I was blessed this Christmas to preach at a little, tiny, seaside church this year. We numbered thirty-three, and the congregation, which usually sings with gusto, actually sang with real charm and beauty through the usual Christmas carols. Of many childhood holiday traditions, one that often goes most deeply is the singing of the songs we sang and know all the words to.
The postlude was “God Bless Ye Merry Gentleman,” which has got to be one of the most un-PC songs ever. We weren’t even supposed to sing along, and we hadn’t been given the music, but everyone immediately and festively joined in.
An attendee and I looked at each other delightedly as we sang, with much irony, “To save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray!” Really, neither of us believed the words, but nothing would have stopped us from singing them, or singing them so fully. (For those of you from other traditions who have no idea what I am talking about, here is the carol in a rendition from the Weavers. Feel free to search and find the Glee and Annie Lennox versions….)
Luckily, this church doesn’t really want a full-blown sermon, even on Christmas. They ask for reflections that ask questions that make conversation, thought, and more growth possible. But even that kind of sermon needs some preparation, and as I sat down to think about it, this word came to mind: vulnerability. This topic has gotten quite popular as a result of Brene Brown’s wonderful Ted talk on the topic. But it’s been a Christmas theme since the birth narratives were first written down in the centuries after Jesus’ life.
A child born in a stable, in poverty, is God, incarnate. Not a superhero, not a king, not a warrior. A newborn impoverished baby. I look around at a congregation of thirty-three, and know, I know, the vulnerability in these lives. Sickness, death, loss, failure. All of this is present. they are SO vulnerable, and it’s in the vulnerability when things hurt and terrify and damage.
And yes, it’s necessary. Without it, literally, a child cannot learn, and grow, and thrive. Without it, they become “invulnerable,” which eventually becomes “failure to thrive,” and then death. If we aren’t vulnerable, we cannot connect, we cannot discover anything new, we cannot fully become ourselves.
God (Source, Creator, Goddess, etc.) seems to have made vulnerability necessary, essential to be human, and in some way, the primary icon for what divine life really means.
Dang it. I mean it. Dang it.
And, thank you. In the stroke of a human body against another, a hand on a face, a bit of footsy, a clap of encouragement, bliss and growth. And the capacity to be hurt.
So touching, Leslie. Thank you for reminding me to sink into my soft self and be relaxed with being vulnerable. And maybe I can also be relaxed and vulnerable about feeling awkward and in progress. Always in progress. 🙂
Vulnerability – what a good thing to ponder as I enter the new year. Of course we are always very vulnerable – to illness, losing income, unexpected changes of “plans”, and death lurking around every corner. So your thoughts remind me the important thing is do I deny and suppress it, or do I face into it and keep walking forward.
I am reminded of a well-worn story that every preacher has used in some form, about the 50th Gate. We go through life coming to gates, and we are pretty sure what is on the other side, so we confidently open it and go through. But eventually we reach a gate that frightens us, because despite our experience, “wisdom” and intuition, we don’t know what is on the other side. The story teaches that when we open that gate, we find the abyss, and hope… and they are next to each other. Which do I choose?
Thanks for the inspiration. I needed that right reminder today.
Vulnerability and humility seem side by side to me. Vulnerability comes at time unbidden, sometimes sought, but the end result for me is usually humility which I think is a sacred quality. Vulnerability seems to point us to the best way to be around other people. I’ve been working on the wall around my heart, so this is timely for me.
Lovely, and so on point, Leslie. Thank you so much for giving the insight – not sure I have ever received it before – that even God is vulnerable! What a concept! What a wisdom! How contrary to the imposition of invincibility and omnipotence – as if they do not include vulnerability.
Thanks to you, God just became an even better “role model”:-).
Wishing you all a gorgeous new year full of love and all the good stuff, Alison