Monday, October 11, 2021https://kuc.org/wp-content/uploads/joy-20.jpg

Katie Snipes Lancaster

Scripture
I am grateful to God—
whom I worship
with a clear conscience,
as my ancestors did—
when I remember you
constantly
in my prayers
night and day.
2 Timothy 1:3

A Look at Joy
There’s a famous line from Martin Luther King Jr., which President Barack Obama so admired that he had it woven into the curved edge of a rug in the Oval Office. It’s a paraphrase drawn from abolitionist minister Theodore Parker’s preaching; King put his version this way: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The ancient prophets declare that there is a day surely coming when “justice and peace will kiss,” and the Christian Gospel is not only that this day indeed shall come, but that it has begun to dawn, despite the shadows (Ps 85:10). We can participate in that dawning even now, letting our own lights shine, walking the walk with wisdom, insight, and action. But the end we bear in mind, the largest frame within which our lives take place, is characterized not only by justice and peace, but finally by joy. For when that day comes, there will be a Great Banquet—we can glimpse it even now! —filled with light and delight. The arc of redemption is long, but it bends toward joy.

(Excerpt from “Taking Joy Seriously” from the Salt Project, November 3, 2020).

Prayer
Bend us toward justice,
so that joy might be renewed,
O Lord.
Amen.