Advent and Post Election Opportunity For Deep Listening

Advent is beckoning us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ.  It is both a reenactment of the historical incarnation of Christ as well as a time of spiritual preparation for the birthing of Christ consciousness and the promised-but-not-yet-scheduled second coming of Christ.  It is a penitential season like Lent.  Though Advent is shorter, the timing of it in our secular calendar, characterized by intense activity and materialism, makes it harder for us to observe the disciplines of penitence such as fasting, prayer, waiting and meditation. It takes greater intention on our part to fully appropriate and appreciate the gift of this season.

This year as we observe Advent and celebrate Christmas, our country is undergoing a severe post-election trauma and associated anxiety over the uncertainty as to how the new administration will carry out its manifesto, communicated over and over during the campaign. Minority communities and people of color feel vulnerable as they are called usurpers because of who and what they are.  Rather than seeing them as contributing to our society, making our union strong and adding color and texture to the rich tapestry of our society, they are made to think of themselves as a drain to our country.  They feel that this election invalidated their existence and repudiated their claims.  This election has sanctioned a wide swath of our population, the so-called ‘other’, made up of various minority communities, as targets for hate and scapegoating.  Yet, this Advent we are recalling God’s incarnation among us as an ‘other’, a vulnerable baby born out of wedlock of a peasant young girl living in Palestine, an occupied territory of the Roman Empire.

One of the post-election results is the call for deeper listening and engagement within and between our communities as we deal with our emotions and passions. On Friday following the election at The Theology on Tap Meet Up I lead, I had an opportunity to meet with a group of people, the majority of whom voted differently. We listened to each other deeply and we understood why we voted the way we did. We need to hear each other out. Elections tend to categorize people in binary terms, as black or white ignoring the gray area or continuum between the opposites.  Life is more nuanced. I hope this Advent, perhaps we can sit down and engage with each other and share with each other our hopes and dreams and what makes us tick.

I look forward to this season of Advent and its call for our preparation, our waiting on God.  I trust all of us will avail the opportunity to attend the Advent worship services and fully fathom the depth of what this season offers us and thus make our celebration of Christmas truly a transformative experience.  May this Advent help us hear God speaking to us in our worship, in our listening to each other and the nature around us.

Have a blessed Advent!

Reflecting on the trip to India and looking ahead on November, End of October, 2016

It is great to be back at St. Peter’s with you all.  While vacation was good, and it offered us some quality time with my aging mom, our siblings and other relatives, the pace was rather hectic.  Going home to India used to be a relaxing experience as soon as you hit the ground. Now it takes a while to get used to the frenetic pace of life there to be able to relax and reflect.  One evening I went out for a walk to say hello to folks in my old neighborhood to find it has completely changed.  New buildings, strip malls and houses have replaced the old ones. The two-lane narrow road, which I used to walk to school, is now swallowed up by a new 72 foot-wide highway, completely changing the landscape of my idyllic village. My old friends are not there anymore, some have moved away and some have died. I didn’t meet a single person I knew during my walk.  It felt like I was a stranger in my own place. Suffice to say, I didn’t complete my usual round. So it is good to be back home.

Vacation also gave me a brief respite from the nastiness of this year’s presidential election.  It is hard to fathom the deep divide among the electorate. However, I hope that the nastiness of the election process won’t deter us from exercising our sacred duty to vote.  As a church I hope we can engage our people listening to each other rather than shouting at each other. Many issues we care about as a church are at stake in this election. Regardless of where we stand on issues, I hope we will find a way to bridge our differences and work together as one people again.

November is the month when we as a nation celebrate the Day of Thanksgiving. While I am happy that we set apart a day for thanksgiving, let us not forget that for us, as Christians, every day is a day of thanksgiving.  We are thankful to God for our very existence. Among the many blessings, we also thank God for our church and its many ministries and missions.  Stewardship Committee has designated November 13^th as the ingathering Sunday, the day we, as a church, gather all the first fruits of our labor in pledges for the work and mission of our church.  When we make these pledges of time, talent and treasure to the church, we are acknowledging that all that we are and all that we have is a gift from God.  Our pledges are our personal statements of faith.  Pledging is different from fundraising. Pledging is giving to church in grateful response to the gospel.

November is also the month when the new church year begins with the first advent that sets off the holiday season.  There is something reassuring about the cyclical nature of our calendar. While time is linear it is also cyclical; for every ending there is new beginning.

Let us be assured of God’s loving and unchanging presence in our lives even as we go through periods of unsettling changes and divisions in our day-to-day world.

In the Elections Wake, November 9, 2016

It is inevitable that after an election there will be winners and losers.  While winners feel elated and affirmed, the losers feel depressed and dejected. It is natural. However, as this year’s presidential election was excessively long and unnecessarily negative, its wake leaves a distasteful experience for many. While our people were engaged in debating the issues and in exchanging our opinions, we were civil and respectful of each other. Still the losing side feels that somehow their deeply held convictions were not valued or affirmed. They ask themselves the question as to where have they gone wrong and how did they miss-read the deep angst among so many people who have voted differently from them.  Well, I suppose that this is the consequence of the deep division or chasm that exists between the sides in our country. Rather than wallowing in our misery or gloating over in our victory, let us work together in healing our wounds, building bridges rather walls, and once again beginning to feel the goodness of that one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, to which we pledge our allegiance. Let’s heed to a verse from the gospel for this Sunday, “But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”