Oh, Look at That...It Happened Again!
/by Rev. Kay Ash
You know, it is like when something overtakes your attention or when something grabs your heart when you were looking the other way; it is when God does God’s thing all around you and you smile about it later when you get that it reminds you of something you already knew. We all hold fundamental understandings, pillars on which we stand. However, it is not like we forget about our pillars, truly God, it is more like our focus has only so much bandwidth. We are only human, right?
This “only human” go-to argument gets a lot of traction these days. Frankly, with what is happening in our world right now, getting up in the morning and actually tying our shoes is cause for celebration! With all our frailties on prominent display right now, what does it mean for us to be “only human” in this season of anticipation? What does it mean when through the birth of the baby Jesus, God fully joins us as “human?”
This coming Sunday we will light the fourth Advent candle on our Kessler Park UMC wreath. We started with the candle of hope, then moved to the candle of peace, then joy. At last, we have reached the candle of love. At last, we can turn our distracted attention to our fundamental understanding of what makes the world go round. At last, a pillar of love on which we can stand. Oh, look at that . . . . . . it happened again!
I am so honored to say that I made a new friend recently through the church. Jonah is a student at The Kessler School and he participates in our Scouts that have served our beloved North Oak Cliff neighborhood for generations. Jonah and his wonderful mom, Amie, are working towards their “God and Family” badge and I am lucky enough to join the journey. We meet once a week at Jonah’s home to talk about God, the Bible, family, feelings, puppy dogs and life. Here is the part that I have been reminded of, here is the part where God illuminates something I already knew. In truth, Jonah and I meet so Jonah can teach us about God. I have journeyed with a number of Scouts over the years towards this badge and it happens every time. Children are our teachers. Children know so much about what it means that God joins us as “human.”
Each time we meet, we follow a pattern: we check in with each other using Holy Listening Stones and share a brief prayer; we talk about where we have been in our lessons and where we are going; we remind ourselves of Bible stories and tell new ones; we discuss and summarize what those Bible stories may mean and finally, we share blessings. Sure, there is formal teaching going on, but what God and Jonah have to share is a different kind of teaching. What God and Jonah are doing happens around the edges. What God and Jonah are doing might be missed because it is small and quiet and pure. What God and Jonah are doing is love.
Each week Jonah gets ready for our time together: he readies his house, and he readies himself because what we are doing is special. Jonah listens and asks questions about the stories and offers the best blessings. He has such great ideas about how to love his family and his friends. Jonah seems to know in inherent ways that “God with us” as “human” looks like unrelenting, unbounded moments of love given without expectations. If Jesus is the example of what “human” can really look like, acts of love are pathways where God draws us closer to that example.
Often it seems we are dazzled by the enormity of need in our world and dream about collaborating with God in acts of love to set everything right. Big acts of love that result in enormous transformation. All are called to this work, for sure. However, world work does not push to the side the tiny collaborative acts of love we share in everyday life. This is the point where children like Jonah can be our teachers. What is means to be “human” after the example of Jesus is to do the next right thing, over and over again, until your life and the lives of others around you become saturated in love. In truth, we are not in charge of how far an act of love reaches and how many lives are transformed. Our “humanness” is to do the next right thing and leave the spread and transformation stuff to the Holy Spirit.
At last, we have reached the candle of love. At last, we have reached the time in our Advent journey that the birth of newness is almost here. It seems like forever ago when we stood on our pillar of hope. But now, now the Kingdom of God is surely nearby because God is coming to be with us once again anew. We know because the children teach us. Oh, look at that …….. it happened again! It always happens. Join us and see for yourself.