light in dark places

George Hunsinger of Princeton Theological writes compellingly about the practice of torture in an essay entitled American Scar. And Timothy Whitaker, Bishop of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, reflected recently on the issue of abortion, in an address entitled First, Do No Harm.

A necessary but difficult dimension of the Christian faith is to shine the light of Christ in the dark places in our world (John 1). Often, Christians can become captive in partison ways to the prevailing political winds. I offer these two very substantive reflections, each profoundly shaped by Christian wisdom, in the hopes that they help to guide your own thinking on this matters.

The Christian faith is personal, but it is more than personal. It also has a public character. We are, all of us, under the mercy and judgment of God. And as Christians move into the world (and cyberspace) as salt and light (Matthew 5. 13-16), we are a part of God's desire to build the peaceable kingdom (Isaiah 11).

In the tradition of lectio divina: read, reflect, pray and act.