Dcn Susan Erickson

Dear Siblings in Christ,

I confess I am weighed down these past few weeks—and you may be, too—by the relentlessly grim news of conflicts, both international and national. I am thinking in particular, of course, of the conflict in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Yet that conflict, as terrible as it is, has diverted our attention from the ongoing, devastating war in Ukraine and the terrible conflict in Sudan (to name only a few current instances).

In our own country we continue to reckon with the growing chasm between different groups and regions. It seems as if those on one side and the other of these chasms are intent on making them even wider and deeper, refusing to recognize the humanity and good faith of those on the (supposed) other side. Meanwhile, those with no resources or hope live on the sidewalks or in desert washes, seeking solace all too often in increasingly deadly drugs like fentanyl.

All this is to say that I’m perhaps particularly receptive to the dark visions of prophets like Joel. In today’s Daily Office Joel envisions God’s wrath unleashed against the nations that had once devastated Israel. “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.” (Joel 3: 14-15). Joel sets a sombre stage by calling up the effects of wind and dust storms—something we’ve recently experienced here in Tucson: the sun and the moon and the stars are blotted from view as God visits judgment on once-mighty nations.

Yet Israel, too, had sinned. Today’s Psalm 106, says: “Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly.” (Ps 106: 6) So nations clash against nations; none of them are righteous, none pursue peace. But as Abraham Joshua Heschel writes: “The prophets, questioning man’s infatuation with might, insisted not only on the immorality but also on the futility and absurdity of war.” Where, then, is an alternative?

As we approach the waiting season of Advent, I hope we can allow ourselves some quiet moments (as Mtr Taylor recommended in her recent sermon)—moments in which hope might be born, and with hope, compassion. Moments in which Jesus, the Son of God —who out of love did not “fight back”—might be born. 

Faithfully,

—Dcn Susan