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I hope everyone reading this post has the most wonderful holiday season possible, filled with peace and goodwill toward everyone, and hope for the future of the world.

The reality is that this holiday time comes with anxiety and maybe even bit of dread. Some of us will not be home for Christmas. Too many of us have no literal home. And sadly “home” is not comforting and peaceful for everyone.

I encourage you to read this conversation in The New York Times with Thomas Friedman and David Brooks. It sparks some profound ideas explaining why our nation – and the world – are so deeply divided. According to Friedman, human beings are driven by first and foremost by 1) finding dignity and avoiding humiliation and 2) home. Home involves being “anchored in a community where people are connected, protected and respected.” (Quote from Andy Karsner)

Amen.

Some of what divides us is related to “home” and it involves the search for human dignity. What does it feel like to be “home”? What definitely doesn’t feel like “home”? The answers to these questions explain why we are divided as a nation.

I grew up in a university town in North Carolina where most adults had a college education, belonged to a Protestant church, and the secondary schools were segregated and not equal until I was in the third grade. A Black college professor – Howard Lee – was elected mayor when I was thirteen. 95% of my high school graduating class went to college.

My children grew up less then ten miles from The White House where most adults had a college education. Our neighbors might belong to a Protestant congregation, but they were just as likely to be Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or non-affiliated. They were from all over the world. Our local public schools relished in the fact that over 100 languages were spoken. They took field trips to talk with astronauts. U.S. Presidents spoke at their assemblies.

I currently serve a Presbytery comprised of 92 congregations in seven demographically diverse counties in North Carolina. In one of the rural counties, 24% of the population lives below the poverty level while two other counties are among the wealthiest in North Carolina. In Mecklenburg County, one out of every 464 residents is a millionaire.

Consider what feels like home and what doesn’t feel like home to this array of humans.

According to Thomas Friedman, it’s our experiences of “race, pace and price” divide us. For example:

RACE

• “I can’t feel at home where the mayor is a Somalian refugee.” 
• “I’m so proud of our city for electing a Somalian refugee as our mayor.”

PACE

• “I don’t want to learn AI. What’s wrong with using a library?”
• “It’s an exciting new future that we won’t perceive anything like we do now.”

PRICE

• “Why can’t Millennials grow up?”
• “We don’t think we’ll ever be able to afford a home of our own.”

Who gets to feel at home in this rapidly changing world? And are we willing to offer respect and dignity to people who grew up differently than we did or people who see the world differently than we do?

Friedman also offers this:

Along comes a guy — a political genius in his own way — named Donald Trump who says: “I have a metaphor that can cut across all three of these lines, and it’s called a wall. I’m going to build a wall against those people who don’t make you feel at home in your own home; I’m going to build a wall against the pace of change of those things that make you not feel at home in your own fold; and I’m going to bring down the walls to home ownership.” It’s no wonder so many people voted for him. And yet even more people didn’t vote for him.

What will it take for us – as a country – to feel like home together? (Again, please read the article.) I believe that we in The Church have a powerful opportunity to teach the world how to love each other and treat each other as God’s children, even when we are different. More “both/and” and less “either/or.”

The prophet Isaiah has a word for us about this too:

The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together and a little child shall lead them.
 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:6-9

Merry Christmas!