A third way?

I was listening to NPR yesterday during the noon hour, which is when our local station (KIOS-FM, Omaha, NE) broadcast the program, City Arts and Lectures.  I didn't listen to the entire program yesterday, but what I heard intrigued me.

The two people on the show were Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik.  I'd not heard of either of them before, but they apparently are good friends and also do a lot of conversation-type programs together.  During the course of this particular conversation of theirs, Mr. Gladwell was talking about a new idea on which he was working.  He is Jewish,as is Mr. Gopnik, and they were talking about people who historically have been oppressed over the centuries.  He said that groups generally respond to oppression in one of two ways - they either get stronger, or they get smarter and more devious.  In other words, when people are oppressed they tend to decide that they will put all their efforts into becoming so strong that no one ever will be able to oppress them again, or else they put all their efforts into becoming so smart that they will be able to outwit their oppressors every time.  His examples were Israel and African-Americans.  Israel decided to build a military so strong that neither the likes of Hitler nor radical Arabs would take them down again.  African-Americans decided to outsmart their slave owners by developing an underground system of learning, songs, art, and traditions that allowed them to free their minds and spirits, even though their bodies were still enslaved.  Now, although I'm intrigued by his proposition, I don't completely accept his analyses here.  But that's for another conversation, perhaps.

What did intrigue me, though, is what he next said.  He shared that he's been reflecting on this for a while, and he's found himself going back to his experiences in Ontario, Canada where he was a Jewish boy raised in a predominantly Mennonite community.  He vividly remembers seeing a 10-year-old boy who was riding his bike and went out into the street between two cars.  He was struck by a car going down that street, driven by a teenage boy.  The child was critically injured, and ultimately died the next day.  What Gladwell so movingly remembers is seeing the mother of the young boy, who was a Mennonite, coming on to the scene, seeing what had happened.  She immediately ran over to the police car, where the teenager was in handcuffs in the backseat, and pleaded with the officer, "Take care of that boy!  Please take care of that boy!"  Naturally assuming that the distraught woman was asking about her son, the officer said that her boy was in the ambulance, and would be taken to the hospital where everything possible would be done for him. The woman shook her head and then said, "No, take care of the boy in your back seat.  He's got such a heavy burden to carry now.  Make sure he's treated well."  Gladwell had a hard time relating that story, saying he tears up every time he remembers it.

What Gladwell has been reflecting on from this is that there perhaps is a third way that people respond to oppression.  He said that, like both Jews and Africans, Mennonites historically have been an oppressed people.  However, instead of responding to oppression by either striving to become stronger or smarter, Mennonites have chosen to forgive and to move on in their lives.  Instead of saying to their oppressors, "I'm going to be strong so I can beat you," or "I'm going to become smart and outwit you," Mennonites have chosen to say, "I'm going to forgive you, and then go on with my life."

We Christians routinely, regularly, sometimes daily ask God:  "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."  For us, Gladwell's "third way" of responding to oppression - or responding to anyone who has hurt us or wronged us or mistreated those we love - should always begin with forgiveness.  To be sure, our "moving on" with our lives should often involve other responses as well, but it seems that Jesus taught us that we should begin - must begin - with forgiveness, with compassion, with love.

For us, this "third way" ought to be our first way.

Christmas morning

CHRISTMAS DAY                                                Luke 2:40

Jesus,

whose birth we celebrated last night,

did not stay a child forever.

He grew up,

found favor with God,

touched the lives of others.

He touched so many --

the lame,

the blind,

the outcasts,

those whom no one else would love,

those who could not love themselves.

He reached out

and touched them all . . .

healing,

caring,

loving,

accepting.

The baby Jesus grew up;

walked through the sands of Israel,

walked through the times of history,

walks right into our hearts.

The wonder of Christmas morning is that

the Life we celebrate

lives on -- here and now --

                     and will lead us safely into God’s eternity.

Great and wonderful God:

We thank you for the Gift you have given us in Jesus Christ our Lord.  We thank you that your Gift to us will never get broken, or lost, or have to be returned.  Help us live every day as if it were filled with the wonder of Christmas morning, for Christ is truly with us.  AMEN!

Christmas Eve

CHRISTMAS EVE                                       Habakkuk 2:20

Christmas Eve . . .

holy quietness.

Even the animals are hushed,

watching in awe

the divine story unfold

before their eyes.

Quietness,

but not restfulness.

Labor is happening here:

struggle,

pain,

blood and sweat.

The world is stilled,

holding its breath

until the Divine Son breathes.

At last!

The cry is heard!

Relief,

joy,

tears,

laughter,

thanksgiving!

Joy of joys!

