For the past several years, I have been less outwardly celebratory during the Christmas season. No wreaths, trees, or bad sweaters for me; I have chosen to be introspective during the end of the year season in order to keep my focus on the true meaning of Christmas. This has become increasingly difficult, as the process of commercializing the celebration of Christ’s birth begins right after Halloween and extends itself until after the nation celebrates the life of Dr. King in January. This year, it has been increasingly difficult to concentrate on this Season of Advent in light of all of the anger and protests going on around the country. The protests over grand jury decisions in both the Michael Brown (Missouri) and Eric Garner (New York) cases and the heartbreak and anger over the deaths of Tamir Rice (Ohio) and Akai Gurley (also in New York) have served for me as a reminder that we need to rally around life.
Many of those critical of the decisions in these cases say that black lives do not matter, and there is some validity to that in a nation that has never truly been delivered and healed from the effects of chattel slavery. Those on the other side say that these cases have gone to the judicial system and that the system should be respected, the issue dropped, and that personal responsibility is the mindset that will move the nation forward. While there is truth in both of those opinions, I am led to think of the joy the families of these dead men and boys must have felt at their birth – a moment of endless possibilities – and I also think of the finality – the end of chances represented by their deaths.
In this season of Advent, I cannot help but juxtapose the births of these boys, alongside birth of Christ – specifically, Mary’s joy and expectations at the entry of the Anointed One into the world. I cannot help also but to think of the horror and fear brought about by Herod’s decree that caused them to flee into Egypt. There is no decree that has come forth to wipe out the lives of the people who would conceive and give birth to a history-changing leader. Today it is a mindset, and hundreds of years of policies created on a false premise of the superiority of one race. Any premise, law, statute, or policy that does not value all life is rendered invalid by superseding precedent: the Law of God. The turmoil and unrest that we are seeing is God clearly calling out the church (not the denomination or the building, but the people) to truly celebrate life during this season through three gifts that we can give to the world and ourselves:
Gift #1: Celebrate life by affirming that all life matters by engaging in the healing activities needed to assist communities of color in the knowledge that God loves them and that their lives matter as much as anyone’s. This is by no means an easily accessible gift, and the initial attempts at giving may be rejected by many, but it still needs to be given, with love.
Gift #2: Affirm life by becoming better stewards of a gift already given — the gift of one another! We must begin to affirm one another in all of our differences, disagreements, and multi-horizonal ways. I couldn’t care less if the person is black, white, brown, male, female, LGBT, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Atheist — every single living being on this earth is a soul that the Lord sent Jesus to die for. How dare we not celebrate all life as we acknowledge Christ’s birth?
Gift #3: Not majoring in minors. As I turn from station to station — FOX, CNN, MSNBC or the other networks — I see the talking heads engaged in a bunch of “blah, blah, blah” that does nothing to unify, little to clarify, and is unable to edify. You know what’s important? A group of 7-year-olds sent me a note to the pulpit last Sunday to speak of their love for God and how I helped them achieve it. I would relive that moment over and over — because this major gift from these children was less about my preaching and more about my love for them, which I try to express through love, hugs, and accolades. Isn’t that what we all want — love, acceptance, peace, and goodwill toward humanity? Isn’t that the true joy of the season? When I received that free gift, I cried — sobs of joy and thanksgiving that marches cannot attain, policies cannot mandate, and humans cannot bestow. That is life, and that is what I choose to celebrate during this season. Will you join me?
Rev. Darren Ferguson is pastor Mount Carmel Baptist Church in New York and is Coordinator of Diversity and Inclusion Programs at LaGuardia Community College.
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