Bethlehem continues to be a town under Israel’s increasingly oppressive occupation. As the liturgical cycle brings us to yet another season of Advent, the image, which Pastor Munther Isaac invoked last Advent, of Jesus born under the rubble sears our souls ever more deeply. Jesus is still under the rubble created by Israel’s airstrikes and bombings in Gaza and now Lebanon. He is wrapped not in swaddling cloths but shrouds. Meanwhile, the violence in the West Bank, perhaps less visible to much of the world, is none the less lethal. Bethlehem does not stilly lie. 

UCC PIN’s Liturgical Resource Team has developed, for the Advent season, resources that speak to this current, unsettling, and unpeaceful reality. For one example, see below Micah Bucey’s “Reading - A Kind of Magnificat.” You will find that and the other Advent resources on UCC PIN’s substack here.

Reading - A Kind of Magnificat

by Micah Bucey

Our souls are meant to magnify divinity,

So why do we settle for staying so small?

We are meant to be saved by joint joy,

So why do we tear ourselves apart with apartheid?

We are chosen to uplift the next generations,

So why do we instead choose the weight of hate?

We are born to balance our strength with sanctuary,

So why do bombs overshadow our benevolence?

We are blessed to inherit abundant bubbles of vision,

So why do we scatter them amongst the mounting rubble?

We are able to root the future in both history and hope,

So why does dishonesty strangle our growth?

We are equipped to embody a love beyond the local,

So why do we build borders of inward-facing apathy?

We are pushed toward peace by every faithful fiber of our frames,

So may we listen for ourselves over the saddest sounds of ourselves and

Magnify a ceasefire on our souls.

Amen

This excerpt is from the UCCPIN November 2024 E-Newsletter. To view the full newsletter, click here: UCCPIN November 2024 E-Newsletter.