The amplification of our voices has taken on creative modalities the last several months. In order to hear and be heard, we have had to tap into both complex and basic mediums to speak to one another and maintain human connection. Yet, what has been most compelling has been how community organizers have pushed beyond potential communication constraints and creatively taken to Twitter, Tik Tok, YouTube, podcasts, and much more to mobilize social concerns and advocate for a more just world. Siblings near and far have leveraged SMS services and basic phone calls to work on behalf of the cries and concerns of those most marginalized, brutalized, and neighbors whose words have been silenced and final breaths claimed by the powers that be. I have wondered often this last year when God might speak more definitively. In these moments I am reminded this is precisely how- God speaks through each of us, even on the digital circuits. God speaks through us as we speak on behalf of those for whom Christ most identified, the oppressed ones.
On this Feast of St. Nicholas Day, when we remember the badass Bishop of Myra who was abolitionist, advocate for the wrongfully convicted, and relentless pursuer of justice, how are we using our voices? Who are we advocating for? May we earn the right to be heard. And if your voice has been silenced for whatever reason, know there is a God who sees and hears you still. Immanuel, God with us.
Check out the calendar of words for sacred imaging through AdventWord.