Welcome to my Advent candle
There is something to be said for little traditions, rhythms of days, seasons. My former work forced me to prepare for Advent weeks before Advent and prepare for Lent during Advent. It was like living in a time zone on the other side of the planet.
This morning I lit a candle and called it Advent 1. The sum total of my Christmas decorations with the exception of the gaudy neon Christmas moose wall light that I hang near Reggie’s cage for amusement. His and mine.
I was nudged by the Tender Spirit to invite you into my Advent musings. So if you have read this far, welcome. Thank you.
My readings are crashing together in my mind like they used to when I walked across campus from my Romans class on sin and grace to my Faulkner class on how truly messed up we are.
Yesterday my readings were more “listenings.” I attended a zoom retreat led by Padraig O Tuama, an Irish poet. He spoke against the narrative of the inhospitable innkeeper in the Gospel of Luke. There was no room in the kataluma and there was no unkind innkeeper. Think of the kataluma as the bedrooms of an AirBNB. Hospitality was a way of life especially for the Jews who understood hard times and being displaced from their homes. Not likely they would turn away Mary and Joseph in these circumstances. They quickly offered them what would amount to our living room. Mary likely would have had the company of the other women in the house to help her.
My other listening was revisiting “Paradise in Hell” by Rebecca Solnit. An insightful examination of our behavior during disasters. Spoiler alert: when left to our own devices in the face of all manner of disasters, we are capable of enormous hospitality, kindness, innovation, compassion, and resilience.
When the Roman conquerors learned the art of divide and conquer, they cut through the opposition like a master chef. They displaced people. They separated them. At one point they even outlawed the Jewish practice of hospitality as the crime of harboring the enemy. They tried to turn them against each other and many times it worked.
Our best weapon against the crises we face is exactly what we are capable of doing in response to disaster: compassion, hospitality, innovation. We have been divided to be conquered. We can’t even agree on the enemy.
What then shall we do?
This morning I lit a candle and decided to reach out to talk with you. It’s as close as I can invite you into my living room. We’ll get through this. We will.
Peace be with you,
Deb
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