We want to believe heaven is already here, on earth. In beauty, and nature; in generosity and creativity; and in human goodness that still surprises us in its abundance. But then....we read the headlines, we feel the heartbreak, and we experience the harm - and all of these ideas feel hollow.
So, as Eleanor Shellstrop (from TV's The Good Place) might say....is this the bad place?
And if so, how do we live faithfully here - in what Parker Palmer calls the "tragic gap," between the world as it is and the world as it could be?
These are the questions at the heart of this sermon from Rev. Gretchen.