Advent means “Watch for what’s coming!”.

I observe Advent every year. During this time I try to focus on the birth of Jesus while something tries, all too successfully, to turn my attention to eating, shopping, eating, lights, eating, parties, and eating. Now, I’m no Grinch. I love Santa, decorations, lights, parties and eating. But I also love Jesus, and it seems only right to save him a place at his own birthday party. So Dec. 2, I’m going to start focusing on the birth of Jesus. I don’t really have a plan, except to walk through Advent and watch. And I’m inviting you to come along.

I speak lightly of this struggle to focus, but it’s actually a serious matter. Something else always seeks to distract us, because Something Else is seeking to be born in us. Early in the 20^th century the Irish poet (prophet) W. B. Yeats, saw this as a misty apparition. “Advent!”, he cried, “Advent! Watch for what is coming!!!”

The Second Coming - W.B. Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi*

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

* Spirit of the World

Of Fear and Shame

When she was only 6 years old, Mary Manko Haskett was incarcerated in Spirit Lake Internment Camp in northern Quebec. She was sent there with her family because they were Ukrainian and, in the First World War, deemed a threat to national security. There were never any charges, trials or convictions; just being Ukrainian was enough. The men were to receive $1.25/day for their labour but, for the most part, never did. All this and much more was set out this morning in, “Flowers for Nellie”, a CBC radio documentary by John Shipman.

As the account of this regrettable incident began I wondered why we seem compelled to go back and dig up things like this. Do we feel a perverse need to shame our ancestors and ourselves? Do we so crave attention that we seek our share of even this spotlight?

As I listened, however, I realized some things:

1. Beyond the Japanese internment of WWII, I have not known our history of internment.

2. I thought internment was a mere aberration of Canadian history.

3. I’ve been under the impression that internment was mainly something the Fascists and Communists did.

4. We need to know our whole story, not just the parts we like.

Mary Haskett’s story indicates that no people or movement has a corner on this kind of systemic injustice. It’s a general human failing, and more about fear than anything else. This is why these things are done to “others”, the strangers and aliens among us. And it’s why they’re done in times of war and social upheaval. Few human beings have a great capacity for hatred or cruelty, but most have an amazing capacity for fear. And it’s fear that makes these terrible things possible.

John tells us (1 John 4:18) that love and fear don’t work together. Fear makes love impossible and love drives fear away. Surely this is why Jesus so often tells his followers not to be afraid. And it’s why we must be careful not to incite fear in people, and very cautious of those who do.

So much of what we hear today, in the post 9/11 world, is fear mongering, pure and simple. And, when those in authority preach fear, whether they be national or international leaders, religious leaders, labour leaders, politicians, scientists, economists, whatever, we must listen with discernment, speak out against fear, and steadfastly refuse to be afraid.

Our enemies do fearful things,

and so we are afraid;

And, fearing, we do shameful things,

and so we are ashamed.

Just a Passing Thought

The Christian apologist C. S. Lewis, and the atheist humanist Aldous Huxley, were great writers and two of the most influential intellectuals of the 20^th Century, yet when they died at 64 and 69 respectively, their deaths went largely unnoticed by the world that had exalted them in life. This is the flickering illusion we call fame, that mocks both Man of God and Man of Man. You see, they both died on the same day, November 22, 1963, and the news of their passing was utterly eclipsed by the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Timing man, it’s all about timing.

But then again, a few years later, when the Kennedy story had subsided, the world still cared enough to notice they were gone. Bad timing notwithstanding, I guess there’s something to be said for doing good work.

Just a couple of things to share today

On Sunday morning, Karen Wilk, one of the pastors at The River, the church we attend, had a great illustration of faith. She invited a couple of the little children up to the front where she showed them two mouse traps. She had one of the kids spring one of the traps with a pencil, just so they would see how mouse traps work. They were suitably startled and impressed. Then she invited the other child to try to get a loonie out of the other trap. Nicolas, being at least as bright as that chimp we’ve seen on the cover of TIME Magazine, initially tried to do it with the pencil. But when Karen said he had to use his bare hand, without a moment’s hesitation, he confidently reached in and took the loonie. Her point? His faith in her, together with her faith in him, gave him the confidence to take the risk. Cool! But there was another point being illustrated that might have been missed.

When little Nick reached for the loonie, we in the congregation, including me, held our breath as though we really imagined he might get his fingers snapped. Admittedly, we didn’t know then that Karen had rigged the trap so it couldn’t spring. But why didn’t we know this? Did we really think she would risk this little guy’s fingers for the sake of her children’s story? As an exasperated Jesus used to say, “O, you of little faith”.

