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Who would have thought that we would be seeing the rise of fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam, and other religions? In the ’60’s and 70’s when I was growing up we were taught, in school, that a more enlightened future was ahead. People would be more tolerant and accepting of difference. It seems that a backlash has occurred before we get to that more enlightened society that most people want to see.

As far as religion is concerned, more light leads to a more open, accepting, loving and compassionate religious expression. I know that the more I learn about the Bible, about theology and faith, the deeper my understanding of Christianity becomes, the greater my appreciation of other faiths. More light leads me to a more expansive spiritual sensitivity.

Hard, intractable expressions of religion seem, well, smaller somehow; less worthy of the grandeur of a larger reality. Rules, punishment, fixed theological and political ideas seem more primitive and less developed. The mystery of transcendence implies a greater scope to our spiritual understanding. If the Divine is so awesome why not accept that the Divine can shine light not only through my religion but through other religions as well? Why would I want to restrict the workings of God, or why would I think I could restrict the scope of the influence of Divine Love?

In this era of globalization and information, an awful lot of people seem to want to keep their picture small. How sad. Jesus was always expanding his circle outward, to people on the edge, on the fringe, beyond the scope of his religious tradition and ethnicity. That’s how it is in God. Borders, boundaries, differences don’t take on undue significance or limit the scope of our loving.

This is a season to look for light – wherever it may be shining. And to let that light show us more and more and more of this big, wide, amazing reality in which we find ourselves.

Prayer: Divine Light is shining. May we look for it and live by it. Amen.

In your journal, can you write about a time that you had your assumptions or attitudes expanded by the teachings of Jesus? I’ll never forget when we had a prayer service at church on 9/11/01 and someone asked that we pray for those who carried out the attacks. That really expanded the horizons of my compassion and showed me the greater light of God in the teachings of Jesus.

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There is that scene in the movie “The Little Mermaid” in which the mermaid, Ariel, is trying to figure out what a fork is. She finds one under the sea, a metal rod with four sharp, pointed spikes. She runs it through her hair. What is this thing? And what is done with it? We know, of course, but if you haven’t seen western culture on land, how would you know?

This Advent season we are thinking about the theme The Light Still Shines. The light of God helps us know how to interpret, understand, and frame our experience. Things happen. How do we understand the experience? The light of God helps us to know what is loving, just, compassionate, and forgiving. The light shows us what is good and true for us as individuals and as a society. The light of God shows us how to interpret what is going on around us and within us.

There are many things going on around us and it can be difficult to make sense of it. Maybe all the information just seems like random noise. But the light of God which is shown to us through Jesus, helps us to understand what is going on.

When we let the light of God show us what is going on, we can see where we are needed. We can see where change is needed. We can see what is good and just. We can celebrate what is beautiful and generous. Without the light, we lose our way often spiraling into self interest, greed, and fear. At times, we may not like what the light shows us, but it can be trusted.

Prayer: Divine Light is shining. May we look for it and live by it. Amen.

In your journal, you may want to note an example of how your faith has helped you to see something in a new light.

Remember your donation for The Micah Center.

Fossil fuels are amazing. They have brought humanity far along in its development. They have made a wonderful contribution to the furthering of civilization. Advances in transportation, electricity, and new materials such as plastic are incredible and have made such a difference to humanity. We are so fortunate that fossil fuels were discovered and put to use in so many helpful ways.

Now we know, however, how damaging fossil fuels are to the environment and how they are significantly contributing to global climate change. We know that the environment is poised at a tipping point in large measure due to the use of fossil fuels. So we are in the midst of a transformation in the energy sector away from fossil fuels and toward renewable, sustainable, clean energies such as wind and solar.

This is a large scale, global transformation, consequently, it will take time, which is of the essence given recent findings provided about carbon emissions. And, as with any transition, there are challenges and difficulties along the way. Some want to go slowly and others are resisting entirely. Some are oblivious. And for some, it can’t happen fast enough. But in a hundred years, we’ll see how things were and how the transition was accomplished, and everyone will be adjusted to the new paradigm without fossil fuels.

Remember, it wasn’t so long ago that there were no airplanes. Now we fly everywhere. There was a time when there were no cars on the road. My grandfather delivered milk with a horse and wagon in New York City. Now the problem is too many cars and too much traffic. Oh how things can change and sometimes just within a lifetime.

