A Story for Advent (2)

Is it just me or has this past 12 months been a catalogue of one disaster after another - rising consumer prices, shrinking pockets, rising crime rates, waning civil liberties, increasing violence, worsening inter-religious relations, etc. etc.?

So much so that as Advent arrives quietly, marking the beginning of the Christmas season, I find myself torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. The usual suspects run through my head: "Is there anything to celebrate at all?" "How indeed to celebrate?", etc. etc. The "answer" came in this seemingly absurd phrase: "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelations, chapter 21 verse 5). Which didn't really help matters.

Until I found this poem by Ann Weems, who poignantly describes what Christmas really is and the greatest and most important reason why we should all celebrate it - no matter how miserable our lives may be. Indeed it's to such wretched ones that the message of Christmas is most directed to:

Not Celebrate?

Not celebrate?
Your burden is too great to bear?
Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season?
Your tears have no end?
Not celebrate?

You should lead the celebration!
You should run through the streets
to ring the bells and sing the loudest!
You should fling the tinsel on the tree,
and open your house to your neighbors,
and call them in to dance!

For it is you above all others who know the joy of Advent.
It is unto you that a Savior is born this day,
One who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders,
One who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes.
You are not alone,
for He is born this day to you.

Maranatha!
Come Lord Jesus!


Note: Ann Weems is the wife of a Prebyterian minister whose son Todd died less than an hour after his 21st birthday. She has in the following years voiced out her pain in a series of beautiful poems. Her books can be found here and here.

A Story for Advent

It's 27th November 2008. Last week, we marked the end of the Catholic liturgical year with the feast of Christ the King. This weekend marks the 1st Sunday in Advent and the start of a new year in the Church's calendar.

Already, the shopping complexes are busy decorating their malls. People are already talking about making "Christmas plans" and "Christmas shopping". The first sounds of Christmas tunes begin to play in the air.

All the more then, that the story reproduced below may well be worth reading and reflecting upon, during one of the most hectic periods in our lives:

Mary and Martha
by Rev. Henry Ticknor

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley
(note: edited for space).

For most of the people I know, rather than being a time of quiet expectation, the four weeks of advent are filled to the brim with the rush of seasonal activities. There is shopping to be done, the cooking of favorite and traditional foods, decorating the house, the yard, and making the usual round of pre-Christmas parties and social gatherings. This headlong rush lasts through New Years and then there is a collective crash as we hunker down for the dark days of winter.

This season of advent, leading up to Christmas is a time of paradoxical feelings and contrasting emotions. We are excited about the holidays, but all that we are expected to do wears us down. We can feel very sentimental about family traditions; and at the same time we may resent the time and effort required to meet other people’s expectations. Seeing family and friends can be exhilarating; and yet we can also feel pangs of loneliness and despair. The media bombards us with the message that this is a time of love, hope and joy. But the love and joy that the season represents can also be mingled with worry about money, jobs, children and our relationships. Hope can be dashed by the current events. In the end, all the hustle and bustle of this season can leave us emotionally and physically drained.

you won’t find it in any collection of contemporary seasonal writing. In fact, I doubt very much that it appears in any discussion of the Advent season at all and I may be the only person who really thinks this story has anything at all to do with Advent. It comes from the Gospel of Luke and the beginning words may have a familiar ring:

“ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.

But Martha was combuered about much serving, and came to him and said, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.

And Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘Martha, Martha, thou art careful and worried about many things: But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

At this time of year, this season of Advent, I am always reminded of this story of two sisters, of Mary and Martha and I am sure that many of us can relate our own life experience to this story.

Martha is the perfect host. I can imagine her now in her kitchen stirring a pot with a big wooden spoon, her hands and face white from the flour used to bake bread. I can see her moving quickly from pot to pot—the potatoes are boiling over, the meat dish is overdone in the oven, the table still needs to be set and to make matters worse, Mary has invited guests for dinner. So when Martha walks out into the front room looking for some help and support from her sister what is Mary doing? Well, to Martha’s mind she isn’t doing much. Mary is sitting on the floor engaged in conversation with the guests.

I like to think that they are catching up on important events in their lives, sharing stories, possibly even some local gossip. In short, they are talking about the essential matters in life. Issues dealing with faith, hope and love.

Now, I can picture the situation coming to a head as Martha goes barging into the front room wondering why in the world her sister isn’t helping her in the kitchen. But what is interesting here, is that Martha does not direct her remarks to Martha but to Jesus. interesting in this story is that Martha does not direct her anger at Mary, but rather she scolds Jesus. “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” By her words She implies that all this extra work she must do is somehow his fault and in a way she tells him off by saying, “Don’t you care that I am stuck in the kitchen doing everything by myself? Tell Mary to help.”