The second thing I want to share is that last night my wife, Suzanne, and I went to hear Steve Bell, a singer/song-writer we’ve been enjoying since the 90s; back when he appeared before audiences of 50. This was the last venue in a cross country tour with local symphonies. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was amazing, the Winspear Centre fabulous, and Steve Bell? well, he was Steve Bell, the reason we went. He began the concert with one of my favourites, Burning Ember. Just click on the title to see and hear him perform it with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The Meaning of Babylon

The name “Babylon” has a negative, even sinister feel in our culture. This is understandable, of course, because it comes from the Bible, and from the Bible’s perspective this great city is associated with the darkness of human nature; confused, arrogant, defiant, decadent, vicious, and oppressive. Its story begins in the account of the Tower of Babel and ends in the Book of Revelation where it is called “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (17:5). And we thought people said mean things about Toronto.

In spite of all this, as we have seen, the Bible periodically turns a compassionate eye upon Babylon, and I hope we will be able to do so as well. But first we need to understand the Bible’s perspective on the darkness of this place.

The Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:1-9 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

This passage is often interpreted simply as the Bible’s explanation of the origin of languages. This is unfortunate, firstly, because I doubt that it actually is, any more than the story of the Flood is the Bible’s explanation of the origin of boats; but, secondly, because this story contains so many profound insights into human nature, both ancient and modern.

Now, God had just commanded Noah and his descendants to "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth…. (Genesis 9:1) In other words, to make babies and spread out. But, when they discovered the plain of Shinar, and realized it was a good place to stay, they decided to settle down. And, more than this, they decided to build a city, and a great tower that would reach to the heavens.

It’s simplistic and naïve to imagine that these people thought they could literally build a tower up to heaven. The biblical writers, and readers, had been on many mountains, and were well aware that “heaven” is beyond reach. The purpose of the tower, in fact, is quite clearly stated in the text; ‘so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered’.

They’ve developed the technology, ‘brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar’, and they want to show off their technology to everyone. In other words, they want to build a tower for the same reasons we build towers. Wasn’t landing on the moon ahead of the Soviets largely about building the highest tower imaginable, to show off American technology (make a name), and to create a common goal for the American people (not be scattered)? And, just in case we’re feeling smug, what’s the tallest tower in the world? Well, no, it’s actually Burj Dubai (the Dubai Tower) . But the CN Tower in Toronto held the “record” till last September. (Note, its official height of 1,815 ft., 5 inches.) What’s with the five inches? Where’s Sigmund Freud when we really need him?

Anyway, they defied the command to scatter because there is fame and power, thus safety, in concentrated numbers. And this is not the first time in the story that this has happened. When Cain, fearing for his life, was banished to the land on Nod, which means “wandering”, he did not, in fact, wander. He built a city; the very first city. (Genesis 4:17) Which is to say, he built the prototypical city. So, from the very beginning, the Bible takes a rather dim view of cities.

For some challenging reading see Jacques Ellul (The Technological Society and The Meaning of the City) who writes extensively on the biblical themes of the threat to humanness posed by technology and the city.

Questions:

Do you have any sympathy for this “dim view” of the city?

What’s good about the city?

What’s not?

You meet the most wonderful exiles on the margins

And one such exile is Leonard Cohen. He’s a Jew, so some might say he was born on the margin, but I think there’s more to it than that. I believe he was sent to the margin by God for being a poet. Not as a punishment, God himself is THE POET, but for the sake of his gift. Poetry, real poetry, only happens on the edge.

His song, Democracy, is a great example of this. Not just that it could only come from someone on the periphery, though that's certainly true, but also because it’s what this song’s about. When what we really long for comes, it will come from Galilee, not Rome; from Mount Calvary, not Parliament Hill.

Just click on the title if you’d like to hear Mr. Cohen sing it.

Democracy – Leonard Cohen

It's coming through a hole in the air,

from those nights in Tiananmen Square.

It's coming from the feel

that this ain't exactly real,

or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.

From the wars against disorder,

from the sirens night and day,

from the fires of the homeless,

from the ashes of the gay:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming through a crack in the wall;

on a visionary flood of alcohol;

from the staggering account

of the Sermon on the Mount

which I don't pretend to understand at all.

It's coming from the silence

on the dock of the bay,

from the brave, the bold, the battered

heart of Chevrolet:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,

the holy places where the races meet;

from the homicidal bitchin'

that goes down in every kitchen

to determine who will serve and who will eat.

From the wells of disappointment

where the women kneel to pray

for the grace of God in the desert here

and the desert far away:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

O mighty Ship of State!

To the Shores of Need

Past the Reefs of Greed

Through the Squalls of Hate

Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,

the cradle of the best and of the worst.

It's here they got the range

and the machinery for change

and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.

It's here the family's broken

and it's here the lonely say

that the heart has got to open

in a fundamental way:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.

O baby, we'll be making love again.

We'll be going down so deep

the river's going to weep,

and the mountain's going to shout Amen!

It's coming like the tidal flood

beneath the lunar sway,

imperial, mysterious,

in amorous array:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean

I love the country but I can't stand the scene.

