04-02-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
April 2, 2026
Like many of you, I was captivated by the launch yesterday evening. I found it challenging to take a break as I wanted to watch as much of the live footage as possible. In my living room as a young kid, I built a space capsule with some blankets, a few pillows, and a blanket. In my far-reaching imagination, I could picture space just beyond the outer shell of my homemade spaceship.  This was about the time of the last Apollo space mission. Though for me, it would be another ten years before I would watch with jaw-dropping fascination the launch of the Space Shuttle. Like then, yesterday’s launch was the first step into what had previously been imagined but not realized. It felt like a threshold moment, as amazingly smart, skilled, and creative people pushed the boundaries of technology. It is one thing to say that we should be able to do something, and something very different to make the first step.

Now this might sound like a sort of cheesy and silly comparison, but I see Holy Week and the journey of Jesus to be one of those threshold moments for humanity, where God embodied a first yet awe-inspiring step into what had only been a dream. For centuries, Prophets had been expanding the imagination of the faithful in regard to who God could welcome and love. Amidst pushback from some, there was hesitant appreciation of the dream by others. Yet it was more like the creation of the 1939 Buck Rogers movie, for though it seems wildly imaginative, much of it was still cardboard and wooden sets… far from reality. Yet there were kids who were inspired by those Buck Roger movies, who would later find themselves doing the initial work on the Mercury space program. 

The life of Jesus was the embodied belief that what God had spoken through the prophets about love, mercy, compassion, and kindness was not only possible, but was moving forward and inspiring the next generation to take it even further.

Where fear and limited imagination have us stuck in what has been done, we look to you, Gracious God, for the inspiration of Jesus who set all creation on a trajectory that was bold but possible. Give us the faith to take the next step for the sake of those who are waiting for your limitless and life-changing love to find embodiment through us. Amen.