The Way of Mary: Joy

 

Good Monday morning, good Advent pilgrims on The Way of Mary. Today is the 7th Day of the O Antiphons. O Emmanuel: O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:come to save us, Lord our God!

Sr. Joan Chittister has some wonderful thoughts and prayers on the Antiphon:

"Jesus Emmanuel has already come. It is not a matter now of Christ’s being where we are; it is a matter of our being in the consciousness of where Christ is in life and where He is not as well. Where is Christ for you? Is there a place in your life that you know down deep is not in the spirit of Christ at all?" https://www.eriebenedictines.org/

I love that meditation the most, I think. Christ has already come. We are celebrating the coming of Christ, the fact that Christ has come and is with us in the newborn child named Jesus, first of his name, breaker of chains, maker of miracles, challenger of tradition, son of Mary and Joseph, Palestinians from the House of David, born in Bethlehem, who lived in Nazareth.

Emmanuel means God with us. Think about that for a minute. It really does help to put things into better perspective.

Christmas is about being in the consciousness of where Christ is in life and where he is not.

The question of Christmas is not what to buy for whom or what you might get for Christmas. The question of Christmas is where Christ is and where Christ is not in your life.

And note, please, that now, we are talking about Christ, not Jesus, per se. We are talking about the spirit of the Resurrected Jesus, which is The Messiah, the Christ.

Game changer.

So, as I walk The Way of Mary, the word for me, today, is JOY.

I found this quote from Brene Brown in her book, The Gifts of Imperfection:

“Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments. . . . A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable. I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude, inspiration, and faith.

Because true joy—biblical joy—does not sweep tensions under the rug. It tolerates doubt and sadness; fear and loss. It is a celebration of God’s presence with us, even—especially—in the darkest of days.”

One of the places on that string of twinkle lights where I find joy is my friend and colleague, Stephen E Moore, who is one of my absolute favorite church nerds. He’s brilliant with a wicked sense of wit and humor. This morning, noting that the liturgical calendar for today is empty, Stephen set out to fix that, reporting a long list of events to be celebrated on this day.

Like? Well, like today is Festivus – the Seinfeld holiday for the non-religious, it is touted as "a Festivus for the rest of us."

But, here’s my favorite. Stephen writes, “The 23rd of December is "Christmas Adam." It is so called because, according to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis, the first two humans were Adam and Eve. The 24th of December is called "Christmas Eve" because "eve" is a variant of a Middle English noun meaning a period before a holiday, event, or occasion.

Genesis makes it clear that Adam (2:7) was created before Eve (2:21-22). Therefore it is correctly said that "Adam came before Eve." If Christmas Eve is 24 December then Christmas Adam must occur on the eve of the eve of Christmas Day. It is the proper moniker for the day before Christmas Eve. The absence of this term from encyclopaedias and dictionaries should not be at all dispiriting nor dissuasive of its proper use. Today (23 December) is a fitting day on which to wish someone "Happy Christmas Adam," then tomorrow "Happy Christmas Eve," and then December 25th "Happy Christmas Day."

Those who disagree may look forward to a weighty lump of lignite coal in their stocking -- filthy, high residue, polluting, sulphurous, and ashy -- on the night after Christmas Adam, which is Christmas Eve.

I. Love. This. I think it’s hilarious.

You can’t see it, but my little heart strings are twinkling with joy. I think this festival of “Christmas Adam” ought to be lifted up and celebrated just for the joy that silliness brings to the adult heart, hardened as it has been over the years, after carrying the weight of so many burdens and healing as often as it needs to, from heartbreak.

In this new addition to the Book of Occasional Services, we would, of course, need to include the biblical passages which set right the order of the creation – Adam first, then Eve, which also provides a special nod to soothe the fragile male ego. That reading would be followed by The Quaker Version of “Silent Night” which, of course, contains no notes and is, in fact, silent.

We might light a few candles during the silence. Episcopalians love to light candles, in proper left to right order. Of course.

Our Christmas Adam Service should also include a rendition of “Hark, the herald angels sing,” during which everyone is required to tilt our heads back and look up while we sing the “Glory to the newborn king” part. My friend, Rosemary says she does this every year. “Can’t help it,” she says.

