If you look up noteworthy news in 2010 there isn’t anything recorded globally that seemed to have affected us here in Australia. The top stories were a massive earthquake that rocked Haiti in January leaving 220,000 people dead. Followed by another earthquake in Chile, sparking a subsequent tsunami and a volcano in Iceland that sent a huge ash cloud into the air stopping plane travel in Europe. Compare this to what we have been challenged with over the last few years. Bushfires, floods, COVID, the continued fragility of our planet, war in Ukraine, conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as the political instability in many countries such as Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria. This along with the renewed call to work and advocate for social justice and a fair and equitable society on our own continent.

In 2010 the message that was being shared by Community of Christ was all about renewing our empathy, fostering justice and being bearers of peace. It was a cry to awaken to our interconnectedness and to enliven our compassion on a local and global scale. All this encompassed in the words – ‘We Share’. “…the Temple calls the entire church to become a sanctuary of Christ’s peace, where people from all nations, ethnicities and life circumstances can be gathered into a spiritual home without dividing walls, as a fulfilment of the vision for which Jesus Christ sacrificed his life.” D&C 163: 8c. Just listen to the words of ‘We Share” written and sung by Lara Stewart in response to this call. https://youtu.be/W42ugMqfrAk

At this time of year - before the rush of Christmas overwhelms you, or perhaps the news, pause and consider the message for you that is embodied in the words – ‘We Share’. What are you being called to share? With whom? The poem And Yet Hope by David Gate suggests we chase after peace on earth and count ourselves among the poets and fools who are still imagining a more harmonious way to live. May your empathy circle in an ever-widening embrace around peace.

And Yet Hope

And yet, hope still follows

like a wagging tail

we may circle to chase

as if it can be caught

it is our terminal condition

to keep imagining

a better way of living