Candle of Peace

A tough candle to light as the world is seemingly on fire. A candle of peace. A candle of Bethlehem. And what rough beast slouches toward Bethlehem to be born. Yet, I light the 2nd candle on our Advent wreath and pray for peace. Peace that passes all understanding. Next to the Candle of Hope, I light the Candle of Peace. There is something about this Advent ritual that my soul remembers. Re-members. That is true of all ritual. In the act, in the action, something of the soul awakens. I listened to a podcast today where a young Jewish man was asked, in light of the growing antisemitism in the West, in Montreal in particular, why he still believed, why he still wore the kippah and the star of David. He said his grandfather survived the concentration camps. He said he kept the faith because he did not want to be the one to break the line of faith. That seemed enough. Enough for today. Enough for this man. To hold the line for them. Even if today, the reasons are less clear. In ritual we hold the line of faith. I am sadly, not a practising Catholic. Yet, the rituals are in my bones, and I hold the line of faith. For them. For those who have walked before me. One day I might walk back toward the Faith of my birth rite. I think my long past Nana and Grand-dad would rejoice.

Bethlehem. What good can come of Bethlehem/Nazareth? Such a humble place. Bethlehem. “House of bread”. This is my body. The Candle of Bethlehem is the 2nd candle. The Candle of Peace. The West Bank. Palestine! Oh, there is no peace here. Was there ever peace here?

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

— Matthew 2:16

That this fractious place should be the place where the new story is born, in a manager, attended by donkeys, Oy vey!

I am currently teaching a course with Morbid Anatomy https://www.morbidanatomy.org on The Macabre from a Jungian Perspective. We have explored the uncanny, the return of the repressed, the nature of projection and recollection, the hybridity that signals potential transformation, and the fascination that yearns for catharsis. We have looked into biblical, literary, cultural and political monsters. What we have found is that most of the monster have resonance in ourselves. We have concluded that the West is ripe for transformation and the rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem to be born in 2025 is the New Ethic. An ethic that transcends the Scapegoat archetype of the Old Ethic and asks us to look in the mirror. Courageously. Honestly.

So, look in the mirror. What do I see? I had a client last week say that what he sees in the mirror has certainly changed over his 8 decades of living, but the one who is looking is consistent. The one who is looking. That is worth pondering. I had another client quote a song she was singing in her choir: “…it is exhausting trying to be who you are not - we are made of stardust and scars.” Amen to that. Stardust and scars.

I often think of that stable under that glorious star. With angels attending. Shepherds and wise men and donkeys and a new mother and a new father and a new born babe. Laying in a manger. What could they have possibly understood about the story that they were enacting? Maybe that is as humble as it gets. The call to adventure oftentimes sounds like a whisper. Oftentimes it cannot be heard amidst the cacophony of the crowd.

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Abraham

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Moses

'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” Mary

E pur si muove: This Italian phrase means "And yet it moves" or "Although it does move” Galileo Galilei

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying. Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. Martin Luther

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” US Declaration of Independence

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Rosa Parks

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" Neil Armstrong

"In an extreme view, the world can be seen as only connections, nothing else.” Tim Berners-Lee

“I'm not a dreamer, and I'm not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to. Because somewhere the hurting must stop.” Terry Fox

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” Elon Musk

Simple, humble, authentic, human people doing extraordinary things when the moment presented itself. I think that maybe this is what the Candle of Bethlehem is about. Where you are, what you are, who you are, answer the call. Answer the call! Dam-nit, answer the call. Quit the job. Have the baby. Go to Barbados. Sell the house. Declare your love. Go all in. Tell them no. Tell them yes. Take off your sandals. Consent. Declare. Nail your theses to the door. Sign your name. Take a seat. Make the leap. Connect. Believe in miracles. Launch your dreams. That is Bethlehem. That is where you will find Peace. That is the peace that passes all understanding. We are surely made of stardust and scars.