Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and
forward moving, and therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the
present.
Jurgen
Moltmann
__________________________
The Christian Faith
Is hope
But hope for what?
One wonders
There is that all-pervasive hope
Of resurrection
Of rescue
That has congealed around a fear of eternal torment
This is a hopeless hope
That leads us to creep through life
Afraid
Afraid of failing
Afraid of others
Afraid of God
Afraid of everything
We slink along, looking over our shoulders
Regretful
Peering forward
Fretful
Trying not to offend the Sacred
Trying to please God
We are not free but burdened
By creeds and rituals and rules
We are not open but closed
To change
We are not welcoming but protective
Excluding equaling safety
We are not loving but hateful
Hoping that at the end of this dysfunctional journey
There will be rest at last
Safety at last
Is it not instructive that when Jesus came
He blew apart the system?
That he came with a new way of thinking about God
A new way of looking at other people
A new way of doing life?
We have separated eschatology
The final destiny of this world
The final destiny of our individual souls
From “this side of the end” (Moltmann)
This world is hopeless
We are hopeless
The only hope is somehow outside of history
On the other side of “the end”
But our hope is not just about some existence
Beyond this life
Some world beyond this world
It is about NOW
It is about being “forward looking and forward moving”,
and
“therefore also revolutionizing and transforming the
present.”
It’s about more
More grace
More life
More inclusion
More generosity
More love
How have so many gotten it so wrong
And made it about less
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