Three Christmas Meditations, 2019: #2, Political
Politics is about how human beings distribute power, and any engagement with the Christmas story that avoids the political is highly political.
Attempts to avoid the political comply with the political conspiracy of silence that upholds the politically powerful in their political power, and simultaneously suppresses the politically powerless in their political oppression. Just as "not to decide is to decide," not to be political is to be political.
The political dimension of Christmas is not the only dimension, but it is an essential, unavoidable dimension. Just listen to Mary:
Luke 1: 46 ff
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
The only way to not see the political dimensions of Mary's words is to have been indoctrinated for years (by political interests) not to see them. Consider the heart of her message:
God is exercising God's might (power) on behalf of a lowly person.
God is exercising God's strength (power) to scatter the proud ... to bring down the powerful from their political thrones ... to lift up the lowly ... to fill the hungry (those excluded from the economy) with good things ... to send the rich away hungry.
This, for Mary, is entirely consistent with God's character from the very beginning, from the calling of Abraham to leave empire and become an exile, a homeless wanderer, promising blessing outside of the normal protocols of wealth and power.
Those themes continue through the Christmas story. Even familiar words like savior, Christ, and Lord -- as in "Unto us is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, that is Christ, the Lord" -- are powerfully political words, meaning liberator or liberating king.
Two images came up in my Twitter feed this week that I share as icons for meditation. Yes, they are political. Of course they are. Because Christmas is. Thanks to Banksy for the first work of art (https://apnews.com/65905e0f0c0de6756b39c647a60fa6f7), and thanks to @KLICONS for the second (https://twitter.com/jarrodmckenna/status/1208919151571374080).
I invite you to join me in simply observing these images and open our hearts to their message. Remember that both opening and closing our hearts is a political as well as personal act.
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Three Christmas Meditations, 2019: #1 Personal
About ten years ago, I wrote a song that was a meditation on one of the names associated with the Christmas story (Matthew 1:23): Immanuel, which means God with us.
In all of the bottomless wells of meaning and mystery associated with sacred stories, this one has become more and more precious to me this year: the Christmas story tells me that God is not a distant potentate, existing in a separate realm or dimension, occasionally reaching in to flip a switch or change an election result or create a win for my side. Rather, God is with us in human experience ... from womb to tomb, in glory and squalor, in healing and struggle, in love and betrayal, in service and suffering, in breathless rush and unhurried rest, in loneliness and community, in paralysis and death and despair, in breakthrough and new beginning and resurrection.
With us. Here.
Here's that song in a simple "scratch" recording.
For me, a lover of nature (which I had the opportunity to celebrate this year with my new book on the Galapagos Islands), I cherish the mystery that God is with us, not only in human experience, but also in the entire web of life, the 14 billion year story from big bang to a verdant, green earth. I look out my window now, and in oak and dogwood trees, in grass, in crow, blue jay, and junco, in soil and seasons ... God is with us, here.
Moving from the simple to the sublime, each year I keep returning to a favorite choral rendering of this mystery, O Magnum Mysterium, which you can savor here:
Here is the lyric in translation:
Latin text
- O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum,
- ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio!
- Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum.
- Alleluia.
English translation
- O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament,
- that animals should see the new-born Lord, lying in a manger!
- Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord.
- Alleluia!
Perhaps today, you can hold this mystery in a spirit of contemplation: God, with us, here.
Be still and know.
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Thanks, Mark Galli. Thanks, CT.
My tweet last night was simple (https://twitter.com/brianmclaren/status/1207851804249202688). After reading the Christianity Today editorial calling for Trump’s removal from office, I wrote, “Thank you, @markgalli and @CTmagazine. Thank you.” (https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html)
[You can also view this post here: https://www.votecommongood.com/well-go-first-how-about-you/]
I grew up on the far, far right side of Evangelical. We were so conservative we thought Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham were too liberal. My life has been a long spiritual migration into a broader, deeper, and more generous faith. But I still cherish many gifts from my Evangelical upbringing. At that top of my gratitude list: a deep love for Jesus, a deep engagement with the Bible, and a belief that character counts.
That’s why I have felt particularly betrayed by Evangelical support for Donald Trump and his allies in recent years. Trump is, you could say, the anti-Jesus — living for pride, power, pleasure, and wealth rather than faith, hope, love, and wisdom. His policies can only be squared with Scripture through the most agonized contortions and intentional ignorance. And as for character … where to begin, apart from his 15,000-plus lie-count (https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/), his bragging about sexual assault and covering up a porn-star payoff, his general viciousness and self-aggrandizement, and his preference for white supremacists and dictators?
We all might wish that Christianity Today had spoken up earlier. (They did, in fact, at the last minute before the election, decry Trump.) They have no doubt had to count the cost, which will, I imagine, be high.
Thankfully, they counted the cost of not speaking up to be even higher.
The flagship magazine’s courage now invites an even more powerful expression of courage: courage among faithful Evangelical (and Post- ad Ex-vangelical) church members to speak out.
