January 3, 2021 - Happy New Year
Jan 3, 2021 - Carolyn Smith -
Well here we are!! Happy New Year!! The normal cliches wither in the shadows of everyone’s hope for 2021! Turns out Deborah was on vacation this week last year and so I found myself re-reading whatever mess, message, I’d offered you on that First Sunday that kicked off the infamous 2020. We talked about Magi searching for hope in the darkness and discovering a frightening King Herod. I began with a metaphor of the star, that light in the darkness like a precious flashlight you cling to in an emergency, that lets you see just enough to find a way to safety. And in spite of already brewing troubles like the fires in Australia and attacks in Iran, we hoped for joy to be alive and present.
I remember when in our own sanctuary, community leaders from Oakville Ready outlined an emergency toolkit that was great for storms, but it wasn’t close to what we ended up in need of. Who could have predicted what was to come? The “year that must not be named” turned out to be a rough year.
It hasn’t been pretty, and it has been devastating for some: I’ll name it: world wide, 1.8 million have died. In Canada, more than 15,000 have died. It has cost us connection and contact when we thought we needed it most, for support and our celebrations and our grieving.
An emergency flashlight in the darkness, praying the batteries hold out…. I didn’t think we’d still be clutching it so tightly. Or are we?
IF we’re clutching it tightly still, mostly it’s from lingering anxiety. In many cases, we put it down at least a few times to buy groceries for a neighbour, or accept those groceries, and we put it down to do another puzzle, or work in the garden, talk on the phone.
The summer eased up in some ways, after all we had learned from that initial crush. In July, 6 months Into 2020, so now 6 months ago, we took sermon requests and my topic was “What will the church be like after Covid?”
That day, we considered King David who wanted to build a permanent temple in one place, much like our building on Rebecca Street, rather than existing in the desert. And we compared his plan to Jesus, so often counter-cultural and rewriting the rules, & how often he was heading out to the neighbourhood rather than into the temple. The disciples were to go out to the vineyard - the world, bringing Peace and good news wherever they found themselves. In the summer, our vineyard looked like joyful online services bringing our friends together virtually, and guest speakers on zoom. Remember Frank’s front yard birthday party and Ross’s retirement? Right now, share some of your good memories and our successes into the chat box. Remind each other!! Celebrate our little wins! Like Our Affirm Congregational Meeting with 90 people on zoom? We have been learning with some amusement to be the Church in a new way, easing up our grip on the emergency flashlight.
And Christmas brought out more discovery - the world came up with lockdown workarounds, and holiday drive-through light displays! Who’d have thought we could have been so creative? Some kids invited Santa to FaceTime with their family. Our Bazaar, and Christmas pageants on Zoom and our youth group singing Silent Night in our Sanctuary.
More broadly too, after the legitimate shell-shock of 2020 with Covid and the US election and unrest around the world, I hesitate to shine our flashlight beam too confidently on climate action or improved leadership in broken systems, but I’ve seen glimmers of good things! It’s hard to say there is hope yet from the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor marches, but many of us have clearer vision because of them. We feel clumsy, and the pain is raw, but the grip on that flashlight has lessened, our masks are more comfortable and we get sidetracked with weary laughter more often.
I hope you met the new year with intention - even if that was just self-care and melancholy and early bed. Or maybe defiance, as you ushered the old year old the door. I hope some of you met it with prayer, with prayers for peace and resilience and hopeful new horizons. We have a new sense of all that we truly treasure.
Those Magi- the ones who brought treasures to the Manger, we understand the truth of this story of a Star as a quest for wisdom, following signs and making meaning, as the Magi sought in the heavens. We sense the truth of their anxious dreams and the regret in their newfound wisdom that warned them away from returning to Herod. Of course we search in the Halls of power for answers and wisdom, and something the Magi learned, something we learn is that when those halls are empty of humanity, of love and honour, there are no answers there, only chaos. So we turn back in, to ourselves and each other for the answers we need. The one thing.. the Magi chose their next step. They went home by another road. It bought time, it waylaid Herod and allowed Joseph to take his family to Egypt to escape to safety. The wisdom of the Magi, was now illuminated by choice, not just data, by honour and hope instead of just power.
Our emergency flashlight for 2021 needs some fresh batteries. For now, let’s set it down. The Halls of power will continue their workings and we keep an eye on it. But today, let’s remember the gifts we bring quietly to the manger, the wisdom of love and peace in small places. Instead of the path we walked last year, we need to choose the road we will take from here.
This cartoon came to me from a friend for whom this past year has by all rights, been awful. She has suffered a difficult injury and has lost both her parents, and this is what she shared.
Flowers. …simple flowers…. A reminder of the power and wisdom we have to create the year ahead. What will I plant? What will I create? What can I share? One of our St. Paul’s folks, who has only seen her family lately through the window, - she made chocolatey treats in her microwave for the staff at her retirement home. What can we create and share this new year of 2021?
For now, we turn to each other, in our creative new ways. We pour on the love, smile with our eyes above our masks, and listen for how we can work together.
Go gently with yourselves, let’s create hope and grow love in this fresh new year. On this different road.
