Clergy from left, Pastor Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired; Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector
Trinity on the Hill
Following a long-standing tradition, a number of Los Alamos churches come together for soup suppers, study, and worship on Thursdays during the season of Lent (the 40 days preceding Easter). This year’s topic is “reconciliation”.
We live in a world in which polarization is becoming ever-more prevalent. Civil discourse is a rare commodity. It often feels like the zero-sum game is all that matters, and consideration for the common good has gone out the window.
But for Christians, this is a deep departure from the teachings of Jesus. The meaning of Jesus’ life, death, and rising from the dead, is all about God’s desire to be reconciled with humankind, and to be in relationship with us.
There is a famous story in the Bible, commonly called The Prodigal Son. This story could also be called the story of The Loving Father and it explains, in miniature, everything that God has done for us. In it, a family’s younger son, against all the conventions of his society, asks his father to give him his inheritance now, rather than waiting for the father’s death. He takes his half, goes far away, and squanders it all. He ends up homeless and starving and dreams of going home. He knows that he has estranged himself from his family, and doesn’t believe they will take him back, but thinks that perhaps he could be a servant.
What the son doesn’t know is that, since the day he left, his father has been actively waiting for his return. Everyday his father stands at the gate, scanning the horizon for a sign of his lost boy. When he finally sees him in the distance, the father, despite his age and status, takes off running down the road. When he reaches his son, he throws his arms around him, brings him back to the house, and calls for a lavish celebration. For all intents and purposes, this looks to the boy’s older brother like foolish behavior, but when questioned, the father simply says, “we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
God’s love for us is like that of the loving father. It knows no bounds. It is joyful and abundant, and it means that God is always ready to welcome us home. To the world, that may seem foolish but, thankfully, God’s ways are different than our ways. God wants us to be in relationship – both with God and with each other. What could our world be like if more of us were intent on reconciliation and forgiveness?
Reconciliation is about unity without uniformity. It is about disagreeing well – about seeing others, not as enemies, but as friends with whom we agree to disagree. Reconciliation takes time and it takes courage. It requires the setting aside of our own egos and the need to always be right. It means resisting the culture of outrage that is promoted in so much of our media.
Reconciliation is not easy, but the very future of our world may very well depend on it.
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given
us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18
Everyone is welcome! Join us on Thursdays from 6-8 p.m., now through March 21, at the United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Rd, Los Alamos, NM 87544.
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (pastornicole@bethluth.com); Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org); Pastor Deb Church, White Rock Presbyterian Church (pastor@wrpchurch.com) and The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com).
