I have to say that I am very proud of Convergent Streams. We have made it into our third year of publication!
When we started this publication, we were told two things: 1) It has never been successfully done in the ISM and 2) It will never last. That is not to say that we will last forever. But we have been successful for the last 2 years.
It is through the generous help of all of the wonderful people in the ISM or friendly to the ISM that has made this publication possible. You should be congratulated for all your hard work and for all the excellent articles that you have submitted.
It is our hope that Convergent Streams continues for many more years to come. However, in order to make that possible, we need to have people continuing to submit articles, poems, ads and the like to be published.
And so here at the beginning of our third year, I am asking for you to help spread the word about Convergent Streams. Invite those in your parishes, in your jurisdictions or those who are friendly to our movement to submit articles. Invite them to check out our website at http://www.convergentstreams.org.
It is through this effort and your continued submissions that we will live to see another 3 years!
Thank you for all your hard work! Congratulations!
On another note entirely, the last quarter of 2014 has given us quite a bit to pray (and for some of us, fret) about. And in this day and time, prayers are needed all the more. This is why it is important that we reach out to others for prayerful support.
Since Convergent Streams only comes out once every 3 months, it is not feasible to ask you to submit prayer requests for publication. However, starting January 1, 2015, we will have a prayer request wall at the Convergent Streams website.
It is our hope that all of you will avail yourselves of this new feature and reach out for prayerful support. And please remember to check in to the site from time to time through the week to see new requests and to lift them in prayer as well.
You will notice that we have several new faces writing for us this edition. Some of the older faces have moved on and we are thankful for their support and assistance over the past 2 years. This means that we need more authors who are willing to submit and article or feature each edition. If you feel called to help us in this way, please let me know.
Lastly, it is my fervent prayer that you all will be blessed with grace and peace in this New Year. As we beginning 2015, hope springs anew and we should take advantage of that hope and spread the message of the Christ Child to all we meet. It is through His love and His sacrifice that we are even able to have hope.
Until next time, may God richly bless you!
+Gregory
Postscript
Things worldwide have been very difficult with the spread of ISIS and other like-minded terrorist organizations. Add to this the unrest created by multiple police shootings of unarmed young men and women and you have a powder keg of unrest.
It is important that we show the world a positive path. Social media dominates our lives now days. Many people cannot go more than a few moments without posting something about their lives, their politics or just to opine about some item in the news.
While Social Media can be a wonderful tool to help grow the Kingdom of God, it can also be a powerful weapon that can be used to inflict pain and suffering on others.
My own newsfeed on a popular social media site is constantly full of negative comments and rants about various political issues. Sadly, very little positive information comes across my feed. To those in the already dealing with feelings of despair and depression, to hear such things from Christians and Clergy can cause them more pain and suffering.
We as Christians are called to help each other. We are called to bind up the wounds of our brothers and sisters, Christian as well as non-Christian. We are called to be a positive force for good in the world of darkness and despair around us.
It is very true that we must speak up on social justice issues. It is also true that we must speak out against injustice whenever and wherever we see it. However, we must do so in Christ-like love and charity. We must set aside our own emotions, our own anger and our own frustration so that we may address these issues in a pastoral way.
In doing so, we will find ourselves becoming the positive change to those around us. We will see that by living what we preach we bring about justice and equality. We will see a marked change in the world around us.
I am reminded of this great quote by civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, “Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. … Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly.”
Let us use the power we have been given to build people up, rather than to tear them down. Let us be a positive force for good and let us inspire others to do good as well. Not just in what we say, but also in how we live.
