Don't Let the War on Christmas Get You Down!

Mike Stavlund wrote A Force of Will: The Reshaping of Faith in a Year of Grief, about the death of his four-month-old son. Running and loss are at the heart of the book and often inform each other. As Mike says, “Running became a metaphor for my life.”

On Being Studios | Krista Tippett Public Productions

Mike Stavlund — Running Is an Inherent Good [COOL, Season 1]

This song is free to download, but if you want to support people who are working to realize Mary's vision, consider giving here: http://www.labor-religion.org/membership/#.WFqSH3eZPVo

The Magnificat (A Christmas Call to Arms)

I.
Christmas feels different this year
It feels like everybody here
Is well aware we're in for a long, long winter
And I don't mean to go overboard
But this Christmas I can't ignore
I fear we're hurdling towards a long, long winter

And even all the colored lights
Don't seem to be burning as bright
They seem to shiver in fright of the cold, cold winter
And it's hard to feel much joy
Or be distracted by new toys
When we know outside its a hard, hard winter

So I think I'll skip the snowmen in the yard
And I think I'll pass on acting like life's a postcard

Christmas feels different this year
It feels like any Christmas cheer
Is forced and insincere in the long, long winter
And come July I won't pretend
That it's summertime again
When we know under Trump it will still be winter

So I think I'll skip the lighting of the tree
And instead revisit our misguided priorities...

II.
Because every year, a few weeks out
We take the time to read about
How Mary sang a song of praise
And on her knees, joyfully prayed
But we forget the rest of the song
It's more than three or four verses long
We're told before the virgin birth
Before we get to peace on Earth
The powerful get beaten down
The proud confounded and kicked around
The rich are sent away empty
And servants helped to find mercy
The lowly ones are lifted up
And those who starve will have enough
So we're holding this year's midnight mass
Behind the dumpsters and the trash
Where broken hearts and broken glass
Can catch the light that's come to pass
And it won't be a silent night
We won't be numbed by candlelight
We'll burn our churches down to ash
To provide warmth for those outcast
So say goodbye to your cherished stained glass
The last are first and the first are last
We're singing hymns and ringing bells
In padded rooms and prison cells
We're taking in the homeless teens
And their unwanted pregnancies
We're gathering in the projects
With shepherd boys on welfare checks
And foreigners are welcomed in
And introduced to our children
And we're all singing, "Solidarity!"
Because it turns out that's what Christmas means

And that's what we need
We need so desperately
And that's what it means when we sing...

III.
My soul magnifies the Lord, my soul
Gloria in excelsis Deo

(We can't control the wind and snow
But we can rage against the cold
We can ignite our souls and we can be shelter)

- December 2016

The Magnificat (A Christmas Call to Arms)

I was honored to be invited to preach at Dumbarton United Methodist Church here in Georgetown for the 1st Sunday of Advent. This Advent season, Dumbarton's theme is "The Journey to Bethlehem." Each Sunday, they are reflecting on different characters we encounter as we prepare for the coming of the Christ. This first Sunday was focused on Elizabeth and Zechariah. Having some familiarity with the story, and given all that is going on in our national news at this moment, a sermon title immediately popped into my head: “Maybe Men Should Just Shut Up?” And while eventually I could not reconcile the irony of me, a cis white man, delivering a sermon with that title, I did think the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah affords us an opportunity to reflect on speech and silence. On the times when we are called to speak up, and the times we are called to step back. And on the spiritual discernment required to know which is which.

To Speak and to Hold Silence (a sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent)

I'm a husband, a puppy-dad, a chaplain, a songwriter, and an author. I write, sing, and talk about the foolishness of faith; about mental health and mental illness; and, I hope, about love. I try to follow Jesus. I often fail.

To Speak and to Hold Silence (a sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent)

David Finnegan-Hosey

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