Until We Reach the Sun
By: Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed
Buffaloes are the only animals that run into a storm.
They can smell the snow coming. They can feel the temperature change—
Deep in their bones. So they gather together, a pack on the plains.
And with their large lumbering bodies, they run.
They run through snow and ice, wind and rain. They do not stop
Until they reach the sun.
When you are afraid, because this world is cruel and harsh,
Or because humans are deported and shot without reason,
Or because we cannot remember how to talk to each other civilly,
I will be your pack. I will stay by your side. I will run with you
Until we reach the sun.
This advent we will be diving into a series by Sanctified Art entitled “What do you fear?” Luke’s Gospel begins the story of Jesus with this opening line: “in the time of Herod…” While it seems like a minor detail, it reveals layers of information about the fearful world Jesus entered, one filled with rampant oppression, economic disparity, uncertainty, and instability. A world not so unlike our own. And yet, throughout the stories of Christ’s birth, the whispers of angels deliver a surprising message: “Do not fear.” We might even ask: is it even possible to be fearless in a fearful world? When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi are each called into God’s redemptive story, they do not deny their fears—they move through them. They ask questions, hold fast to courage, trust in good news, and say, “Here I am, Lord.” When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope?
The season of advent is about darkness, and this soon to be light that will break through. Rev. Sarah Speed’s poem reminds us that we are not alone in our fear. Like a storm, fear heads our direction with force, however like buffalo we can choose to run together headlong. Side by side, we run with one another toward fear knowing and trusting we will be embraced by the warmth of God Emmanuel.
What do you fear? Is it your health, physical or mental? Is it wrestling with your mortality or a coming change or transition in life? Is it loneliness or a frayed relationship? Is it Herod and what Herods of the world are capable of? As a community of faith in Christ we made a covenant reflected in the last two lines of this poem, “I will be your pack. I will stay by your side. I will run with you until we reach the sun.”
Together we will head into the storm, embrace what comes, and together on Christmas we will feel the warmth of the son, God with us, Emmanuel.
Blessings for the journey,
Rev. Keith McDevitt
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