Change was much harder to imagine in the fifteenth century, and especially so in Rome, with all its thousand-year-old churches, feuding nobles, and legions of clerics.
Carlos M. N. Eire Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650
Eire sets the stage for his exploration of an age where people were not looking for their world to shift as dramatically as it did. The movable type press was created and ideas were being circulated among the masses that challenged social and authority systems.
What about us?
Are we prepared for what is about to happen?
In the midst of constant tension and division will we notice what is really happening to us and our communities?
As infrastructures need repair, systems collapse, and communal desires are led by marketing and personal satisfaction where will we find common ground?
One of my favorite Psalms is the following;
How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity! (133:1)
These words of wisdom come from a time when it was the exception and not the norm that people lived together in unity. In fact there has not been a time where the whole of this world has lived together in unity. Whether we look at the ancients, five hundred years of the Reformation movement, or our current time we have yet to experience the blessing of living together in unity.
Is this wisdom then a false hope? NO.
It is something that we experience now, but only in part.
Every time we lay down our talking points and strive towards a goal we experience the good and pleasant blessing of unity.
It is never easy, especially if you have known one another for a long time, but it is vital to our collective story.
What can we build together? What difference can we make together?
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 