"Time for Renaissance to reawaken what is withered.
Believe, kid. Confirm.
Make 'it is' what it isn't."
If you heard: welcome to a God-forsaken land of vice, greed, poverty, excess, hypocrisy, suffering, and remorseless injustice... to quote that famous line from Princess Bride, "I do not think [that] means what you think it means."
Babylon is mostly a metaphor of exile.Yes, along with exile went suffering, disorientation, and loss. But despite the "whore of Babylon" one-liners in Revelation, Babylon is primarily a Biblical symbol for being strangers in a strange land.
So, again: Welcome to Babylon. Here. Now. This Advent. Wherever you live and where I live. Because Babylon is a powerful way to describe the strangeness and deep discomfort (even pain) inherent in living in-between what should be and what is. It is to feel irrevocably out-of-place. It's to survive against the odds, to thrive where there should be no life.
"Never disbelieve when you see human miracle
Like ghetto children shining bright in Babylon --
Believe in that, don't believe in stats to the contrary
Gotta' be wary of them theories. Carry on..."
I Believe - Q-Tip ft. D'Angelo on The Renaissance album
**[there is 1 "swear;" please listen before sharing]**
While the main subject in 'I Believe' is the hip hop industry itself, implied within is the larger African-American cultural context, where Babylon has long been a potent metaphor for feeling politically, socially and spiritually 'exiled,' especially in "ghetto" spaces of urban political neglect.
For children to "shine bright" in this context, then, is a sign of Advent wonder, a star, a portent of God's power and human spirit even in difficult places. It can certainly recall the Christ-child, born into strange political times, into threats against his brand-new life, even into exile as his parents fled for his safety -- while, in the meantime, God's star shone bright in the fearless sky.
Yet, despite the risk and the pain, when we say we are abiding in Babylon, we also name the hope that can live in sojourning, in waiting -- in truly, fully abiding in our times.
The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims to all the exiles I have carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don’t dwindle away. Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare.
- Jeremiah 29:4-7 (CEB)
The word from God to those in Babylon is to abide and to thrive. So as I abide in this time -- this complex, confusing, dynamic moment -- I depend on the voices of others testifying, from their point of view, who is "shining bright in Babylon." I, in my turn, hope to shine bright in my corner as well, to "reawaken what is whithered," to make what "is" into something brand-new...
"There's a whole lot of work, we should roll up our sleeves..."
May you shine bright in Babylon, looking for others to light the way with you. May you abide with courage and hope, working with rolled-up sleeves. And may you thrive, may you thrive, may you thrive.
-- Anna
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