It has been very cold in Oregon. The other day I found myself thinking I was getting tired of being cold. “If I wanted to be this cold I could have stayed in Wisconsin!” I thought over and over. Mercifully, the Christmastide snow was light and beautiful and gone by the time morning coffee had been consumed each day, and now it is warmer again. Soon we shall be back to full-time rain, which is what winter in the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be like. I’m grateful for all of it, but especially for the sheer normality of it. It seems to me there is grace in the balance and harmony of creation. I feel comforted by it, I feel nourished by it. It is a reminder that all of creation is the issue of God’s love, in harmony, in concentric spheres as nature and humankind and cosmic forces all overlap, building in love, bringing grace and harmony and nourishment.
Out in the “real” world, another COVID surge advances by the moment, and wildfire in Colorado and tornados in Kentucky remind us the climate is changing again, by the moment. The new year ushers in hope, as always. We eat our black-eyed peas and collard greens and cornbread, we share our love, we embrace the love we share in the surprisingly intimate moments of appreciating the gifts given and received in the name of the Christ child. I am made warm by my husband’s comfort in the new shirts I gave him, and his in the pride in the new kitchen tools he gave me, not to mention a new duvet cover—all gifts that comfort and nourish and build up love in concentric spheres.
In the LGBTQ world, trans-Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider continues to win, breaking all-time records including now the highest-winning woman in show history. As celebrated as she has become in the daily game-show news, it’s also no surprise that there is starting to be some trans-phobia in the coverage. We all know what it’s like when LGBTQ people reach for the winner’s circle. Still, there is much grace in the notion that this time the witness is to millions of viewers across the US from all walks of life. I had a bishop once who kept reminding the LGBTQ parishioners that the greatest thing we did was to show up in church and be visible, a witness to the love we share with all who are heirs of God’s love. So each time I see Amy’s brilliant joyful smile and watch the skill with which she wins I am reminded that this is a perfect example of those concentric spheres of love I’ve been writing about.
The climactic scripture this week is the story from Matthew’s Gospel (2:13-15, 19-23) of Joseph and Mary’s flight in the middle of the night with the infant Jesus, and their eventual return to the district of Galilee. What strikes me on this reading is how the action is propelled repeatedly by the voice of an angel appearing to Joseph in dreams. It happens three times! It is a revelation of the force of love’s voice working through the human experience to see that the concentric spheres of love not only are preserved but are built up continuously.
It is in this eternal triumph of love that humanity serves best as interlocking keystone of the glorious grace bestowed, it is here that life becomes like a watered garden. It is in this that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, by love.
2 Christmas All Years RCL 2022 (Jeremiah 31:7-14; Psalm 84:1-8; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23)
©The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.
Dimensions of Reality: glbt Christian spirituality 