Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

Items of interest on the World Wide Web: 

- From the Empire Remixed blog: "Barack Obama: A Post-Imperial Presidency?" Brian Walsh ponders the direction of America under a new president. Can the US philosophy of "empire" of the past eight years be changed? Can Barack Obama be a "post-imperial" president?

- "Obama's Harmony of Intellect and Intuition." Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2, writes a short open letter to the president-elect.

- As American denominations look to maintain a centralized model of connecting individuals with local churches, they face problems ranging from finances to what stances to take on hot-button issues. Several denominations are turning to advertising campaigns.

- Martin E. Marty, long-time and recently departed editor of Christian Century, examines the theology of generosity. Just what part does "generosity" have to play in a Christian culture dominated by thoughts of "stewardship"?

- From the "It's a little too early for Christmas, but still..." department: Adventconspiracy.org - What if, this year, instead of participating in the orgy of spending and stress that typifies our consumerist Christmases in the West, we spent less money, more time with each other, and gave more that money saved to others? (The site includes a must-see embedded video)

- Mental Floss Lunchtime Quiz: The Bible or the Bard? Can you tell the difference between Shakespeare and Scripture?

I went to church last night.  I know it seems odd church on a Tuesday. What is even odder is I went to church for 6 hours straight and didn't fidget a bit! I didn't cringe at the hymns, I didn't think about what I'd have for breakfast the next morning.

I was in church. Maybe not the church you're thinking of. There was no choir, there were no bulletins, there were no prayers but I prayed for 6 hours, I prayed so hard and was so inspired that in the end tears rolled down my face, and all I could say was, ‘thank God, thank God."  Then I turned off the television, kissed my children good night with a  God bless you, got into bed with my love and whispered quietly, " he won, he won". Last night I went to sleep grateful; grateful for having gone to church. Grateful for the privilege of witnessing the testimony of the multitudes, the millions of God's children around the world who witnessed hope born into the world.

Maybe you were in church Tuesday night along with a few of my other billion friends. Perhaps you woke up feeling a new sense of hope and possibilities after witnessing the historical, miraculous event of Barack Hussein Obama being overwhelmingly declared president of the United States of America. Perhaps like me you were moved as you watched the ten's of thousand's in the congregation sway back and forth on the lawn at Grant Park in Chicago.  Brothers and sisters we were at church!