Issue theme: Kingdom come
You can pitch article ideas to Love Is Moving editor, Ilana Reimer (ilana@loveismoving.ca). Check out our writer’s guidelines for more information on how to pitch. To be considered for the print Summer Issue, pitches must be submitted April 14, 2023. Submissions will be considered for the online issue until June 1, 2023.
Please note that we accept non-theme related pitches or submissions at any time.
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“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
With these words, Christ asks us to tilt our gazes in hopeful orientation toward God’s restorative, renewing work. The prayer evokes Revelation imagery. A tree planted in life-giving waters that heals the nations. A place where there will be no sorrow, and God will dwell with His people in harmony and without the distortion and distance of sin.
In his oratorio For the Time Being, W. H. Auden describes the new world order Jesus introduced as “a city based on love and consent suggested to all men.”
It’s almost fairytale-like in its goodness. Most of us are too pragmatic to spend much time imagining it. Yet we should imagine it. We should let our painful longings find rest and respite in eager imaginings of what’s to come.
But there’s a second part to this powerful opening declaration in the Lord’s Prayer: “…on earth as it is…”
The words prompt us to contemplate God’s future promises and invite us to look to the present with eyes to see how the Lord is making all things new now. We can participate in that kingdom coming. The prayer is both future-facing and now-acting. It moves from vision-casting to prayer for daily nourishment and daily forgiveness of sins.
God’s promise of life resurrected, transformed, and made new offers a rock bottom in the torpor of grief. It also inspires love acted out now, in radical resistance to sorrow and injustice.
We are charged with living out Christ’s “your kingdom come” vision today and tomorrow. And thankfully, we have hope even when we fail because we know the Lord will overcome all evil.
For the summer issue of Love Is Moving, we’re reflecting on this now and not yet kingdom.
If you don’t already have an article topic, these questions could spark an idea:
- What are some ways your church is embodying God’s vision of shalom? (Amy L. Sherman has a great definition of shalom in Agents of Flourishing: spiritual, psychological, social, and physical wholeness for all.)
- How does leaning into the authority and tradition of the church sustain resiliency in your faith?
- Do you have a story about the impact of hope in your life?
- Do you have a story about restoration from brokenness, adversity, or sin in your life?
- How is the work/volunteering you participate in transforming your immediate or larger community?
- Do you have a story of persevering through difficulty and emerging from the ashes? As you reflect back, what was restored, strengthened, or formed through that process? What wasn’t?
- How do you feel God’s love and presence in difficult times?
- Does hopeful imagination play a role in your faith?
- Where do you see the staying power of faith in your everyday life?