What can men do?

Theoden: "So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?" Aragorn: "Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them."

​Allow me to nerd out for a second. Two minutes to be exact. 

If you've read the book (or seen the film), I hope you remember this emotional moment in the exchange above from J.R.R.Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Theoden the king, utters those words with the enemy fast approaching. He is having to admit that they have in fact been beaten that day at Helm’s Deep. The king is recalling that their enemy, the uruk-hai, don't care who they kill. They kill because they simply hate. They have been pillaging, killing innocents and scorching villages throughout Rohan for months, and now the race of men is entirely finished. They are at the door of his keep. He is hopeless.

Aragorn, the heir, then responds with crazed and inspiring hope. He calls his band not to retreat but to "ride out" into battle with him. In both the movie and the book, the inspired riders ride their beasts into the battle, swords drawn and (spoiler) defeat Sauron’s entire force with the help of Gandalf the white and some good magic.
I cry real tears every time I watch this moving scene.

​Scenes like that are moving to us because we believe them to be true and possible. We are inspired by the fictional riders because we were actually made to ride out like that, to hope like that, to act and do justice like that. You and I are capable of fearlessly riding out and meeting hatred with love.

In the last few days, we've been trying to process all the hate that is happening in the country (and state) that we love so dearly. We are confused and we are grieving with our brothers and sisters in California, Texas and Ohio. Like most of the nation, we continue to mourn the loss of more and more innocent life, born and unborn. 

Hatred and fear is so loud in our ears right now. It's all around us and we are beginning to lose hope that it will get quieter anytime soon.

We are all mourning in our different ways. But the truth is, the mass shootings over the weekend cannot be blamed on any one person, institution, or viewpoint. There is an enemy of God and he is a tricky sumbitch. The shootings are horrific symptoms of a deeply flawed culture that prioritizes things over people, earthly riches and pleasure over the "things that are above." We are blaming each other and hatred is growing. The enemy has divided us.

Will you ride out with us?

Will you cross the street to meet your neighbors? 

Cana and I started Del Rey Collective because we believe that in order to counter division and hate in our world, Christian people are called to love all the more, to double down on being the Church of Acts, by rooting ourselves in the Holy Spirit and loving our neighbors boldly.
Social media and on-demand content, has informed us, but at a very high cost, the loss of true human connection. We believe that small communities of neighbors on Open Porches has the potential to be a healing moment, a place of hope for the hopeless, and a concrete way for Christians to love their (actual) neighbors as themselves.

If you've read this far, would you consider joining the Open Porch Community?

​​In times like this we worship and we doubt. We want to hide and we feel called to act. However, there is only one true and Christian response to hatred, and that is love. Love in all it's shapes and forms. Receiving Love from on high, ordinary loving acts, and everything in between.
The Gospel demands it, our country needs it, God's got this!

Peace and Good!
Ennie and Cana