Consider this post a Save-the-Date for Advent, a pre-invitation of sorts to remind us all that as the holiday season comes barreling our way, that there is something much greater and more mysterious at play, an alternate realty.
I recently discovered this phrase, “it’s all bread and circuses.” The phrase originated in ancient Rome when rulers would provide free food and entertainment both to keep the masses content and to distract them from focusing on pressing social issues. Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses, “they anxiously desire only two things, bread and circuses.”
I propose here that in some ways, the holidays are kind of like bread and circuses. Not everywhere, but almost. It seems like, at least in the places I frequent, that we climb onto the consumerist treadmill that, like the running pad that goes round and round, recycling endlessly, dizzyingly the same routine. Who has time for social issues?
Say, for example, that we start with New Year’s Day. This is followed by Valentines Day, then St Patrick’s Day, Spring Beak, oh and Easter, Mothers Day, Memorial Day, do not forget Fathers Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, the releasing of the Santa Clauses in Manhattan, Thanksgiving, The Dog Show, Macy’s Parade, and Christmas. We suck in a giant breath and start the whole rigamarole all over again.
Oh, and do not forget, the birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, babies, school events. Barely week or two goes by without buying and giving and receiving and returning. It’s like going to the circus and riding the Tea-Cups, the Ferris Wheel, or the Loop-de-loop over and over again no matter how nauseous we feel.
The fact is, this circus is eating us alive.
Take a look at the mounting debt in the US. Whether you measure school debt, mortgages, car payments, or credit card debt—Americans as a whole are drowning in trillions of dollars of debt. That’s a thousand billion.
I am struck, also, by the collective nonchalance toward gambling that has crept into sports unawares. Almost anybody who wants to place a bet can on the horses, the dogs, little leagues and big, college athletes and pros. Pickle Ball, Cricket, Curling. What are the odds? Bet your money on one basket or the whole game. Step right up!
(PS: Loans are available to cover your losses.)
We are, most of us, aware and even numbered among the staggering forty million Americans who cannot afford to feed their families without government assistance. No doubt, the cost of groceries, utilities, basic necessities, healthcare, etcetera, has soared over the past year. But, credit card limits are extended, loans are available, and we have just enough bread to keep us fed.
Surely there is more to life than bread and circuses…
I happened to finish my read-through the Bible today, and as I rounded the bend and wrapped up with Revelation 22, I took a minute and pondered our reality. In this last chapter, an angel (I wonder what he looked like?) instructed John with these curious, perplexing, even disturbing words…
Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy (Rev 22:10-11)
Curiously, perplexingly, disturbing indeed.
In the meantime, do not forget…
I, Jesus, am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev 22: 16-17).
Remember, the gospel story runs in parallel with and counter to the same old story. In Jesus there is something so much more than “bread and circuses.” Something so much richer, deeper, and much more nourishing.
This is why we need to hear and to tell his story again and again. We need to remember and to remind others that something marvelous, miraculous, and magnificent has happened. An event that was anticipated for thousands of years, finally took place in the most unlikely of places. But it really did happen.
The King has finally come!
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
Amen. Yes! Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20)
(PPS: Advent means The Arrival…)