing everyone had become and the atrocities that had been committed. People from all these countries came together.

And just for a short list of the many Human Rights they expressed – They declared that every human being on this earth, man, woman and child should be free from torture. We should have free expression, children should have an education so they can develop critical thinking skills and not stumble into the hole of inhumanity of their elders.

All people have the right to asylum. They have a right to a homeland and a right to life and liberty, and privacy.

Every human should have a right to Health Care. They have a right to adequate housing.

The United States of America has stepped off the UN Human Rights Council. Now, there are some reasons for that, but we deny most of these rights now. They are only for a few.

And we here, are mostly the few that have them.

So yesterday I talked about the erosion of Human Rights. And the slippery slope of dehumanizing language. Which is how all propaganda begins.

The historic horrors of the most atrocious events in the world. Ancient battles. slavery, holocausts and genocide. They started by using humanizing words for people who are all made in the image of God.

They also used entertainment to lull all the people into self-absorption.

The Roman Colosseum.

all those things that the Roman Empire did was to distract the people from how horrible life was. They used entertainment. They called them bread and circuses.

So if you ever hear that term bread and circuses, it means somebody’s trying to pull the wool over the people’s eyes.

They took people’s minds off of real issues and the real issues were getting uglier and uglier. The world fell.

After my speech yesterday. I engaged in a conversation with the homeless, man.

and, he said he felt like he was being chased around by a giant pencil.

The eraser end first. And that his life was being erased, little by little every time that pencil caught up with him.

You know, why I went to talk to him? It was because he had a pro-life side sign and I want to have a conversation because we were closer in philosophy than he or anyone thinks.

Some dehumanize the fetus.

Some dehumanized, the woman that’s carrying the fetus

It’s all a game of language. That turns people into enemies.

Human rights.

Are things that everyone should have.

This is how Jesus lived his life! He healed. He loved and still loves without condition and he taught his disciples to do the same. Jesus says– so, you know, how, how will people know your Christians? hmmm

Oh yeah.

By your love.

To deny the humanity of anyone else.

Is to deny Jesus.

To deny these things has to go down the road to inhumanity, the same road that led to

Holocaust.

We all renounce these things. Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God, think about that and we’ll answer next week.

and we will do this again next week, as we bring in new members.

Genocide.

And crucifixion,

the crucifixion of our Lord. Jesus Christ.

In our baptismal liturgy.

Before we profess our faith, we make three very specific renunciations.

Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? What rebels against God? Think about it.

Do you renounce the ways of sin?

That draw you from God.

The devil and all the forces that defy God and if God is love of that, then hate is the opposite. (indifference comes before hate, but hate is the result.)

Next week, we will renounce these things together.

And then, we will affirm our faith in who is really our Lord and Savior.

Jesus said, you will know them. They belong to me because of their love.

The Apostle Paul said in Galatians, you will know them by the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are dripping from them.

Love, joy. Peace, patience.

Kindness.

Generosity.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

And self-control.

We sang earlier this morning, “Let us build a house where the prophets speak. And words are strong and true.

Where All God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew

Here, the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace,

Here, as one, we claim the faith. Of Jesus.

Tomorrow, we will welcome the community into this building. Dedicated to the glory of God. In service to our neighbor. To show our neighbors Jesus.

To show our neighbors, Jesus

None of us was here when this building was built. It is entrusted to us to share

To share, not to hoard -that’s Prosperity Gospel.

So let’s turn on the light. Porch light. the light that shines the love of Jesus Christ. Let us live the life that Jesus modeled and sacrificed.

For

Do not let the gospel become bread and circuses.

Dig deeper.

Talk to a homeless person.

And live the sacrificial love.

Of a follower of Jesus Christ.

And the peace of God, that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ. Jesus, our Lord. Amen

Full Transcript: Hope, Healing, Human Rights

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025 ~ Pam Marolla ~ Leave a comment

People’s March, January 18, 2025, Keynote Address: Hope, Healing, and Human Rights

Rev Dr Pamela Marolla

Galesburg, IL

I introduce myself, thank the leaders, acknowledged other religions and forms of spirituality.

We find our healing in hope. Hope is that which brings us here together today. Thank you for being here.

This should be no surprise, but we are all humans.

The reason I say that is because it shouldn’t have to be spoken.

Do you know that human rights were not often considered in the history of the world..

But every time people lost that awareness, historically every time we took our eye off of human rights, we became terrible people.

Look at history. Holocausts, genocides, slavery, war

So, I am of German ancestry. I grew up as a child of the 60s and 70s. and I couldn’t imagine, when I started studying history, and learned about WWII, I couldn’t imagine how MY PEOPLE did such evil things.

