From the Road…                                    …from the Pastor                  

Riding in a car over an extended period of time can feel confining and restrictive. After spending two days “on the road” to Florida from Massachusetts, I started to become stir-crazy.  Who wouldn’t?  At a certain point, just getting out of the confines of the car and escaping the repetitive strain of “clack-clack-clack” – the sound of tires meeting concrete joints—was welcome.  After the uninspired landscape of the interstate, stale radio, and holiday traffic, every truck stop and Cracker Barrel begins to look like the Garden of Eden.  So it can be in the perceived confines of our lives. When one feels confined or constrained, one begins to look beyond the immediacy of one’s situation towards new freedoms or imagined freedoms…that seem to lie just beyond the window of our lives.  We often imagine greater freedom to exist only outside our perceived circumstances, anywhere but within the particularities of our situation.

Many times we erroneously believe that the lives of other people are better than our own…and we nurture this belief while we try to escape our own situations.  If we imagine that the life we lead is small and narrow, or the most dismal, or the most cramped, it often becomes so—no matter what our reality might actually be.  In any case, it will feel that way and our perception will begin to misshape us accordingly. But unless we have truly inhabited another life, we simply do not know –and can not assume—that others have it easier.  They may.  But often they do not.

I imagine Mary and Joseph on their flight to Egypt, new parents and unintended refugees escaping the bitter and oppressive reign of Herod.  Herod, trapped by his power and fearful of the Messiah, sought to preserve his power at all costs.  A trapped man, he could not abide the freedoms that others had.  And so, he decreed that all the Jewish children under the age of two be put to death—a desperate move by a desperate King in a world made desperate by the misuse of power.  For Mary, Joseph, and their child, Herod presented a very real threat in a world hostile to God’s truth and life. And so, Mary and Joseph undertake a risky journey into Egypt together with the hopes of preserving the life of their child, the life of their family, and their dreams for the future.

I imagine too, that on the way, they got a little “stir-crazy” themselves—but perhaps they spent the hours of their long journey talking about what they hoped to see and do once they arrived at their destination.  What keeps our hope alive when we feel constrained or even trapped by the circumstances in our lives? What keeps hope alive in a difficult relationship with our child?  In a shaky and troubled marriage?  In the sameness of our work and leisure?  What keeps hope alive and thriving when we undertake a challenge that we have often tried and failed at many times before?  What keeps us from just simply lowering our expectations so that we won’t be disappointed by others or ourselves …yet again? 

Faith in Christ nurtures hope.  “Yes, but how?” you might understandably ask.  When we are traveling at risky speeds or tempted to abandon our path for some other unknown destination, our faith can ground us by holding out for us examples of those both in scripture and in our midst who have discovered new freedom in otherwise restrictive circumstances or have worked through their limitations in positive ways so that they are no longer an issue—to themselves or others.  We can look toward the One who persevered, loved, and overcame despite persecution, misunderstanding, and even crucifixion.  We can nourish our wayward spirits on the power that God has placed within in, the ability to realize our God-given potential for good and to be agents for nurturing God’s kingdom in our little corner of the universe.  We can nurture the hopes and dreams of others to go and do likewise.

A new year stretches before us.  Every January, time lurches forward whether we welcome the change or not, whether we are prepared or not.  Some of us greet this new year with resolutions to change our behaviors or our lives.  We pledge to ourselves and others that this year will finally be the year that we change our diet, earn a promotion, become a better parent, or learn a new skill.  But what if, this year, instead of focusing solely on what we would like to change about ourselves, we were to practice finding ways to enliven and give hope to those around us, those with whom we have the privilege of sharing our lives, our faith, and our community?  What if we were to see the parameters of our lives as opportunity, instead of burden?  What might we see differently?

No doubt this is difficult journey.  No doubt there will be obstacles and potholes along the way.   No doubt we might feel restless and “stir-crazy.” No doubt we will be tempted to take the nearest exit because it seems to be a more attractive alternative or a promising short-cut.  But this is why the Christian faith exists: to bring hope and healing to others by setting ourselves gently aside in the name of Christ.

May we be so resolved.

Yours in faith,

Rev. Dee