Letter from the Editor-in-Chief
Greetings in the precious name of the Lord!
Our spring offering of 2015 brings together articles written by scholars and practitioners whose work can be nicely summed up as that of bridge-building. This theme is in line with the kind of service rendered for the reign of God by preachers of local churches, facilitators of lay empowerment, and others who are engaged in specialized ministries in our multifaceted society. Our contributors to this issue may appear to be realists when they shed light on challenges that abound. Their key points, however, underscore that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through [God] who loved us” (Rom 8:37). We at The Living Pulpit are thankful for their labor of love that helps us find our future filled with more opportunities than we presumed previously.
Our authors invite us to look beyond where we are located, so that we may discern the role of our believing communities in bridging the gap and promoting healing and reconciliation. They challenge us to be surprised by the other side of the world that may be foreign to us but is translucently filled with grace. Their evangelic thrust may be illustrated by a scene at the portal of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg in Alsace, France. Whereas many medieval cathedrals depict allegorically Ecclesia as a vibrant young woman in contrast to Synagoga, a defeated figure, modern art historians highlight that Synagoga of Strasbourg exudes striking beauty. Although not free of polemics, some medieval artists evidently had a good appreciation of the spiritual richness that the so-called others had as God’s people. After all, Judaism and Christianity are siblings, as engagingly presented in Alan F. Segal’s book, Rebecca’s Children (1986).
Our busy modernity is not always conducive to pausing to dwell on what the dominant discourses of our times may have missed. This new issue on bridge-building also helps me see what I would not have been able see otherwise. I can perhaps illustrate it with my recent re-encounter with a page of the fifteenth century illuminated manuscript of Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi (folio 224v). The painting, patently Flemish, portrays Christ teaching his twelve disciples. Some raise their hands, and others are piously kneeling. The scene features a bridge extending to the right. I do not doubt that the artist thought of the bridge as one of the typical structures of a city along with houses, a cupola, and a moat; however, I am struck by the artist having placed as many as four disciples on the bridge. They may be coming over into Christ’s teaching realm from elsewhere. They may soon cross the bridge yet again to the other side to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ there, too.
We too may find ourselves on a bridge we and others have built. Upon crossing, we may enter the space that had been separated from us. Our authors remind us that there are a lot of bridges yet to be built. It is time to get busy.
Jin H. Han
Editor in Chief
