Today’s thoughts come by way of a video our Media & Religion class viewed, 5 Tips For Being An Ally, by Ches Caleigh.  The first tip defines Privilege in a way that was really helpful for me, got to thinking, egad, I could describe this to others now.

“Privilege means there are some things in life that you will not experience or ever have to think about just because of who you are.”

Ches continues with an analogy, saying that:

“It’s kind of like those horses that have blinders on. They can see, just fine. It’s just that there’s a whole bunch of other stuff on the side that they don’t even know exists.”

This, to me makes sense.  Being a white, straight male, upper middle class and Christian, privilege defines me.  It’s something to be aware of that impacts how – and what – we see in the world. My own demographics, traits I was born with, are all in a dominant position in culture currently with respect to race, sexuality, gender, income and religion. There’s nothing wrong with this, tho it is something to be conscious of, and how that changes what we see in the world by default. Things like immigration, paying for college, and Ferguson. Our conversation after watching the video was predictable for a while, what you’d expect in a room of future pastors taking a class at a seminary affiliated with a progressive Christian denomination. We talked about gender and income, and the privilege that comes with being a male of some means. One of my classmates hails from Liberia, and spoke to the difference of being on the other side of mission work done in Africa through churches in the US. “People want to visit and be benefactors for us” he said.  “We really prefer if you come to visit, sit and talk, learn our ways.  Maybe we can share in finding solutions.”   That reconfirms my own sense of international mission, it’s a great perspective.

What happened next really opened my eyes and removed the blinders for a moment as to what other types of privilidge are out there.  Another person in class, former military, spoke about the high incidence of suicides among veterans.  While veterans make up about 1% of the population in the US, 20% of suicides are veterans.  Whoa!  I was floored.  Here we live in the land of the free, the home of the brave, most of us living a life of privilege by *not* having to serve in the military.  And yet those that do are TWENTY TIMES more likely to commit suicide than the general population. That’s huge.
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What are the solutions to this? We only touched on that a bit, but my sense from listening to this is the US could to better, much better at reintegrating veterans back into society. Offering vets jobs that reflect the leadership skills they honed while in service is one way to get at this, there are likely others.

I’m still processing this experience a bit, tho suffice to say there is more privilege in our daily lives that each of us enjoy without realizing it.

What are some of your privileges? What kind of blinders does this create? How can you use this knowledge for good? Post any thoughts in the comments section below.

This week I’m taking a class on Religion & Media and writing a bit here each day on some class reflections. The theme that sticks out to me today is Authenticity.

In the book The Gifts of Imperfection author Brene Brown describes authenticity as:

“a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. There are people who consciously practice being authentic, there are people who don’t, and there are the rest of us who are authentic on some days and not so authentic on other days.”

What a neat quote.  As a lover of pajamas, in a literal sense this means wearing what makes me happy, what brings me joy. As a future pastor it means transparency, being yourself in the pulpit and at Target.  In a culture of designer brands and plastic surgery I wonder if authenticity can be difficult to achieve for many. For many we hide behind a mask of expectations from others, showing instead a highly polished image of what we want people to see.

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So how do you define authenticity? How do you live it out?  Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

I had the opportunity for another sermon today, or maybe it’s a homily, bit shorter than a sermon at 7 minutes. The service was ‘Lessons & Carols’ where we read the Christmas story from five scripture passages paired with five related Christmas Carols. Good fun, would *so* do this style of service again.

Anyhoo, If you’re curious, audio of the sermon is here along with text, so listen or read, pick your poison. Enjoy!

Show of hands, who has experienced Lessons and Carols before? I hadn’t until now. When pastor mentioned it to me a few weeks back I looked through the format and said “Sweet! We should do this!” So thank you Pastor and Shirley for your inspiration and help pulling this together, it’s one last chance to hear the Christmas story and sing carols, good fun. And thank you all for the positive energy and singing with gusto. Maybe next year we’ll add in a Margarita mixer to the festivities. Kidding, kidding!

There is something special about combining Lessons with Carols. I only came to realize it when looking at the scripture readings side by side with carols.

For example, in the lesson from Isaiah today we hear these words:

“the people who walked in darkness who have seen a great light. For those who lived in a land of deep shadows – light! Sunbursts of light”

That theme is echoed memorably in the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem we sang this morning. I’ll take a little stab at singing that a capella –

“yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light, The hope and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

How did you experience hearing that song? Was that different from hearing the spoken word? There are lots of ways to look at this. Maybe the spoken word involves more of the head, while the sung word more of the heart. A scientific study conducted a few years ago found a difference too. The left hemisphere of the brain takes the lead processing words, including what you’re hearing now.   The right hemisphere of the brain does most the work processing songs, and is more sensitive to the emotional features of language.

Other recent research has shown that skills with lots of things are strongest when both halves of the brain work together. So here we are, listening to scripture spoken, paired with carols – based on scripture – being sung. Perhaps that helps the message sink in just a little bit deeper than hearing just one or the other.

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Sure, it was a gravel-y, and somewhat pained, but what a beautiful sound. Her song let us know she was still here, that her spirit was still with us. This experience was a powerful reminder to me about the depth of meaning music can have, and its ability to draw out the innermost being from within.

In the Gospel reading from John today the author uses a different way to connect with our innermost being. John begins by reflecting back on the Creation story, writing “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.”

The reading continues, looking forward to the birth of Jesus. The translation used this morning, The Message, uses the paired words “Life-Light” to describe Jesus. It says:

“The Life-Light was the real thing:

Every person entering Life, He brings into Light.”

So Jesus brings Light into our Life. What a great pairing, our Life, coupled with the Light of Jesus. What a neat way to understand salvation. Perhaps that’s why this reading from John is paired with one of my favorite Christmas carols. Joy to the World, the carol proclaims, The Lord has come!

And here we are, on January Fourth, the eleventh day of Christmas, a good time to reflect on 2014. There was probably some light in your life this past year. And probably some darkness too. Maybe you even felt alone and devoid of life at some point, waiting for a sign, maybe a song, to shake you from your slumber.

We can also reflect on the winter solstice of December 21, not too long ago. On that day, the darkest day of the year, we know that there will be more and more sunlight each day going forward that surrounds us. We can also reflect back on Christmas day, and to a tiny baby, the Life-Light, Jesus, born to guide our ways.

After looking back for a spell we then turn our gaze, and look forward to 2015, to what is to come.   The reading from John forecasts an excellent pairing: Your Life, with the Light of Christ. Your Life, A life that proclaims Joy to the World, the Lord is come. Your Life, that when paired with our Creator, overcomes the darkness.

May it be so. Amen.