CBOQ Alumni News| June 2016
A CBOQ Retiree Newsletter
LOVING OUR WAY THROUGH By Bill Norman don’t know much about Cornel West. Like me he is a baby boomer—I will be 66 in August, he turns 63 in June. I am a Baptist pastor; he is the son of a Baptist pastor. With that the comparison ends. His resume features a Princeton Ph. D. and a long list of books he has authored or edited. He has appeared on television with both Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert. More than that, he is famous enough to have been played on Saturday Night Live by Kenan Thompson.
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God’s kingdom. I think of the story of William Wilberforce whose decades long struggle to end the slave trade in Britain was told in the 2006 movie, “Amazing Grace.” I can get teary-eyed watching that movie and think how wonderful it was that this Christian political leader laboured to rid the British Empire of the horrors of slavery. But far better that I get teary-eyed about the darkness of the slavery of women and children that still exists in our world and do what I can to support those Christians working now to rid our world of this I recently came across something present horror. Cornel West wrote which resonated with my soul. “Despite the challeng- Take note of the commitment with es presented by the trivialization and which West is challenging us—to love dilution of the Christian gospel, I our way through the darkness. What remain committed to its fundamen- a challenge this is! A favourite hymn tal claim: To follow Jesus is to love is “Lift high the Cross,” singing about your way through the darkness of the the whole world adoring the sacred world.” name of Christ. This adoration is not accomplished through coercion, it is It is possible for that to strike you as accomplished through the proclamafatally pessimistic, I admit that. Yet it tion and the living out of Christ’s sacseems to me that recognizing there rificial love. is darkness in our world is a necessary part of the spiritual equipment How can this happen in our lives? that we take with us into the work of Here’s my witness: unless I stay close
to God’s Word, reading from it and feeding on it, I forget that the victory of the Gospel is won through forgiveness, the adoration of the Christ only happens after the Son emptied himself and humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2: 7, 8). I also think this challenge is realistic. As a Christian, if I will love my way through the darkness, then that’s enough. The world may not change as much as I would want, but if I continue to love, then the promise of the Gospel is coming true in our lives, the darkness will not overcome the light (John 1:5). Bill Norman has decided to pursue other opportunities and has left his position at CBOQ. He will be missed, but Bill remains a Bill Norman valued part of CBOQ’s family and we are excited for him as he follows God’s lead.
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