Our life around the Sojourners office has changed in the past several months. Who would have guessed that a flawed media exit poll question concerning "moral values" would result in more attention to some of our key concerns than we've seen in our lifetimes? The topic of the role of religion in the public square has been a pressing one for pockets of scholars, activists, politicians, and regular citizens for a long time (centuries, really). But it certainly has not been talked about in the United States in such a wide-ranging way for the 30-plus years that Sojourners has existed.
Because of our long experience of living out our faith in the middle of that public square, and the ways that we differ from our Religious Right brothers and sisters in some of our approaches and positions, we have found ourselves in the center of a media frenzy. Editor-in-chief Jim Wallis has appeared on many cable and network TV shows both before and after the election, as well as in print and radio outlets. Especially now when the stakes seem so high and the opportunities are both exhilarating and exhausting, we humbly ask your prayers for faithfulness and wisdom in our work.
In this issue we have an excerpt from Jim's forthcoming book, God's Politics, which talks about new ways citizens could come together to forge a more just and life-giving approach to American politics. Perhaps it can serve as a glimpse of hope and a new beginning for the many in our electorate who are feeling bruised and weary. - The Editors