NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

I am overwhelmed! Overwhelmed by awe.   Overwhelmed by angst. Overwhelmed by the season. All at the same time. The awe of birth   Of giving birth to another being A being that is alive At once the same and yet very different Their own being from the start. Knowing that this is how it has ever been. For Mary, for me,   For all mothers that have been and ever will be. Overwhelmed again by awe! The angst overwhelms me too! Why are the trappings of the story so important? The cattle, the star, the number of magi, the stable~ Why? Why? Why? The angst of not seeing, Not seeing the importance of upholding these impossible details: The star that could stop directly over a place, Heavenly beings singing in the night sky. Yes, the story is lovely. But that's all it is, a story. A story told in retrospect   A story to bolster a reputation A story to uphold the importance of a birth. If he had never been born, ...

“A candle is burning, a candle of LOVE , A candle to point us to heaven above A baby for Christmas, a wonderful birth For Jesus is bringing God's love to our earth.”   ~words by Sandra Dean The theme of Advent IV is love. Not the soppy, sentimental love we see around Valentines Day  but the Greek word agape that we translate as love and which   means brotherly[sic] love, the love of God for humanity and of humanity for God. “But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian face, faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts agains love.”   ~Martin Luther King Jr. How do we show this kind of love in our lives, this love that wills the good of another, that wills justice for everyone? One thing I know is that it isn't that love we feel when we see a kitten or puppy or eve...

“A candle is burning, a candle of JOY, A candle to welcome brave Mary's new boy Our hearts fill with wonder and eyes light and glow As joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow” ~ words by Sandra Dean The word that jumps out of this verse to me is the word ' brave' .   And so when I think of Mary at this time of year, I think of how scared and confused   she must have been. Unlike today's society there were no baby showers, no classes to prepare first time mothers for what was happening to their bodies, no modern medical facilities to aid in the birth. As well there is the presumption in Matthew’s account that Mary had committed adultery.  Yes, she was brave! I well remember my stay in the maternity wing on a local hospital in the mid-1960s, with a skeleton staff working between Christmas and New Years. The nurse looked at me, and said, 'You teenage girls have no business getting pregnant and then coming in here expecting us to look after you...

“ A candle is burning, a candle of PEACE,   A candle to signal that conflict must cease   For Jesus is coming to show us the way   A message of peace humbly laid in the hay” ~words by Sandra Dean What conflict does our society see as needing to cease? Many see a conflict within their family, where peace can be brought about by expelling/silencing someone who is the cause of the conflict, who is unwilling to go along with the family’s expectations or who is unable to abide by them through mental illness or addiction. Peace to them means quiet because no one dares to challenge the status quo. “All I want under my tree Peace and love and harmony Wrap it with a ribbon please I'll share it with my family." ~Chorus from ‘With my Family’ by Rita MacNeil, 1993 Peace for the country happens when the powers that be are in charge, making decisions that are followed unquestioningly by the proletariat   - no riots, no strikes, no protests there. ...