Dash of Thought - May 2022

Everything is new in May

When the first Covid-19 wave led to a lockdown, I could no longer travel. But in Switzerland, we were still allowed to leave the house and go for a walk. Thanks to the beautiful weather, I went for a long walk with my wife every noon. We were thus among the few people who could see many good sides to the lockdown. From our perch, we watched the leaves sprouting on the trees in the neighborhood, each day adding a little more of lush green to the bare branches. After many years, I was once again able to witness the awakening of spring in nature.
 
Looking back on his life, the theologian Jürgen Moltmann recounts the agonizing experience of being a prisoner of war and despairing of the meaning of life. And then he describes how, after a long time, he discovered spring awakening on a tree during a supervised walk outside. In the midst of the most severe consequences of war, this became a parable for him that God makes his sun rise over good and evil and is still the creator and sustainer of this world. Hope has sprouted. Moltmann's faith and theology were shaped by hope.
 
In the abysses of war and other severe blows of fate in life, people still have such experiences today that God's gracious presence surrounds them and gives them hope. The news reports focus on other things. But personal life testimonies tell it. God sustains and renews the strength to live. Not only in the merry month of May.
 
Bishop Patrick Streiff