In 1753, an Indian guide shot at George Washington, but missed. Had he killed the young Major, we would have lost the General of our armies, our first President. John Wilkes Booth was injured shortly before his assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Had his wound become infected, he might have been unable to go to Ford’s Theater. Take Washington and Booth out of U.S. history and what do you have? We’ll never know. History can turn on chance, choices and the life of a single individual, albeit, an individual who exists only in the context of a supportive community.
As we have been reminded though our Lenten-Easter journey, history turned even more decisively on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. But we would never have heard of him were it not for the community that we now call the church – that gathering of people who wrote and preserved the texts of the Jesus story; who took actions that lead to the death of many, and the life of many others; who fashioned rituals and institutional structures to carry the message forward over two thousand years.
Life and death continue to wrestle for dominance in our era. We are called to manifest the spirit of resurrection life in our family, social, economic, political and cultural lives; to challenge the darkness that threatens human existence with subtlety and power. We are called to bring joy and life where suffering and death will otherwise prevail. Being the bearers of resurrection life can be a burden as well as a joy, so we return to the community of the faithful to be refreshed, supported and to celebrate our commitment to assure that the powers of death do not prevail on our watch.
The late Roman Catholic Bishop Dom Helder Camara said: “When we dream alone, it is only a dream. But when we dream [and act] together, it is the beginning of reality.” We, together, make history.
The CTS community continuously provides me the refreshed hope, new life, and commitment to live out the meaning of the Easter story. I pray that you can say the same.
Pastor Hoehn
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