I've been so caught up in the political this year. Many of us have been, haven't we?
With the semester ending, I decided to take a small break for a change. So this weekend, I was really trying to get into the festive spirit that I've felt too busy to indulge in this year. I relaxed some, but in between running Christmas errands and while waiting in the nail salon, I found myself reading articles about women's healthcare and stories about women who had been raped. I found myself watching videos about the current administration and paying attention to headlines about the tax plan and other current events. And each time i realized what I was doing, I chided myself, this isn't relaxing. You're supposed to be being festive. Merry. Light.
There's another thought that's crossed my mind from time to time during past Christmas seasons: Do some of my socio-political feelings come from one of my favorite Christmas movies? Since I was a little girl, I've loved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I wanted to adopt all of the misfit toys, put Hermey through dental school, and hire a lawyer to take care of the discrimination in Santa's hiring practices... Have I been so influenced by this Christmas movie that this is where I get my some of my leaning towards inclusion and fighting oppression and discrimination?
But then Saturday, in Christmas Eve service at church, I was reminded that it wasn't just a red-nosed reindeer who is responsible for my socio-political leanings, and I realized why I can't seem to give it a rest, even at the most wonderful time of the year.
No, my desire to take care of the misfits is right there in one of my favorite Christmas songs, too: O Holy Night.
With the semester ending, I decided to take a small break for a change. So this weekend, I was really trying to get into the festive spirit that I've felt too busy to indulge in this year. I relaxed some, but in between running Christmas errands and while waiting in the nail salon, I found myself reading articles about women's healthcare and stories about women who had been raped. I found myself watching videos about the current administration and paying attention to headlines about the tax plan and other current events. And each time i realized what I was doing, I chided myself, this isn't relaxing. You're supposed to be being festive. Merry. Light.
There's another thought that's crossed my mind from time to time during past Christmas seasons: Do some of my socio-political feelings come from one of my favorite Christmas movies? Since I was a little girl, I've loved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I wanted to adopt all of the misfit toys, put Hermey through dental school, and hire a lawyer to take care of the discrimination in Santa's hiring practices... Have I been so influenced by this Christmas movie that this is where I get my some of my leaning towards inclusion and fighting oppression and discrimination?
But then Saturday, in Christmas Eve service at church, I was reminded that it wasn't just a red-nosed reindeer who is responsible for my socio-political leanings, and I realized why I can't seem to give it a rest, even at the most wonderful time of the year.
No, my desire to take care of the misfits is right there in one of my favorite Christmas songs, too: O Holy Night.
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother.
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
How? Looking around our world, it bears asking: how does oppression cease?
Some of us decide to pray; we believe God will cease oppression Himself.
Some of us rise to action; we believe God has called people to help cease oppression.
Some of us are apathetic: Oppression has always been and will always be. Why bother? (I argue these are the people who have not heeded Atticus Finch's advice in To Kill a Mockingbird and who had a pessimistic view of The Last Jedi...)
Of those of us who fight oppression through action, some donate money or time or clothes. Some feed the hungry. Some sponsor a child. Some shelter sex trafficking victims. Some shop only fair-trade. Some of us picket or march or vote or write facebook comments or blog posts.
Some do what they do in the church. Starting ministries. Preaching messages. Some do what they do in the social and political realms. Campaigning. Petitioning. Some act in both the church and the socio-political realms.
The fact is, the song-- and, more importantly, the Bible, in my interpretation-- doesn't specify how oppression ceases. Just that it comes through Jesus.
Christmas Eve morning, I realized why I couldn't shake the political for the festive. Why I couldn't shake the heavy to be full of Christmas light. I remembered that Christmas is political.
The whole story is a social and political scandal. The story starts with a young unwed mother and ends with a threatened king killing baby boys like a scene out of Game of Thrones. Why is the king feeling threatened? Because a New King has been declared. The Kingdom of Heaven has come near. A new order, where everything is turned on its head: The first become last, the last become first. The meek inherit the earth. Women, Children, and Slaves have a place. Sinners are shown mercy, the death penalty stayed.
Peace on earth, Good news for all people. What could be more radical?