As I write this, I am bombarded with images on the news of protests and uprisings. The headlines speak over and over again of the bickering on Captiol Hill, and the discontent with politicians. It feels, as though, we are at some sort of tipping point, though I cannot quite put my finger on it just yet. Maybe you can. I don’t know.
What I do know, or rather, what I claim to believe is hope. Not necessarily some audacious hope that is mired in political banter, or is it some religious pie-in-the-sky, we all sing kumbaya kind of hope (although that would be fun, right? ). The hope that I am filled is this deep sense of calling that God has upon our community. The hope that we have as people who have been invited by a loving and grace-filled God into relationship with the divine, with one another, and the world. Through that relationship, we seek to find places where we can work for justice, where we can advocate for the oppressed, where we can seek wholeness in salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Each week, I am renewed by our sense of call through our worship together. In the times we work together to make sandwiches or walk to raise awareness of homelessness issues, I am renewed by our call as a people who seek justice, love mercy, and who long to walk humbly with God. I pray that in spite of the images that are put before us, images that could dampen our hope, may we be reminded of the God who calls us from darkness into light, and who loving leads us in hope.
Peace,
Jimmy
