I write this in the predawn hours sitting beside Linda’s bed as she drifts further into the darkness of dementia. Personal grief hovers like a foreboding storm cloud.

The news is dominated by a dysfunctional government caught in the tug of war over a border wall. Political instability is spawning authoritarianism here and around the world and tribalism is shattering  the common good.

Reports of a plummeting stock market compounds uncertainty and anxiety. Will there be enough in pensions and savings to meet the escalating costs of basic needs?

Accounts of more violence in our local community  have become part of the daily news, and this morning is no exception.

While I read these news reports and ponder present and impending loss, Christmas carols play in the background: “Silent Night,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “What Child Is This,” “Away in a Manger.”

The dissonance is palpable! All is not calm and bright! Peace and goodwill seem an idle dream.

The surrounding darkness,  widespread discord, and lurking danger seem to render images of a babe lying peacefully in a manger and a heavenly choir harmoniously singing to lowly shepherds a fanciful escape from the real world.

But, no! The Christmas story as told in the Gospels IS THE REAL WORLD! The infinite and eternal God enters the finite and temporal. The Word has become flesh and dwelt among us.

In the midst of political oppression and economic injustice of the Roman despots Herod and Quirinius, a baby is born to a peasant teenager.

Made homeless by governmental decree, Mary gives birth in a stable in the dark of the night in the remote village of Bethlehem.

Fleeing brutality and violence, the vulnerable family migrate to Egypt as an insecure emperor cruelly slaughters innocent children. The wailing of grieving mothers pierces the silent night.

Grief, poverty, homelessness, migration, violence, dysfunctional governments, power hungry politicians! We know these realities all too well!

Christmas, however, speaks of another reality which beckons us toward a new world where

• the least and most vulnerable birth God’s presence and purposes
• the power of love supersedes the love of power
• the poor and powerless have access to  God’s abundance
• bridges of hospitality replace walls of exclusion
• the grieving are not left alone with their tears
•  forgiveness erases vengeance
• kindness blots out cruelty
• peace and goodwill supplant war and hostility

Here is the Good News of Christmas: God’s reality wins! “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it!” That’s the gospel truth!

The retirement community in which we live had its annual Advent/Christmas Dinner Friday. Below is the Invocation/Blessing which I offered.

Generous and loving God, we gather amid the beauty, safety, and abundance of our Dayspring community to celebrate your coming into a world amid darkness, poverty, violence, and oppression.

• May our festive celebration be a reminder of the world-transforming message of Jesus’ birth.
• May the beauty of our surroundings open our eyes to your veiled beauty present even in the bleakness and darkness.
• In the lavishness of the food may we taste the extravagance of your grace revealed in the miracle at Bethlehem.
• May the warmth of our fellowship widen the circle of our love to include all your children, especially the lowly and vulnerable who were the first to humbly worshipped the newborn child.
• And may the joy we share in celebrating your birth overflow and sustain us in times of grief, frailty, and loneliness, as it inspired the shepherds to sing “Glory to God in the highest!”
• And may our gratitude for this meal result in our living generously, compassionately, and justly as did Jesus whose birth we celebrate; and in whose name we pray. Amen

God of Love and Peace, who created us to live in harmony rooted in mutual respect, compassion, and justice: We have lost our way and now wander in the toxic wasteland of cruel hatred, shameful disrespect for the dignity of others, and the normalization of verbal and physical violence.  In such a time, our prayers seem powerless and we cry out, “How long, O Lord? How long?”

Hear our laments and turn them into actions on behalf of compassion, justice, and peace.

• We lament the coarseness of our public discourse, while we long for civility
• We lament the disrespect for those who differ from us, while we yearn for mutual respect amid our differences
• We lament the tribal nature of our politics, while we long for commitment to the common good
• We lament the inequity in our economics,  while we want all to have access to your table of abundance
• We lament the arrogance of always having to be right, while we desire the humility to live with ambiguity and mystery
• We lament the hatred and cruelty within our life together, while we hunger to love and to be loved

Move through the dark recesses of my own heart, O God, and purge me of all hatred, arrogance, prejudice, and ill-will. Create in me a clean heart and put a right spirit within me, that I may be an instrument of your Love and Peace. Amen.

During a presentation Tuesday evening in support of Wesley House Community Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, I spoke on the topic “From Poverty to Privilege: A Personal Pilgrimage.”

Drawing on my own experiences growing up in Appalachian poverty and now being among the privileged, I shared some of the perils and lessons of both poverty and privilege.

Among the points I made is the temptation of those with economic resources to live in bubbles of privilege, isolated from those without resources. We privileged ones have compassion perhaps and want to help; so we adopt the poor as “projects,” objects of charitable mission.

Having been “a project,” or object of charity, I know how demeaning that can feel. Nobody wants to be treated as a project, an object! We all want to be a person! The poor need friends, not project managers!

Mumve Dandala is the former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He says, “The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth; it’s dignity!” He adds that often our mission efforts, though well intentioned, rob the recipients of their dignity.

Bryan Stevenson writes,“The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”

The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth; it’s dignity nurtured in solidarity, friendship, and justice.

I am part of a weekly study/discussion group. We close each session with the following prayer, the author of which is anonymous:

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:

• a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
• a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
• a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
• a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.

Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

O Jesus, you did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Rather you emptied yourself in humble, self-giving love to and for the world.

How desperately we need your presence among us in these troubled and anxious times! Our nation and church are locked in tribal, partisan  battles for dominance and power, each side claiming “truth” and “right” and determined to prevail at all cost.

Burst our bubbles of privilege which blind us to the hurts of others and cause us to exploit you in our own pursuit of power and privilege.  Deliver us from the perils of our privileges

• wealth that cuts us off from the poor
• positions of power that blind us to the suffering of the powerless
• education which discounts the wisdom of the uneducated
• prestige which presumes entitlement
• health that leads to insensitivity toward the frail
• religious convictions that leave no room for mystery

Create in us, O God, the mind that was in Christ Jesus–

• a sympathetic mind that feels the pain of the violated and wounded
• a humble mind, emptied of arrogance and boasting
• a generous mind, filled with love and goodwill toward all
• a courageous mind, willing to challenge injustice and cruelty in high and low places
• a searching mind, embracing mystery and wonder and awe
• a hopeful mind, trusting in the triumph of justice, compassion, goodness.

In the name and spirit of the One who is the Mind of God in human flesh, Jesus the Christ. Amen