Last day of Christmas....

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grateful....

One last day of Christmas.  As my Wednesday morning group gathers, I once again envy my friend Joel’s family sojourn in Oaxaca.  Makes me wish I could convince my brother in law to create a family get together there sometime. 

It is the 12th day of Christmas so I wear my Christmas hat one more time,.

santa takes a swing....

As well as my Grateful Dead “Tis the season to be grateful” shirt. Maybe that is the best thing to take forward from Christmas…gratitude. Remembering in the midst of all of this what there is to be thankful for. Walter Breuggeman said that Resistance begins with doxology….giving thanks…

I learned in community organizing that when you begin with needs assessments, people usually wind up depressed, even immobilized. On the other hand, when you begin with capacities assessments, what do you have already and what can you do with it, creativity begins to flow.

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Tomorrow will be January 6th.  The day we celebrate the visit of the Magi to Jesus. It’s also the anniversary of last year’s Capital insurrection. The Magi came to show God’s ever expanding circle of care and concern. Inclusion and embrace. The capital invaders represent a world of separation and exclusion.  Magi vs. MAGA you might say.  

Epiphany is the comic strip light bulb that flips on to show that suddenly, you’ve got it, you get it. We need to have the light come on so that people get that we all belong and are richer for that. I’ll take the Magi today and any day.

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Friday is Old Christmas or Orthodox Christmas due to calendar change issues I never have fully understood. So Friday Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Syrians, Georgians will celebrate Christmas. When I was growing up, our local newspaper always had an op ed  commending what it called “Russian Christmas.” I always though that was cool. 

One year, I went out for a late night run on January 6th. I saw light on a side street and found myself in a Romanian Orthodox Church. Vibrant colors of wall hangings, gilt edged icons reflecting myriads of burning candles and the flow of chanting heavy on baritone and bass left me breathless with the beauty of an Orthodox Christmas. 

I will continue to seek to be grateful in  days to come…..