An Advent reflection 
inspired by Jeremiah 33 and Luke 21
#justice #light #thinking

I’ve been thinking this week about justice – and the coming days that we hope for, or are fearful of. And I’ve found myself wondering about how my notion of justice might measure up against the world that God really yearns for and for which Christ came and how I move towards THAT vision.

John Blase writes in his remarkable poem:

There are wild things
just beyond the crèche.
Pry loose an Advent candle
from its round wreath
and walk straight past the doe-eyed virgin
deeper into the world he came to save.
Jettison your meekness.
Cup your hand over the flame
for you’ll be exposed.
Don’t look for a star.
Instead listen as the wind
repeats its sounding joy.
You’ll feel more lost than saved
but that’s how the prophets say it will feel
the closer your journey towards
the coming arrival.

Walk Straight

Adventing towards justice, or “prying loose a candle” from its accustomed sacred space to venture off into the world for which Christ came is not easy.

And this week has really highlighted for me what a struggle it can be to choose words and actions that will actually bring us a little closer each day to the world we want to live in:

~ especially when some of the darkness has settled close to home,
~ especially when things have to get worse before they get better,
~ and especially when we find ourselves standing in the dark alone.

Standing up or speaking out for justice exposes us to challenges and risks and even judgment. It may take us into spaces that feel unsafe, uncomfortable, and even hostile.

In fact, the closer we get to true justice – to God’s justice – the more vulnerable and uncomfortable we may feel because that unclear and difficult path may require us to lose something of ourselves along the way.

I think that’s why it’s such a miracle that the God who fashioned the cosmos comes to us in the fragile form of a baby born into the harsh realities of the marginalised and oppressed.

I think that’s why, in Christian life and faith, the way to the cradle is also the way to the cross.

And I know, I absolutely know that the path to justice has been walked before us …

by Rosa Parks
by Mahatma Ghandi

by Desmond Tutu

by ______________________________

by Christ himself.

So …

Who is it that you are grateful for, for walking ahead of you, for walking with you?

And where are you walking to with God’s light?

And what can we pray with you?