This week along the way
Christ the King Sunday
It is New Years’ Eve in the church calendar. Next Sunday, we turn to a new liturgical year in Advent.
I get giddy this time of year (yes, giddy). Advent is my favorite church season. The older I get, the quicker it goes by, so each year, I try to sink into the Advent flow more intentionally. Alas, it never works. Oh, well! It’s worth trying.
Speaking of giddy, this morning I just stirred my coffee… With a wooden spoon.
Have you ever done this?
I have to say… It was delightful. Never in my forty-five years have I done this. And, I mean, why would I? Why would one ever think to stir one’s coffee with a wooden spoon? The metal spoon is the go-to, is it not?
It occurred out of happenstance. I didn’t plan it. It was a total fluke. I was scrambling around the kitchen in a hurry, and the wooden spoon was right there. (Not the giant one, because that would be excessive. The smallish one.)
I just got this big latte mug from my local overpriced grocer. This mug is a delight in its own right. It has holly sprigs and berries on it. (What can I say? I was feeling particularly in the spirit when I bought it.) And this meme that crossed my feed made me feel justified in buying it (seriously, though, you have to follow this guy if you don’t already - he’s hilarious)...
Yes, there you go… Merry effing November.
We have the freedom to deck the halls. And stir our coffee in our obnoxiously large and overpriced latte Christmas mugs with a wooden spoon.
Because Christ is king.
And when Christ is king, we are free to lean into the holiday kitsch if it brings us a little joy. We’re allowed to be to-the-moon elated from the tactile bliss of a coffee-warmed wooden spoon swishing through the magic brew.
I may as well have just won the lottery.
Christ is king.
We don’t need to strain for the big wins because the biggest win has already been won for us. And so, we can find our biggest joy in the smallest things.
I was walking through our village the other day. I never walk through the village. I always drive.
I wish there was a footpath to town from our place. Walking from our house to the village isn’t a long way - just shy of a mile - but you risk life and limb on the shoulderless windy road doing so.
I dropped the car off for an oil change and decided to go on a half-mile-each-way walking pilgrimage through Aptos. I went to the nursery to see if they had Christmas foliage in yet. They didn’t, but come back on Sunday, they told me. I figured as much. I was too early. So without protest, I walked back the other direction to wait at the coffee shop across the street from the auto shop until the car was ready. On the way there, I crossed our small bridge in town (see the photo I took of it above). A railroad track runs over the bridge (see the photo below). It’s not an active track anymore, so people use it as a walking path. I’ve always wanted to walk it but haven’t. We have friends who do it a lot.
It crossed my mind, maybe we can walk it with my family when they’re in town for Thanksgiving. That’d be a nice family adventure.
But then, I got to thinking… Being that some of us voted differently than others in the family, maybe things will be tense this Thanksgiving. The ghosts of 2016 may return. Maybe the railroad track hike isn’t such a good idea. Maybe the temptation will be too strong for someone to want to hurl someone off of that track down into the gulch below.
But then it struck me...
Will there be some ideological tension? Yes.
But Christ is king.
Christ rules from the center of reality.
Therefore, no allegiance to any earthly ruler can separate us from the love of God or the love of… Each other.
And so, to live in sync with Christ’s ruling self-sacrificial love, we have no option but to love those we may vehemently disagree with. If we want to throw them off the railroad track into the gaping canyon below, we must repent from this desire. And if they attempt to throw us off, we must turn the other cheek and let them (but not before praying they repent before they take action on that desire!).
There will be no throwing of anyone off railroad tracks. And there will be no denial of walking together out of fear of conflict. We will walk together in the tension. Walk together in love1. Because Christ is king. And being human looks like Christ.
In Comfort and Joy,
Jonas
Recent Homilies
‘Love’ does not always mean ‘full agreement.’