Endings into Beginnings

I had a fitful night of sleep last night due in part to animals that wouldn't settle down, and due in part to my mind whirring with what seemed like a dozen or so obsessive thoughts. Some of it was related to the post-Synod Anglican Covenant discussion and considering the road ahead. So much of what we are involved in right now in the life of the Anglican Communion seems so reminiscent of the kind of power struggles and "sibling rivalries" that have been with Christianity from the days of Antioch and Alexandria. And just as those times were marked with councils and arguments and claims of heresy, our times are marked by synods, conventions, arguments and claims of who has left whom.
As I was trying to get to sleep, I saw in my mind's eye a cone of swirling light piercing through the thick darkness of storm clouds and drilling its way into the earth. The word "Trinity" repeated itself and I couldn't keep from seeing how the light remained in a continuous uninterrupted motion spinning from the clouds down to the earth and back up again... with its luminescence spreading out into the edges of the clouds. Perhaps this was like a version of Jacob's ladder. I can't say for sure. But I have seen rings of light before in dreams, and it seems to be a good thing... like a ring of protection.
The readings at the end of this year's daily office and then the readings assigned for the first Sunday in Advent seem to reflect the imagery of this dream. Zechariah offers a warning that any that would wage war against Jerusalem would find their flesh, and their eyes and tongues rotting. This is coupled with Luke's gospel where Jesus is preparing to overturn the tables in the Temple:
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’--Luke 19: 41-44

Dark clouds are gathering, and Jesus knew this. And he knew, too, that many were about to be caught flat-footed and asleep because they failed to see what was before their eyes. In contrast, as we start Advent and Year A of the Church calendar, we are met by readings that bring us back into that circle of light. The prophet Isaiah calls on his audience to beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. The reading ends, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." The Apostle Paul adds to this by reminding the Romans to "lay aside the works of darkness and put on an armor of light." All sounds good, right? But the evangelist Matthew has Jesus reminding his listeners that its not enough to be happy that things are good. Because, as with Noah, all seemed to be going along quite well as far as everyone was concerned. And then Noah and family... with some chosen pets... got into the ark to survive the flood. This was because Noah was aware and awake. Others were not.


Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. --Matt 24: 42-44

For me living in the 21st century with our 21st century struggles within the Church, these lines serve as a reminder that when we step outside that swirling light which stretches from heaven to earth and back again, we enter into the darkness that is always on the edge of the light. And when we get trapped outside the light, we are at risk of losing sight of what is good unless we work to focus our eyes, ears, minds and hearts on that source.
We may be coming to the end of relations with some members of the Anglican Communion. Certainly the statement from those in GAFCON, the ones who have been so angry for so long with the United States and Canada, that they don't like the Anglican Covenant either (but for different reasons) means that not even this document can save relations in the Communion. Perhaps it is time for us to fix our eyes on the light and not so much on the storm clouds around the light. Just a thought.