{"id":2267,"date":"2023-12-03T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2023-12-04T14:35:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T19:35:58","slug":"all-the-light-you-cannot-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/2023\/12\/03\/all-the-light-you-cannot-see\/","title":{"rendered":"All the Light You Cannot See"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Year B  – Advent 4 (A 7-Week Advent)<\/em>
 <\/em>Isaiah 64:1-9
 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
 Mark 13:24-37<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the words of my mouth O God\u2026  speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joel and I recently saw\u2026 just happened to come across\u2026  four episodes of what Netflix calls a Limited Series\u2026  the series is based on a book by Anthony Doerr…  and is called All the Light You Cannot See\u2026  it’s set during World War II\u2026  in a Nazi-occupied town called Saint-Malo\u2026  which lies in the northwest corner of France\u2026  and along the English Channel\u2026  on the surface\u2026 it’s a story about a young blind woman\u2026  whose world is filled with touch and sound\u2026  and a young German orphan\u2026  who’s pressed into military service because of his affinity for electronics\u2026  and his ability to hone in on and decipher faint radio transmissions\u2026  and how their lives come together\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But below the surface\u2026  it reminds us about how we need to listen to what’s not spoken\u2026  so we can discern what’s really being said\u2026  and about the need for human touch\u2026  and how to live with and for others…   and how that’s inseparable from our coexistence\u2026  and how we wait for the moments when our lives come together\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Advent is about waiting\u2026  but not like waiting for water to boil\u2026  ( which seems like it will never happen )\u2026  it’s not about waiting for the season’s first big snowstorm\u2026  or your baby’s first steps\u2026  it’s not about waiting for Godot ( who\u2026  by the way\u2026  never shows up )\u2026  it’s not about waiting for the war to be over ( though that’s something I’m certainly waiting for )\u2026  Advent is not about waiting for that check to arrive\u2026  or waiting for your car to warm up when its seventeen degrees outside\u2026  or waiting for the light to turn green\u2026  it’s not about waiting to get through airport security\u2026  or about that ( seemingly ) endless wait in the doctor’s office\u2026  and here’s what may be really surprising\u2026  Advent isn’t even about waiting for Christmas morning\u2026  for the babe in the manger\u2026  for the infant Jesus\u2026  the primary focus of Advent\u2026  the whole intent of the season\u2026  the thing for which we wait\u2026  is the moment that makes sense out of all our other moments\u2026  it’s the focus of our Christian hope\u2026  represented by the full manifestation of the Reign of God established in Christ\u2026  and all throughout Advent\u2026  however long it is\u2026  this is the focus of our Sunday morning readings\u2026  only in the last week do these readings begin to shift from a focus on eschatology ( or end-times )\u2026  to that of incarnation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1990\u2026  my former wife and I\u2026  along with our two-year-old daughter\u2026 moved from Iowa back to Ohio\u2026  and lived for a season with my mother-in-law\u2026  even in the best of circumstances\u2026  that can be a real challenge\u2026  but because she came out of a dysfunctional and abusive marriage\u2026  with great regularity\u2026  she spoke shame and invalidation to our daughter…  for example\u2026  one evening Rachel felt afraid because of a noise she heard outside her bedroom window\u2026  and her grandmother said\u2026  What’s the matter with you\u2026  there’s nothing out there<\/em>\u2026  instead of something like\u2026  Oh honey\u2026  it’s OK\u2026 come here\u2026  Grandma will keep you safe<\/em>\u2026  and one evening\u2026  when I had had enough\u2026  I calmly\u2026  well\u2026  as calmly as I could\u2026  told her that that kind of interaction was not OK with her mother and me\u2026  that Rachel might think that something was wrong with her\u2026  since she knew quite well how she felt\u2026  but one of her primary caregivers was telling her there was no good reason to feel that way\u2026  I wanted her grandmother to see\u2026  to understand something that even a young blind woman could understand\u2026  but instead\u2026  she said\u2026  So you’re telling me I’m stupid<\/em>\u2026  and in that moment\u2026  it seemed as though her cosmos shifted\u2026  and not in a good way\u2026  she had the proverbial rug pulled out from under her\u2026  and it may have felt to her\u2026  like the sun was darkened and the stars fell from the heavens\u2026  she just didn’t have a frame of reference to see what I was sharing with her\u2026  and she didn’t seem interested in understanding\u2026  she didn’t want to see the light she couldn’t see\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During seminary I went on a four-day