Choosing Danger (Sounds of Blackness)

There are no Christmas cards about courage, have you noticed? Peace, Joy, Goodwill to All... check, not much mention of courage. But if the Christmas story is about anything it is about the angels’ oft-repeated message: Do Not Be Afraid. And if anything is antithetical to the message of Christmas, it's fear.

Today, Sounds of Blackness sing these words into our consciousness:

What a lowly place to be born
What a lowly place to be born
Like a stranger, not far from danger
He was born in a manger: My Lord

This song reminds us that God chose to be born into a lowly place: born to refugee parents, of the underclass, homeless at the time of his birth. More than that, God chose to be born into danger, the very real dangers of poverty and oppression, and, later, the danger of an infant genocide sparked by the fear of a ruler.

We believe that this kind of birth, God breaking into the world in this way, reveals to us God’s deep concern for those on the margins of society.  The lowly birth of our God, and the ensuing life of Jesus, lived in solidarity with those on the edges of community, tell us that God stands with the suffering, the oppressed, the victims of injustice in every time.

Born In A Manger from Sounds of Blackness on Myspace.



This brings many of us to the discomfort of today's song: In the grand view of our country’s population (let alone the world’s population) most of us have received enough privilege to make the above theological claims feel a little dangerous.  Following a God who choses to stand with those on the margins, has implications for our own lives that might make us feel a little afraid.

Can we find the courage to question our own social privilege, our own wealth in order to be found, like our God, on the side of the lowly? Do we have the heart to wonder, as love is born again and again each year at Christmas, if there's a danger into which we are called to follow the lowly babe in the manger? Will we follow if the danger threatens our comfort, our image, our lifestyle as we seek to follow the God who stands with the marginalized and loves the lowly?



Let's hear, today, this Christmas message: 

Courage. 

Do not be afraid. 

For the Divine Love that was born in Bethlehem turned the world upside down to bring justice, peace, and fullness of life; and that Divine Love, seeks to do the same, as it is born anew in every time and place and heart (even ours’).

                                                                                                      - Lindsey

Fri Dec. 30 - Brave New World (Nina Simone)

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

for me...

and I'm feelin' good...

New Year's Eve music is its own special genre: hopeful songs, wistful songs, starting-over songs, never-again songs, one-too-many drinking songs, gimme-some-lovin' songs, funny-resolution songs and depressive songs all vie for space to tell us they truly tell it like it was.

Feeling Good doesn't quite fit any of these categories, even though the words have a straightforward starting-over theme.  In contrast, the music behind the lyrics has this minor-keyed lurch and grind that gives it a lot more gravitas than the words themselves convey.  It's a song of mixed emotions, mixed times - an apt song for a moment when the old and new overlap in onelong night.

What I hear is someone who's had a rough time - maybe a really rough time - and has now made it to the other side.  Or maybe what I hear is someone who has found new strength, new drive, new determination.  Or maybe what I hear is someone just that so overjoyed  that the freedom and hope they feel within is echoed in every movement of Creation.  What I hear in all of these possibilities is someone who can hope onward into the future because she/he knows from where she came and can still look around her and truly be 'feelin' good.'

Maybe this was a wonderful, blessing-filled year for you, and the best possible thing 2012 could bring is another year like it.  Maybe it's just been a good year: good changes, good vibes, full of possibilities and adventures despite some rough spots.  Maybe it hasn't been a good year at all, or a downright drag-yourself-to-the-finish one.  No matter what, hoping onward requires knowing from where you've come well-enough to look clear-eyed at the present and the future, and maybe even claiming this very moment as really and truly "good."

2011 is drawing to a close.  Whatever it's meant to us, a new year rises to greet us with new promises and possibilities.  How is Creation calling to you about possibility, hope and freedom?

Feeling Good by Nina Simone; video by Tamara Connolly

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;

Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

                                                      - Psalm 96: 11-12

In these final hours of a passing year, may we reflect, rejoice, laugh and welcome a new year, 'a bold world,' of freedom and grace.

Thurs Dec.29 Lightwork (Lupe Fiasco)

But now, says the LORD—
the one who created you, Jacob,
the one who formed you, Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;
you are mine.
-Isaiah 43:1

          The self-reflective nature of this song is resonating with me today. Beginning with Ellie Goulding’s opening lines “I had a way then, losing it all on my own. I had a heart then, the queen has been overthrown," moving to Lupe’s jolting entrance with “So, what are you going to stand for?” He proceeds to answer the question of himself while reflecting on the history and culture that inform his choices. The song is packed with allusions and commentary, which may or may not ruffle your feathers.

         Regardless, for me, the model holds. This is the time of year when we reflect, look at our lives, spare a moment for a little critical analysis. For me this is less than comfortable territory and, many years, gets relegated to the minutes that elapse between some party-goer asking about my New Year’s resolutions and me shoving food in my mouth to buy thinking time. But what if that wasn’t it this year? Can I take some moments to look at myself and assess honestly? What has been overthrown in my life? What is calling me home? What do I see that needs to be illuminated? And what am I wrestling? Maybe these aren’t even my questions but they are an entry point.

 Lupe Fiasco (feat. Ellie Goulding and Bassnectar)

**Some strong language

One way we hope forward is to summon the courage to question ourselves.  

          Though it is not the case for our friends in the southern hemisphere, I do frequently reflect on the placement of Christmas (and in fact celebrations in many religious traditions) during winter months.  In the short, dark days when we become sedentary and quieted and ruminative, comes a celebration, a hope, a light. It is that light of Christmas that illuminates my reflection, that hope that gives me courage to question and boldness to look honestly at myself.  For when Christ , Divine Love, was born into the mess and poverty of a stable, it meant that Divine Love could dwell in the mess of my life too; and if God’s grace is great enough to hold the world in a reparative embrace, then that grace can also surround all that I discover within myself.

So, I am taking some moments this week to live into that love and grace and ask some questions-

Where am I?  How am I? What am I standing for? How am I affecting the lives of others? How are others affecting my life?

 -as I hope forward into the New Year.

May we question courageously, secure in the hold of God's grace.

-Lindsey