Inclusion. (1)
Exclusion. (2)
Infusion. (3)
I rather like the intention of infusion.
Such courage and risk.
“All for one and one for all.” (4)
Healthy, robust community.
Love, trust, and safety.
Just a Musketeer claim?
Merely a pipe-dream?
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).
A radical declaration.
A declaration of treason.
Such aspiration!
The intention of the Declaration, still a work in progress.
My way is the right way.
Your way is the right way.
Easy to get along and include if you agree with me or I with you.
Exclusion, judgment, punishment if disagreement.
Where is civility?
Where is discourse?
Where is the love?
Infusion.
Might it work?
What are the costs?
What are the gains?
The agenda is supreme.
Yet, my and your agendas are certainly extreme and supreme.
With little wiggle room.
Acceptance without condoning?
Love without conditions?
The woman caught in adultery—in the very act.
Got her!
Stone her!
Some doodling in the sand.
No word spoken until the clincher.
“The one who has no sin.
That one cast the first stone.”
A bombardment of stones?
Nary a one.
Redemption?
Retribution?
Self-absorbed without compassion?
Radical infusion.
Self-righteousness propels the stones.
Love is radical and seems antithetical.
But, the Rabbi, demonstrated it.
On whose/what side are we?
Religion?
Politics?
Nationalism?
Just who is my brother and sister?
The Rabbi espoused the radical.
He said come follow Me.
Just who are we following?
And, Jesus wept.
Richard L. Brewer
7/5/20
(1). “The action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.”
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS882US882&sxsrf=ALeKk03NSnV3MK-d2ijLdoVGkhakz5ydTA%3A1593866373804&ei=hXgAX9vYMNSoytMPw5eP8As&q=inclusion+definition&oq=inclusion+definition&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIJCCMQJxBGEPkBMgIIADICCAAyBggAEAcQHjIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB4yBggAEAcQHjIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB4yBggAEAcQHjoECAAQQzoHCAAQFBCHAjoMCAAQsQMQQxBGEPkBOgQIABANUPSGAljcmgJg1Z8CaABwAHgAgAF6iAGbBpIBAzcuMpgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwibr574zrPqAhVUlHIEHcPLA74Q4dUDCAw&uact=5&safe=active&ssui=on
“Inclusion is a basic right of everyone and its objective should be to embrace everyone regardless of race, age, gender, disability, religious and cultural beliefs and sexual orientation. When we have true inclusion, it is when we have removed all barriers, discrimination and intolerance. When implemented properly, it should make everyone feel included and supported, whichever environment they are in.”
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/what-inclusion-how-do-we-implement-it
(2). “The process or state of excluding or being excluded.”
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS882US882&sxsrf=ALeKk008Z8Mv-rL1onxdl5w2c8rVlydhMg%3A1593866093987&ei=bXcAX5X1O9utytMPxtyCgAY&q=exclusion+definition&oq=exclusion+definition&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIJCCMQJxBGEPkBMgYIABAHEB4yBggAEAcQHjICCAAyBggAEAcQHjIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB4yBggAEAcQHjIGCAAQBxAeMgYIABAHEB46BAgAEEc6BAgAEEM6BAgjECc6BQgAEJECOgcIABCxAxBDOgkIABBDEEYQ-QE6DAgjELACECcQRhD5AToECAAQDVCqjApYr6gKYO-0CmgAcAF4AIABcYgBvQeSAQQxMC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwjV3-fyzbPqAhXblnIEHUauAGAQ4dUDCAw&uact=5&safe=active&ssui=on
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269488992_Inclusion_A_Defining_Definition
(3). “The introduction of a new element or quality into something.”
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS882US882&sxsrf=ALeKk01S31Ky4vPZjctBsEtKr3HHMzJq4Q%3A1593866041732&ei=OXcAX9qaLLSwytMPxZar4Ag&q=infusion+definition&oq=infusion&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHMgQIABBHUABYAGCwfWgAcAF4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=psy-ab&safe=active&ssui=on
(4). All the members of a group support each of the individual members, and the individual members pledge to support the group.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/all-for-one-and-one-for-all
Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people.
For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well.
Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions.
I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know.
Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions.
I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way.
I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not.
These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.
View all posts by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
Mediocre Meandering 