Dear Companions in Christ in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut:
Our country is deeply divided. We are divided by: class, race, gender, sexuality, education level, religion, geography, blue and red states . . . and the list goes on and on. Sadly, the divisions in our country were exacerbated by the recently completed campaign season. The results of yesterday’s presidential election reveal, once again, just how deeply divided we are as the United States of America today.
As Christians we believe that alienation, separation, and division is not the way of God. We believe that God in Jesus, fully human and fully divine, is able to take seemingly irreconcilable differences and bring them together in a new creation of unity, wholeness, and new life. God’s mission is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” Our vocation, given to us in baptism through the Holy Spirit, is to participate with God in bringing about restoration and reconciliation where there is alienation, separation and division. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18)
In his acceptance speech last night President-elect Trump said that “Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. . . . I say now it’s time for us to come together as one people.” He continued: “I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans.” And to those who did not support the President-elect he said: “I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.”
It’s time now for all Americans in the richness our God-given differences to come together for the sake of our country and for the sake of the world. Let us work alongside one another in the fullness of God’s love and promise. We can, and we must, bind up the wounds of division that separate us from God and each other.
As followers of Jesus we know that such restoration and reconciliation is possible. Let us redouble our commitment to God’s mission of unity, wholeness, and new life. Let the love of God working in us overcome the divisions in our lives, in our country, and in our world. As the familiar hymn by Peter Scholtes reminds us:
We are one in the Spirit,
we are one in the Lord.
We are one in the Spirit,
we are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity
may one day be restored.
And they'll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love,
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
by our love.
We will walk with each other,
we will walk hand in hand.
We will walk with each other,
we will walk hand in hand
and together we'll spread the news
that God is in our land.
And they'll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love,
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
by our love.
We will work with each other,
we will work side by side.
We will work with each other,
we will work side by side
and we'll guard each man's dignity
and save each man's pride.
And they'll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love.
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
by our love.
All Praise to the Father
from whom all things come,
and all praise to Christ Jesus
His only Son,
and all praise to the Spirit
who makes us all one.
And they'll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love.
Yes, they'll know we are Christians
by our love.
The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Ph.D. The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, D.Min.
Bishop Diocesan Bishop Suffragan
