Do we dare call ourselves Christian?

"Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing, compared with Love in dreams." - Dostoevsky.

When we actually visit the orphans, when we actually feed the homeless, when we actually try to put a bullet through someone's skull - it is only then that we realize that we cannot war, that we cannot marginalize the poor, and that we cannot twist Christ's words into irrelevance.

Voting doesn't make us Christian. Talking politics and religion doesn't make us Christian. Following Christ into the gutter, carrying his Cross, and laying down our lives for love - that makes us Christian.

It is a hard thing to do: looking at our lives, admitting that we fail, and resolving to accept the grace of humility and start again. I look at my own life, and know - I am failing. But God's hand reaches for us. God's way of mercy and peace beckons. What can we do today to start upon that path?

God Bless, and peace.