In my work as a pastor, many of the pastoral questions I am asked center around, one way or another, how God interacts with the world. I find these moments to be this incredible intersection of providing both comfort and challenge.

This morning, Kelly Gissendaner is still alive, having her execution delayed late last night due to the drug that would be used to put her death being a bit cloudy.This is the second time her execution has been delayed because of some strange event, last week being delayed by an impending winter storm.  Dr. King once wrote that ‘the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice.”  I don’t want to suggest that God directly causes winter storms or cloudy drugs, but I do wonder if the Holy is seeking our attention. Perhaps the Holy one is giving humanity one more chance to get it right.

The Bible is full of conversion stories, living breathing example of what Jesus proclaimed after a visit with a Chief Roman Tax Collector Zaccheaus, “today salvation has come to this house.” Perhaps Kelly’s conversion story is not just about her, but about us. Does salvation come when we quit mistaking vengeance for justice? By all accounts, God is not finished with Kelly, nor is God finished using Kelly as a vessel through which hope is found. By all accounts, God is not finished with us, not finished with shaping us collectively into the people we are called to be. We have another chance- I hope and pray we get it right.