Barbara Kingsolver has a new
book of essays called "Small Wonder," and it is a poetic proclamation
of the power of hope. It is also a stinging criticism against a self-centered society.
Taking a sharp look at the wars, the natural disasters, the political violence
of the 21st century, she writes a modern translation of Luke's little
apocalypse. By the end of the book, we know more than we need to know about the
wastefulness of our beef consumption, the natural disasters caused by genetic
crop engineering, the distortion of patriotism that blind flag-waving can
produce, the barbarity of war and capital punishment. But she ends with soaring
words of hope--a call to self-discipline and compassion and tolerance and moral
living--a vision that matches the energy of Jesus' words to us today.
Rather than feeling hopeless,
like a screen door banging in a hurricane, Kingsolver suggests that we should
be the ones to bang and bang on the door of hope and refuse to let anyone
suggest that no one is home. She writes, "What
I can find is this and so it has to be: conquering my own despair by doing what
little I can. Stealing thunder, tucking it in my pocket to save for the long
drought. Dreaming in the color green, tasting the end of anger." She
concludes: "Small changes, small
wonders. These are the currency of my endurance and my life. It is a workable
economy."
Today we Christians around the
world light the first candle in a four-week journey through the darkness of
Advent. Rather than hiding inside the secular sentimentality of a Christmas
cocoon, we are called to open our eyes to see the chaos of the cosmos. We are
called to recognize with a God's-eye view both the beauty and the terror of
this world. And then with eyes looking up, we are called to wait for God's
promise to be fulfilled, rejoicing in the small wonders and the simple graces
of these danger-filled days.
http://day1.org/488-a_gods_eye_view
