Good morning…
She said, “I’m relating more keenly to Mary and Joseph this COVID Christmas.”
She went on to explain her line of thinking. After a long, uncomfortable, cross country trek, jostling on a donkey nine months pregnant, Mary and Joseph finally arrived at the inn. Their stopping place. The end to their grueling journey. Relieved to have arrived, finally they would be able to rest, to catch their breath, to prepare for the joy of new birth.
“When they really needed a yes, they got a no,” said my friend. …there was no room or place for them in the inn (Luke 2:7b, AMPC). “When they really needed a yes, they got a no.” Her statement lingers with me.
We really need a yes, you can hug one another, freely, without fear. We really need a yes, food insecure families can return to work, to school, to community connection. We really need a yes, you can gather safely with extended family and vulnerable friends. We really need a yes, divisive politics are done and creative collaboration is on the rise. We really need a yes, you have crossed the finish line on this worldwide pandemic; now live on wiser, kinder, more deeply bonded with God and all of your neighbors.
When we are craving a yes, we keep getting no, after no, after no. Not yet, after not yet, after not yet. This COVID Christmas, we relate more keenly to the discomfort, the disappointment, the discombobulation into which the baby Jesus was born as Redeemer.
“Will this pandemic never be over?” an eighty-seven year old friend emailed me this week. “I crave normalcy — worship at church, face to face Bible study, singing together our favorite songs. Since I have shortness of breath and use an inhaler, I am not ready to come back to church yet — even on a reservation basis. I won’t be back to church, until after I’ve had the vaccination. A friend showed me how to access Zoom, so I have followed most of the sermons that way. I am such a technological Neanderthal that I have to have help with stuff like Zoom. When I was born in 1933, there were no computers then and for a long time afterward.”
With no room in the traditional holiday inn, we “technological Neanderthals” are needing to expand into new, uncomfortable ways of connecting. “Error, fear, and suffering are the mothers of invention,” the Spirit reminds me of the Ursula K. Le Guin quote from her book Changing Planes.
And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7, ASV). Let’s switch that sentence around: “Because there was no room for them in the inn, she (naturally) brought forth her firstborn son, and she (instinctively) wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and she (gently, gratefully) laid him in the manger.” Because they got a no when they really craved a yes, Mary and Joseph expanded into new, innovated spaces, completely dependent upon the Spirit to guide them, decision by decision, into the mystery of the God who is redeeming everything.
Because we keep getting “no, no, no” when we look in old familiar directions, what expansive, innovative “yes, yes, yes” might the Spirit of God be birthing within and among us this COVID Christmastime?
…Sue…
P.S. One innovative yes which might spark the interest of you and your family this Advent season is offered by Amy Olvey, Director of Community Engagement for Action Ministries, Inc. Amy writes:
I want to thank each of you for your continued support to Action Ministries! We are gearing up for our holiday distribution and need your help, we will be distributing close to 4,000 food boxes and approximately 3,000 super packs for school-age children that are food insecure. We need your help packing the non-perishable meals – we continue to practice good social distancing guidelines and ask that everyone bring along a mask on the day of their service. We are hosting packs on Monday & Wednesday from 9-12, if you are able to attend on those mornings, please go ahead and register.
If you sign-up and are unable to attend for some reason, PLEASE remove your name from Sign Up Genius, we are limited to the number of volunteers we can accommodate due to COVID and we will need all hands on deck to fulfill our holiday distribution!!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0E4EA9AD29A5F94-community
It makes my heart smile to see so many names of people I know who have already signed up to expand into this new, innovative space. There are time slots available as we journey together through this COVID Christmastime into the hopeful new year ahead.
