Have you ever walked arm-in-arm with one of our denomination’s greatest orators? I have. It was with a friend of many years, Clinton Marsh, when South and North marched together again.
Have you ever been in the home of perhaps the most effective preacher of the 20th century, James S. Stewart … and then gone to St. George’s West Kirk in Edinburgh where he filled us all with the faith and hope he lived? Well, my family and I have. … Have you ever been awakened at summer camp by the cheery voice of Bill Rasco shouting over the PA system, “The sun is shining … somewhere!” Well, I have, even though the rain was pelting down on the cabin roof. … Was there ever a more hopeful, loving, patient synod executive? Are people like that still around? Where are the giants of faith these days? We seem extremely concerned about private things and what is done with private parts. Why are we not far more concerned about the war started on false information that is causing the death or injury to thousands of Americans, Iraqis, and others? Have we Presbyterians adopted the attitude: “My country, right or wrong” instead of the prayer, “Enlighten our nation. O Lord, leaders and people, to know your will and do it!” Oh, there is some hope appearing again. I read about churches displaying anti-torture banners. I grow hopeful when I read about the new moderator of the General Assembly. I hear a presidential candidate who speaks with intelligence, openness, and has a manner that is bringing hope to many who have hung back in the shadows of despair. Will God lead the nation again along right paths, even if it is necessary to bypass the church preoccupied with lesser things? What do you think? It is time, friends in Christ, to let hope reign in our minds and hearts as it has in the giants of faith of days gone by. J. Bruce Coleman, honorably retired Sunnyvale, Calif.
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