silent retreat at the monastery in Kentucky where Thomas Merton lived\u2026  and we were invited to attend\u2026  at least once\u2026  each of the seven Daily Office services throughout the day\u2026  and except for worship\u2026  there was only one hour\u2026  in a meeting led by one of the monks\u2026 when we might speak\u2026  and as the sounds of the city faded\u2026  and the warp and woof of our social chatter was peeled away\u2026  it became easier to experience the words of Ps. 46:10\u2026  Be still\u2026  and know that I am God<\/em>\u2026  and to hear and feel that still small voice rise up within me\u2026  and I was reminded of the desert mothers and fathers\u2026  who left behind the distractions of the cities\u2026  in order to become aware of\u2026  and remain awake to\u2026  what the Spirit was saying\u2026  in fact\u2026  the silence became so comfortable\u2026  that when I left the Abbey\u2026  it almost took too much effort to speak\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first few lines of this morning’s Gospel lesson come after Jesus’ predictions in vv. 1 – 23 about the Temple’s destruction\u2026  and the persecutions which would follow\u2026  but he says that just as you know that summer is near when you see the budding fig tree\u2026  you’ll also know that the Son of Man is near when the sun is darkened\u2026  and the moon won’t give its light\u2026  and the stars fall from heaven\u2026  those things haven’t happened yet\u2026  and we’re told that no one knows when they will\u2026  not the angels in heaven\u2026  or even the Son\u2026  but only the Father\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even so\u2026  there are things which happen in the world\u2026  and in our lives\u2026  that feel as final and as consequential\u2026  as these cosmic events\u2026  and which seem to come out of nowhere\u2026 like a thief in the night\u2026  perhaps like the corrective I shared with my mother-in-law all those years ago\u2026  or like Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel\u2026  like the moments in Ukraine when bombs fall\u2026  or like an unexpected cancer diagnosis\u2026  or the death of a friend or loved one\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Gospel reassures us\u2026  Jesus reassures us\u2026  that when things like these take place\u2026  he is near\u2026  at the very gates\u2026  and while these gates may be like the gate between life and death through which we’ll all pass\u2026  they’re also the gates through which we pass when we have an epiphany and become increasingly aware\u2026  alert\u2026  and awake\u2026  because it’s when we are cracked open\u2026  when we reach a new kind of impasse\u2026  when how we used to respond no longer works\u2026  that we can be open to see and hear more of God’s Wisdom and Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Christians\u2026  and maybe especially during Advent\u2026  we find ourselves waiting to see All the Light We Cannot See\u2026  and hear those faint impulses of the Spirit\u2026  and I think that for the vast majority of us\u2026  the light we can see\u2026  is like the small tip of an iceberg which floats above the ocean’s surface\u2026  and the sounds we can hear\u2026  are like an old AM radio with a faltering battery located in the middle of nowhere\u2026  but that the majority of that light and sound\u2026  is waiting to be seen by eyes which don’t depend on the visible light spectrum\u2026  and to be heard by ears which don’t depend on sound waves transmitted through the air\u2026  but which see and hear in other… more inward and spiritual ways\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of the cosmos will end safely\u2026  lovingly\u2026  and securely\u2026  in Jesus’ hands\u2026  though we don’t know when\u2026  the earliest Christians thought Jesus would return in their lifetimes\u2026  but it may not be for a billion more years\u2026  it doesn’t matter when though\u2026  our waiting will not be in vain\u2026  because while Heaven and earth may pass away\u2026  Jesus will be waiting for us at the gate\u2026  and his words\u2026  and our relationship with him\u2026  will endure beyond space and time\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Year B  – Advent 4 (A 7-Week Advent) Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026  speak your truth\u2026 Joel and I recently saw\u2026 just happened to come across\u2026  four episodes of what Netflix calls a Limited Series\u2026  the series is based on a book by Anthony Doerr…  and is called All the Light You Cannot See\u2026  it’s set during World War II\u2026  in a Nazi-occupied town called Saint-Malo\u2026  which lies in the northwest corner of France\u2026  and along the English Channel\u2026  on the surface\u2026 it’s a story about a young blind woman\u2026  whose world is filled with touch and sound\u2026  and a young German orphan\u2026  who’s pressed into military service because of his affinity for electronics\u2026  and his ability to hone in on and decipher faint radio transmissions\u2026  and how their lives come together\u2026 But below the surface\u2026  it reminds us about how we need to listen to what’s not spoken\u2026  so we can