Advent III: Cleaning our room.

“I don’t want to,” I whined to my parents when they reminded me that I needed to clean my room before our guests arrived. A bigwig in the church, an Archbishop of some kind, and his wife were coming to our house, and my parents were rather tight, shall I say, about it looking good. As I made my way upstairs, I resented our future guests and grumbled how ridiculous it was I needed to clean my room for guests who would probably never see it. 

I was surprised to like them as much as I did. They looked me in the eye when they asked me questions and actually wanted to hear the answers to their questions about what it was like to be a seventh grader and the sports I played. By the end of their visit, I was eager for their return. It was the beginning of a long, wonderful friendship, and whenever they came to visit I was more than happy to prepare my room.

I think Advent is like that. The church reminds us that we need to prepare, to clean up our lives, in anticipation of Christmas. We sometimes feel like whining about having to do such spiritual work, particularly when we’d rather sing carols and shop. It’s a different matter when you know the guest who’s coming. When you know Christ, God with us, you want to straighten things up not out of obligation but out of affection. 

Before knowing the guest, you have to clean your room. Once you do, you get to.

New Book!

While preparing for my MFA, I tried to write an unconventional Christmas book. My advisor said it was “OK” but not all that different. She suggested I try to tell the story from a different perspective, like from the star’s, so I did. Below is the end result. It is a tale of a star that doesn’t feel good enough. In the end it is all the things that made her feel not good enough that cause the Wise Men to notice her. In other words, her weaknesses are what led others to Christ. (Yes, there’s a sermon in that!) As faithful Brushstrokes readers, I thought you’d like to know about it

Advent II: Balconies

I worship in a church that has a balcony. In fact, it has three, and their presence offers a grand and glorious effect to the architecture of the space. Unfortunately, their presence also speaks of a history that is anything but grand and glorious. It was where “the help” were to sit, usually men and woman of color. In older churches, the balconies were reserved for slaves. Such spaces are not unique to churches, balconies in theaters and courtrooms also served the same purpose. (Remember, To Kill a Mockingbird?”

It is often tempting to look back and throw stones at the past, but the fact is we still live surrounded by balconies, most of them internal. It’s where we relegate people we’d rather not sit beside. It’s ok for _______ (fill in the blank) to be here, but just keep them away from me, the thinking goes. Maybe it’s the color of their skin, their socio-economic standing, where their from, or something they’ve done. Maybe it’s their political perspectives or religious beliefs that causes us to put someone in the balcony, but, whatever the reason, we are often eager to move people into balconies. We all have them and are more eager than we’d like to admit to usher those who differ from us to such set apart places. 

Looking up at the balcony last  Sunday, I saw a son of a friend of mine who was in town to visit. He and his husband chose to sit in the balcony. Maybe it’s where he likes to sit. Maybe it’s because it’s where he sat as a child. Maybe not.

Advent is a season that calls us to reflect on our lives and consider making room in the inn. After all, there were no balconies in the stable. Shepherds knelt beside wise men, sheep beside cattle. Everyone had the same view of the one who came to take balconies away. Maybe he was trying to teach us something from the very start.

Advent Thinking:

Who do you put in the balcony?

When have you ever felt like you were placed apart from others?

What would it look like for you to invite someone from the balcony to sit beside you?

What would it take to refuse to be ushered up into the balcony?