Something is Waiting


When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone, / when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks, / the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost, / to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry, / to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations, / to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
—“Now the Work of Christmas Begins” by Howard Thurman

As we enter this Christmas season and the New Year, we are invited to hold the tensions of mortality—life and death in a moment—and to allow ourselves to be deeply human, fallible, imperfect, beautiful, messy, brilliant, uncertain. For just like the baby Jesus—born into our world once again—we each cradle a multitude of births and deaths in our own lives. Something is waiting to be born in us. And something is waiting to die.

Jesus is born into our world to demonstrate the powerful possibilities of being deeply human—to live and die—in all our complexity—in indivisible relationship with others. This is so very important. That no matter what, we are not alone. We are surrounded by vast communities of God’s other children. No matter what exists in this moment—good, bad, and everything in-between—Emmanuel. God with us. Even in the bleakest and most heartbreaking circumstances. Even in anxiety, frustration, and overwhelm. Even when we can’t seem to find hope or peace or joy or love. Emmanuel. God is with us.

And we are the ones God calls—in this moment—to do our best to incarnate the hope and peace and joy and love that the world so desperately needs. And this has always been the case. Our God has always chosen the most unexpected, unsuspecting people to do the most incredible and world-changing things. Like asking a poor, unwed, teenaged, Palestinian girl to give birth to the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Savior, the Christ. Who would have expected that? And likewise, God invites us—and people everywhere—to be deeply human, to rely on relationships with others, to trust Emmanuel—God with us—and to incarnate the justice and joy, the goodness and grace, and the hope and possibility that will liberate an imprisoned and broken world.

You are invited to be a tabernacle for the holy. God chooses to dwell in you. And if we listen closely, we will hear our own annunciations—the voices of angels whispering to us continually, “Do not fear. You are not alone. The Holy One has great things in store for you.”


See you in church,
Christy

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