redemptive landscape


“Broken windows and empty hallways...human kindness is overflowing and I think it’s going to rain today” Randy Newman

Sometimes in times like these we turn away from the onslaught of news and views which seem endless and only effective in churning anxiety. Certainly one way of responding to this tidal wave of frenzy is to get away or turn it off. But some words from Krista Tippett in her OnBeing newsletter felt just right for a positive reorientation toward hope and action. “What is not covered seriously enough by journalism in crisis mode is often precisely what can save us: the redemptive landscape on which the work of the rest of our lifetimes is emerging.” I perked at “what can save us”!
“Redemptive landscape” and “rest of our lifetimes” are critically important terms. Redemption implies conversion and confession and action. Rest of our lifetimes implies eternity or at least a very very long time like generations to generations...
This is not just another crisis. I have the tshirt from 5 years ago that said ENOUGH! Today it is being printed in its toomanyith edition. I have the sermons preached in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. They will not be recycled. Each homily must be new, regrettably and hopefully.
No, when the language of redemption and eternity were spoken and caught me up short, I realized it was time to drop to my knees as well, every day, to feel the pain, and then to not rise satisfied that I had done something to save me but to crumble into a sobbing mess and break apart completely to be part of a greater salvation. Who will I become when reassembled with redemptive parts: new heart, hands and feet? What will emerge as a result of this response-ability in generations to come? 
The Kingdom is here and yet to come. Redemptive resources are here and the Whole which is being reconstructed, hopefully, is becoming!


REMINDER Bible Study meets at 4PM on Tuesdays to meditate on the Gospel of John. All are welcome! 
https://episcopalct.zoom.us/j/786414686

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