Meghan Moses: Of God and Country
This month I’ve had the pleasure of reading an illustrated children’s bible to my daughter every evening before bed. She has gotten hooked and in a few short weeks we have burned through it to the New Testament section with all the stories of Jesus and the many miracles he performs. She has a lot of questions- why Jesus keeps washing everyone’s feet with perfume, what leprosy means- and why I stopped last night before the story of his crucifixion. I told her that story may be too scary before bed and maybe we should read it in the morning. But she told me she knew what happens-that Jesus died for us, but not to worry because God brought him back to life so we all can go to Heaven.
These last couple of years my mental state has vacillated between heaven and hell with worry about the state of our country and what we can do to make our home a better place to raise our children. Every day I can hardly bring myself to read headlines concerning suffering- our neighbors struggling to make a living, residents subsisting without clean drinking water, children living through unthinkable tragedy, and thenconstant state of violence that threatens our way of life.
Throughout history, none of this is new, yet what makes it more salient and disquieting is the increasing division in our communities and our inability to put our differences aside to work towards meaningful solutions to these entrenched problems together.
It is also difficult to see some political leaders invoke Jesus and Christianity performatively but failing to remember what he really stood for.
One of my favoritestories is The Sermon the Mount, where Jesus reminds us to love our enemies, cautions us not to judge others but to look unto ourselves, to treat others how we would like to be treated. He begins with his Beatitudes:
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
2. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
3. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled.”
5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
6. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.”
7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”
8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
During this Lenton season, I hope we can all slow down and honor this time of reflection, repentance, spiritual growth to consider on how we can show up better for ourselves and each other.
For our leaders, instead of taking the Lord’s name in vain and using it to justify an agenda or as a tool for control, use your faith as your moral compass to help you make the decisions that show compassion for your constituents. Instead of engaging in public displays to prove your faith or show loyalty to one group or party, remember Jesus’s cleansing of the temple in Gospel of Matthew 21:12–13 where he flips their table and exhorts the merchants for misusing what is sacred for their own personal gain. Instead of prayers on the house floor, turn inward to find guidance when policies arise that further divide us rather than address the most pressing needs of our fellow citizens.
Many of the nation’s founders were people of deep faith, yet they recognized the dangers of a state-sponsored religion. To safeguard liberty, they included both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause in the Constitution, ensuring a separation of church and state and protecting religious freedom for all Americans. That does not mean we leave faith behind. When I look into my daughter’s eyes, my faith is renewed, because being with her and reading those stories reminds me that love will always conquer hate. Across many belief systems, that throughline remains: love one another. Do not do to others what is harmful to you. When we care for one another and do the right things in life, we discover what is sacred and can find deeper meaning and connection.
This past session, I was thankful to see a bipartisan effort to pass HB 4191, the first childcare bill passed in five years aimed at stabilizing providers and addressing the 26,000-spot shortfall for families. We also witnessed an incredible effort from Senator Weld to revive Delegate Fluharty’s Raylee’s Law, a bill designed to add basic safety checks before a child could be withdrawn from school for homeschooling, with the goalof preventing situations where withdrawal is used to hide abuse or neglect.
Unfortunately, the bill did not pass for the fourth year in a row. I remain hopeful that this bipartisan effort can continue, so that Raylee’s Law and other protective measures can pass, safeguarding our children and making West Virginia a better place to raise our families. After all, the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.
Mother Teresa once said, “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I’m praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know prayer changes us and we change things.” May we all be guided by that wisdom this season-to act with love, protect those in need, and have faith in ourselves and one another, working across divides as faithful stewards for the change we hope to see in West Virginia and across our nation.
