Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God;
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:7
Greetings to you as we continue to live into the year of our Lord, 2026. I pray that you carried some of the joy and wonder of the Christmas season into the new year, and that you continue to experience the presence of Christ with you as you work, play, study and rest.
At the same time, we know that the start of the new year has not been easy for many of us. Increased ICE presence, and their aggressive tactics, in Minneapolis/St. Paul and other cities around the country have caused a great deal of fear and anxiety among vulnerable populations all around the country, including in the Wartburg Theological Seminary community.
At the same time, we have been heartened to see the show of solidarity from Christian communities who have sprung into peaceful action to stand with, support, and resist unlawful intimidation and detention.
These are challenging times. But they are not without hope.
At the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in Dubuque, the keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Joy Jittaun Moore encouraged us to have a Christian Imagination. I was captivated by that idea, especially as I reflect upon it further.
Think for a moment about what characterizes a Christian imagination.
Peace and Justice are itsguiding principles. These values are the guiding light that illuminate the beloved community we glimpse in the vision of the kin-dom of God caught in bits and snatches. Swords become instruments of farming and fecundity. There is concord and trust between the lion and the lamb. The lowly are lifted up, the bounty of the land is shared, and a wide table is spread with abundance for all, and no one goes hungry.
Harmony is its dominant tone. There is reconciliation between nations who are historic enemies. Diversity enhances unity. We offer forgiveness freely, and ask for it as well. We attend to the log in our own eye before condemning the speck in our neighbor’s eye. We ask questions, instead of throwing stones. The peace of Christ passes between us, and holds us together.
And the strategy of engagement? Love, of course. For me, when I think of all the things that Dr. King said and wrote, I always think of love first. He believed so strongly and vibrantly in the power of love: the power to drive out hate, the power to transform an enemy into a friend, the power to implement the demands of justice, the power to save the world. King was right about so many things–and his confidence in the power of love was one of the best.
Wherever we see love, we see God; whenever we love, we bear Christ to another; whenever we foster loving community, we embody the vision God has for creation, and realize, even if just in fragments and moments, a Christian imagination.
This imagination is true; this imagination heals and reconciles; this imagination can change the world for good–against all forces that would oppose it.
I want to close with something else Dr. Moore said. A few times in her remarks she emphasized starting small, and focusing on your own sphere of influence–your family, your neighbors, your workplace, wherever.
I carry this quote around in my planner [from Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings, so you know it’s good!]:
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”
Inspired by a Christian imagination, may we find the courage for small acts of kindness and love. And hand in hand, may our courage grow.
Blessings,
