2026

I heard the carols again, and wondered

Another Advent and Christmas. Anther season of carols and promises, of declarations and pronouncements, of anticipation of the coming of an era of peace and justice. And another internal debate about how this transformation is intended to occur, what agency will bing it to pass.

Having the lesson in the life of the prophet from Nazareth, is that enough for us who believe and follow to initiate the beginning of an end to oppression and deception and aggression and manipulation and cruelty and abuse and greed and domination and hunger and isolation and suffering? Is the lesson itself enough to inspire reconciliation and peaceful coexistence? Or do we need another agent, a divine cosmic intervention to make this change in the deficiency of human nature?

Before at some times in these seasons that have come and gone for me over the past 80 years I have felt that the lesson was sufficient, that if we prevailed and persisted and acknowledged our weaknesses yet continued in faith that this was the answer to the difficulties that disrupt relationship across the earth; that if we maintained the attitude displayed in the life of Jesus it would bring about the profound change—evil would be overcome by good, persons would be persuaded to follow the truth of what is right and good that resides in the wisdom of the human conscience, and appealing to some higher intervention was an equivocation of our responsibility, a failure to embrace our calling to live out with courage the message of Jesus.

Now after what I have seen and where I have been I am persuaded that being human is not enough, that embodying the example of Jesus is not in itself sufficient to prompt the good that resides in everyone and to prevent the evil that human nature is capable of enacting. I have seen persons with passion live out the selfless pursuit of justice, to courageously call out abuse and offense against others, to witness for those oppressed and assaulted by persons with power who accomplish objectives that serve only a select group of people. I have been where individuals suffer because of the selfish use of resources that isolates those less positioned, where persons at the boundary of survival are denied even the most basic provisions for themselves and their families. And no amount of mercy and respect and compassion and companioning by those seeking to nurture and care for them has been able to stop this cruel agenda. The fortunes of persons with power who promote these sectarian objectives and the misery that this self-serving industry produces for masses of people seem only to increase.

No, we cannot do it ourselves alone. We cannot bring justice to those abused by powerful systems. We cannot end the suffering of those denied resources they need to survive. We cannot release those captive to oppressive domination. We cannot heal those with broken hearts and shattered lives. We need another presence, a presence unlike us. We need a presence not limited by human nature. We need an eternal manifestation who has the capacity to renew the human heart, to recreate in the human being a spirit of goodness and a zeal for promoting what is right in relationship and attitude.

When I hear in the carols the promise for one who is coming to establish a kingdom of justice and righteousness I say, “Yes, there is one who is following me who will make it happen. I will live in anticipation of it and as much as within me I will embody the pattern of living that I expect to be the normal then.”