Minister’s Column
April 17, 2025
| Easter and Earth Day are coming together next week. This invited a reflection on their intersection. One way of making meaning of Easter is hope in the darkest places. Today, I am thinking of that as a seed. Each seed holds the potential for a new life. That potential for new life IS hope. Let’s engage that idea at various scales. Starting with self-reflection, what needs to break open within ourselves for new life to grow? In ever-widening circles, our family (given or chosen) systems, our social groups, our congregation, our larger community, Maryland, or nationally. There is an illusion of independence. Life is not independent; life is interdependent. Every biological system shows us that. The ongoing ministry of the early Christians would not have been possible after Jesus’ state-sponsored murder without the ongoing ministry of the Apostles. Early Christian communities received them in “house churches,” offering food and fellowship. No one did ministry alone. Jesus welcomed the outcasts because no one is better than anyone else. Now, just as then, we are not alone. We are in community with each other, even when we disagree. People are organizing the way people organize. Unions are engaging, protests have been prevalent, and more. Our human siblings need us now. The hard outer shell of the seed is breaking open. May new growth follow. |