Dear Ones.
I am writing this one the morning after one of the most significant developments in our country's history. We now have an African American as the candidate for President of the USA, representing one of the two major political parties of this country. I believe this is huge and I welcome it. When the civil rights struggles convulsed this country I was living in England, with no thought of becoming an American. From overseas I saw a struggle for the transformation of American society in which Christians were on the front lines. I have recently read an account of how President Lyndon Johnson's Christian principles led him to fight so hard for racial equality. While racial equality has not yet been fully realized in our country, I do believe that this is a huge step forward.
It may surprise some to hear me write about a political event. I do not do so often. I this case I understand this as an event that reflects our society, which happens to occur in the political realm. As a Christian I am committed to the transformation of our society. The Gospel of Jesus Christ seeks the transformation of the individual, the church and then society. The Gospel continues to be incarnate in the people who make up the church and who seek to bring the Kingdom of God into our contemporary world. It is not that the Gospel simply seeks to bless what we are doing as a society, BUT by means of our witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we seek to unite all people everywhere to God in Christ. This means that where the Gospel is preached and witnessed to, there God will break down all the barriers of prejudice, pride and arrogance since we will at last be all united as we kneel at the foot of the Cross.
This is NOT a political endorsement. I am and remain independent and the Church is a place where there are no endorsements in the political realm. This is a reflection of my thanksgiving to God for the faithful struggle of so many Christian men and women in the turbulent sixties. They sought to elevate all people everywhere, whatever race, color, creed or gender to the dignity appropriate to being created in the image of God. This is a huge milestone in our country's history. I thank God for it. I hope you do too.
In Christ -
Fr Ian
Posted on 24-06-08 at 01:50 pm
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You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
