ever feel like you have to hide in broad daylight?
one way for me to achieve this feeling is, i have discovered, to attend a church service in which
a) the American flag is proudly displayed in the pulpit
b) a pro-family, pro-life message is slipped into the Christmas story
c) the pastor claims never to preach politics but insists on letting the congregation know how highly he rates Republican candidate Mitt Romney
d) the Christmas Eve service becomes a prime time opportunity for an evangelistic message, during which the pastor is sure to keep reminding us how sinful we all are
e) the men and only the men are called upon to distribute bread and wine
e) heterosexual marriage is portrayed as the divine model of life on earth
f) during the prayers, god is praised because of ‘our president and all that he stands for’
etc etc etc…
i’m listening to the trails of van occupanther, carefully this time. it’s a banquet: lyrical, musical, emotional. sometimes almost hymnal:
let me not be too consumed with this world
sometimes I want to go home and stay out of sight for a long time
let me not be too consumed with this world
sometimes I want to go home and stay out of sight for a long time
(midlake, ‘van occupanther’)
i think about home a lot. as a place. as a no-place, just like dorothy says.
beth and i talk about it: wish for it; run from it…
christmas is about an unlikely kind of homecoming. mary and joseph wind up in a shit-stained shed, their nerves most likely shot to shreds and, in this seemingly godforsaken place, there begins a process of birthing…
The One Who Is… becoming
The One Who Is… breathing
The One Who Is… being
The One Who Is… among us
i’m far from ‘home’ this year, out here in the snowy midwest. but home is also at hand. within reach. beneath all of the beliefs and opinions which i find so distracting, there are warm-hearted people here, full of welcome and curiosity about this out-of-towner in their midst. i’ll probably keep having to put my mittens in my mouth to stop myself from spontaneously erupting at some of the things i hear. but maybe this is my own unusual homecoming. surrounded by snow and little else for miles around, misunderstood and misunderstanding, i’m here, i’m blessed with good people near and far, and i’ll be fine.
if you are reading this, chances are, you are it, you are good people.
so thanks for being here, there, somewhere…
it’s not always easy, it’s not always easy
when the winter comes
and the greenery goes
we will make some shelter
when the winter comes
and the greenery goes
we will make some shelter…
(midlake, ‘bandits’)
here’s to making some shelter this christmas,
with whoever is at hand,
and just beyond our reach.