As an inquisitive person, I started studying. And my husband who was an American Studies Major and loves history–helped me out, and we started taking vacations to places like holocaust museums. That doesn’t sound like much fun. It wasn’t. But what we learned is that people don’t just wake up in the morning and say, “you know, I think I want to be a Nazi, I’m gonna try that on.“

It doesn’t work that way. It takes years, decades, generations of – – grooming.

That grooming starts with something very simple. It starts with dehumanizing language. My husband and I were in the car yesterday and in about 15 minutes we came up with this list* (showed the group my legal pad) of dehumanizing language.)

And this is where I want to talk to even the youngest people here. We can stop that in our own homes, among our closest friends and family.

I’ll tell you, we had a big extended family gathering for Thanksgiving, And someone suggested that we not talk politics. (Seems like a good idea right? I got some amens at the live event.) Well, my transgender niece said “Then I’m not coming!” (crowd laughs)

Because if all you see me as is a political issue, you’re not my family.

I want you to think about some of those dehumanizing words, because if you don’t have practice in calling it out, you don’t know.

People get tagged as body parts, or animals. “That guy is a horses patoot.” “She’s a b****” There was a little child in Galesburg restaurant this morning was called the N word. (groans in crowd)

No! That is dehumanizing. Dogs, pigs, vermin, scum, retard, snowflake, crackhead, towel head. I’m not even going to start with the rest of the words that you are all familiar with.

Just this morning, a child was called the N-word in a local restaurant.

But talk about dehumanizing words in your homes. Because even the smallest child, maybe especially the smallest child, the concrete thinker isn’t scared when telling their friends,

“that’s not nice. That’s a person.” Older kids and adults can flat out say “that’s dehumanizing.” (A tiny kid just said something to their mommy for all of us to hear – it was adorable.)

Dehumanizing is a way to “other” someone you don’t agree with. Or someone who is different than we are.

Or someone in an entirely other country – or neighborhood that is in war, poverty, or squalor

that we just can’t muster up enough empathy to care about
When it’s someone who crosses a border faced with razor wire
their children and ours are the same. They drink the samemilk.They need the same love. The adults do as well.

But To dehumanize someone with words is a step toward legitimizing the treatment of them inhumanely

Note this –

Learn from history because history is repeating itself. And if we don’t stop it in our homes, or in our community, we have no way of stopping it at a larger level (applause)

Kudos to all of you who are running for office and all of you who have held office.

Some of us are getting tired. We need you guys – everybody to do something. Whether you are a seasoned protester, or you’ve never done anything before. Like just this, this is big for you. Congratulations! You’re here!

I see you! We see each other!

But don’t just come out today and say “I did something.” It’s easy to speak out when you are among like-minded people. Step outside your comfort level once in a while. Do something. Stop the dehumanizing language at home and family if that is your first step. Then, start talking to more influential people. Talk to your city council members, county board, or anybody on any board. If they are progressive, they are going to need encouragement! If they are doing terrible things – call them out.

Because of the dark side, Yoda talks about the dark side in one of my favorite quotes– fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. And suffering leads to the dark side.

Instead of using “the dark side” which I don’t like. Use the word inhumanity

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, suffering leads to inhumanity

Inhumanity is putting children in cages

Inhumanity is taking away a woman’s bodily autonomy

Inhumanity is choosing war over diplomacy because rich people can make more money from war.

Our beloved Jimmy Carter used to say “We cannot make peace by killing each other’s children.”

We need to stay strong and stay together. You see when progressives use dehumanizing language, That’s not our wheelhouse. So, when the Right catches us it always ends badly.

Basket full of deplorables? How’d that go?

No. We use humanizing terms with people we disagree with or disrespect deeply. Whether we agree or not, they too were created to be treated as a human.

Let’s show them a better way. Let’s show them what it is to be humane

Do you know that women didn’t have the right to an abuse-less home until someone prosecuted a spouse beater through Humane Society laws?

(That one struck the crowd!)

(people in the crowd – “Yep, your dog had more rights than you.”

Another – “Couldn’t even get a charge card til ‘71”

– “I was born before you could get a checking account”

– or a house

Your grandparents stayed together because your grandpa was an abuser and grandma couldn’t leave him. She didn’t have the ability. She didn’t have the financial ability to leave him.

Your husband could rape you without repercussions

People deserve humanity

The Human Rights commission that was developed by the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt after the horrors of WWII was made up from Nations from all over the world. They realized that things had gotten waaay out of hand. To say the very least.

They came up with a list of things that every human on the planet ought to deserve.

They agreed that people had freedoms – they should be free from torture; free to express themselves; free to educate in PUBLIC SCHOOLS – everybody wanted good public education for all the children. So that our kids could learn critical thinking skills and not get sucked into the vortex of, shall we call it, mis-information.

