Prophet margins

I know. You are already wondering if I made a mistake in the headline. Of course, December is all about margins of profit, for the economic engine that is Christmas. A Saturday near any retail outlet in December will attest to that. We are intent on spending, to bring about happiness we think. So much is expected, or that is how we perceive it.

The commercial world understands and prepares for the biggest spending of the year in these next four weeks. As I write, retailers in Canada are caught up in the Black Friday phenomena unleashing in sync with U.S.A. Thanksgiving. How easily we are convinced of the need to spend more, buy more, panic more.

I know. You’ve heard it before. But I keep saying it, holding up a mirror to a people intent on forgetting those ancient ones who held a dream — a promise, really. Isaiah was among them, a prophet from about 500 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. His dream was a patient one, that waited, in the midst of a disheartened people, in the backdrop of a temple in ruins and a crumbled city. Imagine how his proclamation of hope for a day when all Gods people would climb a holy mountain and commit to peace; how the nations would turn weapons of war into instruments for living. And how the line of Jesse would produce a messiah, an anointed one, who would lead the people to this dream. Isaiah was filled with hope.

I know. Five hundred years is a long time to wait but in some ways we are waiting still. This is the memory and the dream at the core of what we proclaim every year. We wait for the birth of Jesus. We try to express that excitement by showing the people around us that they are loved and valued, and by giving them a token of our affection wrapped in paper with a pretty ribbon. But how easily we lose sight of the margin of truth the prophet points to, while we place the margin of profit front and centre.

Don’t misunderstand. I fully know what it is like to be in business, and to try to have a good month to balance the leaner ones. Yet if we celebrate Jesus’ birth, it must matter for more than a few weeks. That we remind ourselves annually how Jesus’ coming made a world of difference, means we ought not panic. Stressing over the perfect gift, the food preparation and decorating will not matter even the following day. Taking the time to appreciate those on your list, enjoying the company and conversation in the many times we gather with food, and finding wonder in the beauty of light in the darkness, reminds us of the story cloaked in love, mystery and majesty. And then the prophets will bring a margin of peace. Work on that in a faith for today.