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I Resent that Spotlight!

The fish died.

Yep.  I pretty much have been side-tracked on a multitude of other necessities and I didn’t get around to cleaning out the fish tank. We were down to just two…we’ve lost a few lately…and one of them died. We were actually buying new filters while this little guy gave up.

Nate took it in stride; actually I think he expected it considering the fact the water was so murky lately we could barely find the two fish each night when all the boys went up to bed.

And what does this have to do with Advent?  Stay with me…

I realized something yesterday. Or maybe it is just that I allowed myself the freedom to admit something. There are times I resent my kids.

Yep, I just said that outloud.

When we start out our homeschool day and I am not prepared. I resent them…not hate them, not mad at them, not that want-them-to-go-away resentment…but I resent them because in that moment they are spotlighting my weakness and my inadequacies.

My reaction? Oh, highly spiritual. I usually bark at them and get irritable. Because, well, I hate having my weaknesses and inadequacies spotlighted.

Kids will do that, though. Just by being themselves they will make you aware of all the areas where you fall short. Suddenly you are completely vulnerable and insecure and they are wondering why you are over at the computer whimpering and tearing up while they are just goofing around.

The fact is, most days I am not prepared for the day. The lessons may be written down but there are other things that will throw me. Calls will come in that someone is sick, or a friend has made life-altering choices and suddenly all I want to do is pray. There are days the weight of the awareness of my mother’s intricate and powerful mind decaying away to dementia leaves me feeling without any enthusiasm to take on the homeschool endeavor. The laundry constantly interrupts us. Or the fish dies.

They are not earth-shattering events, but they pick at me and I find myself irritable and on edge because I just can’t seem to get ahead of it all.

Advent? Yes…I’m getting there.

A babe in a manger. Silent night. Little Drummer Boy.

These have all become so familiar to us we do not let them impact us when they should completely drop us to our knees. The spotlight is on.

400 years of silence the Jews had been waiting through. God had been awfully quiet. Had he forgotten all those promises? Had he not noticed that we just keep seeming to be inadequate in our attempts to fix things?

God had noticed. The long anticipation was over, Messiah was coming. But he came in the most extraordinary and unexpected way. God pulled the rug out and surprised everyone.

See…Advent should be about joy and about wonder. It should fill us with moments when we are stunned by the glory of the whole story. But there is more. It spotlights our inadequacy and our need. God had to come to redeem us…we simply could not do it ourselves. And he came in a way that completely took everyone by surprise, and left all the glory to God.

He walked in the room, crying like a baby.

Angels shouted. Stars led the way. Creation noticed.

And God entered creation with the baby-born wail…and I am sure hell shuddered at that infant’s wail.

We can resent God for showing that we are inadequate, as I sometimes resent my kids for spotlighting (without even knowing) where I fall short. We can shake our fist and be angry because He has called us sinners first. We can be mad that the mere fact that there is an Advent season or a Christmas celebration calls attention to the fact that there is a God who noticed we needed redemption.

Or, we can hear those songs and that simple story of the babe in the manger, of the silent night…and we can drop to our knees. We can allow ourself the freedom to admit we desperately need that redemption and we just can’t fix things on our own.

We have 20 more days. Be still with the story for a bit. Don’t rush it. Let the spotlight rest on your and don’t turn away…don’t resent the fact that your inadequacies are being noticed. Rejoice that our inadequacies and sin were noticed…and were overcome.

O come, O come Emmanuel
within this fragile vessel here to dwell.
O Child conceived by heaven’s power
give me thy strength: it is the hour.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high;
like any babe at life you cry;
for me, like any mother, birth
was hard, O light of earth.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
whose birth came hastily at night,
born in a stable, in blood and pain
is this the king who comes to reign?

O come, thou Rod of Jesse’s stem,
the stars will be thy diadem.
How can the infinite finite be?
Why choose, child, to be born of me?

O come, thou key of David, come,
open the door to my heart-home.
I cannot love thee as a king–
so fragile and so small a thing.

O come, thou Day-spring from on high:
I saw the signs that marked the sky.
I heard the beat of angels’ wings
I saw the shepherds and the kings.

O come, Desire of nations, be
simply a human child to me.
Let me not weep that you are born.
The night is gone. Now gleams the morn.

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
God’s Son, God’s Self, with us to dwell. -Madeleine L’Engle

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#FreeSaeed. December 4.

Today is December 4th.  Why is that important? It has been set aside by a group of friends: Alan Hawkins – a Renewal pastor in Albuquerque New Mexico, Steve Wright – a Calvary Chapel pastor in California, Bryan Stupar – a Calvary Chapel pastor in California and Michael Newnham – a Calvinist home church pastor in Oregon and blogger.  They, along with some other friends in dialog decided they needed to put some type of action to their deep sorrow over the imprisonment of Pastor Saeed Abedini .

He has been imprisoned in Iran for the past year simply for being a Christian.

The negotiations with Iran over nuclear issues led to a greater frustration because there was a deep feeling this was a prime opportunity to push for the release of Saeed. And it was not taken.

So, these friends set aside this day to flood social media with Saeed Abedini’s name. Respectfully, prayerfully, and with great heart.

Almost 26,000 people seem to agree and have signed up to join the event.  All we are asking is for you to simply post on FaceBook, to write your Senators and Representative. To Tweet. To bring awareness.

There is a plan of action explained here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/451324411638963/

or here:

Phoenix Preacher

Here are some ideas, but really, it just comes down to sharing this man’s story with all you can reach through social media. Use your imagination and remind people this man is imprisoned and we need to try to bring him home.

FaceBook:

Change your profile and cover pictures to one of Saeed.

