While some of you were watching the inauguration yesterday, I walked on the beach. The surf and waves reminded me of another place, long ago. It was my first mission trip, to Jamaica. We held health clinics in rural communities and were lodged at a retreat on the coast. One day, after returning from clinics, I was sitting on a stone wall, watching the surf break on the rocky shore, when one of the doctors on our team asked, “Joyce, is God in this place?” I had to answer, yes, God was surely in that place. And since that day, when I need reassurance of God’s presence, I simply ask, “Is God in this place?” And always, always, the answer is, yes! God’s presence is with me. Jesus said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, NRSV)

Yesterday, I took my heavy heart to the beach, so that I might be reminded again of God’s presence, and somehow comforted. Yes, my heart is heavy at the inauguration of Donald Trump as President. Let me be clear, it is not Mr. Trump who makes me sad; he showed us exactly who he is throughout his campaign – a racist, woman-hating, Islamophobic, immigrant bashing, narcissistic wealthy man who responds to any challenge, or even a pertinent question,  with a personal attack via social media. What makes me sad is that people who profess Christianity supported this! That fact has shaken my trust in American Christianity. I always thought that although we disagree on some things, Christians would show care and concern for others in the end. Some have said we should not think that those who voted for him are racist and Islamophobic – but how do you then justify their votes? Is it greed? Or perhaps a reaching for power to push personal agendas? This is something my heart cannot reconcile.  Therefore, I am sad, and I grieve.

And so, I took my heavy heart to the beach, and yes, I saw God there. I saw him in the soaring birds, the blue sky, and the crashing surf, even in the tourists laying in the sun working on tans, in little children building sand castles. And I felt him in the infinite expanse of the ocean, remembering his love that is wider than the sea, higher than the sky, and deeper than the deepest ocean depths. And I heard God there, saying, get ready to defend the poor, the outcast, the widow and the orphan, to feed the hungry, to speak up for the downtrodden. Folks, Christianity is not about the United States being the greatest nation in the world; Christianity is about loving and caring for our neighbor. Love God and love your neighbor.  And yes, still, and always, God is in this place.