Chapter 8: In the Fullness of Time

"YET GOODNESS does not always prevail in the time frame of our lives." p. 122

In 1986 a Calypsonian Kelvin Pope ( The Mighty Duke ) born in the small village of Point Fortin, Trinidad asked the question in song "How Many More Must Die ?"

A wonderful calypso challenging the leaders of the world at that time, about how many persons needed to die in South Africa before they would be prepared to act courageously.

Unfortunately, this question once asked about death in South Africa could be construed as pertinent to so many U.S. cities today.

It is easy to  be saddened about the genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia and the atrocities of  the Sudan,  but what about the happenings in our own backyard?

All across the U.S., in cities the lives of young black men are seemingly taken for granted.  In Camden, Trenton, New York and Philadelphia the voices cry out,  "How many more must die?" Yes, even in gated communities like Sanford, Florida a young man visiting his father is not safe from harm.

Edmund Burke once reminded us " All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good persons do nothing." So all across our country people made their voices heard that this is unacceptable. My son who is contemplating going to college in Florida wonders how close is Sanford to his possible college choice.

All across this country and throughout the world people seemingly have had enough. No longer are we prepared to allow institutions, corporations or governments to go unchecked. Desmond reminds us "Bureaucracies are groups of people like you and me making choices that impact all of us. Our Business choices, for example, do not just have financial consequences, they have moral consequences."  I am convinced  that it is not revisionist history to believe that sanctions helped to encourage the South Africa government to do right by its people.

Galatians 4 vs. 4 " In the fullness of time " has always been one of my favorite scriptural verses.  One can ponder on it all the day long. How do we know when the time is fully come?  When is the time right?
Elders have a saying, "God may not come on our time, but God always comes on time." In an age in which according to Desmond,  "sometimes our technological expertise has seemed to top our moral capacity to use such expertise for the good of humanity." How do we get back on the right track?
Desmond suggests we need to get back to being our sister's and brother's keeper.

We make God's heart glad when we realize "what we are is God's gift to us, what we become is our gift to God." According to Desmond, God says, "I have no one except you, Thank you for vindicating Me."

I recently attended a conference  in Massachusetts. One of the presenters, Marcus Borg, spoke about God's dream "as something not vaporous and weak but as a desire, yearning, passion. God's passion is for justice in the world in which we live."

May we all in this fullness of time, be committed to God's passion and dream.

Live the dream,
The Very Rev'd Rene R. John
Dean of Trinity Cathedral