From the Editor-In-Chief
Greetings!
I am confident our readers will be delighted to receive this issue packed with insights about the important theme of steadfast love. It translates the Hebrew ḥesed. The dot underneath h suggests that we should pronounce it as the guttural fricative [ch]. I once forced my congregation to say the word and reached a compromise. Let’s settle for [ch] as in Christmas or Chanukkah. Hebrew grammarians tell us ḥesed was originally a one-syllable word. Such a tiny term with a gigantic gist!
Our writers guide us how we have come to such a compact and yet wonderful phrase, steadfast love for the Hebrew word virtually impossible to translate into another language. Many would recall the made-up word that the King James Bible chose for translation—lovingkindness. This fall issue of The Living Pulpit blesses our journey of faith as well as the time of our morning devotion when we start the day with hunger for the signs of God’s steadfast love in our daily life.
As simple as it sounds, steadfast love surrounds us. It enables us to dare to love and hope. It is being told in those testimonies of God’s goodness and mercy in the Bible and in the labor of our family and friends who weave the story of kindness. Sometimes, it is manifested in the warmth of those who stop their busy pacing to smile and offer help even without being asked.
Our readers will also detect the joy that our writers have embedded in their reflections on steadfast love. We appreciate our preachers and teachers when they teach us what we should do. Some expand our minds by asking us to think about what God should do. Yet, we are truly grateful for our spiritual guides who help us to witness the wonder of God’s world where love and kindness are found among loved ones as well as among strangers—even with friends and foes.
Our world can be a hurtful place where the covenant of trust is broken and steadfast love is hard to come by. Many modern sages depict our society as driven by the constant weighing of cost and benefit. Some have managed to find love, but from time to time it does not survive the harsh realities of passing moments. On behalf of our publication team, I am eternally indebted to our writers in this issue, who have shown us that God’s covenantal love comes to us as sheer grace and lasts for eternity. This issue drives away despair and empowers us to find love and abide in it.
With prayers of healing through that steadfast love that comes from God and stays in our midst,
Jin H. Han, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
