Mark 13:24-37 (ESV)
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
What is Abolition?
By Annanda Barclay and Tianna Arrendondo
Abolition: the act of ending a system, practice, or institution.
Advent is the anticipation of an expected event. Messiah is a leader who is believed to bring about liberation. There are systems, practices, and institutions that need to be abolished. There are ways we don’t love ourselves that spill over onto others that we need to abolish. There are ways we treat people and planet that look nothing like sustainable love, mutuality, consent, tenderness, or care. Change is anticipated and expected. Change is saying “yes”.
This baby is coming into the world to teach a spiritual practice of liberation. This baby’s ministry will not be in the temple but outside it. Jesus did his entire ministry outside of organized religion. The life this messiah led continuously abolished unsustainable relationships. The life this messiah led continuously accepted change, in the here and now, to manifest the miracle of hope rooted in love.
Sustainable relationships abolish that which needs to go. Consider the fruits of the spirit:
So much in this world has been created in opposition to love. Christ came to teach by embodied example how living in love abolishes disdain, apathy, sympathy, and hate.
That which is created in a spirit of joy is also created in a spirit of creativity. Joy is practical. Creating outside of joy needs to be practically abolished.
Peace is antithetical to fear. So many of our institutions and relationships have been rooted or sustained by a fear that needs to be reckoned with and abolished.
Patience yields greater reward and wisdom over instant gratification. Patience builds multiple expressions of wealth. Instant gratification often leads to insatiable appetites that need not exist.
Kindness builds character far more than being mean and/or petty. Mean and petty characters got to go.
Goodness is a value that holds integrity in the face of good times and bad.
Faithfulness, instead of skepticism, is the bond of perseverance in relationships hoped for and the determined assurance of changes not yet seen.
Gentleness is the discerning power of consent abolishing unwelcome force.
Self-control is the lesson of original sin, remembering we humans are amongst God’s creation and there are limits to our entitlement. Going outside these limits of self-control can lead to an internal and global imbalance. We do not live on this planet alone. We are connected to all things.
This advent season, this Christian new year marks the focus of a change coming into the world that is so strong it will abolish ways of being that no longer serve creation. The Christ child will come to remind us of the call to live with abundant, sustained love to heal all wounds. We are loved into sustainable change, we are pleasured into maintaining sustainable systems.
Annanda Barclay currently serves as a pastor of Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco, and Student Chaplain in the Spiritual Care Services Department of Stanford Health Care. Her call focuses on queer, afro-futurist, womanist, eco, theological and biblical spiritual lenses applied to tech (particularly the sustainable spiritual and emotional healing needed in STEM, design concepts of big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies). She enjoys pilgriming about life, nerding out on eco-housing, film, food, and finding the Divine in the outdoors, strangers, friends, family, and her beloved dog Wes.
Tianna Arredondo (t/they/them) is the California and Hawaii Regional Organizer for 350.org. Tianna supports climate leaders to create systems of accountability centering the needs of BIPOC communities within the non-profit industrial complex and climate justice coalition spaces. Outside of 350.org Tianna’s soul work is focused on creating webs of support and creativity through: living at eco-villages, using art to create self-healing tools, and mediating strategic processes for healthy disturbance (change management) within environmental justice and technology focused organizations. When Tianna is not working you can bet they’re writing, in nature, or creating with loved ones.
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