Now Jesus has apparently attended self-esteem workshops and is well versed in issues around manipulation and triangulation and he quickly realizes that Martha is trying to get him to take sides. And how does he reply?

Martha, Martha, you are too busy with all your cooking and all your preparations—you have too many things on your plate(!)—but Mary has chosen to sit and talk with me. Long after the meal is over, she will carry the memories of this time we spent together. And this is the end of the story. We don’t know whether Martha suddenly realized that Jesus was right, took off her apron and entered into the conversation; or whether she took on a major martyr attitude and slunk back into the kitchen being resentful and feeling sorry for herself.

What an instructive story this is for the weeks leading up to Christmas. How many of us are like Martha—running around trying to decorate the house, wrapping presents in just the perfect gift wrap, writing cards with a personal note in each, and cooking everyone’s favorite foods?

How quickly do we become angry or jealous of those who seem to have found the time to relax, to visit, to talk with one another about their shared hopes, shared dreams and shared visions for what this troubled world might be. How many of us become resentful and feel like we are “stuck” doing all the things no one else will do?

My Christmas wish for this year is that we would all try to behave more like Mary and a little less like Martha. How I wish we could spend more time listening to each other, really listening and hearing the stories of joy, of pain and of discouragement. All too soon even the most elegant meal is leftovers; the beautiful wrapping paper is in the re-cycling. But the time we spend with friends and loved ones—our families and our friends—this time is precious. This is the good portion that can not be taken away.

And in a very real sense this congregation is in a season of waiting, of expectancy, of preparation. We are waiting for the new building that may yet take several months to complete. We are waiting for our future story to begin and to unfold. And just as the advent season is a time of personal reflection over the next several weeks I invite each person here to reflect upon what this church and community means to you.

“If there were no advent,” writes John Taylor, “we would need to invent it". We human creatures, in spite of all that has happened to us and been done by us, are stillhopeful. Something new, something vital, something promising is always coming, and we are always expecting. Thus in Advent candles are lighted to mark the time of preperation, and with each new light our anticipation grows—as it should. We are, after all, a hopeful people.

For the full story, please go here.

I Am God's Dwelling Place

These words came across in a strangely very candid, almost "transparent" kind of way today:

"I am God's dwelling place"

....so goes the opening lines of today's meditation from the Irish Jesuits prayer website - Sacred Space.

Which let a whole range of emotions and memories of past experiences wash over me. When I let them sink a little further, I can just about see how blessed I am, indeed how blessed we all are, how wonderfully made, in God's own image.

But then reality hits in. I find as with many others, that health problems arise as we grow older; financial dilemmas threatening to overwhelm us especially in the light of the current global recession; difficult inter-personal relationships as we discover new people coming into our lives; swimming against the tide with floundering faith in the face of mass deception by the media, elected government and perhaps most disturbingly, within and among the Church itself.

Why is there so much misery today? Within me? Among one another? Among races, between nations?

In the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, there's a song called "Poor Jerusalem" that goes in part like this:

If you knew all that
I knew, my poor Jerusalem,
You'd see the truth, but you close your eyes...
But you close your eyes.

Today's Sacred Space reflection tells us that "Jesus was sorrowful that they did not recognise the visit of God when he came" and more poignantly, ".... He weeps not for the destruction of bricks and mortar, but for the suffering of the people in the city and the destruction of peace".

In the book "Mary, Shadow of Grace" by Megan McKenna, the author tells a delightful story of how we can all be present to one another. It goes something like this:

Once upon a time there was an abbot of a monastery who was very good friends with the rabbi of a local synagogue. It was Europe and times were hard…

The abbot found his community dwindling and the faith life of his monks shallow and lifeless. Life in the monastery was dying. He went to his friend and wept. His friend, the rabbi, comforted him and told him: “There is something you need to know, my brother. We have long known in the Jewish community that the Messiah is one of you.”

“What,” exclaimed the abbot, “the Messiah is one of us? How can that be?”

But the rabbi insisted that it was so, and the abbot went back to his monastery wondering and praying, comforted and excited.

Once back in the monastery, walking down the halls and in the courtyard, he would pass by a monk and wonder if he was the one. Sitting in chapel, praying, he would hear a voice and look intently at a face and wonder if he was the one, and he began to treat all of his brothers with respect, with kindness and awe, with reverence. Soon it became quite noticeable.

