In the face of such news, how will we respond? What work is ours to do? Becoming enraged is understandable. Embodying the peace we long to see in this world seems the harder work to which we are called.
I saw a video yesterday on Bluesky’s social media app. It was a video of two cats facing each other with a sliding glass door between them. One cat (that happens to be orange) reared up on its hind legs and started batting its paw at the glass as if attacking the cat on the other side. Sound effects were added so it appeared that this cat was also hissing and growling at the other cat (that happens to be grey). All during this time, the grey cat looks calm—“cool as a cucumber”, as we say. The sliding door opens, and the calm cat simply reaches out a paw and gently places it on the agitated cat’s head. Words accompany each of the cats. The orange and agitated one: “Trump, throwing insults at Pope Leo: ‘Weak on crime’, ‘catering to the Radical Left’, ‘sit down and mind your own business.’” The grey and calm cat: “Pope Leo, unbothered: ‘We are called to love.’”
There is a place for political satire. There is a need for space to vent and process the news. But ultimately, we are asked by the living Christ to choose love. Like practicing resurrection, choosing love is more difficult than it sounds. I like the way Landon Whitsitt, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City, puts it:
