A spiritual George Winston...

So today - my Sabbath - Di has to work (bummer) and our house needs cleaning (blessing!) I've finished three rooms and a bath and it is time for a break. And as I was dusting and mopping a thought kept running through my head: you are like a spiritual George Winston. Ok, it helped that I was listening to his "December" CD - one of my favorite Advent treats - but I think the thought is valid: I tend to take a simple and beautiful spiritual/theological idea and work it over and over and over till some people cherish it and others run in the opposite direction. (I once heard Winston himself say something like, "People either appreciate or hate my music because of the way I develop - or brutalize - a theme.")

Three reasons for this reflection:

+ First, I have been thinking about a colleague who is experiencing a lot of emotional and spiritual pain right now. I've been in a similar place in a whole bunch of ways and recall how lonely that was for me. What's more, it seemed as if only those outsiders - not my supposed church buddies and friends, but those on society's margins - had the courage and compassion to reach out to me in love when I wasn't very lovable. That's a theme I revisit often and once again find myself face to face with trying to give what I have received. Like another friend, Fr. Jim O'Donnell of Cleveland (who in retirement found himself ministering to a lot of middle aged, white Christians going through divorce) said to me after I finally mustered the nerve to go to confession: "Like the woman at the well whom Jesus forgave, your penance is to do likewise: give away the joy you have received over and over again!" I hope I can...

+ Second, unintentionally I offended some of my friends with one of my blog rants about zealots. As a consequence, I have withdrawn it - not because it isn't true (it is) but because it was hurtful - and as I age I find it better to shut up more often than not. I have to be reminded of this from time to time. And sometimes, before I know it, I've stuck my foot in it and wounded one I value and respect. Like St. Paul says in Romans 7: more often than not I wind up doing what I hate even while trying to do what I love! Another theme in my life, yes? And one I keep revisiting like George Winston on a theme: be still - and maybe then you can know I am God.

+ And third, why am I still stunned when Christians confuse "avoiding conflict and controversy" with peace-making? Over the years, I've discovered there is a lot more nuance and patience required in truly hearing an other's point of view; so most of the time I try to be extra careful in listening and appreciating challenging perspectives. Why, then, are there some people who are old enough to know better who INSIST that their way is the only truth and demand that the Body of Christ stand for nothing except the lowest common denominator? OMG it just burns my ass! Look, the Lord was always searching for common ground, but in pursuit of compassion and justice not ideology or some illusive non-offensive pseudo-heaven. After all, the good news is BAD news for some before it becomes GOOD news for all. And so when conservatives tell me that even talking about limiting Israel's arrogance and violence has no place in the Church - and liberals prattle on that getting the best deal possible with the Republicans at any one point in history makes the President a moral traitor - my head starts to explode!

Bono and the Edge put it best when they implored both Roman Catholics and Protestants - and I would add liberals and conservatives, too - to PLEASE get up off your knees. Quit limiting God to just your own narrow habits and fears and start to see the face of the Living Christ in those you are wounding all around you...

Fr. Richard Rohr wrote earlier this week that the Advent cry, "Come, Lord Jesus, come" is NEVER about escapism and ALWAYS about healing the brokenness within and among us. Perhaps the very nature of Advent is like my George Winston CD and spirituality...