Neither can I prevent the giggle of joy that dances in my throat at the mere thought of a whole congregation looking like a gathering of the characters in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Except, of course, it would be the Christmas Adam Service. Which, of course, demands, the playing of “Linus and Lucy” by Vince Guaraldi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6zypc_LhnM)

Christ has already come. So, to answer Sr. Joan’s question, “Where is Christ for you?” I look for the small moments of joy, especially those in unexpected or forgotten places.

You could miss them, because they tend to twinkle ever so briefly and sometimes, in the darkness of the moment, can seem fragile and frail.

You’ll know because a small giggle of joy will dance in the back of your throat when you tilt your head back as you did when you were a child singing your favorite Christmas hymn.

I hope something good happens to you today.

 

Bom dia. (Oh, and Happy Christmas Adam!)

 

Photo credit:

Jamilia Jean Photography and Designs

The Way of Mary: Keys

Good Friday morning, good Advent pilgrims who walk The Way of Mary. I'm in Boston for the day. Well, I arrived last night and will leave Saturday afternoon.

It's snowing. It's cold. I had forgotten what it was like to wake up to snow. It's great to look out the window and see it blowing 'round. It's supposed to Really snow between 3-8 PM and then settle down so driving to Logan will be easy peasy and no flight delays. At least, that's my mantra.

Today is the fourth day of the O Antiphons - O Key of David
(O Clavis David)

O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Sr. Joan as a wonderful meditation on this Antiphon. She writes:
"We are called to the kind of Christian commitment that opens doors and breaks down barriers between people, that brings unity to a divided world. Try to unlock one door that is keeping someone locked out of your heart."

She prays: "O Key of David, rod and staff of the house of Israel, one who opens and no one closes, the one who closes and no one opens. Come lead prisoners caught in darkness."

Today also begins the journey to the longest night of the year. On the 21st, the earth will begin to rotate differently on its axis, and the days will begin to get longer. Scientists have lots of explanations and theories that sound really impressive, but no one knows how this happens exactly. It just does, at the same time every year.

And so begins our journey deeper into the mystery that is at the center of the universe which we call "The Incarnation."

Many churches will be holding lovely, quiet services tonight that are called "Longest Night" or "Blue Christmas". Maybe your church has already had such a service.

It's a time for those for whom Christmas is decidedly not "the most wonderful time of the year." They've lost someone. Or, perhaps, are losing someone. Or, they've lost a job or a home or a friend or a marriage. Even if the loss was for a good reason, and something better is about to happen, it may not feel so good "right this very minute".

Change is change. A loss is a loss. Grief is grief. Even the Israelites, newly freed from bondage in Egypt, longed for the pomegranates in their liberation.

Dealing with loss is hard anytime but especially this time of year of anticipation and expectation. It's hard to find the energy for that when you're grieving.

And, the thing about grief is that it can break your heart, shattering it into little pieces, following an event that everyone knows and there are people in your life who care.

It can also feel like death by a thousand paper cuts. You are aware that something is off - your energy level, your ability to focus and pay attention, your enthusiasm - and then, a memory will surface and you just can't anymore.

We have a saying in Hospice: "Pain touches pain." And, when that happens, the pain is amplified.

If that's where you are, fear not. You are not alone. And, there is a strange but very real kind of solace in that.

I love the quote from Ted Lasso: "I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad, and that's being alone and being sad."

If you find yourself feeling sad, even if you can't think of a good reason to be sad, give yourself a present and call a friend. Call someone you haven't spoken with in a long time. Call your mother. Call her anyway.

Oh, you'll get through "The Longest Night" alone. It would be so much better if you made the effort to me with someone. Who knows, that someone may need you more than you need them.

I'm off to explore Back Bay, Boston in the snow. I've got on my Uggs, my sweater, my Iona shawl, my gloves, my Scottish tweed hat, and my long Eddie Bauer down coat. It's been a long while but you don't ever forget a cold, New England day.

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia.

The Way of Mary: Roots

Good Thursday morning, good Advent pilgrims on the Way of Mary. Today is December 19th, the third day of the glorious O Antiphons: O Radix Jesse or The Tree of Jesse

"O Flower of Jesse’s Stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid." (Isaiah 11:1-4; 45:23; 52:13; Luke 1:32-33)

When I was a child, I remember being told a legend of the poinsettia by an Italian neighbor that she had learned in her home country as a young girl. Legend has it that a girl named Sophia was sad because she was too poor to buy any flowers to present to baby Jesus on Christmas Eve. But as she walked sadly to the church that night, an angel appeared and told her to pick some of the weeds by the side of the road. When Sophia brought her weeds into the church and placed them by the manger, they were changed into beautiful scarlet flowers—poinsettias, to be exact.

