A Window into God’s World

My father heart cried when I saw the picture of little Aylan Kurdi washed up on the shores of Turkey. I wondered why it was that his and his father’s cry for a better life was not heard when he was still alive? Why is it the case that an innocent’s death is the eloquence we need, in order for our own hearts finally to respond with care? Why did we not realize before it was too late? What else are we not realizing about the direness of our human condition?

As the libretto of The Cry puts it, quoting the poem “New Covenant,” by Murray Watts, we are pilgrims “who feared our physical destruction but did not know that a more deadly war was upon us… Latecomers to Bethlehem, we knelt and worshipped at the turn of two millennia. We wept for our sins. For the neglect of our souls and the devastation of our world…

“The child reached out to us in his burning innocence.
For the first time, we looked into the face of love.
Then we knew our destiny.
It was to illuminate our world.
To open a window into God’s world.”

I cannot imagine a more poetic way for us to describe the need for, and the meaning of, the mission of Light of Christ at this moment in time. We are called to illuminate this world with Christ’s love, hope and healing. For now, not having much silver and gold to share, ours is to sing, in partnership with the Choral Arts Society, so that Christ’s compassion and hope is heard in the midst a dark and dire humanity.

Our part in this “song of salvation” will have several movements. We are called to:

1. Prayer: Storm the gates of heaven with prayers on behalf of all who will attend The Cry. Pray they will encounter the Child who will lead them, the Innocent One who will save them, who alone can anchor their hearts in a hope that is substantial enough to heal.

   Get PDF of Fall 2015 Prayer Card or pick it up on Sunday at the Information Table.

   Visit the Cry website and pick up a CD and lyric sheet on the Information Table. Watch and listen how the God of Hope ministers to his children.

2. Support: There are several responses that may emerge from the concert that we will work to facilitate by:
   – providing material that will aid further meditation on the themes of The Cry, in the form of a beautiful booklet containing the poems and lyrics, along with a CD of The Cry’s premiere performance,
   – providing a space following the concert for people to pray and remember the innocent who have suffered, who are known to us
   – inviting people to continue their remembrance, and to experience the growing light of our hope in Christ, at our All Saints service on the Sunday after the concert.

   Contact Steve Engstrom to volunteer to help either at The Cry or on All Saints.

3. Invite: Invite as many friends and neighbors to attend as you can. The Cry should be heard. It needs to be heard, and we are confident of the power of the blessing and the hope of salvation that it will speak to, especially in this darkened generation in which we now live.

   The Cry is at 7:00 pm on October 30 at Ruther Auditorium in Kenosha. Click here to purchase tickets; if you would like to attend or invite others but cost is an issue, please talk to Fr. Eirik or Steve Engstrom.

   Invitations and posters will be available on October 1.

This summer, through our “ministry labs,” we learned how God seems to be leading us to fulfill our mission of reflecting Christ’s love, hope and healing in our area. It is a work of compassion and change through hope, culminating in healed lives. As one participant put it in our final session, Kenosha needs much more than our sympathy. Our friends and neighbors need the transforming power of Christ. He is the one whose song of salvation most eloquently sings us through our despair and longing, even death and evil, lifting us into a melody of hope and healing that is eternal, where every tear is wiped away and every homeless soul is welcomed home.