In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentence for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be make low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
In this season of Advent, of waiting expectantly for the Messiah to come, we are waiting in a wilderness of gun violence, murder, racism and brutality, among other things. I keep asking myself, “What created this wilderness of hatred and fear? Who created this wilderness of hatred and fear? And most importantly, How have I contributed to this hatred and fear?”
I live comfortably in a home with heat, plenty of food to eat, a car to get around, entertainment, a nice garden, a dog and a wonderful family. On the surface it appears that I probably have nothing to do with this fear and hatred, yet I’m complicit in the very fact that I’m complacent. I refuse to buy into the rhetoric that we need to ban refugees from entering the United States, yet I haven’t inquired about how my church might sponsor a refugee family. I mourn for those killed in recent gun violence and I want gun control, yet I have not spoken out publically about it.
I keep asking myself, “What are the ways in which I can make a straight path, how can I make a mountain low (level the playing field) or fill a valley (with love and peace). What are the commitments that I can make this Advent season while I await new life; a life outside of the wilderness of hatred and fear
julielunaponders 
I think you’re asking the questions we all ask ourselves each time the media reminds us of how broken we are. I think this class has been a call to action for all of us to begin to imagine the ways we might use our voices as public theologians to speak out and support the world in an effort for peace and justice. We will all do this work differently because we are different people with different gifts, but as my husband always says to me, “crumbs makes loaves”. By sharing your time, your talent or your treasure, you make a difference. See you in February!
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When you’ve been writing about fear this week, I keep coming back to this idea of the power of finally naming the emotions we’re feeling. I know I really struggle with this, because it can be hard to accept that I’m actually uncomfortable, or afraid, or feel uneasy or threatened by someone or something. But if I am able to name that emotion, then I can start to learn to deal with it. I can start to learn where that feeling came from and how I can move beyond that fear of the other or the unknown. Maybe that can be a place to start this important work.
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I find myself constantly torn with the question (one of them) you raise: what shall I do and is it the right use of my time and resources? How do I go ahead and dedicate myself because there is always more out there I could do but I need some time and resource for myself or other priorities.
What do you do when you need to let something drop off the table or the to do list and that other thing is a person in need?
On internship in the oil patch in North Dakota I had a political refugee family that had flown the coop on the State Department sponsored location: three kids, two parents and minimal English language skills fleeing repression in Togo. Trying to get them established and connected was getting me up at four in the morning to get the father into work from where we found housing etc. And they just would not adapt to scheduling things ahead so I could accomplish my visitation, teaching, and other duties.
They ran me ragged, but I got them connected with social services, health care, the local schools, etc. and then dropped them (with fair warning) because if I didn’t they would just keep on having avoidable emergencies…..there was more I could have done for them, but not without exceeding the boundaries of my own health and duties to others, and frankly feeling used by their refusal to change their ways as far as planning ahead, reading their mail, using the phone,getting help from other sources.
I felt guilty as hell, but they adapted as soon as I stopped helping them. Maybe I should have reasoned it better or trusted God more. Anyway, I think you just do your best and not guilt yourself off of getting the rest and recreation, and break from thinking about the big picture, we need. It is not just about naming our emotions, perhaps, but learning how to release ourselves. God forgives, maybe we need to practice forgiving ourselves.
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