“By faith…..By faith….By Faith….All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.”
My spouse was surprised to learn that when I was a competitive swimmer, I was a sprinter. This seemed like an OBVIOUS fact to me. But, they said, “I never even considered you could be a sprinter because you have such an ‘in it for the long haul' personality.”
Now we were both surprised because I have never considered myself a very “faithful” person. However, they got me thinking.
My mental view of what it meant to be faithful was very narrow. It looked like certain men held up on pedestals from my childhood. It looked like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But this passage includes Sarah as well, something I previously overlooked.
Now, I'm well on my way to believing the “kin-dom of heaven” looks like justice and peace, community and care. It looks like dismantling the systems of oppression and hate that harm and even kill our communities, our beloved children of God.
Today is about kin-dom work. What's one way you can make your communities, workplaces, homes, neighborhoods 1% better, 1% more representative of the kin-dom of heaven?
(During Advent we'll be doing things a little differently. Our frames will be provided by five members of the leadership team at Juniper Formation. Learn more here.)
--Theo Isoz
Want to make your commitment to doing things differently stick?
Share it with someone.