Co-creation with God
By Andy Gilg
I love Advent because we are invited to hope for things that are not seen. I don’t mean hoping in an empty way that doesn’t involve work. I mean daring to hope for something through action.
I believe that part of what makes Jesus so profound is that he showed an oppressed people how to hope for something more. The Jewish people were oppressed by a Roman occupation, and a religious system that had been co-opted by systems of power, through rules. He showed them (and us) that by naming the injustices, we can start to do the work of solving them. I see this work as getting to co-create with God.
I’m not saying people need to pull themselves by their bootstraps. Feeling like someone needs to do their own work to not be oppressed is a dangerous belief that isolates people. The work of co-creating with God is best done when it benefits others, and not ourselves.
Over the last year I have seen this through the work of In Our Backyard in Anchorage. (I am not affiliated with In Our Backyard beyond being a witness to the amazing work they are doing.) Through the work of a myriad of people, this ministry has gone from "something should be done about homelessness,” to an entity that has the power to transform lives from house-less to housed. The past, present, and future work done, for others on this project is nothing short of Hope.
If this this type of work does not come naturally to you, or even if it does, I invite you to pray this prayer:
Hey God,
Please show me ways to co-create with you for others to thrive.
Amen.
St. John member Andy Gilg is chair of our Finance Committee.