Sunday Musings - December 19, 2021
4th Sunday in Advent
Some in the Christian tradition suggest that on this 4th Sunday in Advent we focus on Jesus as the Lord of Peace; that our prayer be to let go of fear; fear of what tomorrow will bring; fear that we are not worth loving; fear of the unknown; fear that we will fail; fear that we cannot keep our commitments because some person or business is not doing what we have decided that they should do; fear we will look silly or incompetent and not be respected; fear that we will appear weak and vulnerable to others; fear that our partner does not love us as we love them; fear that we are not enough.
Sometime we label our fear as anxiety. It may arrive in the form of a panic attack. It is often expressed as anger and judgment. It also visits in the form of worrying and keeps us up all night trying to solve problems over which we have no control. At other times our fear arrives as depression or a fugue state of immobility.
Daily one can read about devastating tornadoes, shootings, car accidents, climate change, rising covid numbers and a host of other tragedies and conditions which visit us here on planet earth. If not careful, we can become so concerned about what could happen that we miss what we can enjoy and accomplish in this moment. We can like Jeremiah (6:14,811) and Ezekiel (13:10 and 16) cry “peace, peace when there is no peace” and know that we are not falling into the trap of the false prophets who deny racism, war, attachments, conspiracy theories, homelessness, starvation, and many other forms of injustice. We do not want to be part of the problem by denying our role in creating and sustaining these painful illnesses of the society we have created.
Yet, I am also reminded that He who is sometimes referred to as the prince of peace promises that if we walk with Him, we will find peace in embracing our homeless neighbor, forgiving seventy times seventy, letting go of the illusion or need to control, being present now, in love, with each other; that together we will show up and like the Cratchit family simply open our arms and embrace Scrooge. We will not accept the invitation to the bah humbug which is masking the fear.
As we approach this season when Christians celebrate the promise of peace; the promise that letting go of fear prepares us to meet life on life terms; to share our vulnerability and strength; our well-earned tears and joys and in the center of that sharing experience the embrace of Mother Earth and all the wonders which are also present; to experience in the midst of all the mess we make of this planet that quiet moment when we merely show up in love.
We can experience the peace which rises above the walls of hate, bigotry, injustice, the attachment to things, and fear about what tomorrow might bring. Whether we think of this Jesus fellow as mostly myth, the prince of peace, the son of God or a good man who ignored the walls of judgment and hate does not matter. Whether he was merely another human teacher who was both more and less than the story many will tell on Christmas we are reminded peace is possible. We will assume that the ego of the God of our understanding is strong enough to be called Jesus, Allah, teacher, human, wise one or even “dude” and simply invite him/her/it to our circle of peace where fear is given the day off.
Written December 19, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org,
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