"Comfort and joy are elusive for many of us right now. They should be." I think you may be experiencing a part of the Christmas story that is often neglected. The oppresion of a foreign power was painfully real to Joseph, Mary and all of his community. The hypocrisy and legalism of relgious authorites and the institutions they ruled made Judaism into an added burden instead of refuge for the poor and oppressed. The weight of those burdens were multiplied when Joseph and Mary were made to travel during her eigth month and then, upon arrival at their destination, to find no room at the inn. I can just see Joseph saying to God: "What is going on here? Isn't there enough suffering without this?". Then, shortly after Jesus is born, he is told to flee to Egypt, because Herod wants to kill him. And can you imagine what went through Joseph's mind when he learned what Herod did to all of the other children in Bethlehem? So maybe that feeling of "a frightened, exhausting, painful present" is part of what we should also be experiencing in preparation for Christmas. If so, you are on the right track....as you should be.
Moving through a season of Advent with intentional meditation, prayer, journaling, and sharing with others through the darkness of devastation and losses in my own life as well as in our communities, the world, is a help to me. Advent reminds me that I am connected to this suffering while remembering the oppression and violence of Jesus's times. A time to be encouraged to be awake to God's nearness in all of this. There will always be evil and destruction. We have to hold onto hope with faith, that we are part of a larger, more cosmic process of creative evolution. I believe God is with all these children through the suffering. I can only do what I can do while here on earth to serve, support and join with the forces of love and goodness. Yet, I am weak and God's grace will be sufficient for me.
"Comfort and joy are elusive for many of us right now. They should be." I think you may be experiencing a part of the Christmas story that is often neglected. The oppresion of a foreign power was painfully real to Joseph, Mary and all of his community. The hypocrisy and legalism of relgious authorites and the institutions they ruled made Judaism into an added burden instead of refuge for the poor and oppressed. The weight of those burdens were multiplied when Joseph and Mary were made to travel during her eigth month and then, upon arrival at their destination, to find no room at the inn. I can just see Joseph saying to God: "What is going on here? Isn't there enough suffering without this?". Then, shortly after Jesus is born, he is told to flee to Egypt, because Herod wants to kill him. And can you imagine what went through Joseph's mind when he learned what Herod did to all of the other children in Bethlehem? So maybe that feeling of "a frightened, exhausting, painful present" is part of what we should also be experiencing in preparation for Christmas. If so, you are on the right track....as you should be.
Moving through a season of Advent with intentional meditation, prayer, journaling, and sharing with others through the darkness of devastation and losses in my own life as well as in our communities, the world, is a help to me. Advent reminds me that I am connected to this suffering while remembering the oppression and violence of Jesus's times. A time to be encouraged to be awake to God's nearness in all of this. There will always be evil and destruction. We have to hold onto hope with faith, that we are part of a larger, more cosmic process of creative evolution. I believe God is with all these children through the suffering. I can only do what I can do while here on earth to serve, support and join with the forces of love and goodness. Yet, I am weak and God's grace will be sufficient for me.