Peace on earth, and good will to all

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12 (NIV)

God pours Himself out to create, subjecting his might to the vagaries of Existence. It is precisely this outpouring that we know in and as the Christ: The Eternal, unmarred by the passage of time, entering the realm of dying and becoming. And it is in this outpouring that the Holy One makes Himself known as Love. The infinite, silent Mystery: revealed within Creation.

Becoming adopted

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 

Galatians 4:4-5

Sometimes, we who are frightened and weighed down upon by the inexorable truths of life--pain and death, greed and callousness--catch a glimpse of love that comes from beyond, from the very depths: and we discover the possibility of home.

"White lives matter!"

Did I get your attention with that headline? Good. For in the recent torrent of news on racially charged police violence, attention withers quickly, and weary spectators retreat to one side or another of the opinion divide, or of the racial chasm.

But this headline, the color inverse of the slogan used by Ferguson protesters, has the potential to cut across that divide. For it invites us ("us" as in: White people, the stock population of the mainline church) to imagine race relations were reversed, and to walk in other shoes for a little while.

What did you feel when you read the post title? Did you feel dismayed? Offended? Or maybe satisfied that someone turned the tables? Whichever it was, don't judge it. That's your state of affairs, your angle of view right now. But now, let's try something different.

One quality of Jesus that we talk too little about is his compassion. His ability to be moved beyond words by suffering, moved in his innermost being. He literally felt with (com-pati) others. We, curved in unto ourselves, must practice this ability. So let's practice.

If you are White like me, I ask you to do this. Go on a little imaginary journey. Imagine an American society where race relations are reversed. Where White people are in the minority, and Black police officers exert deadly force on them in larger proportions than on Black citizens. 

Put detail into your fantasy. Paint it in stark, graphic colors. Imagine a White teenager followed around, approached, and shot by a Black vigilante. Or a White father of six dying after being put in a chokehold by a Black officer. Try to imagine a world in which YOU had no meaningful choice but to take to the streets, with thousands of others, and to shout "White lives matter!"

What would a society look like that compelled you to use these words? How would you feel about your place in that society, about your worth as a White person? How would this world feel to you?

I can say for my part that even the attempt at imagining such a society made me feel scared, oppressed, suffocated. Wanting to scream.

Whatever the outcome of the judicial processes may be, whatever we may think or feel about the protests, we must never forget that there is a reality experienced by the people we see on the news that is quite different from the reality we experience. There is a reason, or rather a multitude of reasons, why people take to the streets.

Prayer: Lord, may our encounter with the suffering of those we view as "other" change our hearts. 

Advent: unveiling of the light

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this one was in the beginning with God; all things through him did happen, and without him happened not even one thing that hath happened. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light in the darkness did shine, and the darkness did not perceive it.

John 1, Young's Literal Translation

As we have entered Advent season, let us remember that the coming of the Christ is not so much the entering of a new light into the world as it is the unveiling of a light that has always been with us. The darkness around us becomes transparent and its inner glow, eternally visible to the heart alone, endows us with the possibility of love.

I'm back, and listening

I've been away from this blog for too long now, and I have to accept the reality that I won't ever get to that promised third part of "Evolution and original sin"... I got too busy and there seems to be no end to that. In a nutshell, that third part would have been about the parallels between the idea that there is a brokenness inherent in the ways we live life, and the notion that we treat the earth as something to exploit. I leave that thought for you to explore...

In the meantime, I led worship again at our beloved little UCC community, and I took over webmastership of our site, so now I post my sermons on there, rather than here on the blog. Check out my most recent sermon here and have a look at the posts that I sprinkle the site with irregularly. 

I also attended an "Academy for Leaders" retreat run by the Center for Courage and Renewal, who base their work on the Quaker tradition. That was sort of my treat after finishing my PhD and reorienting myself. Part of what we did over there was deep listening to one another. And I realized that there is an affinity between listening to others and listening to the Eternal Silence we call God in prayer and meditation. That insight sparked a poem.

Listening

A new realm, brimming with sparks, with stars
Encircling our beings in the deep.

Us, but moving dots on lesser days
Now joining the Eternal.

Have you experienced listening as a sacred exercise? Maybe as you found yourself attending to God's voice in the silence, or as someone shared their deepest selves with you? You are invited to relate your experience below--I'm listening.