Decorations. Parties. Friends. You've planned these; waited; expected and thrilled and loved. But brooded? No way. We brood about sad things: wars, famines, prisons, greed, disasters. Homelessness, malnutrition, perjury, prejudice, injustice. That lost job, that failed relationship, that absent beloved. Consider these things, and ... merry Christmas?
The scriptures are full of brooding. Job brooded about his situation and his community:
"Will you now turn me to dust again?" [10:10]
"My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me." [17:1-2]
"The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help." [24:12]
The prophets brooded over all kinds of threats to God's people:
"One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine." [Ez 6:12]
"They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees." [Jer 5:17]
"'I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice.'" [Mal 3:5]
This is the world of little baby Jesus - our world, the one that is so perfect and so awful and violent and cacophonous. Pain abounds in our neighbors and friends and selves. God did not shy away from the sadness in the world, nor should we; God's light exposes it, and we mourn. "Jesus wept." Remember. Acknowledge. Brood. [John 11:35]
But don't stop in the past, or even in the present! Brooding is completed by the future. It is more than just seeing pain; it gives us space to think, to understand, to plan. Brooding, we see sin and death; brooding, we see our own insufficiency. Brooding, we realize our own responsibility; brooding, we repent. Brooding, we work, and finally - thankfully - realize the beneficent salvation of our God in this brilliant creation. From those same authors:
"'I will not destroy you completely.'" [Jer 5:18]
"'Some of you will escape the sword.'" [Ez 6:8]
"The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life." [Job 42:12]
"The messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come." [Mal 3:1]
This Advent, today, brood with me. Brood over hungry children and stranded travelers. Brood over abused prisoners and terrified refugees. Brood over families living in cars and cancer patients dying alone. Brood over all the things that sadden God, all the things you have ever suffered and all the things you ever feared to suffer. Comprehend. Contemplate. Weep. Repent. Reimagine.
And during this time of anticipation let all these unbelievable needs impel us to act, even as it drove our heavenly Father to act two millennia ago. "I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was lonely and you made me welcome. I was naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you came and looked after me. I was in prison and you came to see me there." [Mt 25:36 Phillips]
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We need you.
Prayer: Good Creator of this good world, we mourn as we contemplate the need and pain that is with us now. Forgive us for our wrong actions and our wrong inactions. Give us wisdom and courage to reflect Your light to the world, and to reflect the world's darkness to You. Free us for joyful obedience as we await anew the coming of Your Son. Amen.