Our world is a mess and in need of redemption.\u00a0 Christ is coming to save us.\u00a0 Yet, Christ the Light has already come to save us and we are redeemed now. The Kingdom of God is now and not yet.\u00a0 There’s a power in the paradox that teaches us how to hold out hope.<\/p>\n
Yesterday I was attempting to explain the spirituality of paradox to my advanced sophomores as we lit the third candle on our classroom Advent wreathe.\u00a0 Since we are all about Gaudete<\/a> this week, things shift a bit. I told the students that we continue to prepare for the coming of Light into the world, yet rejoice over the fact that Christ is with us now.\u00a0 How can two things that seem contradictory both fit together so well?\u00a0 With God it works this way, since with God all things are possible.<\/p>\n To help my students grapple with the power of paradox, I found myself on a tangent about light years.\u00a0 We calculated the actual distance of a light year and became overwhelmed with our smallness.\u00a0 It is possible, I told them, to see starlight from a star that is actually already dead right now.\u00a0 How is that possible?\u00a0 Science and spiritual paradox tell us a lot about the Truth of God’s Light.<\/p>\n It’s advent, the hope season. Good news and good actions help us gain hope in humanity and the coming of Christ.\u00a0 Even though it’s not yet Christmas, we can celebrate how Light keeps glowing despite death and darkness.<\/p>\n True, there’s a litany of injustice, oppression, sin and suffering that is wider than the world we know.\u00a0\u00a0We know wars are raging and Earth is crying and people are dying. Economic inequality is ridiculous. (Did you know that if you earn more than $34,000 a year you are the global 1%<\/a>!?)\u00a0 It doesn’t take much for us to be overwhelmed and want to give up and just face the doom.\u00a0 We’re responsible for making a difference, but how can we?\u00a0 It’s a big job to be good like God made us.<\/p>\n Fortunately, with God, all things are possible.\u00a0 We know that the rich and powerful nations and individuals have a big influence.\u00a0 Globally and economically speaking, the ways that we consume creates systems and structures that influence lives elsewhere. All we do matters and has power to share hope.\u00a0 These days, people know that there are problems, they’re talking about the problems and structures are improving.\u00a0 Our world is changing and things are getting better, because God is already here.\u00a0 We can celebrate the Light of increased awareness and converted conversations which permit joyous transformation and systemic change.<\/p>\n To really believe–to really have hope– we sometimes need to hear a story.\u00a0 Have you heard of how the Dodd-Frank<\/a> act has influenced people in Congo?\u00a0 It’s wild and wonderful.\u00a0 The major Wall Street reforms that became law in the summer of 2010 had a tiny stipulation that said that the minerals in the electronics of Americans can no longer be mined in a conflict. In other words, the minerals used to manufacture our cell phones and laptops now have to be certified conflict-free.\u00a0 A story on The World<\/em><\/a> impressed me.\u00a0 Evidently this new American law is challenging the government in Congo to become more just about their labor practices so that they can again trade their mined minerals with manufacturers in the U.S.A.\u00a0 Fewer children are being forced to work in the mines at gun-point because some good social awareness<\/a> influenced trade practices and ultimately shifted an economic paradigm.\u00a0 It’s a great response to the discouraged questions of “can I really make a difference? Can we really have hope?”<\/p>\n Yes you CAN make a difference and you do!\u00a0 You are part of a global community.\u00a0 You are a child of God, you are the Light of the world.\u00a0 God is with you, using you as an instrument in your ordinary acts of life.\u00a0 We are instruments of Word and action.\u00a0 In word, we tell good news. I am sure you know your own stories about the goodness of God at work<\/a> in us now. Good news holds hope out to the despairing.\u00a0 Get ready for Christmas: tell the good news, let light shine on the hopeful happenings in humanity.\u00a0 In action, you can be the good news and therefore a beacon of hope.\u00a0 Make Advent choices that empower others. Thoughtfully give gifts<\/a>, serve<\/a>, create, or be generous<\/a>. \u00a0 As you hold out hope to others through word and deed, you truly help prepare the way of the Lord!<\/p>\n Christ who is coming and Christ who is here now is the Light. Bright beams glow through the darkness.\u00a0 With this Light all things are possible, even glory out of our sinful lives.\u00a0 Gaudete!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our world is a mess and in need of redemption.\u00a0 Christ is coming to save us.\u00a0 Yet, Christ the Light has already come to save us and we are redeemed now. The Kingdom of God is now and not yet.\u00a0 There’s a power in the paradox that teaches us how to hold out hope. Yesterday...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":25444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[698755373,698755378,14540077,1916804,7104,35321003,214,14196316,6417,401,3198307,7816,20816,2606,33210,54069,19479,698755382,4908,116,45946413,17266,2282,1494,1052,1591,4575,28482136,936],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-action","tag-advent","tag-advent-waiting","tag-alternative-gift-giving","tag-catholic","tag-christ-coming","tag-christianity","tag-christmas","tag-congo","tag-faith","tag-gaudete","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-justice","tag-light","tag-mining","tag-paradox","tag-peacemaking","tag-power","tag-religion","tag-simple-gift-giving","tag-simplicity","tag-social-justice","tag-spirituality","tag-students","tag-teaching","tag-the-world","tag-thoughtful-gift-giving","tag-waiting","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/a-soothing-abstract-blurred-gradient-background-with-warm-tones.-1242348-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"the power of paradox<\/a><\/blockquote>
![\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our world is a mess and in need of redemption.\u00a0 Christ is coming to save us.\u00a0 Yet, Christ the Light has already come to save us and we are redeemed now. The Kingdom of God is now and not yet.\u00a0 There’s a power in the paradox that teaches us how to hold out hope. Yesterday...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":25444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[698755373,698755378,14540077,1916804,7104,35321003,214,14196316,6417,401,3198307,7816,20816,2606,33210,54069,19479,698755382,4908,116,45946413,17266,2282,1494,1052,1591,4575,28482136,936],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-action","tag-advent","tag-advent-waiting","tag-alternative-gift-giving","tag-catholic","tag-christ-coming","tag-christianity","tag-christmas","tag-congo","tag-faith","tag-gaudete","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-justice","tag-light","tag-mining","tag-paradox","tag-peacemaking","tag-power","tag-religion","tag-simple-gift-giving","tag-simplicity","tag-social-justice","tag-spirituality","tag-students","tag-teaching","tag-the-world","tag-thoughtful-gift-giving","tag-waiting","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/a-soothing-abstract-blurred-gradient-background-with-warm-tones.-1242348-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"the power of paradox<\/a><\/blockquote>](\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/canadian-lights.jpg\"){kind=link}