reconciliation

The first time I met Catherine Larson, we were sitting in the back seat of a van full of journalists. We discovered almost instantly that we both had a heart for Rwanda. The husband of one of my students had lost six family members in the genocide, and Larson had landed her job at Prison Fellowship writing a story about the war-torn country.

In II Cor 5:18-20 Paul reminds us that God has taken care of the problem of sin for the whole world and calls us to be ambassadors of that message to our world. To be honest, I tend to focus more on the prevalence of sin in the world rather than on the message of reconciliation I am to represent.   With a 24-hour news cycle there is always something to be alarmed about. I find it easy to slip into a critical and judgmental

Growing up in a small town in the deep South, racisim was not a word I knew or a concept I often thought about, but rather it was like the water I swam around in.  Most of the time I could go about my swimming without noticing it or realizing it was there, but every now and then someone would make a splash and I would see it in all its ugliness as it attempted to drown me and everyone else in it.

At this beginning of another new year I am reminded how I delight in new beginnings.  From crisp clean sheets, to soft new stationery, to a clean page, to a new dress or just a new discovery.  A fresh start fills my heart with hope.