Way back in 2008, when I spoke out in favor of Barack Obama on social media, I received a steady stream of emails telling me that my courage in going public inspired many other Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, and Roman Catholics to do the same. Nobody, it seems, wants to go first. But once someone goes first, it’s a little easier to go second, third, or fiftieth.
In 2018, when I teamed up with Vote Common Good, I heard the same message: fear about going first, and relief that some of us were speaking up and standing up to lead the way.
That’s what needs to happen now. If you’re an Evangelical, Mainline, or Roman Catholic Christian, we would like to invite you to follow CT’s lead. We’d like you to go first in your congregation. When you do, others will follow.
And, no doubt, some will criticize. But I've learned through experience that every criticism is an opportunity to clarify your message. That’s why we’ve prepared resources to help you do respond to any negative feedback both graciously and courageously. (https://www.votecommongood.com/the-six-commitments-of-common-good-communication/)
So, will you go next? And will you spread the word and invite others in as many churches as possible to join you?
If so, go here and we'll help you craft your message and get it out. It could take as little as five to ten minutes. Here's the link: https://www.votecommongood.com/go-first/
#WellGoFirst #GoFirstVCG #ChristiansAgainstTrump
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Help for your Christmas Shopping List
Here are some gifts that people on your list may enjoy.
The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey - available in softcover, print, and audiobook. Great for anybody on your list who loves travel, spirituality, and well-crafted writing. Links here.
Cory and the Seventh Story -- a beautifully illustrated book for kids and adults of all ages. There's a companion book for adults called The Seventh Story: Us, Them, and the End of Violence. Links here.
My New Kind of Christian trilogy - re-released in 2019 with a new foreword. You can buy the books singly or as a group, in print, ebook, or audio format. Links here.
And if you're really at the last minute, you can buy my short-ebook called Why Don't They Get It? (Overcoming Bias in Others - And Yourself). It's really inexpensive and a fast, relevant read. Download here.
Of course, you'll find lots of other books and resources on my site:
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Q & R: Spermless conception?
Here's the Q:
As christians are we expected to believe that Jesus was conceived without a sperm cell and egg cell fusion?
I have difficulty coming to terms with this biblical story.
Here's the R:
In my book We Make the Road by Walking (a great Christmas gift, by the way!), here's how I come to terms with this biblical story.
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Many of us today will suspect that Luke made up this story about Mary to echo Isaiah’s prophecy about a son being born to a virgin, just as he invented the story of Elizabeth conceiving in old age to echo the story of Sarah. It’s tempting to quickly assign both stories to the category of primitive, prescientific legend and be done with them. After all, both stories are, to scientific minds, simply impossible.
But what if that’s the point? What if their purpose is to challenge us to blur the line between what we think is possible and what we think is impossible? Could we ever come to a time when swords would be beaten into plowshares? When the predatory people in power—the lions—would lie down in peace with the vulnerable and the poor—the lambs? When God’s justice would flow like a river—to the lowest and most “god-forsaken” places on Earth? When the brokenhearted would be comforted and the poor would receive good news? If you think, Never—it’s impossible, then maybe you need to think again. Maybe it’s not too late for something beautiful to be born. Maybe it’s not too soon, either. Maybe the present moment is pregnant with possibilities we can’t see or even imagine.
In this light, the actual point of these pregnancy stories—however we interpret their factual status—is a challenge to us all: to dare to hope, like Elizabeth and Mary, that the seemingly impossible is possible. They challenge us to align our lives around the “impossible possibilities” hidden in this present, pregnant moment.
The image of a virgin birth has other meanings as well. The leaders of ancient empires typically presented themselves as divine-human hybrids with superpowers. Pharaohs and Caesars were “sons of gods.” In them, the violent power of the gods was fused with the violent power of humans to create superhuman superviolence—which allowed them to create superpower nations. But here is God gently inviting—not coercing—a young woman to produce a child who will be known not for his violence but for his kindness. This is a different kind of leader entirely—one who doesn’t rule with the masculine power of swords and spears, but with a mother’s sense of justice and compassion.
In Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus, God aligns with the creative feminine power of womanhood rather than the violent masculine power of statehood. The doctrine of the virgin birth, it turns out, isn’t about bypassing sex but about subverting violence. The violent power of top-down patriarchy is subverted not by counterviolence but by the creative power of pregnancy. It is through what proud men have considered “the weaker sex” that God’s true power enters and changes the world. That, it turns out, is exactly what Mary understood the messenger to be saying:
God has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant…scattered the proud…brought down the powerful…lifted up the lowly…filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:48, 51, 52, 53)
So Mary presents herself to the Holy Spirit to receive and cooperate with God’s creative power. She surrenders and receives, she nurtures and gives her all…because she dares to believe the impossible is possible. Her son Jesus will consistently model her self-surrender and receptivity to God, and he will consistently prefer the insightful kindness of motherhood to the violent blindness of statehood.
That’s what it means to be alive in the adventure of Jesus. We present ourselves to God—our bodies, our stories, our futures, our possibilities, even our limitations. “Here I am,” we say with Mary, “the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me according to your will.”
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