remembering hope and creating hope

I am sitting in my office, listening to the gentle hum of the fans we have running in the house (we don't have an air conditioner) and doing some reading on the web.

As I was surfing through a few of the blogs I regularly read I found myself watching some clips from the Daily Show. (We don't get cable and I love this show so when I find myself in a place where I can get little clips I soak it in - like candy and cookies, cable access to shows I love are better kept out of the house and/or I have to have some really strong resolve to only take small doses).

Anyway, I was watching some clips and I came across "Jon Stewart Post 9/11 Speech. It was a poignant reminder for me of that day, but more importantly of the fleeting moments of clarity that we have in life, Celtic traditions refer to these times as the "thin places". Beyond the fear, past the anger, in the middle of the rips and tears in our hearts, I remember the undeniable moments of oneness. And not just oneness with the people of this country - but the world. There was oneness with the world.

I live in a place where the "Christian voice" would have us believe that there is only oneness within the realm of Christianity. All to often when I go to worship with other Christians I leave feeling lost, depressed, misplaced, and I have no trouble identifying with those who reject the church. But I cannot bring myself to walk away from these practices, I cannot leave the conversation, I am continually drawn to the "table" for the hope of this oneness. Not the oneness of assimilation, or that we conform to the same practices and lifestyles and beliefs.

It is the oneness of sharing this same time and space on earth. The oneness that we are of the human race, the oneness that we are a world community, a world of people that may be worlds apart, but world citizens together.

It is that hope in which I live. It is that vision of the Kingdom of God for which I work and live and seek. It is that hope that continues to draw me into these conversations of faith and culture and remembering.

Thanks also to Mary Hess who refered to the unrest of the world through the dailyKos.

I still see hope