The Massacre of the Infants

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16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wiling and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
— Matthew 2:16-18    

 I wonder at the gospel writer
 was the death of children
 so common place
 he only needed three verses
  
 Children, a gift of God
 dead and no one cared
  
 When will we learn
 when will we cherish
 God’s gift
 not yesterday
 not today
 
 Tomorrow?
  
 Children, a gift of God
 mistreated and no one cared
 
 Children torn from their parents
 placed in schools
 beaten for who they are
 lost culture, lost name
 lost selves
  
 Children, a gift of God
 abused, dead, and no one cares
 
 Children torn from their parents
 placed in cages
 left to die of illness, neglect
 used by guards for their sick means
 crying, beaten, 
 refused
 comfort, 
 dead on floors
  
 Children, a gift of God
 lost, hungry, alone
 and no one cares
  
 When will we learn
 when will we cherish
 God’s gift
 not yesterday
 not today
  
 Tomorrow?
  
 I wonder at the gospel writer
 was the death of children
 so common place
 he only needed three verses
  
 Ruth Jewell, ©December 28, 2019

Image: 10th– Century Illuminated Manuscript, Kerald_(Meister_des_Codex_Egberti)_001

Light in the Darkness

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December is a dark time for me, not just because it is the winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, but because I feel alone in the dark. Everyone around me is celebrating and I just don’t have the energy to do more than sit alone in the corner.  I know I’m a strong introvert and do not like large celebrations but that isn’t the reason for my long face.  It is light, I crave light. Warm, yellow, soft, shining, comforting light. I want green growing light to warm my heart and open up my spirit, and here is the amazing thing, I find that light in my belief of a child, who grew into a man, whose message gave, and gives, me hope.  It is my light. 

So, in December during the traditional celebration of light by Christians and Jews alike I find my hope. It is true I don’t believe Jesus was born in December, it is a legend, a nice legend, but a legend none the less. But I love it that we do celebrate when the Earth bends towards the light, and hope comes again for rebirth.  Julia Blum of the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies says it best:

 “So, if the traditional nativity story is just a legend, why do we celebrate Christmas – and why do we celebrate it on the 25th of December? Let’s try to answer this question with the profound words of prophet Isaiah: “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?  The watchman said, “The morning comes, but also the night” [Isa 21:11-12}.  Also, the night… In this world, we are surrounded by night – and we all long for morning: “Watchman, what of the night”. Human beings long for light – and the One Who created us, knows our longing. That’s why, I believe, December 25th is an amazing time—by holding Christmas at the same time as the traditional winter solstice festivals, the message of Christmas has been made crystal clear: in the world’s darkest hour, the “Light of the World” is born! Yes, this date was chosen be men and probably for the wrong reasons, but as often happens, through human weaknesses and mistakes, God still works out His plan. For millions of believers, Christmas is a celebration of the true Light coming into this dark world!”

“In this sense, one can’t miss the connection between Hanukkah and Christmas -because the message of Hanukkah, Festival of Lights, is the same: The Light of God shines in this dark world, and the darkness cannot overcome it! This is not a pagan message: The Divine Light overcomes even the darkest of darkness – and this is what we celebrate on both Hanukkah, on the 25th of Kislev, and Christmas, on the 25th of December!”  (Julia Blum, December 18, 2019, Longing For Light: Christmas And Hanukkah, Israel Institute of Biblical Studies)

Ruth Jewell, ©December 24, 2019

A Christmas Meditation

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A Christmas meditation

I have a confession to make, I don’t much like Advent or Christmas.  Oh, I like the liturgy and ritual, those remind me of why I believe as I do. I just don’t like all the other stuff: insipid Christmas movies, gift giving, Christmas cards, all of the socializing, and the commercials. Don’t get me started on the commercials!  Such things all seem to be totally unimportant and not in keeping with why we have this time of remembrance.

The thing of it is, all of the stuff people do at this time of the year has little to do with remembering the birth of God in human flesh.  I don’t mean the ridiculous little memes or signs that say, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” those have nothing to do with God’s rebellious act of an immigrant baby  who claims the title of King and Son of God. That birth is revolutionary, that is prophetic, that is miraculous.  The stupid memes that spout Jesus are really all about the gift giving Santa God that people hope will bring them ponies, or cars, or that one gift that will make them popular.

This Son of God wasn’t born to ensure that anyone got that fancy new Lexus, rather Jesus was born because the world needed the reminder of who they are, the Children of God. Two thousand years later we still haven’t remembered. Two thousand years later we still haven’t absorbed the message of the miracle that began with the announcement to a young woman and the birth of her baby. We still haven’t learned the lessons taught by the Man the baby became. Listening has never been a strong trait in us humans.

