Christmas, Justice and Peace

Colbert King of the Washington Post writes a column which I personally find to be very moving.

Every Christmas I give thanks for my loved ones, and their continued safety and prosperity. Even so Christmas is a time for reflection beyond ourselves, to the world around us and our part in it. While is is easy to rejoice in the happiness of my family and friends, it is also easy to contemplate the suffering in the rest of our country and the world, and wonder what to make of this day in the midst of all that flies in the face of the very meaning and purpose of the season.

Where's the peace in Mosul, Baghdad or Fallujah? Sudan's Darfur region is in the grip of fear and failure. Tribulation, not righteousness, is the path in Congo, Afghanistan, Colombia and Chechnya. The Holy Land plays host to some mighty unholy acts. This is a sad time in the world.

And here in our land of plenty, where mega-churches stage Christmas pageants costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, people can be found clinging to the fringes of society, hurting, marginalized, with little of their dignity intact. All this in the season of giving.

What of those things indeed? King, like many of us I'm sure, can't help but to take a moment away from the hectic rush of shopping, traveling, and over indulgence in feast and festivities to wonder about these things, and feel troubled in our hearts for those who know neither peace nor justice on this day. And yet:

A melancholy Christmas Day was on the way. Okay, I'll 'fess up. Perhaps I was yearning for a Christmas that never was . . . or grieving over family and friends no longer here. Whatever the reasons, I had edged close to an emotional pit.

That's why I am devoting some space today to thank Steve Huber. His words, conveyed in a Dec. 1 essay, "Make A Start," and in a Dec. 15 newsletter, lifted me out of my low moments and helped me reach this day.

"We'll never fully achieve Isaiah's vision of the coming kingdom, where 'They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4),' " Huber wrote. "But," he asked, "shouldn't we make a start?"

Huber, priest-in-charge and associate rector of St. Columba's Episcopal Church, tapped into feelings that can creep in about now. "Almost any year, a preacher can fairly describe the present situation as dark up against the hope of the season," he said. "Living in Washington, we are acutely aware of our nation's deep divisions and our unstable world. We know about anxiety!" But we're not alone to figure it out. That, said Huber, is Christmas's ultimate promise.

The choice he poses is stark: to seek our meaning and purpose in the world's promise of wealth and power, or to join in the Christmas invitation to tear down the walls that separate us. "Whether it's war, poverty, the environment or any other injustice (they're all related), take your pick and start somewhere," Huber wrote.

Get past all the fluttering angels and glorious sounds of the season, he said, and slow down. Use the time to reflect, study, discuss -- and, yes, pray, for a radical reordering of our thinking so our own actions will change. That's the way to break through our darkness.

Points well taken. And so today, I'm a little less overwhelmed by our destructive ways and closer to the joy of Christmas, thanks to Huber.

Through King's column I also find comfort in the preacher's words. Christmas is not only a time for us to relax with family and friends, but it also a reminder, in the midst of our plenty, of what so many others are lacking. And while it is a time to rest from our labors, it is also a time to take the measure of the world around us, to be reminded of our common humanity with others, and resolve to do something about those things that we find wanting in our country, and on Earth. This year the reminder is of great comfort to me.

Merry Christmas everyone.