HOLY INNOCENTS
I hope your Christmas was complete with some of the good things this beautiful season has to offer. In whatever way Christmas came to you this year, I hope you were reminded of the best we are, the best we have, and all that we can celebrate when we come together and share with one another.
The feast of the Holy Innocents seems to throw a “wet blanket” over everything. We are reminded that, in the days of the Nativity, many were away from home, meeting the demands of a Roman census-taking. In a time of personal and political uncertainty, everyone simply trying to make the best of it. In the midst of that, the harsh murder of all male children under the age of two years. Every one of those babies and toddlers now remembered as the Holy Innocents.
The children who died in that terrible massacre are holy innocents – they carried no guilt. They were free of wrongdoing. They committed no acts of retribution or retaliation. Their hearts carried no resentment.
Across the arc of human history, there are many holy innocents. Much suffering happens in the face of conflicts, unjust political and social regimes, and acts of oppression and terrorism. It is a painful reality almost beyond comprehension.
Not minimizing any of that, we bring our focus to something that might be close to us. There are many other holy innocents. Those who have no place to work when massive layoff notices are issued in a relentless striving for profit. There are those struggling to feed themselves and their families in the face of the rising cost of just about everything. There are the holy innocents who are judged to be “less than” and unworthy because of age, education, profession, abilities, gender, skin colour or ethnic background. There are the holy innocents who endure the brutality of being abused, bullied, or beaten in body, mind or spirit.
I believe that every one of us has an experience in which we are a holy innocent. However large or small the horizon of our own lives, someone has tried to silence us, render us powerless, or do us harm. What do we “do” with this pain-filled truth?
How do we maintain our holy innocence when we see, on a daily basis, that all is not well? How do we move forward in the face of injustice? How can we trust that the Kingdom of God can actually happen?
If we look, we will also find examples of the Kingdom of God on a daily basis. We see those who work for peace and justice. They are found within our families, our local communities, and in the larger world. We see those who simply refuse to meet hate with hate. We see those who lift up the downtrodden and meet them face to face, restoring the dignity that has been trampled upon.
We each have only a thimble to pour into the great ocean of need in this world. It is easy to “buy into the lie” that our small efforts do not matter. It is tempting to build a hard protective shell around a wounded and weary heart. It is so easy – and so temporarily satisfying – to allow hatred to grow in the fertile soil of hurt.
But then, we will have lost our holy innocence.
How then, will our hearts be made strong enough to live in this world – and to live with the courage to pour out the thimble-full we have been given?
Sit.
Quietly.
Listen.
Be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove. (Matthew 10:16)
Be aware of the dark forces in the world.
Without adding any more darkness to the world, bring light into that darkness.
Wait.
Easter is already on the distant horizon.
Jesus – the Light that no darkness can extinguish.
He has come into the world.
Brenda Merk Hildebrand has a deep passion for lifelong learning, education, and spiritual and palliative care. She appreciates the opportunities that have come her way to share life’s transforming journey with others: one-with-one, through intentional group settings, in animating workshops and retreats, and by way of her writing. Brenda is a long-time contributor for Living with Christ.
