A friend of mine has a stock phrase that
always starts “I knew it was going to get weirder when………” and then names some
event. After the events of Sept. 11th, we both had some additions to
this collection. My first one was “I knew it was going to get weirder when I
got several e-mails telling me that Nostradamus predicted the attack on the
World Trade Towers.” The number of e-mail acquaintances that bought into that
was astounding. The truth is, of course,
that if Nostradamus predicted it, so did William Shakespeare, The Book of
Daniel, Revelation, and several OT prophets. Some creative soul had taken
single lines out of Nostradamus’ voluminous writings and patched them together
in a four verse “prediction”. It actually would have been easier with Shakespeare
or the OT prophets, but people know those writings too well to be fooled.
The
second wave of ‘I knew it was going to get weirder when…..’ two of our national
tele-evangelists decided that this was a punishment by Godde for women’s
liberation and the increasing acknowledgment of gay and lesbian persons as also
being children of Godde. If that is what brings war down upon our heads,
imagine what they would propose is the cause of the conditions in Afghanistan,
Turkey, Greece, or Ecuador, where “war and rumours of war, pestilence, earth
quake, flood, etc.” happen in every generation.
There
is an undeniable need of human beings to find a reason for everything, and
preferably one that fits our world view or prejudices. We flock to dramatic
signs in dramatic times to either reassure us that “It happened for a reason”
or it is some one else’s fault.
In
the 6th chapter of Judges, Gideon asks Godde to affirm his call by
letting water accumulate on a fleece overnight while the ground is dry. It
happens, and just to be sure that it is reliable, Gideon asks Godde to reverse
the sign the next night – dry fleece, wet ground. That too happens and Gideon
is reassured that his call is genuine. I belong to Women in Ministry Online
chat line, as a part of ECUNET. A
middle-aged woman pastor said that although she felt and heard the call to be
ordained, she “put out a fleece” and asked that student loans become available
to her if she was indeed meant to go to seminary. The loans were offered, she
went to seminary and is now serving in a rural parish, cheerfully paying off
her debt. She asked for, and received, a personal reassurance that she was
headed down the right path, but in a very mundane way.
I
think we like the dramatic signs in times of trouble because it brings meaning
to difficult circumstances. It comforts us in a strange way to know that the
upheaval we feel was inevitable or foretold. These sweeping interpretations of
signs also occur in times of social change. A good example is the book “The
Late Great Planet Earth” which sold millions of copies. Prophecies taken from
the Bible clearly predicted the end of time. For better or worse, the imminent
end of time has been a topic of
discussion among Christians since the time of the Apostle Paul. And our
love of the dramatic turns us away from the signs of our daily life.
It
is Advent, and as sacramental people, we spend these days preparing for the
Birth of Christ. It is a time of reflection, anticipation, waiting and
watching. It is the perfect time to observe and immerse ourselves in the little
signs, the common everyday evidence of Godde’s care. Look around you – the same
familiar faithful faces of your Christian community are here. How undramatic !
How boring !! How reassuring.
Hear
the words of the liturgy – their cadence, the flow of language. Experience the
sign of peace and listen to the words that are offered – “The peace of Christ
be with you” Indeed. What a profound wish that we take for granted because we
hear it every week and go through the motions. Our friend Katherine relates
that little Alexander had spent enough time in church by the time he was 3 that
when someone offered their hand anywhere he would say “Peace”. Now there is a
sign.
Remember
the quiet labor of those who serve, not in spectacular ways, but in the daily.
The bank clerk who was cheerful, the grocer who left his shelf stocking to lead
you to the green olives, the neighbor who offered to water your plants during
your absence.
Then
there is the breaking of the bread. Christ, our Passover, is broken for us, and
we eat of the broken pieces and become one in Christ. The breaking and dying in
our lives, the re-membering and healing are called Paschal Mystery, and it is a
sign to us that healing is a powerful force in Godde’s world. Yet it is a sign
that, if we are not careful, we miss ……gazing off into space thinking about
Sunday dinner, shuffling our feet wondering if church will be out “on-time”.
And
in this Advent season, there is the ultimate sign, the one that is announced to
the shepherds. “And here is a sign for
you; you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
God
with us. Everyday, a constant presence, the light in the darkness. We needn’t
look into the clouds for shapes that look like the face of Jesus. We can look
into the faces around us, and the faces of strangers and see the face of Jesus.
Our hearts move like the baby in Elizabeth’s womb when we hear the voice of
promise. And we call him Immanual, which means Godde-with-us. The perfect sign
of love.
In the name of Godde; Creator, Redeemer and
Sanctifier.
Amen
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