{"id":4017,"date":"2015-02-13T04:52:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T04:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4017"},"modified":"2015-02-15T00:41:09","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T00:41:09","slug":"be-the-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/be-the-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Be the witness!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Macy and Johnstone\u2019s book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We\u2019re in without Going Crazy<\/em>, is a relevant contribution to discussion of environmental sustainability and humanity\u2019 on going quest peace and tranquility on earth. The search for meaning has led to interesting discoveries for some, but many people are also left with a sense of fatigue about subjects like hope and the future due to global crises. I recently listened to an interview which featured a prominent atheist called Stephen Fry who puzzled about how God would allow suffering in this world. In the interview Fry poses questions towards God, \u201cbone cancer in children, what\u2019s that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery\u2026 why should I respect a mean minded God\u2026?\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Macy and Johnstone write about a similar stroy told through Jane\u2019s care for the world, her fear and pessimism about human nature. It seems to me that the authors are seeking to address the past and present issues and inquires surrounding hopelessness, lack of empowerment and in there is the subject matter of theodicy. For instance, if God is exists and He is good, then why all the cosmological mayhem? I continue to concern myself with plausible arguments that can lead to reasonable conclusions about certain experiences of suffering. Yet amid all endeavors to understand more about life\u2019s events, I have a story to tell about the hope I have and continue to experience ever since I became conscious about the power and presence of God in my soul. I call it the living and powerful hope! This is important to me because it is such a holistically pivotal reality of my life. God\u2019s loving-kindness and presence in my life has made an eternal difference in my life. This is why I have hope, spiritual and physical fervor to act upon issues in life that might otherwise be limiting and hopeless. Macy and Johnstone write, \u201cactive hope is about becoming active participants in bring about what we hope for. Active hope is a practice\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

I am in agreement with their perspective. This is why I take seriously the need to nurture and encourage children in Uganda to purposefully pursue opportunities that will educate them on matters of contextual leadership. I believe that Uganda\u2019s young population which is the majority, has a lot to offer in terms of their gifts, skills, intellect and talents towards a problem solving approach to certain challenges. I am involved with a group of leaders in Uganda who have experienced the impact of global issues like poverty, hunger , environmental issues and lack of access to quality education. My colleagues and I are energized by \u201cChrist in [us] the hope of glory\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0to do what we can to serve communities in Uganda.<\/p>\n

For a long time, we’ve wholeheartedly embrace the call to humbly lead and cherish the wisdom from scripture to \u201calways be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect \u2026\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Scripture provides wonderful values that ought to guide and maintain the practice of hope namely, gentleness and respect. I feel hopeful about such values which open the tap that flows with a holistic expression of the hope in and from Christ.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?x-yt-ts=1422579428&x-yt-cl=85114404&v=-suvkwNYSQo#t=59<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u00a0Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We\u2019re in without Going Crazy<\/em> (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2012),3.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Colossians 1:27<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> 1 Peter 3:15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macy and Johnstone\u2019s book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We\u2019re in without Going Crazy, is a relevant contribution to discussion of environmental sustainability and humanity\u2019 on going quest peace and tranquility on earth. The search for meaning has led to interesting discoveries for some, but many people are also left with a sense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[173],"class_list":["post-4017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-macyjohnston","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4017"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4055,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4017\/revisions\/4055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}