Kenneth Samuel: Another Question, Please!
"Many, Lord, are asking, 'Who will bring us prosperity?'" - Psalm 4:6 (NIV)
In various forms, the same question has reverberated throughout human history: Who will show us better times? Who will bring us the good that we seek? Who will deliver us into brighter days?
The same question was very pointedly put to Jesus: "When will you establish the realm of God in our midst?" I can almost see the bewilderment and the disappointment in the faces of those who heard Jesus respond: "The realm of God is within you."
We should all be aware of the major impact that institutional systems play in each of our lives. But we should also be aware of the power vested in us as citizens with the value of our collective voices.
At the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the historic 'Selma to Montgomery March, President Obama stood at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and spoke these words:
"The Americans who crossed this bridge fifty years ago were not physically imposing, but they gave courage to millions.They held no elected office, but they led a nation . . . . Selma shows us that the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We' . . . as in 'We the people' and 'We shall overcome' . . . ."
Mahatma Gandhi challenges each of us to "Be the change that we wish to see in the world."
After the cancellation of her Disney sitcom and after agonizing over her weight and wrestling with sex and drug addictions and after coming to terms with her bi-sexuality and dealing with her suicidal tendencies, Margaret Cho came back triumphantly into the public arena with this headliner: "I'm the One That I Want!"
Maybe it's time we all raised a different question.
Prayer
Lord give us the gift of insight. Amen.