These are truly revolutionary words about dissolving the ideological mind-sets that unify the rich ("the thoughts of their hearts"), about overthrowing the powers that be (removing them from their thrones), about ending hunger, and rejecting wealth on principle.
The class consciousness reflected in this categorical rejection the rich as such reminds us that in the eyes of Jesus' mother and (the record shows) of her son, there is something intrinsically wrong with any wealth that differentiates rich from poor. This implies that for Mary and Jesus, poverty is not the opposite of wealth. Rather, the opposite of wealth is God's justice -- a new order possible in this here and now, in this "year of the Lord's favor," as Jesus puts it. There, the rich will be necessarily unseated and the poor will have their fill.
If all of this is true -- if God's salvation means eliminating differences between rich and poor -- what are we to do in this world of income gaps, torture, racism and militarized police? The question is particularly apt at this Christmas season. And Thomas Merton's monastic spirit along with the testimony of his ascetic counterpart, John the Baptizer, implies answers. It suggests that at the Christmas season we might do well to:
- Generally withdraw our allegiance from the cultures of New York and Los Angeles and in spirit draw closer to Paint Lick, Gravel Switch -- and Merton's Gethsemane.
- Consciously simplify our Christmas celebration this year.
- On the feast commemorating the birth of a homeless child whose mother saw so clearly the opposition between wealth and justice, imitate John's simple vestment (and that of the Trappists) by giving our gifts of clothes not to the already well-attired, but to the poor.
- Imagine what would happen (to us and our children!) if we took those gifts so carefully wrapped and placed beneath our tree and simply gave them away unopened and at random to poor people and their children as we meet them on the street.
- In the spirit of John the Baptizer, located far from Jerusalem's temple, boycott church this Christmas, especially if your community (after distributing its de rigueur Christmas baskets) ignores Mary's summons to social revolution in favor of "Christmas as usual."
- Instead make up our own liturgy (around the Christmas tree) to replace the normal orgy of material gift-exchange. (More about this in a later posting.)
- Boycott entirely this year's "white Christmas" and (in the light of Mike Brown, Eric Brown and Tamir Rice) celebrate Kwanzaa instead -- telling our children why this year is different.
- Make a Christmas resolution to at last get serious about changing our lives in 2015 by beginning (or intensifying) the regular practice of prayer (or meditation) in the spirit of John the Baptist, Jesus, his mother and Thomas Merton.
- Realize that inevitably the cultivation of spiritual emptiness ("nobodiness") resulting from such regular spiritual practice will lead us to serve others in a way that will address the seemingly intractable problems of poverty (both spiritual and material), hunger, captivity and oppression.
I'm not suggesting that any of this would be easy. Going counter-cultural, especially around an event like Christmas, involves a certain self-emptying. It involves detaching from cultural expectations (not to mention those of our children and other family members). In some sense, it means becoming nobody in front of those who expect us to do what everyone else is doing. In other words, going counter-cultural at Christmas conflicts with what Sister Emily calls our dreary attempts to be somebody.
In fact, the cultural pressures are so strong, that it might be impossible for most of us to withdraw cold-turkey from Christmas as we've known it. Still, if we desire to be change agents like John the Baptist, Isaiah, Mary, Jesus and Thomas Merton, we've got to start somewhere.
Do you have other ideas about where or how to start? If so, please share them. And what about that alternative Christmas celebration involving the whole family on Christmas morning? Can you help with any suggestions there?
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