If we fail to heed the warnings of scientists, sociologists, and our children about climate change, will we listen to prophets? Will we listen to the clergy who passionately preach about creation justice? Will we understand that God is still speaking through God’s people and their actions?
When is it time to push, and when is it time to rest? The New Year is a time when our culture tells us to push on with those new resolutions, but winter is a time our bodies may want to slow down and, if not hibernate, at least sleep more. If you want to do your best work, try resting more. You may find you actually get more done.
God’s gospel is peace. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on that holy ground. But what do our children see, hear, and feel about militarism from their churches?
As Martin Luther King Jr. became nationally celebrated, his legacy as a radical was also sanitized. This year and always, communities of faith need to tell the truth about King.
On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as we revere Dr. King, let us remind ourselves of a public love that is rooted in a patriotic devotion to creating a more perfect union. Public love is a call to concrete action, or as King said, “a willingness to go to any length to restore community.”
I don’t want the worry and fear of something greater than what I’ve known. I want the comfortable past. But to choose that path negates Advent. It negates the story of God, the overarching narrative of the Bible that God leads us into new spaces for our betterment.