#deartomorrow ~ a promise to the future
A Christmas Message by Rev. Karen Dickey,
James Bay United Church, as publised in the James Bay Beacon.
I wonder if you’ve visited the Dear Tomorrow website?* It was dreamed up by two women, after one of them found herself writing to her baby daughter, having been aching at the prospect her beloved child growing up in an apocalyptic world. To her surprise, the letter she ended up writing painted this picture of the world she so longed for her daughter to know. It was an utterly unexpected revelation …that her love for her daughter ignited a such different vision of the future. And not only a vision, but a passionate commitment to have a hand in shaping such a future. It was in sharing this experience with her friend, that the two of them launched Dear Tomorrow, an on-line platform that invites anyone and everyone to write to a loved one -- a child, a partner, a grandchild, the world -- a letter that you imagine being opened in 2050. There’s already a multitude of letters on the site with photos attached. The outpouring of honest expression of love and longing there … it is its own transformative experience to visit the site.
At the heart of the Christmas story is the achingly hopeful revelation that we are not left to ourselves to find our way into realizing this longed for vision of the planet thriving, of the creatures of the world finding a way to live hospitably, sustainably, justly. In the birth of Jesus, the Creator of all life comes close … becomes an earthling, revealing God’s fierce love and intention for the world, and Love’s solidarity with the earth and all her inhabitants.
So I’ve come to think of Jesus as God’s Dear Tomorrow letter to us and to the planet, that we could know and trust Love’s power for life is with us … Love’s wisdom is with us, showing us a New Way. We’re in this together -- that’s what’s given to us to celebrate this Christmas. We’re in this together, with the planet and generations yet unborn, and with Mary’s child who reveals that, as earthlings, we too are made for love … made for love, for such a time in our world as this.
This Christmas, check out Dear Tomorrow, the website, and add your own love letter. And while you’re at it, why not write your MP, your MLA and Mayor. They too need to know they’re not alone!
This Christmas, may you be strengthened by Jesus’ challenging and hope-filled way for the sake of those you love and for the sake of our troubled and beautiful planet.
Love letters, Dear Tomorrow Inspires Hope and Action on Climate Change