PEACE ON EARTH

For the Season of Advent

Peace on Earth

Most nights it was much the same.
Sheep restless now and then
but mostly still.
Wool heavy, tangled,
black shiny with mud of mid-day rain.
Rock-strewn, close-cropped earth
pebbled by the flock's hard leavings.
Sky sharp with stars,
a silent chorus above,
a grand and distant harmony.

Tough--as always--for hired hands.
Stay vigilant through tedious hours.
Be alert despite the cold
seeping in through hides and blankets,
each man and animal
breathing a gently rhythmic fog.

But this night more.
A light, was it?
A message, a call perhaps?

Be up and moving!
There is a chance
to go and see
and be a part of something--
some questing after peace,
some building of good will,
not just for some but all.

Then risk flock and job and livelihood
for but a hope?
Set course by beacon sure to dim with time?
Descend to gabbling, garrulous town,
perhaps to lose forever
the very peace that's sought?

Most nights it is the same.

Jack King (December 2002)
Posted 12-18-03
with your WebWeaver's thanks to his brother

Season's greetings from the American empire
[12-18-03]

According to the Washington Post, the Cheney family holiday card this year features this quote from Benjamin Franklin: "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" A quick look at the full context of the original quote shows that Franklin, who was poetically calling for daily prayer at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, was in no way claiming divine sanction for military imperialism (of the sort that the new country had just thrown off). In fact, one of Franklin's worst fears is that humanity might "despair of establishing Government by human Wisdom, and leave it to Chance, War, and Conquest."

George W. Bush's family Christmas card also carries an intriguingly out-of-context quote: "You have granted me life and loving kindness; and your care has preserved my spirit." This verse from Job (which the White House press release calls a "psalm") comes immediately before a 10-verse accusation that God is persecuting Job: "Yet...bold as a lion you hunt me...you bring fresh troops against me" (Job 10:13-22).

Read more about the religion of the Bush administration in Sojourners:

Dangerous Religion: George W. Bush's theology of empire

The Project for a New American Empire: Who are these guys? And why do they think they can rule the world?

Source: Sojourners 2003 (c) http://www.sojo.net

Christmas isn't materialistic enough [12-17-02]

The Reverend Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of Putney and lecturer in philosophy at Wadham college, Oxford, has said in The Guardian that the real message of Christmas is that God affirms the material (the "profane") world by joining it in the birth of the Christ child.

So Christmas is much more than an offer of sweet spiritual peace. It's a call to "a stubborn engagement with the brute facts of oppression and violence."

Want a little variety in your Christmas messages?

Take a look at "I'm dreaming of a green Christmas," with the subhead: "What's wrong with commercialization? Nothing." We hope it's written with tongue in cheek, but since it's published in the Wall Street Journal, we're not too sure.

Advent Struggles

Reflections from Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries [12-10-02]

Peter Sawtell reminds us of the challenge of Advent to face our limitations and our bondage to the powers of the world. That can bring heavy burdens, unless those Advent meditations are completed with a genuine proclamation of good news.

So he challenges us with the question, "Do we have a message of liberation that can free people from their bondage to a global system which weaves economics, culture, technology and politics into a powerful web of seduction and control?"

An Advent Calendar
[11-30-02]

Here's a creative way to observe Advent - a season of waiting, expecting, hoping ... and a time for expanding our horizons of caring.

Barbara Kellam-Scott, a professional writer and a member of the Witherspoon executive committee, has created this Advent calendar based on one created by Suzanne Elston.

A prayer for Advent

This prayer was sent to us by the Rev. Jean Rodenbough, former Secretary of the Witherspoon Society. She used it for a Christmas choir program on Sunday morning, December 17, 2000.

In the still and quiet time of waiting, O Lord Jesus, come.
In the rush and noise of holiday preparations, O Lord Jesus, come.
In the sounds of carols and hymns calling us to rejoice, O Lord Jesus, come.

In this time of waiting we again watch for the signs of your coming.
In this world where all is not joyful, where all is not peaceful, we watch for the signs of your coming.
In this world where children are hungry and ancient hatreds flash in death and suffering, we watch for the signs of peace, and we wait for an end to warfare.

In this town where families come together in a holy unity, we wait for the holy family's news of your birth.
In this town where we gather to worship in our sanctuaries, we pray for sanctuary for all who seek places of safety, and we look for your presence among us.

In this church where we have witnessed and experienced loss and brokenness, loneliness and sorrow, we wait for your coming with healing in your wings.
In this church where we have celebrated new life among us, new beginnings, new experiences, we watch for the newness of your birth.

In our hearts we wait and watch for you.
In our hopes we seek your comforting touch upon the sick.
In our spirits we look for your abundant promises.

In this time, in this place, in that place within ourselves, we ask you to enter in.
Enter in and give us peace.
Enter in and give us wholeness.
Enter in and give us challenges to serve you better.

O come, o come, Emmanuel. Enter into our lives once more. Amen.

-- Jean Rodenbough
December 2000