Beloveds,
It’s the week after the election, and we have made it through. Since then, and in the weeks to come, all those “who know” will continue to provide their expert opinions and point fingers. We will have a lot of doomsday projections. And, yes, Project 2025 is something to worry about and prepare our resistance.
As we are at the end of the current church year, the lectionary likes to treat us to especially apocalyptic texts about hatred, destruction, and famine, about wars and gnashing of teeth. The last time we heard this particular text – Mark 13:1-8 “The Destruction of the Temple Foretold” – was 2021. We had just been back in our temple a couple months, and, after Christmas, we would be staying home again through Lent. No doubt over the years that many of us have lived, there have been many significant events in our lives that feel like “the end” has been upon us.
And yet, we resist, insist, and persist. In the seeming destruction that, in this particular text, Jesus calls “the beginning of the birth pangs”, space is being made for something new. Believe me when I say I would rather not have the destruction and pain, but throughout recorded history it seems to be part of the story. I mean, look at the header picture: galaxies are born of collisions and firestorms.
I know it seems of little comfort, but the ancients gave us a text to help bring us comfort in these uncertain times. And in these times, it is even more important to gather and be in community, inviting others who need a safe space into our sanctuary of love – “Peace to All Who Enter Here.” Living it right here, right now. I look forward to seeing you on 1130 Balclutha, Zoom, or Livestream.
Love,
Rev. Michael Cronin
