the REFUGE

As I reflect on this time of year, what is going on in the world, and what is going on our country and our community, many things run through my mind. First of all, reflecting on the advent and birth of Christ, as Christians celebrate, I am deeply troubled. Christians, quite often do not truly understand or reflect on what the Advent is all about. Consider this, Christ was born in poverty, to a teenage mother , who was not married. He was born in stable around dirty animals, and revealed himself not as royalty, but as a helpless baby, made known to poor sheperds, who were not thought as very important. Wise men of different ethnicity and of different religious beliefs came to worship him. His parents were from Nazareth, a city of “lower class” people. He became a refugee with his family, and was hunted down for the 1st few years of his life. The king, Herod, in a attempt to kill the baby, slaughted perhaps thousands of innocent children. And, all of this happened in the shadow of enslaved people held and dominated by Imperial Power.All of this was the climate in which Jesus was born, whose teachings about Love, Peace, and Justice, and deliverance from oppression, would lead to a revolutionary movement.
What does this say to us, this world, the United States, and our community. Well, it says many things about what our priorities should be. If, this Christ, was revealed in this way, then ending poverty, justice for the poor and homeless, dignity for all, ending Slavery, stopping “Empire Building”, greed/capitalism, and ending war/making peace should be our priorities, not just for those of us who call ourselves “Christians”, but humanity should seek these goals. Someone who would be such a divine voice, the Son of God to Christians, would be born humbly and live as someone who is homeless, it speaks volumes to this egotistical world that all of us succumb to at times. It speaks of what should be our priorities, especially those who would consider themselves part of the Body of Christ, the Church.
Can we, that is those who live in the USA, and in our own local Tampa Bay Area/St. Petersburg, continue to live as we do? Can we allow oppression of the poor, the homeless, the vulnerable to happen throught local laws that harass the poor, the homeless, people of color, through ordinances, supporting only the wealthy and developers, but criminalize those who aren’t? Taking away peoples homes in the name of development or foreclosures, while “bailing out” the banks, big business, Wall Street. Denying Healthcare to the poor, more then 50 million, because we can’t afford it. Continuing to incarcerate more people than any other nation on earth, more than 2.5million, with another 7 million on probation, mostly poor people and people of color. Can we continue to make War around the world, in the name of Capitalism, War in Iraq, Afganistan, Columbia, Pakistan, and elsewhere? Can we continue to pollute the world, allow Global Warming, and allow 35,000 Children to die each day from lack of food, water, and preventable diseases?
I say a RESONDING NO!!! WE MUST RISE UP AND CHANGE THIS!!! WE MUST CREATE A REVOLUTION OF LOVE, PEACE, AND JUSTICE IN THE NAME OF THIS PEACEMAKER that CHRISTMAS is supposed to be about. WE MUST BEGIN TODAY!! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!! BUT, I DO HAVE HOPE, as do many others. All over the WORLD, people are organizing, resisting, and creating a move toward a JUST AND COOPERATIVE SOCIETY. WILL YOU JOIN ME IN THE REVOLUTION OF THE PEOPLE FROM THE BOTTOM UP?

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL, NO MATTER WHAT YOU
BELIEVE,           Bruce