Truth
/Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven. -Psalm 85:11
As I write this blog on Monday morning, a horrifying report from the UN Climate Council has just been released. The news about our earth is not good. The report states unequivocally that human behavior has created these problems and a radical change in human behavior is needed immediately. We have a chance to avoid the worst outcomes. Will we take this chance? Will we stand up?
We know that the report has not suddenly made climate deniers change their opinion. It has not caused the CEO’s, stockholders and employees of fossil fuel companies and related industries to offer to lay down their business model and livelihoods. It has not grounded all airplane travel or changed our farming practices or suddenly caused everyone to switch to renewable energy. It has not stopped the construction of tar sands pipelines or Chinese coal plants.
What the report has done is state the truth about what is happening, even though that truth threatens the way we’ve always done things on every level. It’s truth that many of us would rather not hear it at all.
Nonetheless, truth is springing up from the earth. Climate change has already seriously impacted poorer places, causing famine, drought and flooding that has already started climate related migration. But now we in wealthier nations can no longer look the other way, because fires, flooding, heat, drought and storms are in our own backyard.
Truth shall spring up from the earth.
This Sunday we will mark the feast day of Jonathan Daniels. He was no stranger to overwhelming problems. He heard the truth springing up from the blood soaked earth in Selma, 1965. He heard the truth spoken in love by Martin Luther King. He heard the truth about hatred and racism, and chose to walk right into it instead of hiding from it. He showed us how to engage with the world as it is, not as we would have it.
We are so fortunate to have Jonathan Daniel’s faithful witness as our legacy at St. James. Whenever we feel there’s nothing we can do, we remember he chose not to think that way. Whenever we’re afraid of standing up for what is right, we remember he chose to stand despite risk and loss. Whenever we feel overwhelmed by seemingly impossible problems, we remember that even regular people from Keene have been faithful examples of grace and courage. We are fortunate to inherit Jonathan’s legacy of choosing to live in the truth.
So let’s come together and remember Jonathan Daniels this Sunday. But more than that. Let’s call on him to pray for us as we struggle in our town time with the intractable problems we face. May his bright light shine a path for us to follow as we work to bring love into this suffering world.
Come share your thoughts about Jonathan’s influence on your life and ministry at church this Sunday and join into his legacy of being people of truth, courage and hope, even in challenging times.
