Fr. J. D. Ousley

One of my favorite aunts has lived near Los Angeles for most of her adult life, and my aunt has always enjoyed the free spirit of southern California culture.

I was talking recently with her eldest child, my cousin, and he told me how everyone in their large family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren had been debating whom his mother should visit this past Thanksgiving. Would she visit one of the children or one of the grandchildren? Who would get to see her this year?

But while my cousin and the other family members were discussing their options, my aunt announced that she wasn't going to visit any family member this year!

She already had plans. She is an avid bridge player and she had made arrangements to spend Thanksgiving with some of her friends in Las Vegas!

Fortunately, my aunt's family had nothing to worry about her going to Las Vegas since she's not a big gambler. But other free spirits aren't so able to control their wagers.

But of more general concern, I think, is the attitude toward life that the "gaming industry" seems to many to encourage. This attitude goes way beyond just enjoying life, having fun as my aunt does. People are encouraged to believe that they can improve their lives with a roll of the dice-that their problems can be solved if only the right Lotto number comes up.

Not only is this a dubious philosophy, but it encourages us to feel that when we have a problem, "luck" is against us. Fate decrees that we would have bad fortune.

Christians, by contrast, don't believe in fate. We don't believe that we are at the mercy of whatever happens. Instead, we have confidence in the good Creator of the universe. Rather, we don't place our trust than trusting in the mercy of luck; we trust in the mercy of God.

And our trust comes from our conviction that the random flow of events is Spirit. As we heard in the lesson from the Second Letter of Peter, for God, "one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day."

Our God is eternal. God has literally all the time in the world. That means The divine Creator can free us from slavery to what the Prayer Book calls, "the changes and chances of life."

The divine power to free us from the clutches of fate. This idea of God explains the perplexing assertion that is also found in the First Letter of Peter-the assertion that we should "regard the patience of the Lord as salvation." What is "the patience of the Lord?" How does that bring us "salvation?"

Well, Peter seems to be saying, reminding us that even if the future is beyond our control, it remains within the power of God. Because our salvation comes from the Ruler of the Universe, we don't have to base our lives on passing events.

And what a huge difference this makes: Our future happiness doesn't depend on the luck of the draw. We don't have to win the game of life to enjoy it. We can look for "the patience of the Lord," and in that patience, discover our own.

For me, the Christian world-view is illustrated in one of the most popular prayers of our time: the "Serenity Prayer."

This prayer was written by the Lutheran theologian Reinhold Neibuhr, and it expresses the same "Christian realism" that was seen in Neibuhr's writings on politics and ethics.

The prayer goes like this:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

The Serenity Prayer recognizes the element of human existence called, "fate." Neibuhr speaks of "the things we cannot change," and he knows that we will need "serenity" to face them.

But Reinhold Neibuhr also notes the human capacity to act. Not everything must be "accepted." And if we have courage, we can make a difference.

This complex balance between action and acceptance is also a way to understand the traditional Advent theme of "waiting." You may have an Advent calendar at home that allows you to mark off the days until December 25. Each day on the calendar is a milestone on the way to Christmas.

And while we each wait for our personal batch of presents, Advent Scripture and music invites us to see this waiting as far more than individual. We see it as sharing in the cosmic process of salvation, expecting a resolution of all the problems that beset this world. As the Bible says: "we wait for new heavens and a new earth."

Of course, some people misuse this larger perspective to avoid their personal problems. They blame their woes on the Republicans or the Democrats. Or they blame corporations or the unions; or they blame men or they blame women for the miseries of the world.

Notice that this ascription of blame allows them to sit back and do nothing. These complainers are like some of the early disciples who seem to have refrained from normal activities like working or getting married because they believed Christ was returning to earth quite soon.

Eventually, the disciples realized that they couldn't know exactly when Christ would come again and, in any case, they could certainly serve God while they waited.

Anticipating new heavens and a new earth is the opposite of fatalism. It's not a religious version of "what will be, will be." When I can make a difference, I should.

This tension between acceptance and action can be seen in the different ways, you can approach one problem that isn't cosmic; but is nonetheless traumatic for those who experience the problem of unemployment.

If you are unemployed, you know all about waiting! You are "not employed"-the very word is negative. You have to wait, you have to accept that when you get up in the morning, there is no job for you to go to.

Yet you recognize that even as you accept the unpleasant reality that you lack a paid occupation, you still have plenty to do! You have to send out resumes; you need to follow up on leads of job openings; you must build your network and do all the things that need to be done to find another job.

So the fact that you are waiting for a job doesn't allow you to sit passively at home, bemoaning your bad luck.

Whatever your problems, while you accept your current reality, you aren't "resigned to your fate."

For ahead of the wheel of fortune are new heavens and a new earth, and new life coming to be born in you.

And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.