Disciple: Putting on the "Armor of Light" in a Season of Darkness

By the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple

Autumn came early for me this year. Going to Alaska in September for the House of Bishops fall gathering plunged your bishops into a vast landscape of rivers, mountains and forests bespeckled with the shades of gold and orange that are only now beginning to fade from our North Carolina landscape.

We were also quickly immersed into the beauty and fragility of the land and people of the interior of Alaska as we listened to stories of hope and fear at the complicated intersection of culture, race, environment and economics. In Fairbanks, where we centered our explorations in tandem with the remote villages we visited, Episcopalians whose ancestors have lived in Alaska for thousands of years spoke eloquently of their struggle to bear the Light of Christ as well as defend the dignity of their tribes and the integrity of their sacred land.

I was particularly struck by the sacrifices tribal communities make as a matter of faithfulness to protect the prosperity of the community as a whole and the fecundity of the land and its creatures for future generations. The part of the Northern Slope where the caribou migrate for calving season is so sacred to the Gwich’in tribe of the Athabasca people that travel to the territory is forbidden during that season. So it’s not hard to appreciate their deep grief at the prospect of these same birthing grounds being opened for the extraction of oil and minerals.

When the fishing dependent people of the rivers in the interior noticed a precipitous decline in king salmon, they organized their own moratorium on harvesting during the salmon run even though commercial and sports fishers felt no similar compunction. This restraint, by a people who live almost entirely off the food they find close at hand, successfully caused a return of higher numbers in subsequent years. Now with the current rate of thaw in the permafrost, there is even more fear about how climate change will impact the health of their life-giving rivers.

One hundred and fourteen bishops (plus spouses) first listened, learned and reflected with the leadership of the Diocese of Alaska. Then we answered a call to action and joined in a diocesan-wide day of prayer for a blessing of the land. Many of us pushed past our discomfort with small planes and cold temperatures to fly out to worship in small wooden churches heated by wood stoves. We then spread throughout the community, going from house to house, family to family, blessing the young, the old, the sick and the joyous before gathering at the river to conclude with song and prayer. These were small acts of faith, hope and love, but they made a great and lasting impact upon the House of Bishops. As a result of our time in Alaska, the House of Bishops issued a Word to the Church about respecting the earth, defending those exploited for selfish gain and recognizing both our complicity as well our capacity to repent and amend our lives. All of this must, of course, be grounded in study and reflection upon Holy Scripture, guided by prayer discerned by the power of the Holy Spirit.

SLOW DOWN AND BEHOLD

This elongated change of season from summer to fall has been accompanied by unprecedented storms of all kinds, from the meteorological to the sociopolitical. Hurricane season continues to haunt our thoughts and shape our prayers as we construct responses to all manner of natural and human-made disasters. As days shorten and nights lengthen, there are moments when a different kind of darkness casts its shadow upon our hopes and dreams. Holiday plans with loved ones are taking shape against a background of fear and anxiety from very personal concerns with health care to more global concerns about war, disease and famine.

Thankfully, the Church calendar understands the seasonal interplay of light and darkness. Advent is approaching with its strange, culture-defying invitation to slow down and behold the Light of Christ as the necessary illumination to confront and contemplate all that troubles our hearts. Contrary to the heresy of thinking we are masters of our own destiny, Advent advocates not just doing something; first sit in the stillness of prayer. Let your worldly eyes adjust to the Light of Christ. Prepare to see and greet the goodness of the Lord. Then, and only then, are we prepared to go and follow the example of Jesus by loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Advent invites us to carve out time away from frenetic activities and contemplate the transcendent power of God’s reconciling love in contrast with the uncertainties and hostilities causing division and dissension among neighbors near and far. Advent also says not to let a temptation to despair eclipse the power of hope. “Put on the armor of light” as the collect for the first Sunday in Advent proclaims. (BCP, page 159) Remember that love casts out hate. That armor is the confidence and courage we find in following Jesus Christ.

ACTS OF FAITH

In Christian communities across our state, our country and the world, followers of Jesus are creating fresh expressions of what it means to be peacemakers, healers and agents of reconciliation in our own homes and local communities. And they are doing so in ways that change lives and even change the world. In our own diocese, peace and reconciliation takes many forms. Our work in racial justice and reconciliation has led hundreds of our members to take part in the trainings offered by the Racial Equity Institute. Many of our congregations are involved in efforts of hospitality, sanctuary and empowerment on behalf of our neighbors who are immigrants and refugees. Others are implementing innovations in community gardens such as carbon farming as a way to slow the deleterious impacts of global warming. It is good to remember that the first jobs program in the history of the world was God’s commandment in Genesis, chapter one, that humans are to care for the earth and all her creatures great and small.

These and so many others are outward and visible signs of our desire to be faithful disciples and participants in the Jesus movement. In a far less “sexy” way, our diocesan leaders are working to examine, deconstruct and reimage the structures of our shared institutional life. We are fully engaged in making sure our structures and procedures serve mission and don’t merely maintain a status quo.

The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple is the bishop suffragan for the Diocese of North Carolina.