And I'm neither left or right

I'm just staying home tonight,

getting lost in that hopeless little screen.

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags

that Time cannot decay,

I'm junk but I'm still holding up

this little wild bouquet:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Livin’ on the Margins

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

…for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

One of the great challenges God’s people faced in Babylon was that of being displaced from the centre of power and influence. The loss of power is a practical problem, of course, but it’s also a great humiliation. In Zion these Hebrews had been important people; now, they have become just another odd little community, a plaything, quaint and amusing.

This is the fate of displaced peoples everywhere as exemplified by the Ukrainian and Polish jokes of the 1960s? It’s also been the fate of the Chinese, East Indians, and, most recently, Muslims from the Middle East. But the supreme North American example remains the Africans who were transported from their homelands to serve white masters on this continent. Eventually they formed indigenous American communities on the margins of the dominant culture, but, being visible and marginal, they suffered innumerable indignities, not the least of which was the humiliation of having their language, culture and appearance serve as entertainment for those who ruled over them. When I was a child the caricature of the shuffling black servant was still popular in cinema. And my father could remember watching “minstrel shows” where white singers and comedians performed in black-face. They thought nothing of singing stylized “Negro” numbers they called “mammy songs”. And, ironically, the greatest performer of them all was Al Jolson, a Lithuanian Jew who grew up in his own marginal community in New York.

The margins of society are a hard place to be. Few choose to go there, and fewer sill to live there. But when you do settle down there you discover more than a hard life, for it’s from the margins of society that cultural change is driven. The centre is invested in the status quo. It’s those on the margins who, having little to lose, create the new material that changes society. Consider music, for example: jazz, gospel, rock ‘n’ roll, folk, rap. All these forms arose in marginal communities. And the Gandhis, Mother Teresas, and Martin Luther Kings of any society, seldom arise from the centre of power. And it’s not just because these people have little to lose. They also have a perspective on society denied to those in the centre. They experience the injustice, poverty and discrimination that’s invisible to those in power.

And this is the plan and purpose of God; to continually take those who are sensitive to him and move them to the margins. Abraham was called to leave his home and family. Moses was taken out of the Pharaoh’s house in Egypt to live as a shepherd in the desert. Jesus was born to a peasant family in Galilee, on the margins, no, on the margin of the margins of the Roman Empire. And he told his followers to work on the margins; to be the salt in the food and the light in the darkness. (Matthew 5:13-14)

What is this Babylon?

Some have inquired about the Babylon metaphor, unsure that they’re getting it. Well, if it’s the first time you’ve considered this idea in this way, I hope you’re not getting. I’ve been pondering life in Babylon for years now and I’m just beginning to get it. It’s a paradigm shift, and these things always take a while.

Ever have that feeling that life has changed; that “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore”, feeling. I had it a few years ago when a friend from Vancouver told me he’d gotten a phone call from one of his kids begging him to pick up something at Canadian Tire on his way home from work. When he finally got a word in edge-wise he said, “Jason, I’m in Los Angeles and I won’t be home for three days”. At the time this was an amusing incident. Now it’s just life with a cell phone. But, while most of us find the pace of technological change dizzying, it’s insignificant compared to the avalanche of social and psychological change that has descended upon us over the past few years; an avalanche Alvin Toffler warned us about in Future Shock, way back in 1970.

If you’re over 40 (born before 1968) you started life in a very different world. For example, there was a ruling consensus in Canada, where the struggles of ethnic accommodation were about establishing French and English as the official languages. And this consensus was built upon conservative Christian values: most stores and nonessential businesses were closed on Sundays, divorce and common-law marriage were deeply frowned upon, and public prayer (Christian prayer) and Christian holiday displays were uncontroversial. And there were virtually no openly gay celebrities, no gay pride parades, and gay marriage was too absurd to even contemplate. Needless to say, all this has changed.

Now I’m not, as some might imagine, bemoaning “the degeneration of our society”. – Been there, done that. – I’m merely suggesting that there has been a fundamental shift in the way social life is constituted in our world. We no longer have a ruling “Christian consensus”. In fact, we have very little consensus at all. And we all need to learn how to live in this new world.

In Babylon, as opposed to Zion, pluralism is the rule. There are many gods in Babylon, and none have a corner on legitimacy, which is to say there is no dominant majority here, and social consensus is negotiated not decreed. And almost everything is negotiable as long as it doesn’t oppress a minority; we’re all minorities in Babylon. And, because of this, tolerance is the supreme value here. Which is to say, intolerance will not be tolerated. Ironic but unavoidable.

So, is this bad? It is for those who can’t, or won’t, get with the program. But those who will embrace the new situation, or as God says, “Build houses and settle down;…” can, not only survive, but do very well indeed. And that goes for all of us, not just the Christians.