One of the great loves of my life is music. As the adage goes, “When one sings, they pray twice.” As a young adult, I played my guitar and wrote a few songs. It was then that I discovered the music of The Dameans.

They were a group of Catholic seminarians who had beautiful music. One of my favorite songs by the Dameans was “A Time Will Come for Singing.” This song puts music to the hope presented in Isaiah. It talks about an idyllic time when sorrow and tears are gone, when healing and peace abound. It continues by painting a picture of a time when hatred is no longer present, when Love, true Agape, is the tangible witness to a new era.

In the year that he died, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. compared the world to a global house. He quoted an author’s idea for a novel where a widely separated family inherited a home in which they all had to learn to live together.

King said, “This is the great new problem of (human) kind. We’ve inherited a large house, a great “world house” in which we have to live together—black and white, Eastern and Western, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu—a family…separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.”

This task may seem almost impossible. And yet, the words of Isaiah echo this vision of a Global Community living in Peace and living out Agape care for neighbor—a time when God will reign not only in our hearts but also in our world. Yet, the thought of working towards world peace and authentic Love for Neighbor may seem overwhelming, if not impossible.

And we may want to throw in the towel and give up altogether. But Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God…” As a child of God, I am called to work for peace and work towards adding grace and mercy to our world. I am called to participate in the activities of peacemaking, and I find it helpful to focus my energy on my corner of the world, my local community.

That is why I am excited to be part of a community initiative we are calling “Cultivating Community; Growing Connections.” This is a quarterly gathering of community people eating lunch together and creating space for respectful conversations to build up the Woodland community.

We had our second gathering on January 29, 2025. It was a wonderful gathering of diverse community leaders. Many thanks to Chief Ryan Kinnan of the police department, who graciously hosted the luncheon. We spent an hour sharing our hopes and dreams for Woodland.

We began the process of strengthening our community through conversation and shared dreams, building the cornerstone for future conversations. Our hope is to break down the silos of isolation that have been built up over the years and have people reconnecting to foster new and renewed relationships. We hope to hold another gathering in April. If you are interested in being part of this gathering, please let me know.

By Pr. Louise Britts | American Lutheran Church