Dear Guests, Members, and Friends,
What a week! The political shaking that’s taken place portends change amidst myriad uncertainties. While you may be encouraged, panicked, depressed, numb, or simply skeptical, people are attaching meanings to what has just taken place in the midterms. We live in momentous times.
Like some of you, my questions for God these past ten years have multiplied. And like so many of you, I have stayed the course. By this, I mean that I continued to be faithful while working within the inherent limitations of a specific denominational Christian faith. There are things within the Adventist story that have been nourishing, healing, and even hopeful. There remain things that continue to raise questions, same as would be the case anywhere. Interestingly, Adventist theology speaks of times of shaking—not just political but also spiritual—that are part of a larger context of cosmic conflict, an extension of the battle between good and evil. Sometimes the shaking is just a period of adjustment or re-adjustment. Sometimes it even puts life on the line. I can’t know except that sometimes, the real storm comes after a period of calm. As I mentioned… momentous times.
The nourishing, healing, and hopeful things I spoke of are embedded not only in the heritage we just celebrated throughout October, but also in the story of the church writ large. It’s a story built upon traditions that predate it, and upon the stories of lives that we remember because they throw light upon our lives millennia later. So over the next couple of weeks, as we transition to Thanksgiving season, I plan to spend time talking about my story, and the ways in which so many elements that matter had to be part of a shaking to stay fresh and relevant—to be part of me.
It’s always a journey!
Pr Greg