Show Me The Way

Well, once again I've been AWOL from writing. The past three weeks have been awash with exams and whenever I've tried to write, the pressure of impending doom has disrupted my thinking and driven me back to the books.

Today I'm basking in the warmth of the first Sunday since fall that the temperature has risen above 50. That may not seem like much to those in warmer climates but in Maine, it's a heat wave. The sounds of water dripping from the roof and snow sliding off the barn are pleasant portents of spring that are truly welcome. My dog and I may actually walk today without bundling up.

For the most part, though, it still looks like winter. Snow covers the hayfield, I'm wearing flannel shirts (yes, from L.L. Bean -- who else?), and only a cock-eyed optimist would even think of taking the snow tires off the car before the end of April. So, it looks like we're in one of those transition periods where change is coming slowly.

I think American religious life is in a period of transition. For the past, oh I'd say thirty years, the trend toward fundamentalism has been a pretty dominant feature. I graduated from seminary in 1977 and the hottest topic of the day was what will the "End-Times" be like. The following year, students were arguing about the inerrancy of the Bible and by the mid-1990s the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest American Protestant denomination, had shifted to the right. The most recent Presidential election, however, showed signs of another shift, this time away from the extremes and back toward the middle.

Usually, during periods of social unrest and economic uncertainty, more conservative denominations flourish. But it seems people are hungry for more than the appearance of certainty, and in spite of the state of the economy report feeling more hopeful. What a paradox. Maybe we really are set on the brink of something new and vibrant in American life. Maybe for the first time in years, we're ready to stop looking for someone or something to blame and instead, looking to each other for solutions. I don't think we elected a President in the anticipation that he would be the agent of change. I think Americans are starting to feel the need to change themselves and they elected someone who can show them the way.