more christmas walking ..

1 week to go ..

things're ramping up, aren't they  ?
the ads are bustin' loose
everybody vyin' for your money
sales and discounts and special offers
and the same ol' as last year, just in a diff colour
or striped instead of solid
heels are now 2" shorter = snub-nosed stillettos
and on and on ..

and you got a gift from aunt bertha today ..
crap ! din't have her on my list ..
.... . . . .    .

onceuponatime a long long time ago
a wise man was invited to a bigup party at a religious leader's house ..

he was quite an ordinary person, this wise man
only thing is he was getting people pretty upset by the things he said and did
he diss'ed the religious and their rules and regulations
and especially their hardheartedness, their utter lack of compassion
and their selfrighteousness ..
that really bothered him
and he let them know
sometimes to their faces

once, when he had been invited to a prominent pharisee's house for a meal
he did the unthinkable
again
and challenged them about healing on the sabbath ..
lesson 1
.. . .   .

then he told a pointed story to those who were invited when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves.
“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit at the best place, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host, and the host may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man’; and then, humiliated, you will have to move to a lower place.
"Instead sit in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of the other guests.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
2nd lesson .. do not be significant in your own sight
rather be humble

He also said to the host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors because they might invite you back and you would be repaid. 
On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, blind, and the like, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. 
You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
lesson 3 ..
...  .  ...      .

huh ..   ?
pardon me  ?
do what again   ?

i guess i can see the part about not trying to sit in a place of honour ..
but the rest of it .. you can't be serious ..
invite who ??

you know who my family are ??
really  ?
and my friends would seriously diss me
they would never speak to me again .. ever ! ..
you cannot be real ..
. .. .  .  ..

well he was being real
in fact he was all about real

thing is
we like to be seen and recognized and accepted and praised and honoured
that's us
even when we're trying to pretend not to ..... .. ... .

jesus, that wise man, didn't go in too much for that
he rather thought it was rather .. pompous and arrogant
like .. lying like

so he paints a picture of genuine
of being humble
associating with the ordinary
vulgar, it used to be called a long time ago

imagine it for a minute
you have a party on christmas eve or christmas day
you lay the table with goodies just like you would normally do at christmas
but instead of inviting your family and friends
   and neighbours and impressionista
you invite .. .  ...  .
the homeless
a couple shut-ins
some old folks from the ' home '
that new family that moved in down the street
   that noone wants to talk to because they're arabs
and you party with them
give them the goodies
give them gifts
and generally rock out with the deprived ..

hey
that's Jesus-style right there
that's hittin' it up his way
he just gets into that kinda thing big time
puts a huge smile on his face, kinda thing

you want to honour Jesus on his birthday ??
do that ..
put a smile on the faces of those people
bring some light and joy to their lives on Jesus' birthday
and you got Jesus a great gift
a wonderful gift

and he'll just be tickled by it
just thrilled
really

try it
you'll love it

i promise

peace

more advent ..

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.       ( Isaiah 9.2 )
...
This is what God, Yahweh, says, - who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk on it -
“I, Yahweh, have called You for a righteous purpose, and I will hold You by Your hand.
I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, 
in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.    ( Isaiah 42.5-7 )

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
                                              the blind see,
   the lame walk,
                                    those with skin diseases are healed,
                     the deaf hear,
                                                                the dead are raised,
             and the poor are told the good news.

And if anyone is not offended because of Me, they are blessed.”       ( Matthew 11.2-6 )
.. . .       .

advent
   in stages
reconciliation
   in process
as one new testament scholar puts it
   there is a sense of the done, the doing, and the not done yet
      ( in my words )

for some reason God decided to bring about reconciliation the long, hard way
but .. he's God, after all
and he gets to do it right
regardless of our take on it

selah ..~

israel's long-awaited Messiah advented some 2,000 years ago
and it changed the world
forever

humble man he was
yet focused
   determined
   unrelenting
   forthright
   frank
                        missioned
simple man
yet profound
   wise
   relevant
   challenging
                            missioned
ordinary man
yet he changed the face of God for all the world to see

he put a face on God ..

selah ..~

what do we do with this man  ?      ?

selah ..~

the sense of dread that weathered his time was palpable ..
the oppression
servitude to empire
obeisance ..
you could almost feel the cold of it

israel's statehood swallowed up in rome's empire
they had long lost their identity
slaved again

"  i am the Lord,
your God ..
it is i who brought you out of slavery in egypt and set you free  "
   repeatedly repeated in their holy writings

and then there was the passage quoted at the beginning of this post
israel had the promise of Jahweh himself
he would anoint one
send him
for release
for rescue
   salvation

messiah
long-awaited
anticipation
in the darkness
the gloom of oppression

"  i am the Lord
i am your God
with my own arm i will rescue you  "

messiah
God with arms
and feet
and eyes and hair and stomach ..

advented

selah ..~

they waited
longed for him

he came

... ..  .. . . .      .

thing is
we feel the bite of winter
   wherever there is winter's cold bite ..

but there is a winter which is a statement of being
a dreadness that chills most of the 7.2 billion humans that were alive as of 20 seconds ago
.. the majority of them shiver in the cold bite of Earth's winter

winter bites in the form of cold darkness all across this Earth
in the forms of slavery, child labour, child prostitution, hunger, lack-of-potable-water, homelessness,
drugaddiction, mental health challenges, illnesses ageing and the waiting-to-die ..        
                                                       poverty
      deprivation
                            enslavement
 hurt
            numbed by the cold of life in this fallen place

messiah stepped in to that

and he will step in again one sunshiny day
there's the ' anticipate ' for ya
right there ..
the long-for
the hope for us all
when reconciliation will be perfected

selah ..~

thing is, though ..
                           he steps in now
now
this christmas
this season

but moreso
                                now
as in now
today
here
over there
on the eastcoast
across the sea in that country

he advents right now
in
                 you
in
              me
wherever we are
wherever we will be in an hour

Messiah advented
and advents, as in present tense
through us

God advented in Jesus ..
Jesus advents in us

the same way Jesus put a face on God
we get to be
Jesus' arms
and feet
and eyes and hair and stomach

is that not what his Body is  ?
aren't we that  ?
Jesus' Body
on Earth
now           ?    ?

advent
happens                                                      
now
here
in                us
through                       us
out to the world
in Jesus' name
for God's glory
for the kingdom ..

so
advent, then ..

be advent ..

put a face on Jesus

shalom

unstoppable ..

last night i had the privilege of watching a biography

it was a brief lifestory of a humble determined won't-be-stopped-peaceloving-Godfearing-humanitarian who turned compassion into a verb and started The Catholic Worker movement during the Great Depression ...

one thing stood out to me from that video and others i watched on youtube
her humility ..

i've learned (?) that humility and determination/fearless/stand-up-to-the-powersthatbe etc. are not antithetical

i am blessed and encouraged by knowing about humble people like her

there's a proverb-of-sorts: ' imitation is the greatest form of flattery '
i prefer
emulation is the greatest form of praise

her name is dorothy day
and she was unstoppable

go and do likewise ..


http://dorothydaydoc.com/home.html

peace