In a culture where religious ritual and
narrow sacramentality was used to dominate common people, Friends
insisted that Jesus is radically present in the lives of all people.
Despite intense persecution by the religious and civil authorities,
Friends clung to their conviction that God's power and mercy spills
beyond the walls of the cathedral, and that the baptizing power of
the Spirit is not dependent on water poured by human hands.
Along with other radical groups in
their day (such as the Puritans), Friends denounced many of the
customs that those around them took for granted. Because the names of
the days and months were derived from pagan deities (Thor's Day, for
example), Friends began using numbers instead (e.g. Today is Fifth
Day, 11th Month 22nd, 2012). Friends also rejected holidays such as
Easter and Christmas. This was not because they did not honor the
spiritual significance of Christ's birth and resurrection; rather,
they believed that they could best experience Christ's resurrected
presence by following him each day. Every day should be Christmas.
Every day should be Easter.
But it has been three hundred and fifty
years. Times have changed dramatically. Virtually our entire public
consciousness, including our holidays and religious rituals, have
been co-opted by the new empire of this world - unrestrained
corporate capitalism. For most Americans today, Christmas is about
Santa Claus and consumer electronics. Easter is about bunnies and
brunches. And even Thanksgiving, long the least commercialized major
holiday, is under siege by the "holiday shopping season."
This year, Black
Friday has become "Black Thanksgiving."
Ironically - but not accidentally -
this wave of consumerism is rising precisely at the time that
ordinary Americans are experiencing a crescendo of economic hardship
and stress. With so many of us struggling to find meaningful
employment at a living wage, it is difficult to resist the siren's
call of consumer goods. Just as many people suffering from depression
struggle with uncontrolled eating habits, our nation's frantic search
for "the next best thing" is revealing. We are hurting so
badly!
How is the Holy Spirit calling us to
respond to the insatiable hunger, despair and emptiness that our
culture is experiencing? What does it look like for us to challenge
the systems of death that not only eat us alive, but seduce us into
joining the feast?
Some Quakers might argue that our best
option is to opt out of the "holiday season" entirely.
Indeed, in light of the ways that corporate America has infested our
holy seasons with glorified addiction, a strong argument can be made
for total withdrawal. By refusing to participate in the wider
culture's holidays, we might gain some protection from the corroding
influence of the consumer cult. We might even be able to encourage
others to opt out, strengthening the base of resistance.
While the case for withdrawal is
strong, I am convinced that there is a better response. Rather than
ceding the major holidays to corporate America, I believe that it is
time to reclaim them. Starting with Thanksgiving.
We are a nation that is over-worked to
the point of exhaustion. We are a people desperately in need of
Sabbath. Sunday was once widely reserved as a time of rest and
worship, but now it is considered fair game by many employers. Even
those of us who are privileged enough to be exempted from working
weekends have largely lost the rest that our ancestors once knew. If
we do not spend our weekends putting in extra hours on our electronic
devices, we are out shopping, chauffeuring kids around, and generally
catching up on all the unpaid work that we had to defer during the
week.
Might there be an opening for us to
celebrate Thanksgiving, not as the fear-driven ritual of consumption
that is it morphing into, but rather as a Grand Sabbath?
Thanksgiving, at its best, is an opportunity to be still and know
that God is faithful in providing for our needs. It is a time to
focus on demonstrating our love and thankfulness for those with whom
God has called us into relationship. Thanksgiving can be a time of
rest from our labors, a time of gratitude for the gift of simply
being.
While this sense of rest, thankfulness
and belonging should extend out into our whole lives, celebrating
Thanksgiving provides a special opportunity to concentrate on our
intention to live this way in the world. It serves as a reminder of
how life can be when we are resting in the loving arms of Christ our
Savior.
If that is not radical, I do not know
what is.
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- For another Quaker perspective on this, check out Jon Watts' Thanksgiving post.
- Are you longing for Thanksgiving music as much as I am? Here's a good candidate:
6 comments:
Micah, your use of the term "hocus pocus" to describe what most Christians call the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist, is troubling to me. It is a Protestant slur on Catholicism, based on the Latin words of consecration, "Hoc est corpus meum"(This is my body). The phrase has become generalized since, to the point that many don't know where it comes from. But I think it is possible to affirm Friends' values without putting down the beliefs of others (though early Friends did it all the time). From your writing, I know you also strive not to put others down.
Hi Susan,
I'm sorry if my use of the words "hocus pocus" seemed like a slur against Roman Catholics. That was not my intention.
I wrote this post to express my hope that we as Friends might live in profound solidarity with our neighbors. I believe that God calls us to speak out against the powers and principalities that hold us captive, but only as a means of bringing healing to the nations! Our basic posture must be one of radiant joy and blessing.
In my experience, that's what it means to be Christ's body.
Yes, celebrate thanksgiving ... in a diverse community of sharing in which giving gives all reason for giving thanks. See: http://lukelivingthetension.blogspot.com/2012/11/on-thanksgiving-and-privilege.html
Even without knowing the history, I thought the "hocus pocus" part was strongly worded and probably impolite, yet, you have a knack for challenging the status quo and throwing things out there for discussion that I like very much.
My impression is that you plainly state how things look from your perspective and invite others to do the same, as a way of achieving the best possible approximation of Truth.
BTW, I was perusing my electronic copy of The Journal of George Fox this morning and found this "Thomas Lower ... asked many questions concerning our denying the Scriptures to be the word of God." Wow, he was quite radical, wasn't he? :)
Thanks, Crystal!
Yes, early Friends were pretty radical. They essentially reformed the Reformation.
While most Protestants said that the Bible was the "Word of God," Quakers pointed out that the Scriptures never refer to themselves in this way. Instead, the testimony of Scripture is that Jesus himself is the Word of God, and that he is the ultimate authority in our life as the Church, as we receive him through the Holy Spirit.
While early Friends had a very deep respect for the Scriptures (all our doctrines are deeply rooted in the Bible), we acknowledged it as the highest outward authority. Supreme sovereignty is reserved for Jesus himself, the Living Word.
Kudos for joining the protestt at Wal-Mart.
For an informative piece with an interesting perspective, e.g., a reminder that Costco is doing quite well as a retail business while hiring full-time workers and paying them well, and that it would cost the average Wal-Mart (and equivalent) customer only about $17 and some coin a year for the retailer to pay its associates a living wage, see http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/whos-really-to-blame-for-the-wal-mart-strikes-the-american-consumer/265542/
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