Currents of Faith: Open and Unfolding Reflections

During the Christmas season, we are inspired and enlivened with phrases from the prophet Isaiah. Among them: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. . . . For a child has been born to us . . . and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God . . .  Prince of Peace.” Within Christian circles, these words are traditionally assumed to prophesy the birth of Jesus centuries later. However, recognizing their historical locus, we may consider them more broadly as an empirical awareness of the powerful presence of redemptive grace even during times of seeming gloom and doom. Sixty years ago just following the long struggle against the destructive fury of fascism, Bernard E. Meland, process theologian, released a small book, Seeds of Redemption. In this text, he called us to assume a mood of repentance given the horrors of that time, preparing us thereby for renewed commitment to the source of all goodness with all that such a commitment entails for the reshaping of the world community. The present time is not unlike that period with its widespread violence, deep poverty, ecological degradation, ethnic bigotry, gender discrimination. Where, at this moment, can we discern signs of hope, sources of light, forces of peace? Are we prepared to follow in that pathway? ~ Douglas Sturm