02-05-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 5, 2025
A while back, I made a passing comment about a Kumbaya moment. The idea is usually said with a hint of sarcasm, as if people in a tense moment will suddenly join hands and sing together the old camp song, “Kumbaya, My Lord.” The underlying assertion is that somehow church camp is an impractical setting where people have escaped the real challenges of life. But in the years I have directed and counseled church camp, I can’t count the number of times a young person has asked the question, “Why can’t the world outside of church camp be more like what we experience here?” They are referencing the kindness, inclusion, joy, friendship, and love. It is a good question. In fact, as people of faith who are supposed to embody the Kingdom of God in the here and now, maybe the problem is that we are not having enough kumbaya moments. Maybe we need to channel the unique experience of church, in spite of it being deemed unrealistic, into our daily life. Maybe we need to join hands and sing a bit more Kumbaya. 

Holy and Visionary God, we too often talk about the things of faith as pie-in-the-sky thinking. Though beautiful, we act as if it will only be seen in some unspecified future day. Let us hear again the words of Jesus who announced, “The time is now and the kingdom of God has come near.” Provide for us a bold spirit by which we begin to realize and embody the vision you set forth in Jesus. Amen.