Words matter

Joyce Sasse, Spititual Gleanings - At any time, our choice of words can make a difference. I’m thinking, today, of our new minister’s use of the word kin-dom – like in the prayer “Thy kin-dom come”.  For me “Kingdom”, when referring to our Christian Faith, has always been too harsh a term. In Biblical times the term best fitted a description of the wealth, power and corruption of the Roman Empire. Wasn’t Jesus speaking about the very antithesis of this?

In our time, as we listen to political rancor gone amuck we witness the work of those obsessed with establishing hierarchies of power – where “good journalism” is scoffed at and “truth” is treated like a bargaining tool.

Kin-dom! Hearing the word takes me back to Grandma Sasse’s prayer “Kleine Kin-der …” (Little Children …). It has to do with relationships – rudimentary relationships sealed with a hug, a handshake, a respect for trusting one’s word.

The Gospel writer John put it well when telling about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. It’s not about being physically re-born, but about a renewal of one’s Spirit. Further on we find that familiar passage about God sending his Son not to judge the world, but to say “Here, let me show you an alternative way!”

God’s reign is about having relationship with each other, with the creation and with the cosmos. Awareness of this inter-connectedness is an awesome experience. It gives us access to the full richness of true wealth. We have kin-ship with a complex, diverse, wondrous Creation and its Creator.

The warm vibrancy of spring reveals a world pregnant with hope. We can shed the dark heaviness that weighs us down, and feel ourselves enveloped in a kin-ship that is like no other. Thanks be to God.