One of the other brothers came to him and asked him what had happened to him. After some coaxing, he told him what the rabbi had said. Soon the other monk was looking at his brothers differently and wondering. The word spread through the monastery quickly: The Messiah is one of us. Soon the whole monastery was full of life, worship, kindness and grace. The prayer life was rich and passionate, devoted, and psalms and liturgy and services were alive and vibrant. Soon the surrounding villagers were coming to the services and listening and watching intently, and there were many who wished to join the community.

After their novitiate, when they took their vows, they were told the mystery, the truth that their life was based upon, the source of their strength and life together: The Messiah is one of us. The monastery grew and expanded into house after house, and all of the monks grew in wisdom, age, and grace before the others and the eyes of God. And they say still, if you stumble across this place, where there is life and hope and kindness and graciousness, that the secret is the same: The Messiah is one of us.

Glory to you, Source of all being
Eternal Word and Holy Spirit,
Who dwells in our midst
Both now and forever. Amen.

In other words, we are all God's dwelling places. If we can remember that every now and then in the daily grind of our lives and continue to work for peace and justice, we may yet succeed in building new "Jerusalems" right where we are.

The Brick Prophet!

From Michel Quoist and Jeremiah a reminder of the task each one of us has been entrusted with:

"The brick layer laid a brick on the bed of cement.
Then, with a precise stroke of his trowel, spread another layer
And without a by-your-leave, laid on another brick.
The foundations grew visibly,
The building rose, strong and tall, to shelter men.

I thought, Lord, of that poor brick buried in the darkness
at the base of the big building.
No one sees it, but it accomplishes its task,
and the other bricks need it.
Lord, what difference whether I am on the rooftop
or in the foundations of your building,
as long as I stand at the right place?"
(The Brick - Michel Quoist)


Juxtaposed here with The Call of Jeremiah in the Old Testament:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

(Jeremiah 1:4-10, NIV)

I like the last line in Michel Quoist's prayer: "as long as I stand in the right place". May we then, all of us, blessed and sent, stand tall and strong in our proper places, in all the circumstances of our lives, living our call, whatever it may be.

Be Awake!

It's so darned difficult - to have to crawl out of bed at 6 am - especially when its cold and dark outside. The mind screams silently to snuggle back into the warm comforts of my bed but the alarm clock and the realities of a new day keeps telling me otherwise - Get up! Awake!

And so, begins the reluctant daily routine of most days - stumbling out of bed in the dark, feeling the cold floor beneath my feet and making my way to the living room to where the altar is. "One small step for man - One giant leap for mankind" - not!

As has been a ritual for a few years now, I light up the tea candles on the altar. Their soft light throws an ambient glow in welcoming the morning. I open the large sliding doors to the balcony. I watch the shadows of the night pass away with the coming of the dawn of a new day. It's a reluctant process, yet, a necessary one. To get out of dreams of the night and to step into the waking hours of the new day just dawning.

Which is all fine and good, but the truth is that modern life can be very unnerving, unfair and difficult for me and I suspect for most of us. I"d rather not be faced with the "truth" because truth hurts. It's painful, even though I know it is necessary for growth. So, unable and unwilling to face the hard facts of life, I choose to close my mind and instead let myself be led by gutter minds that spew out garbage at worse and which keep me forever sedated at best.

It's so contrasting with what Luke is saying in his epistle, chapter 12, verses 35-38 today:
"Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit" (v.35)

The Christian Community Bible commentary tells of "being wide-awake; to be concerned about tomorrow's world; being aware of the truth" (pg.153 - New Testament).

"Truth? What is that?" - a chilling reminder of Pilate's own words. Well, Aljazeera this morning hit me with these realities:

"Post-election violence in Kenya included rape"
"Wall Street gripped by uncertainty"
"UN warns of soaring unemployment"

While in the land of Truly Asia, as reported by Malaysiakini, it was business as usual:

"Internal Security Act - for I Simply Arrest",
"More graft", and
"Emergency motion on new Chief Justice rejected"

Pretty bleak news - right at the break of dawn. If my interpretation of Luke is at least half accurate, it's this - that he exhorts us to work, stay awake and carry out our mission. In other words, however depressing the world may be, however difficult the circumstances of our lives are, we are called to go above and beyond ourselves, but with God's help.

We have a duty to find out. We have a duty to seek the truth. We have a right to seek justice, freedom of information and genuine peace, in our land and in the world. That's clear. That's the mandate. That's OUR mission. Not someone else. Not just the government of the day. Not the next door neighbour even though he or she may well be the state councilor or member of Parliament!.

For, as the following words by Mother Teresa reassure us: “God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful”, even as Oscar Romero, the late archbishop of San Salvador reminds us that "We are the workers not the master builder. Ministers not Messiahs. We are the prophets of a future not our own. Amen."

