Beloved Family

• Membership Service on January 19th
• SOUPer Bowl collections begin in January
• Midwinter Afternoon Tea on February 15th at 3pm
• Discussion Group and Confirmation Studies continue on January 19th and 26th

This Treasure was sent to me by a friend this month:  

It does not matter if I am doing the highest or the humblest work, or if I am resting, or watching a good movie, or ill and bedridden, because I am always a beloved child of God. 

-Begona Costillo

This was a quote from an article on taking rest to be able to better tend to the world.  It is a reminder that when we feel overwhelmed and that we are never doing enough, it is often more than enough.  It is not in our doing that God loves us the most…it is that we are that God loves us the most.  That love, being one of the beloved, is what leads us to our greatest work…highest or humblest and everything in between.  

For, yes, we can do it all, but only when we make time to also do nothing at all.  

This Sunday is the Sunday of the Holy Family.  One of the readings will take us to the Temple when Jesus is twelve, but I want us to stay right here with the Baby Jesus in “his house” (as the manger was described by one of the little ones this year).  

This is a time of Quiet and Pause in our world (winter) and in our calendar.  It is still Christmas until January 6th.  We’re always rushing to get somewhere or to do something more.  Some of us are already thinking about what is to come for the Baby Jesus and what that means.  The long and scary road to the cross.  

It’s said that we all love the Baby Jesus, but it gets a bit more complicated as Jesus begins to grow up and start his ministry.  It stirs the pot to say the least. It changes things. It asks us to think differently and to change ourselves.  It asks us to question authority and the law.  It asks us to notice the people we don’t want to notice.  It asks more of us.  It asks us to love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable, and hold close the untouchable.  

It asks us to have courage, but mostly, it asks us to be kind.  To be kind to ourselves, one another, and to the people we like the least.  

I’m sure I’m not alone in seeing some of the angry and judgy and just plain mean comments as people defend Christmas and religion.  I’ve seen some words I wouldn’t feel comfortable repeating.  And I have to ask…is this what Jesus calls us to do?  Is this what God asks of us?  PAUSE.  I’m pretty sure the litany of name calling is not the best litany for the Christmas season.  I seem to recall Jesus saying: put down the stones.  PAUSE.

We don’t pause.  We are quick to judge, to condemn, and to punish even before we have a full story.  We are quick to respond before taking the time to listen or think about what might be beneath the thing that irritated us to our own actions and words.  

Some of the things I’ve seen unkind responses to, I imagine are toward people who are stretched so thin with stress that they are blasting things out that maybe they don’t mean and they need us to ask instead: how can we help you?  PAUSE.  Or maybe people are frustrated with the world and pushing the buttons to see how others will respond when pushed.  PAUSE.  Maybe it’s a test?  PAUSE.  How do we respond when we feel under attack?  

How should we respond?  How would we like to respond? PAUSE.  Maybe that’s a lovely self reflection for a new year that follows the birth of Baby Jesus.  How do we want to be present in the world and how do we want to show our community and world the Goodness that our faith brings to this world?  PAUSE.  What can we do?  Yes, each one of us small, individual human beings.  

Staying in the manger with the Baby Jesus on this Sunday, perhaps we look to Joseph and Mary for guidance.  PAUSE.  Joseph doesn’t get a huge amount of “air time” in the scriptures, but we can look at his actions and discern from there.  Joseph is a good man and a good father. One who thinks before he asks and tries to do the kindest thing while also protecting his family.  He is also willing to be guided to…change his mind and his choices.  PAUSE. That is something that is incredibly precious in this world.  To be willing to change ones mind and ones choices…that’s growth and a willingness to grown and change that might be the heart of the gospels.  

Joseph is the fiercely gentle guardian of the vulnerable Jesus and Mary.  He doesn’t argue or name call or fight.  He doesn’t carry a sword.  He carries faith and love.  So much love.  PAUSE.  

We see much more of Mary than Joseph.  She will be with Jesus from this birth to the cross and beyond.  PAUSE.  A beautiful song that has come up quite a bit this season in conversation and music is Mary Did You Know.  Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?  Mary did you know…?

She walks with faith and grace.  She doesn’t argue or fight back. When the extraordinary happens, she lets others be.  She lets it be.  She lets the story unfold.  PAUSE.  But she does something over and over and over again.  She ponders and treasures these things in her heart.  She takes what she has seen and brings them into quiet and prayer…perhaps so as to better understand the Mystery of it all.   

We don’t know.  We believe.  

Mary doesn’t know, but she trusts.  She trusts God. She trusts her son.  She trusts Joseph.  She is open to learning and growing and being changed on this journey that is never easy. 

How do we want to respond to the world around us as we move into a new year?  PAUSE.  It’s easy to fall into our old patterns of stress and defensiveness.  It’s easy to judge and condemn, often without a full story.  It is all too easy to push our “right way” onto others.  

Perhaps, though, the Holy Family offers us a different way of being.  A way of gentleness and thoughtfulness.  Of fierce and tender guardianship of what matters most.  Of being open to learning and growth on this journey that always unfolds in the most unexpected and often unwanted ways.  

And this is the time when God walks with us.  It is a time of quiet and pondering.  It is a time to treasure what is most precious in our hearts.  

As we reflect on the Holy Family, perhaps we might consider who is a part of our holy family.  Who is is that supports us toward being this child of God (Universe-Spirit) that we want to be?  Who is our family of faith and growth?  How might we let ourselves be ministered to and how might we better minster to one another on this journey of life? 

Perhaps, most of all, this time is an invitation to take pause and rest and ponder.  An invitation to treasure this time of Grace that leads us toward loving and being Beloved Children.