It is hard to find any “good news” this week. Followers of Jesus may recognize this phrase “good news” from the beginning of the Gospel of Mark: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ…” (Mark 1.1.). “To help his readers understand their troubled situation, Mark proclaims Jesus. But to understand Jesus, he looks back to the Scriptures of Israel. Indeed, we cannot understand Christian faith adequately without understanding the Jewish roots of that faith. Whatever we think God is doing in our world today, and whatever we think God did in Jesus Christ, should be consistent with what God was doing all along in Israel.” (from Christopher R. Hutson in Feasting on The Word: Yr. B, Vol 1.) Looking back in order to look forward. If we believe in God’s saving Grace which will free us we must first examine ourselves and the way we live. The news this week says that we have a lot of looking back to do. We must never forget our history is grounded in the story of an enslaved people brought forcibly to this land and the genocide of countless native people who were made to suffer at the hands of whites. It is a shame filled story. That history has shaped our thinking and our language and often we are unaware of the way in which it permeates our lives. It is especially true this time of year, when we describe Jesus’ coming into the world as “the light” that “penetrates the darkness.” Barbara Brown Taylor her book “Learning to Walk in the Dark” helps us when she writes “darkness does not come from a different place than light; it is not presided over by a different God. The long nights of Advent and the early dawn of Easter both point us toward the God for whom darkness and light are alike. Fertile seasons for those who walk by faith.” God has always been doing the creative work of justice in our world and God always will be. In the midst of our bewildered wondering about the latest news this week regarding the system of justice in our country may we “breathe in the breath of God” and continue to do the work God has called us to do. May we root our lives in Grace so that we may grow in faith and out of that deep faith reach in love to all that God calls beloved. Period. Full stop. ~linda