Epiphany

Epiphany
January 2, 2005

"Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth... but upon you the LORD shines (Isaiah 60:1-6) ... the Gentiles are coheirs, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus.... (Ephesians 3: 2-6) They were overjoyed at seeing the star... then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Matthew 2:1-12)

The Gospel tells the Christmas story of the discovery of the Messiah by the Gentile world, represented by the Magi from foreign lands in "the east". Part of ancient wisdom was understanding of heavenly bodies believed to contain powerful spirits controlling their movements as well as events on earth -- the "science" of ancient times and the "astrology" of today. The appearance of the star (a comet?) leads them to recognize an even deeper wisdom, the fulfillment of Israel's prophetic longings for the Messiah. For Eastern Christians this is the fullness of Christmas, the Messiah revealed to everyone on earth.

The metaphor of the star has been hovering over me for the last several days. My children were with us for the Christmas weekend. They all take their turns helping out with the routines of caregiving for me: putting food in my mouth almost on demand, massaging my hands and feet periodically throughout the day, transferring me from wheelchair to bed in the evening. Once again my little four-year-old granddaughter set the tone by spontaneously coming up to me, taking one of my fingers in her hand and massaging it, while carrying on running conversations about when our next dose of chocolate is going to be. In addition my regular crew of caregivers, family and friends -- all of them "family" really --coming in on a daily basis to make their contributions to our well-being. Amazingly, they tell us how much it means to them to be part of this circle of love and care. Even beyond those who can provide physical help are the hundreds who care about us from a distance in thought and prayer. A friend who has devoted his life to research into the causes and treatment of ALS commented to me this past week that he thought this might be the primary reason for my ability to continue live meaningfully and productively. All these people are my "stars", the living embodiments of the light of Emanuel. We open our treasures of ourselves to each other and receive back infinitely more than we give.

How is the Messiah made known in our small worlds? The story of the Magi invites us to reflect upon our own hopes and dreams, for light in darkness, for wisdom and truth in confusion, for the presence of the Most High in our lives. What transformations of life and attitude will occur in this new year, this new age of light? The waiting is over. Emanuel is here among us now, revealed in the faces, hands and hearts of those who treat us with respect and gentleness.

The Holy Family

The Holy Family
December 26, 2004

"Wives, be subordinate to your husbands...Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything...Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged." (Colossians 3: 12-21)

The day after Christmas, Sirach (3:2-6,12-14) and St. Paul offer advice about parental relationships and the gospel (Matthew 2:13-23) tells the story of Jesus' parents fleeing to protect him from danger. St. Paul's advice is a radical departure from the practice of his own day in which women and children had absolutely no legal or perceived moral right to protection from abuse or injustice from husbands and fathers. But here are the beginnings of an idea of reciprocity in the family relationship. Men have as much responsibility for the relationship as women. In a similar way fathers have as much responsibility, if not more, to treat their children well as children do to be respectful. Even a literal reading of this passage would not yield any justification for men to act in autocratic or authoritarian ways. Our family relationships would instead imitate the respect with which Emanuel lives with us based on love and mutual respect. Above all parents have a solemn obligation to do everything in their power to ensure their children's physical, emotional and spiritual safety. This is practical, everyday living in the true "Spirit of Christmas".

In spite of this ideal of family life, far too many of us have at some point in our lives experienced physical, sexual and emotional/spiritual abuse by spouses, parents, other family members, and people in spiritual authority. These people know uniquely what profound and lifelong pain, shame and isolation this causes. It is very difficult for those of us who have not experienced this to understand how permanently devastating this kind of abuse can be. We naturally want to defend ourselves from this reality, and thus often end up defending the perpetrator and blaming the victims. No one wants to believe that someone we trusted has betrayed us. Statements we make about victim's motives ("they are just after the money") without knowing anything about the situation only make things worse perpetuating victims' sense of isolation and desperation. They know the truth but cannot tell it, and so continue to blame themselves, and the cycle of abuse goes on.

Jesus' parents did everything possible to protect their child and thereby have become a model for family life. If we are to imitate this model, we must learn to believe each other when we are told that vulnerable people, children and adults, are being endangered. Our families and our church communities cannot afford to do otherwise if we wish to follow the divine commandments to love one another and seek the truth.