Startling words. Scary even. "Workers, Ministers and Prophets. Of a future not our own." But, when I let those words sink in, it becomes a little clearer. Could that be another way of saying "Priests, Prophets and Kings" - our very own baptismal promises? I would like to think so.

If that's true, then we are here not merely for ourselves but for all those who are here with us now, for all those who come after us - our children and their children. For the nature that surrounds us and its environment. For our nation and all nations under heaven.

We cannot just remain anonymous, following the crowd, playing the safe game. Because eventually, just like fool's gold, that road will only lead us to destruction. And worse, the destruction of all that we care about and all that really matters.

I'm thinking of putting up a sign up in my room - "Worker, Minister, Prophet - Of a future not my own", just to remind me, every now and then.

Here's a little "gift": Get your own free pdf copy of Romero's book "The Violence of Love" from Plough books.

Human Trafficking

I was switching channels back and forth on my Astro remote control last Saturday night, the 4th of October, when up popped this movie on the Hallmark Channel 702, with this disturbing title: "Human Trafficking".

The 2005 tele-movie starring Mia Sorvino and Donald Sutherland is a composite story of a 16 year old Ukrainian girl, a single mother from Russia, an orphan from Romania and others who are caught in the ruthless web of human trafficking and sold as sex slaves in various parts of the world.

What I saw was enough to disturb my sleep that night. I was alternating between feeling raging anger against the perpetrators and utter helplessness for the victims. Until I figured I could rant and rave all day long and it wouldn't change a thing. Except raise my blood pressure even higher. So, I did some "research" and found out things I was maybe just vaguely aware of at best, and totally ignorant at worst. This is what I found, thanks mainly to Google and another local blogger, Miss Crankshaft.

Read the sheer extent of the misery brought on by human trafficking by clicking on the following link:

• Human Trafficking.Org
  

Malaysia isn't spared either. According to one country report, Malaysia is NOT only a destination country but also a source country for human trafficking. It is purpotedly controlled by organised crime syndicates. Now, does this mean that the many children who have gone missing in Malaysia end up like these unfortunate ones too? Like Sharlinie, aged 5, who went missing in January this year, and who has still not been found. Or has something even worse happened to them? Are they still alive even, given the circumstances? It's terribly shocking and numbing.

Tenaganita, the local NGO championing the rights of women in the country highlights this in detail on its webpage.

Watch this You Tube video by Free The Slaves.net

Co-incidentally, the gospel (the Good News) for 6th October was Luke 10:25-37, about the Good Samaritan. We can draw parallels between this biblical parable and real life situations like human trafficking. There is so much misery that is going on all around us while we go about our daily routine, mostly oblivious to us. Is it because we are too caught up with our own life situations? Is it because we are cocooned within our own comfort zones? Is it because we think this sort of thing doesn't happen around us? Is it because this sort of thing will somehow "defile" us?

Both the parable of the Good Samaritan and the news contained in the websites mentioned above testify to the stark reality this is indeed the kind of world we are living in today. The sad truth is that, however we may want to avoid it, evil is right here among us, in front of us, behind us. Like what one character in the movie mentioned: "the next victim could be your own mother, sister or daughter."

Hallmark may have reminded us of that reality. The Gospel may have pointed out what we we can choose to do or not in a given situation. We have been informed. What we do with it or not is our decision.

For comprehensive action plans and information on human trafficking and how you can help, go here.

"It is impossible to help another without helping yourself, or to harm another without harming yourself" - Anthony de Mello, in "the Prayer of the Frog".

Prayer and Fasting For India

This might be a bit late, but still better late than never:

YWAM (Youth With A Mission), an international movement of Christians from different denominations, is calling its 17,000 workers worldwide to join in three days of prayer and fasting from the 29th September till 1st October 2008 for the church in India as it continues to face violent attacks .

For more information on YWAM and its mission, click here and here.

Meanwhile, the executive body of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, has expressed its utter disappointment with the relevant authorities after a meeting in Bangalore last Friday, the 26the of September.

Maybe we could initiate the same wherever we are, in solidarity not only with the persecuted in India, but also for all victims of religious violence irrespective of their faith, wherever it may be happening even as we pray for those in India. Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". So, if we are not going down that path, what can we do then? We could go the opposite way and try - peacemaking.

The Catholic site New Advent gives a brief explanation for the term "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God."

Christianity Today offers more explanations on the term here, and you can find a detailed article by the Brethren Revival Fellowship here.

Listen to the One Song - A Song For World Peace and Togetherness here at You Tube. It's only 3 minutes long, and comes with a catchy melody and beautiful graphics.