discern what’s really being said\u2026  and about the need for human touch\u2026  and how to live with and for others…   and how that’s inseparable from our coexistence\u2026  and how we wait for the moments when our lives come together\u2026  And Advent is about waiting\u2026  but not like waiting for water to boil\u2026  ( which seems like it will never happen )\u2026  it’s not about waiting for the season’s first big snowstorm\u2026  or your baby’s first steps\u2026  it’s not about waiting for Godot ( who\u2026  by the way\u2026  never shows up )\u2026  it’s not about waiting for the war to be over ( though that’s something I’m certainly waiting for )\u2026  Advent is not about waiting for that check to arrive\u2026  or waiting for your car to warm up when its seventeen degrees outside\u2026  or waiting for the light to turn green\u2026  it’s not about waiting to get through airport security\u2026  or about that ( seemingly ) endless wait in the doctor’s office\u2026  and here’s what may be really surprising\u2026  Advent isn’t even about waiting for Christmas morning\u2026  for the babe in the manger\u2026  for the infant Jesus\u2026  the primary focus of Advent\u2026  the whole intent of the season\u2026  the thing for which we wait\u2026  is the moment that makes sense out of all our other moments\u2026  it’s the focus of our Christian hope\u2026  represented by the full manifestation of the Reign of God established in Christ\u2026  and all throughout Advent\u2026  however long it is\u2026  this is the focus of our Sunday morning readings\u2026  only in the last week do these readings begin to shift from a focus on eschatology ( or end-times )\u2026  to that of incarnation\u2026 In 1990\u2026  my former wife and I\u2026  along with our two-year-old daughter\u2026 moved from Iowa back to Ohio\u2026  and lived for a season with my mother-in-law\u2026  even in the best of circumstances\u2026  that can be a real challenge\u2026  but because she came out of a dysfunctional and abusive marriage\u2026  with great regularity\u2026  she spoke shame and invalidation to our daughter…  for example\u2026  one evening Rachel felt afraid because of a noise she heard outside her bedroom window\u2026  and her grandmother said\u2026  What’s the matter with you\u2026  there’s nothing out there\u2026  instead of something like\u2026  Oh honey\u2026  it’s OK\u2026 come here\u2026  Grandma will keep you safe\u2026  and one evening\u2026  when I had had enough\u2026  I calmly\u2026  well\u2026  as calmly as I could\u2026  told her that that kind of interaction was not OK with her mother and me\u2026  that Rachel might think that something was wrong with her\u2026  since she knew quite well how she felt\u2026  but one of her primary caregivers was telling her there was no good reason to feel that way\u2026  I wanted her grandmother to see\u2026  to understand something that even a young blind woman could understand\u2026  but instead\u2026  she said\u2026  So you’re telling me I’m stupid\u2026  and in that moment\u2026  it seemed as though her cosmos shifted\u2026  and not in a good way\u2026  she had the proverbial rug pulled out from under her\u2026  and it may have felt to her\u2026  like the sun was darkened and the stars fell from the heavens\u2026  she just didn’t have a frame of reference to see what I was sharing with her\u2026  and she didn’t seem interested in understanding\u2026  she didn’t want to see the light she couldn’t see\u2026 During seminary I went on a four-day silent retreat at the monastery in Kentucky where Thomas Merton lived\u2026  and we were invited to attend\u2026  at least once\u2026  each of the seven Daily Office services throughout the day\u2026  and except for worship\u2026  there was only one hour\u2026  in a meeting led by one of the monks\u2026 when we might speak\u2026  and as the sounds of the city faded\u2026  and the warp and woof of our social chatter was peeled away\u2026  it became easier to experience the words of Ps. 46:10\u2026  Be still\u2026  and know that I am God\u2026  and to hear and feel that still small voice rise up within me\u2026  and I was reminded of the desert mothers and fathers\u2026  who left behind the distractions of the cities\u2026  in order to become aware of\u2026  and remain awake to\u2026  what the Spirit was saying\u2026  in fact\u2026  the silence became so comfortable\u2026  that when I left the Abbey\u2026  it almost took too much effort to speak\u2026 The first few lines of this morning’s Gospel lesson come after Jesus’ predictions in vv. 1 – 23 about the Temple’s destruction\u2026  and the persecutions which would follow\u2026  but he says that just as you know that summer is near when you see the budding fig tree\u2026  you’ll also know that the Son of Man is near when the sun is darkened\u2026  and the moon won’t give its light\u2026  and the stars fall from heaven\u2026  those things haven’t happened yet\u2026  and we’re told that no one knows when they will\u2026  not the angels in heaven\u2026  or even the Son\u2026  but only the Father\u2026  But even so\u2026  there are things which happen in the world\u2026  and in our lives\u2026  that feel 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