Wonder of wonders!

What creation has long awaited

is there in the Manger,

              is here in our hearts!

God:

Thank you for this most holy of all nights of the year, for this time in which hope and joy and promises seem close at hand.  Thank you for your love which is born anew within us this night; in the name of Jesus, the Christ Child, we pray.  Amen.

4th Monday of Advent

4th week in Advent -- Monday                     Matthew 2:10-12

                                    The Wise Men

Astrologers, of all people!  Astrologers were the first foreigners to visit Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.  Whatever was God thinking?  Didn’t God remember that we are told not to dabble in such things?

And yet the Wise Men -- those holy men from the East -- have been remembered for the lavish gifts they gave to the Holy Family, gifts which most likely subsidized the Trio when they fled to Egypt for protection from Herod’s madness.  Why are the Wise Men so remembered in our Advent/Christmas stories?

The Wise Men were signs of two things.  First, God’s ways can be made plainly visible even to the “pagans” in our world.  Indeed, the whole of creation reflects God’s glory.  Second, the coming of the Messiah would not just affect Jews, the chosen people.  Even us Gentiles would be welcomed in God’s holiest act of redemption.

So, the Wise Men were there, to represent us, to give their most precious gifts to Christ.  What gifts do we bring to the Manger in our hearts?

O God:

Like the little drummer boy, we sometimes feel as if we don’t have a gift good enough to bring to the Christ Child.  Help us to find within us the gifts you have given us, and then help us to return them to you with joy, gratitude, and gladness; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray.  Amen.

3rd Saturday of Advent

3rd week in Advent -- Saturday                        Matthew 2:1-9

                                         The Star

It was a star,

just like any other.

Countless thousands fill the night sky.

And yet . . .

this star was different.

It glowed.

It shone brighter.

It beckoned, this beacon of

divine light.

It called,

invited,

demanded attention.

But where did it lead?

Or to Whom?

To this child,

crying in the cool night.

This child, focus of the shining beam

that split the night’s darkness

and breathed hope into humanity

once again!

O Lord:

You constantly put signs of your love in the dark recesses of our world.  For those signs around us and within us we offer our thanks; in Christ’s name.  Amen.

3rd Friday of Advent

3rd week in Advent -- Friday                                 Luke 2:1-7

                                    The Innkeeper

Alas, the poor Innkeeper.  This hardworking businessman always seems to get the short end in the re-telling of The Story, doesn=t he?

AAh, the Innkeeper,@ people say with a sneer, with a tone of barely concealed contempt.  ASo busy, so taken with his paying customers that he hardly gives second thought to the woman in labor and the husband concerned for his wife and soon-to-be child!@  If this were a silent movie, we would hear the Avillain music@ as the Innkeeper enters the scene.

What were his motives?  What was going on in his head that Star-filled night?  Was he a cruel man, hardened by years of being ripped off by con artists Ain need?@  Was he just too busy, or too greedy to care?  Was he a kind and benevolent man who was really troubled by his ANo Vacancy@ sign?  Whatever the situation, whatever his insides said, at least credit the man for figuring out some way to help.  He may have helped out of compassion, or perhaps only begrudgingly.  But the point is clear . . . he helped!

Despite the fickle nature of our feelings, may we help those in need at least as much as did that Innkeeper.

O God:

We sometimes serve you with joy and gladness.  Other times we serve you because we know we Ashould,@ even though we might not feel like it!  Help us to remember that your love for us doesn=t just come to us when we feel we deserve it, but it comes to us always.  In the same way, help us to remember to serve you, even when we don=t feel like it; in Jesus= name we pray.  Amen.

3rd Thursday of Advent

3rd week in Advent -- Thursday                   Matthew 1:18-24

                                          Joseph

Joseph . . . Contrary to the place that Mary has firmly etched in history, Joseph has been relegated to oblivion; forgotten, except as a figure needed to make the Nativity Set look complete.

This rough-hewn carpenter must not have had an easy role to fill.  He married a girl perhaps half or a third his age.  She soon announces that she’s pregnant!  What does he do?  What are his options?  He could publicly humiliate her by breaking their engagement.  He could have dragged her through the streets and had her stoned to death for her presumed infidelity.

But he chose instead to believe her.  Moreover, he chose, despite all human symbols to the contrary, to believe God.  His trust in God’s mysterious ways of working is a patient quality of faith that we all could use in our lives.

O Lord:

We sometimes think that, unless we are “important” in the eyes of those around us, we cannot serve you as we should.  Help us to remember the “Josephs” in our world -- all of the people who serve you, who trust you, who follow you without thought for what anyone else will say or do or remember; in Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.