History has shown that the excessive acquisition of material goods, hoarding of monetary resources, and the desire to rule, intimidate, demean, abuse and destroy the weak, and to see ourselves as gods leads to the destruction of our very being and as a result whatever society we create. Notice I said ‘we’ as in you, me and the gatepost not as in you, me, and God. Throughout history when leaders of societies forget who the real societal creators are, when leaders feel they are entitled to benefits they have not worked for, the collapse is inevitable. When enslaving the population becomes the means of economic reward, when we, the citizens, allow  leaders to deflect their responsibility for the failures of government and social welfare away from themselves and place it on the most vulnerable, and when we citizens fail to accept our part in the deception, then the culture and society we humans created becomes toxic and unable to sustain itself for very long.

What does any of this have to do with Christmas? Well, the birth of Jesus was supposed to signal a new age where the covenant with God would rule our lives. Every year we have the opportunity to renew our covenant and learn to live with God, however we define God.  Yet the ‘good will’ we profess never seems to last through Christmas Day let alone a year. Every Christmas I see people donating to charities in a spirit of good will, yet on January 1st the demeaning and dehumanizing of the most vulnerable continues as if Christmas never happened. Food banks will again have to beg for food donations, men, women, and children will still be homeless and hungry. We will continue to let our government put babies in concentration camps where they are abused physically and sexually and allowed to die. All as if Christmas never happen.

I am not sure how, or if, any of this can be changed. I certainly cannot change how people feel or change how they behave. I do try to give all year round, instead of at years end, to charities that feed the poor, care for the homeless, and fight injustice. But I am only one person, and an old woman, who tries to do her small bit. The tears I shed only feed my frustration at the lack of humanity I see in our political, social, and so-called religious leaders, but I can’t change them either.

I am heartened by the stand of young women world-wide who are fighting an uphill battle against ignorance, climate destruction, and injustice. I am placing my hope in them, praying they have the strength to fend off the assaults they have, and will continue to, experience because they speak out against the established rulers of our day. I pray they will not become discouraged; they will continue to voice the truth and continue to call to account those who would destroy us.  They are the new voices in the wilderness, the new voices of reason, and the new voices of truth. I pray they will not lose heart, that they will not be deflected from their chosen path by those who would marginalize them. May the light of whatever God they follow be with them.

Ruth Jewell, ©December 19, 2019

Hope, Light, Love, Advent

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 “He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.”   –Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel,

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and the 4th Sunday of Celtic Advent, and I am thinking about what it means to wait as I read the newspaper (yes, I still read a ‘real’ newspaper) and watch television. I cringe at the headlines of impeachment, of children being incarcerated simply because they are children not like us, and promotions for stuff no one actually needs. So much competition for our attention, our money, and our souls, how can we cope with it all.

God created Sabbath for us to rest, not just our bodies, but our spirits, our hearts, our very beings. Advent was begun as a time set aside for meditation, prayer, and fasting in preparation for hope, not unlike time set aside for Sabbath.  Advent is a time of Sabbath giving us time to re-member the hope within each of us, to remember the image of God that resides inside our hearts, souls and minds. Advent and Sabbath are times where we are able to re-claim God’s ownership of our hearts and souls.

For me it is difficult meshing the idea of Sabbath rest with what I read in the paper or see on the news. My spirit waits for the love and the light that is coming, yet my eyes see only the darkness of greed and hate. I hear people who claim to be people of faith calling children of god evil, not worthy of life, and letting them die in cages. I read the words of politicians who claim that offering food stamps to hungry people is a waste of time and keeps them on welfare. I can’t fathom how these people can stand in their “churches” and hear the words of the Carpenter “what you do to the least of these you do to me” and still do what they do.

We who believe in the Gospel, who listen in wonder at the feet of this gentle Rabbi, just as Mary did, have much work to do to repair the damage of those who deny Love. Sabbath rest, Sabbath prayer, Sabbath meditation are the tools we use to gather strength, courage and wisdom to counter hate, greed, and power. It is in resting with God, being with God that we are strong.

Advent is a time of waiting and rest, and as such it is a Sabbath set aside to listen for the heartbeat of God and synchronize our lives with the life given us by the spirit. In the spirit of Sabbath hold on to the quiet, let go of the commercial, gather love and send it forth to heal a wounded world, open your heart to the light and let it be a beacon in the darkness.

Ruth Jewell, ©December 8, 2019