How to change your profile picture:

Photos and cover photo:
http://on.fb.me/1dOWIt5

Update your status throughout the day. Use the hashtag #FreeSaeed

Remind your friends to go join the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/451324411638963/

Twitter

If you’d like to find a link with some ideas, take a look here:

http://www.mercyisnew.com/2013/12/04/freesaeed-you-can-help-today/

Tweet the leaders:

Tweet President Obama

@BarackObama

We respectfully request that you use the full powers of your office to liberate Pastor Saeed Abedini! #freesaeed #savesaeed http://clicktotweet.com/iBeI7

Tweet The President of Iran

@HassanRouhani We respectfully request you release Saeed Abedini as an act of mercy and friendship! #freesaeed #savesaeed http://clicktotweet.com/Bj65t

When you send other tweets, add the following names in your tweets: @MichelleObama @VP @WhiteHouse @BarakObama

Like some ideas you can just copy and paste on Twitter? How about these:

Join us in praying for an imprisoned brother in Christ! #savesaeed #freesaeed

@edstetzer Here’s what 25,000 of us are doing today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-GPJFwKYGs … #FreeSaeed #SaveSaeed

@HassanRouhani Holding Saeed Abedini does not serve the purposes of Iran set him free as an act of goodwill, show the world your true heart

President @HassanRouhani, both our faiths practice charity and compassion. Please free Saeed Abedini. #freesaeed #SaveSaeed

@foxandfriends today is media blitz for the release of SaeedAbidini! #freesaeed Thank you! pic.twitter.com/kjM1QeQe6g

Pastor Saeed Abedini has been imprisoned and held for over a year in Iran because of his faith. #freesaeed #savesaeed

Or just click on these:

http://clicktotweet.com/if0d8

http://clicktotweet.com/zGd12

http://clicktotweet.com/5Arsc

http://clicktotweet.com/f348e

http://clicktotweet.com/N915b

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Hashtags and Hopes.

I am not sure there are many who would know the true sense of Advent…of that waiting and anticipation…as would Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Or others who have sat in prison and waited for their release. Waited for their rescue.

Like Pastor Saeed. He is an Iranian American who travelled to Iran to work on an orphanage he was helping to organize. He travelled there with the approval of the Iranian government. Then he was arrested an imprisoned without a trial, and has been sitting in prison for over a year simply for his faith.

Can you imagine?

Can you imagine the anticipation? The hope? The waiting?

There is an enormous push right now, #FreeSaeed, with over 20,000 committed to posting on FaceBook and Twitter and Pinterest about the plight of Pastor Saeed. The hope is to place pressure on our government as they make deals with the Iranian government to not forget this American citizen who sits and waits in an Iranian prison. The hope is that Pastor Saeed will know he is not forgotten and that there will be a flood of hashtags and a flurry of comments that remind the world that this one person is important.

And in that moment we remind everyone that they are important. We remind ourselves that we are in this moment of Advent. Of waiting. Yes, we are taking a stand for this one specific pastor and we are saying that he should be freed and no one should be imprisoned for their faith. More than that, though, we take a stand to say, especially as Christians and part of the Body of Christ, that we have not forgotten our brother. We are all in this moment of hush of Advent and it is holy.

We are in this moment that reminds us that the story is true. God has broken in to the prison and set the captives free, and that empowers us and gives us hope. It gives us hope to stand and believe that shouting out hashtags on social media means something. It gives us hope that standing together and raising our voice means something. It gives us hope that the traditions are more than platitudes and bobbles.

When we see that those who are imprisoned and beaten and forgotten do not forsake the One who came, we realize this Hope is true. In these moments we are more deeply aware of the depth of the Holy.

Listen to Bonhoeffer:

“Christ is knocking. It’s still not Christmas, but it’s also still not the great last Advent, the last coming of Christ. Through all the Advents of our life that we celebrate runs the longing for the last Advent, when the word will be: “see, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:5).  The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.”  – Bonhoeffer “God is in the Manger”

So, Pastor Saeed…we pray that in that dark cell you know that you are not forgotten by us, and that somehow this flurry of social media reaches your ears. We pray that it reaches the ears of those with the power to pressure for your release. We pray even more so that the One who we wait upon gives you grace in your waiting, ministers to your wounds, bears witness to your guards that He is faithful and true and that your hope is made sure when you come home.

Tomorrow, December 4th, please consider raising your voice as well. Join the event on Facebook. Use the hashtag #freesaeed or #savesaeed  on Facebook or Twitter. Talk about him and pray for him.

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Undercurrent of Hope.

Whew. So how has your first Monday of Advent been?  Mine?  Well, yeah, it’s been a Monday.

It’s been slightly frantic. It has felt mostly like a Monday after a holiday. Which means I have felt mostly behind, and mostly like I am out of rhythm.

We didn’t get the Advent candle lit tonight.

We didn’t even eat dinner all sitting in the same place tonight. Zach had a meeting for hockey, so he and Steve were off taking care of that. Which means the evening was out of sorts.

Which means one day into the Advent season and we are already off the rhythm.

We did read from the Advent book we are using this year, though, Bartholomew’s Passage.  We did spend at least a few minutes talking about Advent. Talking about anticipation. Talking about hope.

The fact is, these are the days we need that undercurrent of the Advent season. Not when the candles are lit and all is calm and all is bright. We need the undercurrent of hope and of anticipation when all is chaotic and all is frustration and all is slightly hope-less.  We need the whispers that something is coming that changes everything.

“The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton. In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. … You are aware of the beating of your heart…The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.” -Frederick Buechner (Whistling in the Dark)