Today we light a pink candle on the Advent wreath and sit with the demand of the day – Rejoice!

Laudate Sunday calls us to joy. Not superficial optimism or the fleeting distraction of malls and materialism, but rather, a deeper dig into Advent darkness where new roots take hold and joy lies waiting like a buried treasure.

During a harsh season of COVID, actual and impending water shutoffs, home foreclosures, and a war budget that is hastening the spiritual death prophesied by Dr. King, we are invited to take a deeper dive into the churning waters of the present moment and trust that we have cause to celebrate, despite all evidence to the contrary.

So, today we sing out with gladness and compose a litany of gratitude for the ways in which the Divine shows up on our doorstep in beautiful and unexpected ways . . .

On a daily basis, neighbors are helping neighbors struggling with water issues. Behind the scenes, water is being delivered and families are being helped while the work for affordability carries on. Water will indeed wear away the rock of indifference and opposition residing in the halls of power – Rejoice!

Art builds are being planned in early winter in preparation for water actions in 2022. Water protectors know the power of cultural work. Those who paint, dance, write, and sing a new world into being feed the souls of those who are in it for the long haul – Rejoice!

Last evening, water advocates gathered in Detroit to share food, art, and love for one another. The night included babies and Bingo and beloved community – Rejoice!

Water warriors from around the state have come together to take on issues ranging from affordability to aging infrastructure . . . from pipelines to privatization to PFAS – Rejoice!

As I sat down to write this reflection, a young Muslim girl who lives down the street rang our door bell and gifted our family with a box of sweets and wishes for a Merry Christmas, reminding me that I am blessed to live and work in communities where the Divine is expressed in such a multiplicity of ways – Rejoice!

Today’s pink candle is a sign that points us in the direction of joy and gratitude rather than paralyzing despair or the grim seriousness that mirrors the soullessness of those who are sucking the life out of our world because of their addiction to power and money. This addiction also affects those of us working for justice who may find ourselves caught in the same addictive cycle by succumbing to chronic rage and unexamined trauma that we too often take out on ourselves and one another.

Today is an invitation to loosen the yoke of our own inner oppression and reflect on the fact that if we can’t get to joy, we are not looking deeply enough. And that is why today’s gospel calls us once again back to the desert where we can see the way to joy with more clarity.

And what is the way?

It is the way of the neighbor who shares water with the family next door whose water has been shut off.

It is the way of the one who shares a coat with the man sleeping on the steps of the church on these cold December nights.

It is the way of those who share soup and break bread with those who live off the crumbs that are carelessly brushed from the rich man’s table.

It is the way of those who refuse to place burdens on those who struggle through extortion schemes and corporate tax breaks and exploitative payday lenders and business dealings that crush the poor.

It is the way of being baptized in the wild waters of uncertainty that come with an open-ended Yes to Love and a commitment to community.

It is the way of surrendering to the stern discipline of the winnowing fan that separates the wheat from the chaff in our own hearts and lives.

There is nothing abstract or theoretical about the way to joy.

The way to joy is found in service, solidarity, and simplicity. It is boots on the ground, hands in the dirt, and eyes on the prize.

It is as clear and precious as a glass of clean, cold, affordable water.

Detroit People’s Water Board Interfaith Justice Committee; original version published in Radical Discipleship, Advent 2018 (Lukan cycle – Luke 1:26-38)