She said that a poinsettia was a symbol of The Root of Jesse and the way God blesses our simple acts of generosity - to do whatever we can do to praise God - from generation to generation. And, that's why there are always lots of poinsettias around the Nativity Scene at Christmas.

I'm sure she made that up - or someone in her family did - but I can't look at a poinsettia without thinking of Sophia and Jesse.

That's not a bad thing, actually. But I was thinking about that as I considered Sr. Joan Chittister's meditation for today:

"It takes generations to build the Christ vision in the world, just as it took generations after Jesse to prepare for the coming of the Christ. It is our task to root ideas now that will bring the next generation to wholeness."

And then, this story from my own "family tree" came back to haunt me:

I was driving our youngest daughter home from Jr. high school. I was tired and crabby and the last thing I wanted was to go home and cook supper. So, I tried to get some ideas from her, a fool’s errand if there ever was one.

“So, I’ve had a really tough day, sweetheart. I’m really exhausted. What would you like for supper? Chinese? Italian? McDonalds? Wendy’s? KFC?”

“I don’t know, Mom,” she said in her bored teen way, “Whatever.”

“So, there’s a KFC up ahead. We could do fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and . .. “

“Ewwww,” she said, “it’s so greasy.”

“Okaaaay . . . how about McDonalds?”

“No, I had McDonalds last Tuesday.”

“Wendy’s, then?”

“Same stuff, different package.”

If any of you have had a teen you know where this conversation is headed.

Trying not to show my exasperation, and aware that I was going to have to downshift my VW Bug because a stoplight was coming up pretty fast, I said, “So, just tell me.”

At that point, I was in a long line at the stoplight. I could see a panhandler weaving his way from car to car, asking for spare change. He was filthy and disheveled and clearly in an altered state of conscience.

I could feel my grip on the steering wheel tightening as he got closer to my car. He tried to make eye contact with me but I stared straight ahead. Mercifully, he walked right by.

After I had taken my foot off the brake and slowly shifted my foot to the gas pedal and shifted my car into gear, our youngest daughter said, “So, Mom, why didn’t you give that many some spare change?”

“Well, because I don’t have any,” I said.

She reached into the shelf under my radio and dug out four quarters. “Here’s a dollar right here that you didn’t even know you had. So, if you gave it to him, you wouldn’t even have noticed that it was gone.”

Now, I was annoyed. “Did you see him? The man was drunk. Clearly. Intoxicated. If I gave him that money, he’d just spend it on booze.”

“Oh,” she said, “so I guess it turns out that the real difference between us and them is that we get to choose how to spend our money. We can choose to spend it on good, home-cooked food or we can spend it on junk fast food.”

“But,” she continued her sermon, feeding me words she had heard me preach, “If the poor want to spend their money on something we don’t think they should, they don’t get out money, but they do get our judgment.”

What was it Sr. Joan said? Something about: "It takes generations to build the Christ vision in the world."

From one generation to the next, by story and symbol, by word and deed, one act of random generosity at a time.

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia

You can hear the sisters chant the O Antiphon of the day here https://www.eriebenedictines.org/...
 

The Way of Mary: Adonai

 

Good Wednesday morning, good Advent pilgrims of The Way of Mary. Today is the second day of the O Antiphons and the word is O Adonai. The words of the antiphon are:

"O Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arms." (Exodus 3:1-8; 20:1-20; Deuteronomy 26:5-9)

Sr. Joan Chittister, who is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, has a brief but lovely meditation on that antiphon:

"When we build a vision of life it is necessary to realize that Jesus must be the center of it—not our institutions, good as they may be; not our plans or personal talents, necessary as they are."

Her sisters suggest that saying The Lord's Prayer is a good way to meditate on the Second O Antiphon.

Here's another: Light a candle and read the story of the burning bush in Exodus 3, to remind you of the way God was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the way Moses was given the Ten Commandments, “in cloud and majesty and awe”. When and how does God appear to us today? When have you felt the nearer presence of God?

