John Lennon's Imagine | Project 2029 |

Friends,

I'm just off a relaxing weekend of playing strategy games and quilting. Some time in the pool. Connecting to my friends and neighbors. I hope your life has some moments of peace.

Liz

Can You Imagine it?

To what shall we compare the reign of God? Because it is beyond words, we have is like phrases. It is like a tiny mustard seed, like yeast that makes bread rise, like a treasure or like fine pearl which we would sell what we have to obtain it (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46). None of these actually give us a hint of the details of life under God's ways, they just focus on the fact that it is larger than expected, it expands, and it is incomparably valuable.

We have had phases of our Christian faith where God's reign is presumed to be heaven--the place we go after we die. I expect for the first century Christians it was the very concrete and earthly glory of a meal every day, and acceptance into a loving community.

Can we be just as concrete today? I believe an important role for Christians in the public sphere is to proclaim a realistic, and yet extravagant, vision for what human life on this earth might be like. We of course care about this policy or that, but where do we hope humanity is headed? What does the gospel teach us about the concrete details of the Kingdom or Kin-dom of God?

We often move to a far, far future of loving relationships and peace on earth, but Jesus says that the Kingdom is at hand, nearby, almost here, perhaps even already begun. Can we imagine it?

What if God's rule is almost here? What more would be true? What should we be working toward for tomorrow, for next week, for next month, for next year, in order to care for our neighbors as Jesus would have us to? What are the things that we would identify today as a pearl of great value, a treasure in a field, a something that grows to magnificent proportions, that turns flour into bread for the world?

I can imagine a world where everyone is guaranteed their basic needs—perhaps universal basic income and universal health care. Perhaps it is community organizations, places of worship, the library, or the senior center providing meals 4 or 5 or 7 days a week. Perhaps it is medicare for all.

I can imagine a world where asylum seekers are welcomed at the border and at airports. That there would be sufficient judges, social workers, and lawyers on the spot to decide who is qualified for entry as a refugee. Almost all of the support organizations for asylum seekers are religiously affiliated now, perhaps that support could be expanded--although first the system needs to let them in.

I can imagine a world where legal immigration is not dependent on what country you are from. That we welcome a random selection from all who meet some basic criteria for acceptance, finding some balance between the needs in the world and our need for new laborers. That the application process would be simple, and the approval process quick.

I can imagine a world where health care decisions are made between a patient and their doctor. A trans patient. A pregnant patient. All patients.

I can imagine a world where elementary sports are gender free. What on earth is the argument for separation of these sports? Where high school and college sports decisions are based on actual research, and do not require women to prove who they are.

I can imagine a world where we prioritize mental health services for children, where we study the best responses to trauma, where people with disabilities are encouraged to find a future in their homes, with their families. Where education is valued and scientific research is funded.

What can you imagine? What are the steps we can take today to make these dreams a reality? What is the tiny seed of these ideas? Where is the field where this great value is hidden? What do we need to get rid of so that we can afford the abundance of these visions? What is the smallest step that your congregation can imagine taking toward making this vision a reality?

What is your church's vision of what God's rule could be? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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John Lennon, Imagine. 1971.

The material I've found on a community minded alternative to Project 2025 are mostly about protecting Democracy. I'm in favor! But I wonder if any of you have found a statement that is dedicated to protecting the concept of the "common good".

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