In August 1945, just weeks before the official end of World War II, Winston Churchill stood on the floor of Parliament and declared, “The United States stand at this moment at the summit of the world.” In the coming decades, Churchill’s pronouncement proved...
Month: December 2020
A New Heavens and a New Earth
Catherine Thiel Lee
Catherine Thiel Lee meditates on Isaiah 65, and what this passage means for Christians to be “co-creators” and the hands of God in the work of mending the world. Emphasizing the value of healing of the world in which we live, Lee turns to Revelation’s vision of the world to come to call us to live well in this world.
All Aboard the Generation Ship
Leah Libresco Sargeant
“We’re still in a period of waiting, but, if catacombs aren’t quite the right image, neither is hibernation—we still have important work to do.
What I keep coming back to is the image of a generation ship…”
Leah Libresco Sargeant on how to help your community thrive on long-haul interplanetary journeys.
The Church Has Left the Building
Dr. Dharius Daniels
God created and equipped us with the spiritual gifts that will be needed for the problems that exist during the age we’re on Earth. Even though we may be caught off guard by the events going on in our world, God is not surprised, and he built us for a time like this. Just as the Samaritan helped the man who had been robbed, bandaging his wounds and taking care of him, Jesus commands us to “Go and do likewise.”
A Light to the Nations
Richard Mouw
Isaiah 60:5 proclaims that the “wealth of the nations will come to you.” In this sermon, Mouw unpacks the surprising implications of this prophetic claim. In our time of polarization, tribalism, and racial tension, Mouw reminds us of the eschatological reality of God that continues to break into our world. The promises of salvation include a word for our personal redemption, but they also – as we see in Isaiah’s vision – include a word for all of creation, and all of society, including how we live together, anticipating that day when those from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will worship before the Lamb.
Patris Corde: An Apostolic Letter
Pope Francis
The faith Christ taught us is what we see in Saint Joseph. He did not look for shortcuts, but confronted reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it. Joseph’s attitude encourages us to accept and welcome others as they are, without exception, and to show special concern for the weak, for God chooses what is weak.
The End of the World, One Year In: Notes from (Off) Campus
Joel Heng Hartse
“There is more I want to say into those blank screens, but I feel so lost as I watch them watch me, one small, brightly animated square among the black. In this moment I hardly know who I am without them. They are the black holes, but I am the one floating untethered in space.”
Joel Heng Hartse offers a professor’s perspective on the pandemic.
Go Into Your Room, Close the Door, and Engage the World
Kristen Deede Johnson
Last Friday night, my seven-year-old son and I were on our way to say his bedtime prayers when we heard loud voices and saw police lights outside his bedroom. I looked out the window, and immediately an image was seared on my brain. An image of a person I will likely...
Discerning Sorrows
Anne Snyder
For a country notorious for its easy smile and sunny promises, 2020 has come with a punch or three. Among other things, it has been a year for grief: sorrow at lost life and dreams deferred, sorrow amid a troubling set of unresolved injustices. But when grief gets...
Good Grief
Stuart McAlpine
It has been a year of sorrows both personal and national. As we each feel our way through the intensity, how does one awaken to that sorrow that is holy and transformative for Spirit-empowered change in the world, and turn away from a sorrow that paralyzes and blames?