Candlelight in Bundibugyo in 2024 flickers more from necessity than for atmosphere. The rotting power poles in this tropical rainforest mean the entire national grid connection, which is less than 15 years old, already fails regularly, so the power company has decided to shut down transmission all day every MWF to work on pole replacement. This has been happening for the last month or two. Since we had only solar panels for limited lights and computers for the first couple decades, we're not totally unprepared. . . .but no extra Christmas lights this year as we've become spoiled by more appliances and higher expectations. A long digression to explain that candlelight it not just a quaint metaphor, it's a living picture.
So when Director Patrick returned to Bundibugyo this week for a few days of staff enrichment, fellowship, consultation, leadership and encouragement, and asked me to start off his Monday seminar with a devotion, I chose the image of candlelight. It's the first week of Advent after all, and John 1 talks about the light shining in darkness as he begins the story of Jesus' coming.
The previous post, Christmas Apocalypse, alluded to second coming teachings of Jesus which are also part of Advent, lightening and signs in the skies which call for a posture of faith in times of cataclysm. Times of waiting. Times of change. Times like this.
So today, the Christmas Candle as a picture of how we live by faith in the midst of dark uncertainty.
That's a challenge for Christ School staff (never enough money, materials, supplies, time), just as it is for all the plodding workers in our Serge Area. We know that multiple times a day every day, we all feel like today's lectionary reading: Jesus is asleep in the dark tossing boat of our lives, and we just might go overboard into the sea. I imagine those waking him up lighting a candle, and hear his rebuke, why are you fearful? Darkness and chaos are no match for Jesus' calm. Instead of panic, He calls us to watch, pray, shine.
A candle allows us to watch, a frequent admonition to God's people. Watch. Look. Notice. Lighting up reality leads to both lament and thankfulness, gratitude and grief. We pay attention to the world's broken edges, to the sorrows, to the storms. And we also pay attention to the subtle signs of God's presence. Alertness is a perquisite for praise. So we hold our flickering candle ahead to see the terrain, to understand our calling. To be present, engaged, awake.
The word watch in these Advent passages is frequently paired with pray. Watch and pray. And in the tabernacle, the temple, and the word images of other dimensions, the fragrant flame, the rising smoke, symbolizes our prayers. The candle reminds us that we are not alone in this terrain, that we have a Heavenly companion who cares. Our lament and our gratitude both have a direction, a listener.
Lastly a candle in Jesus' illustrations shines. People see the light, and find hope. It is a beacon to find one's way home, a lamp that should not be hidden under a bushel. We pay attention to the real world around us, we commit all we see to prayer, and then we act. Shining little lights, making small things a little better. Bearing testimony to the great light that is driving out all darkness.
A candle in the wind was a song in my growing-up days, and alludes to the truth that those who do watch and pray and shine sometimes are taken from us too soon. Yesterday, when I sat down to start writing this post, was the 17th anniversary of losing Dr. Jonah Kule to Ebola Bundibugyo, a then-new variant of the deadly virus that surfaced here in 2007. He modelled walking by faith into dark uncertainty as well as anyone, a thoughtful and insightful observer of culture and community, a prayerful person of courage, a doctor who worked in spite of steep barriers to care for the poorest.
In 2024, we feel pummelled by the injustice we struggle through every day. But Advent is a season to remember that the darkness is where we belong, that in the storm Jesus cares even in sleep to preserve us. We watch and pray, and hope to shine. (Bonus post here from Center for Formation, Justice, and Peace).
No comments:
Post a Comment