Where are we finding hope these days? In these days of increasing calamities, absurd politics, the disintegration of our democracy in Arizona, the US and the world, it is difficult to find rays of hope. And yet, it turns out, that is my job.
What I am wishing for the most is that we can find the path towards our liberal values and that the path can be wider for more people to be on it. I want to believe that the long moral arc of the universe is bending towards justice.
I am excited that this year we are going to be looking for that hope from the teachings of World Religions. Specifically, we are going to be seeing where they see the hope for collective liberation in a world that feels anything but free right now. I am looking forward to exploring the voices of scholars of Judaism, Native American Theology, LatinX Catholicism, Humanism, Buddhism, and Traditional African Religions, among others, and having them show us different ways of looking at liberation and how they can give us hope. You can hear more about the theological grounding of Liberation Theology as I’m using it in these services in last week’s sermon.
I am truly hoping that this sermon series will engage us, challenge us, and create conversations among us so that we can not only find hope, but that we can find more clarity in our own beliefs and our own commitment to a free and just world.