by S. Brenda Walsh

 Recently I came across a cartoon in a mission magazine. Under the picture of a despondent baboon was the caption, "Nothing is so bad that it cannot get worse." - one view! Another view is that presented by Charles Dickens in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. "It was the best of times and the worst of times." He was commenting on his own time, but his words could equally apply to our time.

I believe we are living in a time of new vision and insight, new creativity and extraordinary action for the common good. While many are feeling a sense of chaos and abandonment and our world is mired in problems of all kinds, I believe we are in a better state of readiness for the power of the Spirit of God to move in us and through us and among us. I see many signs that we are moving  toward a new creation, a new world order that is more in line with God's hope and design,  through fresh movements and new beginnings in the 21st Century.

Idols of Our Time

Last month, I attended a Congress on Urban Ministry in Chicago where 700 Congregational Leaders and people ministering in urban settings came together to discuss ways to address many of the idols we have created in our time - consumerism, militarism, power and privilege that are being misused in many ways. The call was to bring truth, justice and peace into our social, economic and political lives as well as in personal and family life. Participants were urged to invite their congregations to: 
-  Go beyond personal and devotional piety to an incorporation of justice and peace into our prayers, preaching and reflections
-  Go beyond works of charity which also are needed, to works of justice and to challenge systems and structures that dehumanize. Address violence of every kind, including war as a way of solving problems locally or globally.
-  Promote personal empowerment in impoverished communities
-  Work in partnerships with other faith communities, legislators and other groups with similar goals
-  Work at creating humane communities beyond the congregational membership that can claim the vision and make it real in the lives of people around them, addressing violence, lack of health care, education and other basic human needs, as well as care of creation and environmental concerns
-  Reach out and make global connections to persons working for peace and justice 
-  Address racism in personal and institutional life and create inclusive communities where all can have access to the resources and opportunities they need for themselves and their families.
It was understood that a congregation could not take on all of the issues but would choose one or more in which to be involved to match the gifts of the congregation.

At the Congress, participants were also reminded that there are thousands of young people, many despairing of their own future as well as the future of the human family. They are waiting for adults, using biblical terms "to write the vision down (God's vision for our world), and to write it so plain and clear that even a runner can read it." They are looking for words and examples of hope and ways to serve and open doors for the millions living in hunger, disease and despair and armed conflict. 

God Has Anointed Us

In St. Luke's Gospel we are reminded that the call to us as it was to Jesus is to be messengers of peace, justice and hope. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, the proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind and to declare a year of favor from our God."

That quote is a reliable barometer of the truthfulness and integrity of our individual and community lives. As we study the issues and unmask the sin and disgrace in some of our systems and structures that are not life-giving, we also need to hold up the power of the Spirit of God at work within us and among us. As messengers of hope, we are ready to work in partnerships with others, not to impose our views and ways on others but to demonstrate that by working together, we can stand against the current and change events for the common good. Jim Wallis of Sojourners once said that "the church in America is in greater danger of being purchased than persecuted." He goes on to say that "letting God define politics is one things, but letting politics define God is entirely something else."

The Spirit of God can and will clothe us with power when we are ready. The response is up to us. Anthony Padavano, theologian, said this: "We are in a time of extraordinary blessings and divine power; The Spirit is calling us to a path where there are no clear markers. We may be tempted to return to old slaveries like the Israelites of old or get back into our established patterns and comfort zone. The Spirit has never been a tranquilizer."

Thank God, our time is now. Thank God for the call and movement of the Spirit in this our time.  

While we name the sin and dis-grace, let us not forget to name Grace, always available to us. May this be the daybreak of justice and peace, not only here in Racine but also all across our planet.