Magnificat

"Magnificat" by Ben Wildflower

Welcome to Advent!

It is one of those funny things about this very short season - it gets full lickedy split. One minute you are on your way up the hill of the holiday rollercoaster for Thanksgiving and the next thing you know you're screaming "Woo-Doggies" on your way down towards Christmas Eve.

We are not quite there yet. However, there is so much happening and so much coming in the next couple of weeks that Christmas Eve will be here before we know it.

This past weekend we spent time with John the Baptist and looking together at Isaiah's Dream of a peaceable kingdom. We remembered that God came into a world full of fangs and sharp claws not as the general of angel armies, but instead as a little baby - dependent on others for everything.

Christ's humble birth reminds us of all those who are close to God's heart: the last, the lost, the outcast, the foreigner, the orphan, the widow, the unwanted.

This weekend, we will be jumping into Mary's song and the blossoming desert from Isaiah. Because contrary to what pop music would have us believe, Mary knew.

What's more, she sang an entire song affirming both her participation in God's creative work and the world-flipping nature of the coming Messiah. It is a song that is oft outlawed in countries where autocrats and tyrants reign. It speaks of casting the authoritarians from their thrones and sending the rich away empty, while the oppressed, the poor, and the hungry find every need met.

Because this world is not what it should be. Not what God intends.

And God is the only One who can show us the way of life that is worth living. One based on equity-filled justice and radical love. One of mutual respect and intentional building up of those we would rather forget. One that takes on the unjust systems of this world until every child of God has lives full of flourishing and joy.

Jesus, who became God-With-Us, is still in our midst even now and has shown us how to live.

May we be like Christ's mother and live out our faith with every breath.

Blessings,

Rev. Janie