Just the other day, Olivia and I were looking at a book with the theme of learning what the word “opposite” means. A messy bedroom was shown and then you lift the little flap and under it you see a clean bedroom. And on the next page, an empty nest was compared to a full nest of baby birds. We had quite the little discussion about opposites in the house… big glasses and small glasses and tall people and short people. Olivia has become very observant and loves to point out the opposites that are around us all the time.
As we have been attentive to the stories we have become so familiar with during the season of Advent, it became very clear to me just how many opposites are involved in our praying and our imagery during this special season. Of course we hear about the children of darkness walking as new people of the light. And the list goes on and on…sin and redemption, despair and hope, judgment and forgiveness, hate and love. The opposites are really quite striking. Mary’s Magnificat is a beautiful account of the opposites that make up our spirit- experiences. In this prayer, which is Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s greeting, we find a broad spectrum of human emotion and the state of mind and soul. Mary speaks of the lowly being uplifted, the proud being humbled, the hungry made full, and the rich leaving emptied.
Advent is the season that highlights and calls our attention to both the opposites we live from, and the beliefs that grow from those opposites. Advent is the season to acknowledge that sometimes the opposites in our spiritual/religious lives are not working, and we needed a savior, because we have been taught that what is wrong about our lives needs to be made right. So how does one move the world from darkness to light, from sin to redemption, from hatred to love, from war to peace, from death to resurrection, and from separateness to oneness with God and all things. There is a bridge that has to be constructed, and walked upon, in order to move through what it is we’ve been comfortable and familiar with, to a new way of being with God and a new way of seeing life. Jesus became that Bridge Builder, the architect of laying out a new and stronger path, over swift and dark waters, from the side of life that wasn’t, and isn’t, working, to the other side of life that we’ve been promised will work for all people. He came to rescue us from the disaster in the Garden of Eden, and has promised to take our hand, and bring us to the bridge and show us how to walk, one step at a time over that bridge, to a New Garden and a Fresh Paradise. It might be one step forward and two steps back, but he shows us how to get to the other side.
The term advent embodies new beginnings. Jesus came to help us find our way to the bridge and to start moving toward a new beginning in mind and heart. What we think is what will build a solid bridge, and how we feel, is what will move us step by step across that bridge. Jesus came to help us see what prevents us from coming to the bridge in the first place. He knows that what we think and what we believe is what causes us to be afraid, and being afraid is what keeps us from taking the risk to step onto that bridge. Mary was afraid of the bridge. When the angel announced to her that she would bring into the world the child that would gather all people around the bridge, she felt fear. I’m sure she questioned what would people think and say about her. She must have felt lonely and wondered who would support her. She must have feared that Joseph wouldn’t be there for her. These are the same fears that keep us from the bridge we need to cross if this world is ever going to change. What will people think? Who will support me in the things I need to do to change my life. Will I be left to stand alone at the bridge? Will I look crazy if I do what I know in my heart is right? When we can identify that darkness, we can raise our foot in confidence and take the first step on the bridge and walk toward the other side where there is nothing but light. Every bridge we have to cross begins with understanding what it is we’re afraid of. Until we can name that fear, the bridge will appear to be wobbly, worn, and too weak to carry the weight of our emotions.
When Elizabeth greeted Mary, she was really saying to Mary, Come with me! I’ll take you to the bridge! I’ve walked over to the other side and so can you! I am here to walk over that bridge with you. Not only are we going to make it across the bridge, we will help others do the same. Mary’s response was one of thanksgiving that someone else was there who could understand how hard it is to take that first step, how hard it is to believe that you will see the other side:
My soul loves you, God,
and my mind and my heart are devoted to serving only You.
For you have set me at the foot
of a new and holy bridge that I am determined to cross no matter what.
My spirit is so thankful. My spirit is so happy. My spirit is so content
that I don’t have to do this alone!
For you have always done the perfect thing for me, God!
You have built a strong, safe, and sound bridge
from my thinking to my feelings,
and the life and the energy and the love that is growing inside me will
teach all people of every generation
to move from a garden of separation to a paradise of oneness,
with You and all people.
The proud will feel humbled by what they thought they knew
and believed about You.
The rich will feel emptied of the darkness
that possesses them, so they can be filled with every truth.
And a thousand hungry hearts will be filled with a deep and profound love.
God has helped Abraham and Sarah cross over the bridge.
God has helped Ruth and Naomi cross over the bridge.
God has helped Moses and Isaac and Jacob cross over the bridge,
and God has helped, you, Elizabeth, and
God has promised to help me cross the bridge of yesterday’s thinking and over
to the side of a love that works, a love that changes what is wrong, and a love
that binds my heart to yours.
Because of God’s belief in us,
we will move from the side of apathy to the side of action.
We will move from the side of hatred to the side of love.
We will move from the side of "some people" to the side of "all people".
We will move from the side of stagnancy to the side of change and evolution.
We will move from the side of division to the side of unity.
We will move from the side of "me" to the side of "we".
We will move from the side of "I can't" to the side of "I must".
Can you feel it Elizabeth? Can you feel God leaping in you?
Can you feel love growing, expanding,and stretching you?
Because I can. We all can.
Can you feel the other side?
I do, and it feels right. It feels like home.
Advent is the season to notice that two women, God, and the promise of theOne Who Would Build Bridges, could create an earth-heaven. Inside these women was the earth-heaven we are called to create. If we are ever going to know real peace, real happiness, and real harmony, we must refuse to see earth and heaven as separate. We all have a powerful part in building that bridge, and bringing absolutely everyone from the side of "smallness" to the side of "Greatness".
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