Empire Remixed

One voice says that we live in the shadow of empire. Another voice points out that we live in the shadow of no towers.

Where are we really, and what are we to do?

One might claim that we need to tear the walls down. Another might claim that we have no business acting on such a grand scale. And yet, in the midst of this all, in the midst of our culture, we hear a new song. A new sound.

And as we listen, a question: Will the walls of this empire come creaking, crashing, tumbling down – or will they come back, remixed, with a completely different sound?

These are the thoughts that moved us one Tuesday morning in November when this lamp illuminated our office, fresh cups of coffee in-hand. Fair-trade coffee, a small worshiping community, and an idea.

You see, we find ourselves living in the midst of empire, and yet desire something more. Something different. Something worthy of hope.

What might the empire look like remixed?

And then, one simple thought. One simple word. Basilea. The word used to describe the empire of old, seen with different eyes, heard with different ears, is also the word for the Kingdom of God. Two competing definitions. Two competing visions.

Even in the midst of the most dire circumstances, even in the shadow of a dominating, domineering culture, Jesus called his disciples, called all people to bear in their own life God's gift of peace for the life of the world. Here we must not only proclaim the kingdom but bear in our own lives the kingdom's presence.

Thought becomes dream becomes reality.

This is where we find ourselves today – living the dream, living the story, even here, today, in Toronto. Here, today, in Toronto, we'd like to know: what might our city, what might our culture, what might our nation look like with God's kingdom come?

These are the questions we choose to ask. Perhaps the answers won't come easily, but we propose to struggle with them all the same.