If you read a news clip and your response is giddiness at the way it proves your chosen enemy wrong, you do not have a pastoral heart. You have a riverbed dry of mercy, which, interpreted most charitably, means you are parched for mercy yourself. But it& #39;s available in Christ.

I& #39;m here less and less these days because the dearth of grace, fundamentalism on all sides, and glee at others& #39; demise crush me. It& #39;s okay if others are able to be here a lot — that& #39;s not my point. We can all withstand different pressures.

I hope we& #39;re all paying attention, though. I hope we see the ways that many progressives police each other while calling to defund the police. I hope we see that many conservatives screech about a million and one perceived heresies as they, themselves, perform gospel antithesis.

I chose those examples for a very specific reason, which is that neither conservativism nor progressivism is formed by hospitality, and it shows on Twitter. I find myself unable to keep up anymore, unable to pursue justice and mercy in a real way when the standard is allegiance.

Anyway, I& #39;ve blended quite a few points here, and some will stand out more to others based on their perspectives and camps. That& #39;s fine. If you think this thread is a response to something that happened on Twitter today, you& #39;re right, and that& #39;s also not the whole story.

Whether you can be here or you can& #39;t, I hope you& #39;re showing yourself the dignity of caring for your soul. I hope you know that life isn& #39;t your freshman English seminar and you& #39;re worth more than your latest opinion or interpretation. Peace, friends https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💕" title="Zwei Herzen" aria-label="Emoji: Zwei Herzen">