At a recent luncheon for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, we invited John Noltner from A Peace of My Mind to be our keynote speaker. You may recall that John worked with us in 2023, creating a slide show of images that we showed at the synod assembly. For the Interfaith Conference, he created a slide show of images of various leaders of the conference as we reflected on the question, “How does your faith tradition give you strength?” (Interfaith Conference slideshow) My response was, “When I sing with others in worship, I am often deeply moved, connecting with others to create something more beautiful than I could alone.”
This sentiment is especially the case for me at this time of year, when joining with others to sing the various Advent and Christmas carols brings me a deep sense of joy, connection, and strength. There is so much in this world that I cannot understand, from our unending addiction to violence and racism, to the lack of empathy and respect for those who think, love, vote, and speak differently from us to the failure to embrace the truth that what unites us is stronger, deeper, and more enduring than anything that divides us. But when we join our voices in song, we become connected to the deep and abiding and eternal truths of our faith, and we become connected to one another and to all those who have sung this faith throughout all times and all places.
This light of faith and strength does not eliminate the challenges and pain of this age, but my prayer is that it gives us what we need to keep moving forward, to keep loving even when it’s hard, to keep finding ways to listen with curiosity and acting with courage as we strive to follow the ancient path of wisdom to the Christ child and beyond. So, let’s sing our faith, loud and strong, and let’s live our faith, boldly and fearlessly.
In Christ,
Bishop Paul Erickson