Technology is not the only thing that changes. Religion changes, too. Jesus stepped onto the scene and he called for major changes in religion. He challenged some of the foundational assumptions of his religion. Here are just a few examples. People believed that if someone was sick or disabled it was because they had sinned. Jesus challenged that assumption. If a person was hurt or killed, by accident even, it was assumed that this was a punishment from God. Jesus did not support that position. People believed that if you were materially wealthy it was because you had found favor with God. And they thought the opposite was true: If you were poor, it was because you had not found favor with God. Jesus completely rejected that thinking. Jesus challenged things and changed things that no longer served the deeper intentions of his religion. To some, Jesus’ thinking was scandalous.

In terms of religion, we are also in the midst of a great transition. The thinking and assumptions of times past are being challenged. New ideas and theologies are emerging within Christianity. Some of these new ideas preserve the original intentions of Christianity but shed outdated, antiquated thinking that can no longer be accepted given the advances that humanity has made. Some of the new thinking in Christianity is related to new scholarship about the Bible and the context of the original writers. In a hundred years or so, people will look back and see the old ways and how new versions of Christianity emerged. That does not mean that what came before was bad or wrong. What it means is that new ways of thinking are needed to enable Christianity to continue to have a positive impact on the world, to bless the world, to bring love and joy to the world. And, as with other major transitions, there are challenges and difficulties along the way. As with fossil fuels, some want to go back to older modes of Christianity, some are oblivious, some want to proceed slowly, and some can’t move ahead fast enough!

In this Advent season, we are thinking about how The Light Still Shines. New energy means that lights will still shine, they just will not be powered by fossil fuels. In terms of our faith, The Light Still Shines, but it is being conveyed in new ways.

Prayer: Divine Light is shining. May we look for it and live by it. Amen.

In your journal, you may want to note an example of how your concept of Christianity is growing, changing, and evolving.

And don’t forget to put a donation in your box for The Micah Center. Education is about shining the light!

Virgin of Guadalupe Day

The Virgin of Guadalupe may be the best known “version” of Mary in the Catholic church. She is the patron saint of Mexico and she is taken very seriously. Practically everywhere you go in Mexico you see Guadalupe: in stores, restaurants, homes, businesses, hotels, banks, offices, and, of course, churches. Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe is not restricted to Mexico. She is revered by Catholics around the world.

To me the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a wonderful example of how the light of Divine Love finds a way to shine and cannot be put out. In the story of Guadalupe, we can see God always somehow finding a way to get through. The light still shines!

When the Spanish came to Mexico, they came to give Christianity and take gold. The first peoples were killed off through war and disease. Their cultures were decimated. The temples of indigenous religions were taken down and the stones were used to build churches on the same sites. Gone were the gods and goddesses related to the seasons, agriculture, and fertility. In came the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and Mary.

The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is about the Virgin Mary appearing to the poor Indian peasant, Juan Diego, in 1531. She tells Juan Diego, in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec Empire, to instruct the archbishop to build a church on a certain hill in her honor. It happens to be on a hill where the Indians had a temple dedicated to the mother of the gods which had been taken down under Spanish orders. Juan Diego tries to persuade the archbishop to build the church but to no avail. The archbishop wants a sign. The Virgin of Guadalupe shows Juan Diego to a bed of Castilian roses, not native to Mexico, blooming in the middle of winter and instructs him to take the roses back to the archbishop as a sign. Juan Diego gathers the roses in his tunic and takes them to the archbishop. When Juan Diego presents the roses to the archbishop on the fabric of the tunic there is an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the middle of all of this, the Virgin also heals Juan Diego’s uncle. She does not relent until the archbishop agrees to build the church. And so there is a huge church on the site on the north side of Mexico City and because the old church was no longer structurally sound, a huge modern church was built in the 1970’s. And this Basilica to Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world.

There are many things to love about this story. The “little guy” wins. The indigenous people essentially get the monolithic, monotheistic Catholic church to give them a goddess. Mary won’t take no for an answer. Guadalupe is essentially the primary figure in the Mexican expression of Christianity virtually preempting the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, thank you very much.

Even if we can’t relate to much of this story – the context in Mexico, Catholicism with its devotion to Mary and to the various versions of Mary – hopefully we can see that Divine light finds a way to get through. Whatever the circumstances and conditions and context, Love finds a way to beam into our darkness.

Prayer: The light of God is shining. May we look for it and live by it. Amen.