Advent 3 Meditation/ Great Joy
"When I enter into true deep communion with Jesus, I will find that it is in this small way that leads to real peace and joy” Henri Nouwen
As we have been moving through Advent and trying on notions of our own incarnation we enter into the mystery of the Incarnation, the Mystery which draws us to Christ’s birth and to the divine expectation of His coming again in great glory. It is this paradox and this tension which create a space to receive Him still.
Friction can be a good thing. Friction can also be painful, even terrorizing.
The world is fraught with friction right now. The Annunciation occurred when Mary was not only young but also surrounded by friction. Jesus was born into a fractured world. Yet, He was the Light which penetrated the cracks.
Our preparation and our communion, even if different than years past, points us toward a readiness and space to receive the Joy of Christmas which encompasses the Joy of Easter which encompasses the Joy of Peace and Hope which the world cannot give but was incarnated when the Word was made flesh. When God so loved the world...
The irony of this incarnation which infuses us is that its fullness is in the weak and vulnerable. It resides then, or abides in, the vulnerable, small parts of ourselves. Joy, like love and hope and peace, can enter those spaces more easily than it can the walled off, buttressed, places we have protected and defended.
I invite you to embrace these holy ironies and paradoxes and turn to Joy. It may surprise you. I invite you to spend time with the image and the poem and the music and allow the joyful work of God in the incarnation enter your life in new ways.
Joy Unspeakable
is not silent,
it moans, hums, and bends
to the rhythm of a dancing universe.
It is a fractal of transcendent hope,
a hologram of God’s heart,
a black hole of unknowing.
For our free African ancestors,
joy unspeakable is drum talk
that invites the spirits
to dance with us,
and tell tall tales by the fire.
For the desert Mothers and Fathers,
joy unspeakable is respite
from the maddening crowds,
And freedom from
“church” as usual.
For enslaved Africans during the
Middle Passage,
joy unspeakable is the surprise
of living one more day,
and the freeing embrace of death
chosen and imposed.
For Africans in bondage
in the Americas,
joy unspeakable is that moment of
mystical encounter
when God tiptoes into the hush arbor,
testifies about Divine suffering,
and whispers in our ears,
“Don’t forget,
I taught you how to fly
on a wing and a prayer,
when you’re ready
let’s go!”
Joy Unspeakable is humming
“how I got over”
after swimming safely
to the other shore of a swollen Ohio river
when you know that you can’t swim.
It is the blessed assurance
that Canada is far,
but not that far.
For Africana members of the
“invisible institution,” the
emerging black church,
joy unspeakable is
practicing freedom
while chains still chafe,
singing deliverance
while Jim Crow stalks,
trusting God’s healing
and home remedies,
prayers, kerosene,
and cow patty tea.
For the tap dancing, boogie woogie,
rap/rock/blues griots
who also hear God,
joy unspeakable is
that space/time/joy continuum thing
that dares us to play and pray
in the interstices of life,
it is the belief that the phrase
“the art of living”
means exactly what it says.
Joy Unspeakable
is
both FIRE AND CLOUD,
the unlikely merger of
trance and high tech lives
ecstatic songs and a jazz repertoire
Joy unspeakable is
a symphony of incongruities
of faces aglow and hearts
on fire
and the wonder of surviving together.
by Barbara Holmes
For Families, I invite you to read Great Joy by Kate DeMello
It is a beautiful tale of joy coming into life in unexpected ways and in vulnerable places at Christmas. It is a story also of how children can cause us to realize these simple truths.
Comments
Post a Comment