Framing a miserable election in terms of Advent hope.
An election during the Christmas season? On its announcement it was greeted as a recipe to spoil Christmas. And so it could be said to have emerged as we face the grim reality of a choice of two leaders so many of us do not want; policies for the next few years that when pondered on can only produce gloom; candidates that either do not inspire or cause revulsion as social media reveals discrimination and hatred; and a campaign filled with disinformation, lies and intrigue. None of this is the spirit of Christmas.
However, as a Christian I’m reminded this is not yet the Christmas season. True, for the shops it’s the time when Christmas with its commercial hat is celebrated. For the church however its not Christmas yet, it is Advent. And that is a very different thing.
Advent, so the Church of England tells us is “… a season of expectation and preparation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming (adventus) of Christ in his incarnation, and also looks ahead to his final advent as judge at the end of time. In short it’s a time to think about a very different thing, Christ the coming King and his kingdom. And as such its a time to take stock of the present and look forward in expectation.
It has been worse. I’m reminded of this political cartoon from 1879 “People burning in a ballot box” (see note at end)
An article published Monday by my friend Nick Lowles, Director of Hope not Hate, on Jeremy Corbyn, The Antisemitism Crisis of Labours Own Making , sums up some of the concern I feel in regard to my own work. Yet it would be as easy to write a similar article on Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party. Nick writes of how Hope not Hate prepared their election strategy: “It is a sign of how poisonous politics in the UK has become that we can expect numerous candidates, potentially from any of the mainstream parties, to be shown to hold, or have held, hateful positions. In the past 12 months, we have issued statements condemning figures from Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and the SNP. We have most often issued statements about Labour figures, while we have also run a specific campaign aimed at highlighting widespread Islamophobic views amongst Tory members.” That strategy has revealed hatred throughout much of the two main parties, and elsewhere. Is this the national leadership we really want? I certainly don’t. But where to turn for an alternative?
At our Christmas Carol service on Sunday I read from the words of Isaiah the prophet that looked forward to that King. (Isaiah 9.2,6-7)
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
My eyes welled up as I read. They do again now. I don’t think I have ever despaired as much or sensed such darkness. Nor seen as much that concerned me among those vying to lead our nation. But in that darkness a light shines. Among leaders who cause me to despair I can hope for the Prince of Peace, one whose government would be of justice.
After the election is done, a leader and a government is formed (hopefully), parliament gathers and the shape of the next few years emerges, we have a week to lament. The message of Advent, of a greater king and a better kingdom, will be our desperately needed plumbline as we consider how to live positively and with hope, as children of light in the midst of darkness.
And then, once we have lamented, we can truly celebrate the hope generated by the coming of the Prince of Peace. That’s what Christmas really is, and it begins as the light dawns on Christmas Day and we catch a glimpse of Messiah.
I will vote with a heavy heart tomorrow. I am looking forward to the celebrations but for now I weep. And I pray for the peaceable Kingdom. For me that hope is best voiced in the melancholic words of the Advent hymn, O Come O Come Emmanuel.
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Note: The political cartoon of “People burning in a ballot box” dates from the Midlothian 1879-80. People are burning in a ballot box, Disraeli is kissing a man representing tyranny and crime, broken puppet of Lord Dalkeith in the foreground and Gladstone refusing the please of a woman representing tenants. It reminds us that political climate we have today is no new thing. More info here and used under under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
