“Oh tiny seed, planted in the soil of Creation, hidden joy and mystery.”
It struck me today as I saw the surge in the stock market that there is a new hope coming to life. Not that the stock market represents our real economy, but it is an indicator of sorts. This rising indicator came as the president-elect announced his Coronavirus team. There is hope in the realization that the president-elect takes combating this deadly virus seriously. There is hope when we hear the list of experts he has chosen.
In a patriarchal society it is common for people to look for someone who is seen as something close to a Messiah or a superhero. We need to realize that this yearning or waiting for some superhero to come and rescue us is not helpful. When we look toward the strong man to set things right we can lose our own determination and motivation to bring about a better world. It is time for us, especially us Christians, to recognize that we need to be actively involved in the solutions needed to set things right in our country.
We are called to maturity and partnership with God as Christians, and called to persuade the rest of humanity to stop waiting to be rescued and get about the business of creating a better world. All of us, working together on a common vision of justice, peace, and love.
It is my belief that God, who is always Creator, is creating a Beloved Community, a Beloved World, and yes, a Beloved Universe, and has been about this work from the beginning. God is working toward something of amazing and awesome beauty. God is patient because God has all the time in the Universe to accomplish this work. God even has hope of creating this work of beauty here on our earth, in spite of all the disappointments handed to God by humanity. I am not as patient as God and do hope that we humans can step up and join God in creating a better world, or at least, a better country, or at least a better neighborhood.
When Christ Jesus became incarnate on our earth and began his ministry, he announced and proclaimed everywhere he went that the kingdom of God is at hand, already present in our world. We just need to repent — turn around and stop doing things in the old way — and do things in God’s way. There was never a time in created history that God was not present. Jesus meant to wake us up to this fact. Christ Jesus did not come to be just another prophet, another teacher, another healer, another king, or even another Messiah. He came to begin a revolution, to bring us back to a loving relationship with a loving God. He came to show us what God is like and to show us a new and extraordinary way of life. The primary instruction he gave to us was “follow me.” There were some who caught this message of hope and turned away from the way things were done in their society and began to live a new life.
This new way of life is one of mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, inclusion, acceptance, radical equality of persons, justice, peace, and love. I like to believe that those who become Christians can become infectious and spread the kingdom of God — this Beloved Community — just by being with others. The world tries to vaccinate us against this new way of life and keep us bound to ways of suspicion, division, fear, violence, exploitation, injustice, and hate, but we can overcome the world. This is my hope.
We can bring the ways of this new life into all the places where we interact with people and don’t have to say a word about Christianity. We can be the seeds of hope for a new way of life for our country. There is a tiny opening right now, an expectation that things could be different, that we could be a united people. Let us not wait for someone else to do the work and rescue us. Let’s determine and be motivated to get involved.
So, my beloved ones, tend the seeds of hope no matter how small they seem to you today.
Bishop Kedda
Bishop Kedda 