The church\u2019s best days are still ahead,\u201d\u009d said Cam\u00c2\u00ad\u00c2\u00aderon Trimble. I shared a conspiratorial smile, as I often do when with her. She is executive director of the Cen\u00c2\u00adter for Progressive Re\u00c2\u00adnewal, where I am a consul\u00c2\u00adtant. She was telling me about Con\u00c2\u00advergence, a network that she is dreaming up with a group of people, including authors Brian Mc\u00c2\u00adLaren and Diana Butler Bass.<\/p>\n
As Trimble talked about Convergence, I imagined her standing in that long pattern of creation which reverberates through our ancient texts. God spoke into the chaos, and the words formed order as they gathered waters, brought forth vegetation, gave rise to animals, and molded humanity. The birth of Jesus Christ, the answer to longing prayers, is described as the Word made flesh.<\/p>\n
We see creation in these grand narratives, and we also watch it unfold in our everyday lives. A 13-month-old toddler has not begun to speak, so she stands before the refrigerator, with her arm out and her tiny fist grabbing at air, and grunts. The guttural noises let her parents know that she wants. Eventually her \u201cmeh, meh, meh\u201d\u009d will become \u201cmilk.\u201d\u009d When her parents deliver the magical liquid, longing becomes word, and word becomes object.<\/p>\n