As I continue to listen, internally and externally, and discern how to most healthfully and helpfully respond to the recent US election, a friend shared a video from Brian McLaren that caught my attention. Brian is Dean of the Faculty at the CAC (my former employer and a current editing client). Brian’s words resonated with me, so I thought I’d reflect on them here.
Brian’s video is less than three minutes long, so I encourage you to listen to it. In it, he states how something is trying to be born and something else is dying. What is dying is “a world of white supremacy,” “a world of angry, dominating, greedy men,” “a world of violence and power.” He states, “that dying world bares its teeth and its claws and it will destroy as much as it can before it’s done.”
As I hear about the nominations being publicized by the president-elect, it seems they’re doing exactly that: seeking to tear down and destroy as much of the infrastructure of this country as they can. Yes, it’s horrible. And I pray that these are the death throes of a world that is dying.
However, Brian believes we are enduring labor pains as well as death pains. He believes something new and “beautiful” is being born in this time. Of course, he shared this video before the election, when he and I and many others hoped that we would soon witness a triumphant birth—and we will not. Instead, we will get to watch angry white men do their best to destroy what they cannot control.
All this brings Scripture to mind—specifically, Revelation 12:1–6. This book was written during a time of great social upheaval and seeming despair. In this passage, we read that a woman was in labor pains, giving birth, and a dragon sought to devour her newborn. But the child was “snatched away” to God and the woman escaped into the wilderness, to “a place prepared by God,” for rest and recovery.
Perhaps this is the image and message for us now. Perhaps you are with God, caring for the precious newborn. Perhaps you have fled into what feels like a wilderness, where you will find community, rest, and recovery. Perhaps you’re still recovering from the bloody birth and don’t yet know what is yours to do.
If it’s speaking to you, I invite you to take this image to prayer in the week ahead. I’ll be doing the same. Meanwhile, know you are not alone. I’m here if you wish to respond.
I just read this and it was a moment of hope and resolution to keep on keeping on.
Like your words and Brian’s they remind me of who is in control and our responsibility not to despair but to continue in the way of Love – together.
Venice Williams, from the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service:
Oh, Amen, Joyce. This is a powerful message, and I thank you for sharing it with us. I will indeed keep nourishing joy and compassion today and doing my best to lift up those who are lamenting and in despair….
Peace,
Shirin
Oh my, Shirin! Brian’s video struck me as well, and is on the same track as a poem that my late partner, Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius, wrote some years ago. It’s titled “Child of Tomorrow”:
Oh, how the proponents of the outworn
shout and shoot from lip and hip
as desperately they try to block
the ice from breaking, the new
from breaking through and out.
How they condemn, capture, torture
those who speak the language of a freer life—
speak human rights, liberty, equality
for all the people of the Earth.
Oh, how they despise the emerging dawn
preferring the dungeons of ignorance
to the summits of illumination
clinging greedily to pseudo-power
oppressing all who dare to say no
to centuries of demagoguery
dominance, submission.
Irrevocably, the long night is stretching toward
morning, even as those yet asleep conspire to
keep shutters on windows, blindfolds
on human eyes, while justifying any means
commit any outrage
to force-feed the illusion
that the old ways are still in charge—
diabolic systems tied to pipelines of money
and vast arsenals of weapons
stored in catacombs of fear.
That’s why the struggle
will not end in this lifetime
but must be borne for and by
generations to come.
In the meantime, those who carry in their belly
the new embryo of what it means to be human
those who are pregnant with a wider, deeper
truth, must not be dissuaded by setbacks
but encouraged to continue to nourish
with their body and soul the coming age
of empowerment and liberation.
There is no one not called to be
Parent to the Child of Tomorrow.
These words, therefore, sound
for your hearing.
Oh, Aston, this is a powerful poem, and yes, it echoes with words and images that we need to hear today. There is much to ponder here, so thank you for sharing it with us.
Peace,
Shirin
Dearest sister & others, yes, I agree – this is exactly where we are at in every way. And in this sense, we are enduring an apocalyptic era – which if I understand the Greek origins of the word, is literally an “unveiling”. What exactly is being unveiled we dare witness…with a combination of awe mixed with dread?
As hyperbolic as these type of words sound, I absolutely do not think we are at a juncture when placating phrases serve. We must help with the divine mandate (another word being bandied about) to remove the veil & SEE what is here.
This impossible paradox of undisguised evil AND the kingdom of heaven in its birth pangs?
Thank you, Alex, for your reflection on mine and for the reminder of the “unveiling” that is indeed happening. We are learning who truly cares for the people inhabiting this land and who cares only for their own power and control. I hesitate to call any humans evil by nature, but all of us are unfortunately capable of doing evil, and many in power here are positioning themselves to do terribly evil things. Yes, placation is not enough. We must be ready to act when it becomes clear what God is calling us to do…to support this mysterious and largely as-yet-unknown new birth…!
Thank you for being alongside me and us in this journey….
Peace,
Shirin