Today also happens to be the birthday of Charles Wesley, the Anglican priest who wanted to reform the Church of England to be centered more in justice but whose work (“method”), instead, started a movement today known as the denomination called Methodism.

Wesley published more than a staggering 4,400 hymns during his lifetime and left behind several thousand more. His hymns include "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," and "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown."

"Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown" was originally published as "Wrestling Jacob," and is often considered Wesley's masterpiece. Wesley wrote:

Come, O Thou Traveler unknown,
Whom still I hold but cannot see;
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with Thee;
With Thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.

Personally? I think that's a great meditation on The Second Antiphon. Here it is, set to a familiar tune: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/560

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia.

The Way of Mary: Hospitality

 

Good Monday morning, good Advent pilgrims on The Way of Mary. The word that came to me during my morning meditation is 'hospitality'.

Yes, it is central to our understanding of The Way of Jesus, not as in "the hospitality industry" but as a theological concept of welcoming the stranger. Although, you sure wouldn't know it by the way some Christians want to treat those who immigrate to this country the way their ancestors did.

According to the Birth Narratives of Jesus, 'hospitality' was not afforded to Mary and Joseph as they searched for a place where they could lodge in Bethlehem. Every child who has ever acted in a "Christmas Pageant" knows the line of the Narrator, "Because there was no room for them at the Inn."

Today begins the Hispanic tradition of "Las Posadas" - The Inns" - a nine-day celebration from December 16-24, which reenacts the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and their search for an inn. The holiday is celebrated in Mexico, parts of the United States - especially in areas where there are heavy concentrations of Hispanic people like Michigan - and other Latin American countries.

The nine-day celebration is important, as I understand it, because it is symbolic of the nine-month pregnancy of Mary.

It is painfully ironic - and I can't believe the irony is lost on many Hispanic people - that even while they are reenacting the inhospitable nature of those who denied shelter to Mary and Joseph, they are being threatened with "mass deportation".

And, the people for whom those violent, inhospitable words are hot on their lips, have already put up nativity scenes in their own homes and yards, including the figures of two brown-skinned Palestinian Jewish refugees, one of whom has just delivered a child she conceived out of wedlock, as well as three brown-skinned men from Persia, Arabia, and India.

Once Project 2025 is activated on January 20th by some of these same Christians, "DEI" - Diversity Equality and Inclusion - will be struck from all policies in all government agencies.

The irony is so painful it takes my breath away when it doesn't give me a pounding headache. I feel like John the Baptist screaming, "You brood of vipers!"

Never mind. There's nothing to be done but push back and protest when we can and remind "the powers that be" that, in fact, they did not win the popular vote with an "unprecedented and powerful mandate" but rather by 1.62 percent, the smallest in 24 years, when Bush won with 0.51 percent.

In the meantime, it is imperative for those of us who walk The Way of Mary to practice hospitality in every way we are able, small and large. It starts with recognizing the other and making a personal connection with them. Don't pass a stranger without looking them in the eye and saying "Hello," or "Good morning".

In the meantime, offer to volunteer a few hours a week in places that offer hospitality to the stranger and those in need: community shelters and soup kitchens, and community thrift shops - or donate food, clothing, bedding, personal hygiene supplies and/or money.

In the meantime, pay attention. Look around you. Smile. Be kind. Pick up trash that has been thoughtlessly thrown on the ground. Put away some of the shopping carts that are blocking parking spaces. Stop and help someone who needs a little help crossing the sidewalk or reaching that top shelf in the market.

And, yes, if someone is hustling money at the traffic light, give him or her a dollar bill. Yes, they might use it to score drugs or buy some cheap booze, but maybe they'll use it to buy a hot cup of coffee and something at Mickey Ds. Have you not ever wasted money on something frivolous or stupid? Allow them to exercise their autonomy and yes, have the freedom to make a few bad choices.

I mean, isn't that what God did with Adam and Eve in The Garden? God forgave us for that transgression over 2,000 years ago. Maybe if we could forgive ourselves, we might be able to forgive each other?

Forgiveness as an extension of hospitality. Just a thought.

Practice hospitality in however many ways - big or small - as a way of celebrating "Las Posadas". Hospitality is not only The Way of Jesus, it's part of The Way of Mary.

I hope something good happens to you today.

Bom dia.