Citizens of God's World
by Patricia Pearce
 As I write this article, public spaces across the United
States, from city to small town, are cloaked in red, white and
blue, showing that our first response in the face of September's
nightmare has been to claim our identities as Americans. Each
of those flags draped out of windows, pasted across billboards,
stuck in flower boxes and on car antennae are a constant reminder
of an event that will forever be etched into our collective memory
along with the image of the World Trade Towers in flames.
Flying the American flag is a powerful symbol of unity for the
people of our nation. The danger comes, however, when our patriotism
tempts us to limit our circle of concern and compassion to our
national borders. This historic time challenges us to do more
than assert our identity as Americans; it challenges us to think
deeply about what it means to live as citizens of one world,
to acknowledge the terror, injustice and anger that are prevalent
in so many places across the world and to participate in the
suffering that has visited so many people in so many lands.
As people of faith we acknowledge that this world is God's world,
and as Christians we are called to live compassionately and ethically
in this world, so that the ways that we live contribute to God's
design for humanity, which we come to know in the life and teachings
of Jesus.
Read Patricia Pearce's insightful and thought-provocing entire
article in this issue of Horizons.
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