Streams of Mercy

In chapter one of Mark’s gospel, we have Jesus’ first words of invitation and challenge: “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15) That same call beckons us in our present moment. Ours, too, is a critical moment of repentance, of awakening and consciousness raising, of believing in, and living into, the gospel – into the good news that the kingdom of God has come near. The abundant life is available right now for all who dare to open their hearts to the reality of “God-with-us” in the midst of all that is going on in our day.

In recent months it seems we’ve been waking up again and again in a continuing nightmare. A relentless, devastating virus has exposed the vast inequities that plague our common life. We have been in the midst of an “uncivil war”; we’ve been shaken to the core by violence and insurrection. We can no longer make our peace with the world as it is. We can no longer numb ourselves to violence and suffering. We must engage the present moment with honesty and courage. Awakening and consciousness-raising will bring about personal change, and personal change will have public implications, and lead to change in our world.

In a recent lectionary study in the Presbyterian Outlook, the words “repent, reorient and recommit” are said to be key words for living these days.

To repent is more than simply feeling sorry for something we’ve done. It also means to change one’s mind, to change our way of seeing and doing things, to move in a new direction. To re-orient our lives is to begin to move into and live into that new direction we’ve come to see. To recommit is a promise to move in that new direction and keep on moving, in all our being and all our doing.

There are defining moment in every life, points of turning and choices to be made as one searches for something to give life purpose and meaning. There are times when circumstances stop us in our tracks, and we realize there must be something more. Perhaps we find ourselves at a point of turning, after months of dealing with the ongoing pandemic, and the political and social unrest. Perhaps we are looking a little more closely at this journey we call life; perhaps we’re seeking for a deeper purpose and meaning than ever before.

I was encouraged by words of hope and promise spoken by the young poet who read her poem at the inauguration. She reminded us that our nation is not broken – it is “unfinished.” And so it is with your life and mine, for we, too, are unfinished. As we “repent, reorient and recommit” our lives to new understandings, and as we follow Jesus Christ and work for the kingdom’s coming among us, God will complete the good work begun in each of us and God will work through all of us for the common good.

Elizabeth