December 14

But, in accordance with this promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home (excerpt from 2 Peter 3:8-15a).

Thaddaeus Elliott, Justice and Peace Policy Fellow, UCC Office of Public Policy and Advocacy, Washington D.C.

“Abolition is also creation. Creation of many worlds here and now (and still-to-come). Worlds that exist in and through the many cracks in the walls of our structures and societies… Abolition is therefore also about redirecting our collective capacities away from the carceral and toward producing and reproducing these other worlds already here and still to come.” – Rustbelt Abolition Radio, Tasting Abolition

 

All things in this world come to an end. That truth used to consume me with an overwhelming sense of dread and a frantic desire to rewind the clock in a futile attempt to put off the inevitable. But in recent days, especially in this season, I find an odd sense of comfort and peace in knowing that nothing lasts forever. Because as much as this is true for what we hold sacred in this world, it is also true for what oppresses us. Injustice will pass away with a dreadful noise. Its elements racism, sexism, and transphobia will be consumed by fire. And the earth will be exposed bare for justice to be sown as the new foundation for life. In many ways that process is under way.

But how long must we wait for it to come to fruition? What are we to do in the meantime as the Empire rallies and strikes back to shackle us once again within the confines of the gender binary and its oppressive norms? We continue to love and prepare for the world to come. Because all things in this world come to an end. Then life begins again.

 

Prayer

Inhale: Injustice will end.
Exhale: Righteousness will be our home.

 

Artwork: “Change Now” by Peter Railand.
Used with permission CC BY-NC-ND
Find more at Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative