off. Where would be the need of the mercy of the Son of God except we had sinned against one another? Except our choices separated us? And certain separations have turned “One” into fractions which did not come together again. But the church has not perished from the earth. Perhaps we seek a One of a broader body than what has been.
SHUTTERSTOCK
what I’d do when I met the enemy outside.
“But the night— “The night that night was dark
and still. The street was empty. No one, nothing anywhere. Stars dusted the sky. I stood pursing my lips and trying to process ....
“After about five minutes I went back into the house. “Thanne was standing halfway up the staircase, grinning. Matthew’s face was hangdog. Joseph and Mary and Talitha had all gotten up. The family was gathered when daddy returned from fighting the night. “Thanne said, ‘Come upstairs.’ “She led me—and after me four
children—into the boys’ bedroom. She pointed to the back of a chair over which Matt’s pants were folded, pockets down. She nudged the chair. A marble fell out and hit the floor. Tock! The marble did not say Bang! It said Tock!
“Marbles, sweet Jesus. Neither
bullets nor stones. Marbles—” Together with my own fears and suspicions.
So during the life of the ELCA heretofore, when we felt that the bones of the body were out of joint, it was for the most part little more than marbles. Yes. At times the bones were out of joint and blood from blood cut
But I beg you, you individual congrega- tions of such size and power that you think you have the right to support yourselves alone. I beg you, you who have energized yourselves more by accusations than by the Spirit of the Sav- ior; you who have convinced yourselves of your personal righ- teousness over against another’s pitiful blind-
ness (motes and logs and so forth); you who love divisions more than you love the Maundy Thursday commandment of our Lord—I beg you, relent.
Kneel before the cross. Plead for- giveness that you might forgive. It is Jesus, after all. It has always been the crucified and not we ourselves. So, then. There it is. My final bit
of advice.
And now I close the column. I say goodnight.
I have dearly prized our long conversation.
But now I have other things to do. Go with God. Amen.
March 2013 15
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