Already and Not Yet

I had to re-read the opening sentence of the news report: “Meeting in the sanctuary of the Christian Reformed Church of North America’s headquarters, a coalition of Michigan fruit and vegetable growers said their crops are rotting in the fields because U.S. immigration policy lacks a workable system for migrant workers.”

At the tail end of this season of Advent people seem to have more emotional space for attention to both the brokenness of the world and the hope hidden in Christ. 

Sara Miles wrote a piece for the Episcopal Café entitled “The Most Important Word in the Bible.” That word, claims Miles, is “with.” “With” is central to God’s Trinitarian nature and relationship to us. It is also central to our calling as followers of Christ. It is the most important word in the Bible. But “with” is a difficult role for us to live out.

Our colleague Shannon Perez has a habit of asking zinger questions. As five of us colleagues sat in a Skype circle debriefing our experience of the Vancouver Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) she asked us:

Equipped with the testimonies of the survivors, what in your life will you turn way from, and what will you turn towards God? How will you back this repentance up with action?

See what I mean by zinger? Shannon’s point is actually pretty simple – we can’t come away from the experience of a TRC and its brutal and beautiful truths unchanged.   

I had two favorite days growing up: Christmas and the day the NHL playoffs started. It used to be so much easier to love hockey and the more Don Cherry rock-em-sock-em the better.

I’ve been in this congregational justice mobilizing position for two years now and if I’ve learned anything, it is that silence plus lies (or the more congenial term “myths”) equals oppression.