Friday 6 March 2009

Thursday escaped me. Here is the follow up from Wednesday's piece by M.L. King.

At times we need to know that the Lord is a God of justice. When slumbering giants of injustice emerge in the earth, we need to know that there is a God of power who can cut them down like the grass and leave them withering like the green herb. When our most tireless efforts fail to stop the sweep of oppression, we need to know that in this universe is a God whose matchless strength is a fit contrast to the sordid weakness of man. But there are also times when we need to know that God possesses love and mercy. When we are staggered by the chilly winds of adversity and battered by the raging storms of disappointment and when through our folly and sin we stray into some destructive far country and are frustrated because of a strange feeling of homesickness, we need to know that there is someone who loves us, cares for us understands us, and will give us another chance. When days grow dark and nights grow dreary, we can be thankful that our God combines in his nature a creative synthesis of love and justice which will lead us through life's dark valleys and into sunlit pathways of hope and fulfillment.

Over and over again this is the message I try to pass over to our young children - I must say with the hope that it makes its way to our older folks. It is so important to understand that there is a love that is so deep and wide that it "will give us another chance." Within that breath of fresh air we have the opportunity to remember the life into which we have been called. It is through that loving kindness that we are brought intimately close the vision of the Reign of God that can and does turn our hearts and lives around. Young children may not "get" the concept of love...but when they again and again are welcome and honored and greeted and made much of, they "get" it. Maybe all of us do. It is within the safe space of this love that people are shaped into people with tough minds and soft hearts. It is in the domain of this love that we learn the way of justice.

Connection: Being a part of this loving community may not be what we would choose to be. It is a daily exercise that needs the gifts of God's Reign - patience, kindness, forgiveness and more...

By the power and presence of your love, O God, you shape us and invite us into the way of our Lord, Jesus. It is not always an easy way to go...for love can be seen as such a useless way to live within this world of violent power. Continue to shower us with your love. Amen.