Advent: Hope (Between the Worlds Church)

[Constance]

What follows is the text of my first blog post for Between the Worlds Church.

Today is 30 November 2014. It's the first Sunday of Advent and the theme is Hope.

This day when we focus on Hope comes just three days after Thanksgiving, a day we set aside for gratitude and express the Hope that one day all the world will have what they need. But also, this day of Hope comes about a week since a grand jury decided not to indict white Office Darren Wilson with murder for the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Additionally, it's been ten days since the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR).

One day of celebration, and two days that are stark reminders of violence that is very much present in our communities, our nation, and our world. True, the grand jury decision (Hopefully) won't be a yearly event. But where is Hope to be found? How can Hope be experienced?

With those two questions in mind, I turned to the lectionary for this Sunday, but none of the readings listed seemed to give me any answers. But in returning to the grand jury decision and the TDoR, I think I'm able to find some answers of a sort.

The death of Michael Brown, the protests that followed, the grand jury decision, and the additional protests that followed can indeed inspire a sense of Hope. We can Hope that greater awareness of the deeply ingrained institutional racism will result from this young man's untimely death. And it's worth noting that Mr. Brown was not the only unarmed black person to be killed by police this year. His death was the tipping point, and the media coverage has led to increased discussion. So, there can be Hope from this tragedy: racism and other forms of institutional discrimination are very much alive and at work in this country. By raising awareness and working to change these things, future generations can have Hope.

The same can be said of the TDoR. As trans persons like myself and my cisgender allies work to raise awareness for and memorialize our beloved trans and gender-creative dead, we do so with the Hope that one day the TDoR will be an event of the past.

It should come as no surprise that candles are used in Advent wreaths. This week we light the candle of Hope. We do this symbolically as we endeavor to bring the light of Hope into the troubled times in which we live, and also as we prepare to celebrate Christmas: the birthday of Jesus who is the embodiment of Christian Hope.

Amen, and Blessed Be.