Fourth Sunday Advent

Fourth Sunday Advent
December 19, 2004

"The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emanuel. (Isaiah 7: 10-14) ... the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid... they shall name him Emanuel which means "God is with us" (Matthew 1:18-24)

The Messiah is given the royal lineage of David and names (especially, "God is with us") which describe the wonders that will accompany his appearance in history:. The kingdom of God is about to become a reality only through the explicit cooperation of ordinary but extraordinary human beings.
Our tradition of faith, has always affirmed the importance of the human factor in bringing about the realization of ancient hopes for a change in the "rules of the game". The prophet and the gospel both announce that God is no longer far removed from us by some barrier of time and space. The Messiah is much more than we would ever have had reason to expect. He is the one who brings together heaven and earth, divine and human for every single individual who ever lived or will live. Perhaps "being saved", rather than "going to heaven", is to never again be far from God, regardless of who we are or what we do or don't do. Our God is the God who is always with us.
Joseph has a moral and ethical dilemma. Should he "put aside" his commitment to marry this woman who is pregnant? The answer comes to him in a dream when he is sleeping, "thinking" about it with another part of his brain more receptive to the ways of God. Joseph's, just as Mary's, acceptance might provide a metaphor for our own efforts to accept the mysterious ways of God, often revealed in times of crisis. The God who is with us often comes in darkness and unknowing as well as light and consciousness.
This past week in a conversation with an old friend, we discussed our mutual 60-something tendency to think that there was nothing left to be optimistic about. After lamenting the loss of the intellectual and theological tradition in which we were raised, apparently lost to this generation, we realized that what God has done with our lives, our children, indeed all humanity, can never be lost. Although not explicitly recognizing this as the result of God being with us, this is exactly what keeps us optimistic about the future. Not that life on earth has become any more or less unpredictable, violent and dangerous than it ever was. We need to remind each other that nothing good, true and beautiful is ever lost, despite appearances to the contrary. This could be one of the results of the coming of the Messiah into our personal and corporate lives.

Blessed be God, blessed be God's holy name.

Third Sunday Advent

Third Sunday Advent
December 12, 2004

"Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! ... then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing." (Isaiah 35: 1-10). "You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand... " (James 5: 7-10) "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?" (Matthew 11: 2-11)
The prophet has a vision of the messianic time when we will be strengthened and healed in body and spirit. St. James advises us to be patient and courageous. Jesus praises John the Baptist's strength and recognition that the age of the Messiah is at hand.
The prophet's promise to the lame and the mute is that we will be not just walking and talking, but leaping and singing very soon. For all of us, especially for my friends with degenerative diseases and chronic mental and spiritual afflictions, this is a promise which we almost dare not consider out of fear that our hopes will be let down. It is nearly too much to consider and yet here is the promise that it will be so. Our trust really is all or nothing. Either it is true and it will happen, or we are doomed. No wonder faith is challenging and difficult.
Jesus asks his followers what they were expecting when they went out to the desert looking for John. No doubt, laying eyes on this radical, fanatical prophet of the imminent coming of this new age, they were surprised by his words and appearance. His greatness certainly was not in his appearance. It was that he recognized in Jesus the Son of Man, the promised one. What are we hoping to see when we go looking for the Messiah? Jesus, the rabbi, reverses our expectations: "the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. The forgotten, emotionally unstable, spiritually homeless and hopeless are God's favorites. The great, the powerful, the holy, the successful, the intelligent, the beautiful, will have to go to the back of the bus in the Kingdom.
There is an emphasis on courage in these passages. I have been told that I must be a courageous person. This is not so, if what it is taken to mean is that I'm not afraid. It has often been pointed out by those who have been in the terror and chaos of war that anyone who is not afraid is either a fool or a liar. We act with courage when we go ahead in spite of our fear and dread. Neither have I ever been renowned for my patience. Like most of us, I want this age of universal peace and healing right now. Christians and Jews of Jesus' time were sure that the messianic age would happen in their lifetimes. Here we are still waiting and knowing that it is coming soon, but in God's time. As Jesus words about John the Baptist suggest, this hope for a new world is not for the faint of heart, and yet it is precisely for the faint of heart. It is not for the impatient, and yet our impatience may help to bring it about.
I continue to count on and delight in our circle of mutual support, prayer and encouragement while we wait for and work toward the New Age.