Some of these Human rights were –

The right to seek asylum,

The right to life, liberty, and privacy

The right to social security

The right to health – and adequate housing

The United States has stepped off of the UN Human Rights Council

The US stepped off

We need to step on

Step on?

(crowd)

Step on – We will step it on. Yes

We Will March it on. (cheering)

Look around you today. Take a look. Take names.

Because the times are not going to get easier.

I am a Christian – for us it is not “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering and inhumanity.” No. For us, we know that suffering leads to endurance, endurance leads to character, and character leads to hope! And hope does not disappoint.

So if you need hope, call a friend. Call someone else that’s here. Because those of us who are considered leaders. We get tired too. And we need so much encouragement. And we need everybody to walk together. Healing comes from community.

Liberals, we are so bad at this. We are not good at this. We say,

“Well, I’m not going to the peoples march because it’s a women’s march.”

“I don’t agree 100% with that person leading it.”

“We don’t do things like that”

No!

(Someone Crowd) – Stand up or shut up.

I repeat yes, “stand up or shut up.” (lots of cheering)

So talk to the people you disagree with

Lean in to the people you agree with

and make this a better Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, and country.

*The list of dehumanizing names we came up with in 15 minutes –

*Animal reference*	*Body parts, functions*	*Reversals (calling a good or neutral thing bad) also making illiteracy a good thing*	*Filthy things*	*Action slurs*
Bitch, jack-ass, vermin, dirty rat, rat bastard, pig, snake, chicken, dog, cur, toad, lousy, ape, monkey, fat cow	Horses patoot, ass, dick, ___head (crack, towel), old fart, shit, heel,	Woke, snowflake, Ivy Leaguers, over-educated, geek, nerd, libtards, peace freak	Garbage, trash (i.e. white trash, trailer trash), scum, scumbag, dirt-ball, crud, sleezebag, sleezeball, slime,	Baby killer, gang banger, baby factory

Condescending	Immigrant and ethnic terms	Disability slurs
Honey, sweetie, dear, girl, boy	Illegals, wetbacks, spic, dago,	Retard, spaz,, crazy, lame, cripple, so OCD, insane

Hope, Healing, and Human Rights – Outline

January 18, 2025January 28, 2025 ~ Pam Marolla ~ Leave a comment

We cannot look away from history but must learn from it.

Human Rights – after the horrors of WWII, countries from all over the world formed the UN owning the atrocities committed during these years. They wanted to establish a global foundation for what it is to be human and what humanity deserves.

If you visit a Holocaust Museum or even their websites – you will understand that wars don’t begin with weapons. They begin with words. Dehumanizing words and orchestrated propaganda. (talk about these words together.)

“Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.” Yoda, The Phantom Menace

Instead of “Dark Side,” I would choose the word inhumanity. Let’s talk about those dehumanizing words.

Fear – Anger – hate – suffering – inhumanity

On the other hand, there is another way when things are difficult.

Hope – Is what gives us the motivation to do courageous things – to do what is right and just. We receive hope when we witness others practicing humanity and standing up to those who do not.

Healing – occurs when we find community that stands with us. It does not come without intention or collaboration. We need to show each other that we are all doing our part. Please do not think that just because you don’t consider yourself a community leader, that you don’t have a part to play. Leaders are getting weary. Everyone must do their part as they did after WWII – BEFORE the world becomes completely driven by inhumanity. It’s been repeated throughout recorded history. Find your spiritual grounding. Find like-minded people. Consider what you can do. Do it. Rest. Repeat. Some of my spiritual groundings are printed below.

. . .suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (Romans 5)
. . . but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40)

Resources And Links Below

UN Declaration of Human Rights Adopted: December 10, 1948

human-rights-booklet.pdf – Printable booklet
United Nations Resolutions and Declarations on Human Rights Links to many resources on Human Rights

Note – the US has rejected many of these rights and has stepped away from the Human Rights Council for many reasons.

Women delegates from various countries played a key role in getting women’s rights included in the Declaration. Hansa Mehta of India (standing above Eleanor Roosevelt) is widely credited with changing the phrase “All men are born free and equal” to “All people.” The UN’s objectives, as outlined by its charter, include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international law.^[5] At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; as of 2024, it has 193 sovereign states, nearly all of the world’s recognized sovereign states.^[6]

Holocaust Museum Links

ushmm.org – US Holocaust Museum. Washington DC
thebremen.org – One of the leading destinations in Atlanta, GA, our Jewish culture, arts and history museum is home to the permanent exhibition Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years, 1933-1945;
abhmuseum.org America’s Black Holocaust Museum