I like cartoons. The internet has lots to look at, especially political/editorial cartoons during this time of political intrigue in the United States. I am biased, and lean a little left of center in my politics. I have noticed that there are a lot of cartoons at the marriage altar, at the top of a mountain, a psychiatrist couch or at the pearly gates of heaven. Often, the writers/cartoonist leave me laughing or crying, but they are often right on point.
A recent cartoon on Facebook has me thinking. The top part is is about normal spirituality , and it seems to be a person on a slow steady walk up to maturity. There might be a few valleys, but for the most part, it is a steady climb to heaven, or Nirvana or nothingness. It is called “ Other People’s Spiritual Journey “ The second part of the cartoon is entitled “ My Spiritual Journey “, and is a tangled web of lines, and the person lets out “Gasp” . There is horror on the women’s face.
This is my spiritual journey with God. I am not disciplined in any way. I cannot follow a prescribed pattern. But somehow God meets me. I trust God will infiltrate my soul at some point in my Advent / Christmas walk of faith. I start Christmas by playing Bruce Cockburn’s Christmas album on November ist. We buy a real tree sometime in December. We light Advent Candles at church. We host my wonderful siblings around Christmas. We exchange Christmas cards. I have met God at those times and at other times. But I am a Type B… or maybe even a Type C kind of person, so it is never in a straight line, but it is a garbled and tangled web that I weave to meet God. It happens less than I would like it to.
But maybe it is God that weaves an uncertain walk of faith. The whole Christmas story is of uncertainty . The Holy Family becomes a refugee statistic right after the birth. That is not what I think should happen to the Saviour of the World. Maybe God is a Type B personality . Maybe the normal part of life journeys is all about brokenness, recovery, hope, loss, death, unknowing, and strange crap that happens to all of us.
Recently, a refugee came to Canada from Congo via Ethiopia. He had been in Ethiopia for 6 ½ years . He is 27, and speaks five languages, and is very open and polite. He had less than a month notice before he got the acceptance he was coming for Canada. Most of his family is missing or killed, and it has been too dangerous for him to ever return to Congo. His journey has been one of entanglements, but now his new life is before him. His life is like many of the more than 60 million refugees in the world. Not normal, not certain, not comfortable.
“ When they had seen him ( the Baby ), they spread the word concerning what they had been told to them about the child .” Luke 2:17 This is about the shepherds. They are going to telling the uncertain story of Christmas. Did they lead Mary and Joseph out of Bethlehem, so they would have safe passage to Egypt / The Holy Family’s life was not normal , and either is ours, and that is okay. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 