Radical Breaks

Sammie and Di
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

Jesus makes a radical break, and steps into the revolution that God has already begun. Repent, calls John the Baptist, turn around, head off the other way altogether, and Jesus steps into the water, and is free.

Quoting Howard Zinn:

Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware of such moments!) but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zigzag…

We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world… And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

("The Impossible Will Take a Little While” ~Zinn)

To live now as we think human beings should live…To make a radical break with that which is bad around us, and I’m not talking about disengaging from life, but about engaging differently, unobliged, unencumbered, as free people.

I know that some of you have made radical breaks along the way—Diane, there was a point when you found that the only way to deal with your birth family was to not deal with them. And it was probably the best decision you ever made for yourself…

…Susan and Andy, when the two of you sold one of your cars, and started riding the bus.

And I’m wondering, is there a radical break that you might need to make, that I might need to make, that we as a church might need to make? A break from tradition, a break from family expectations, a break from a particular habit or value, a break from a particular fear or tie?

It maybe the first step for some of us and the next step for others toward living into God’s revolution.

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by Reverend Cindy, who's always a Right Reverend to us