Waiting in the Dark

Methodist Federation for Social Action

by

The Birth of Jesus Foretold - Luke 1:26-35

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 

Advent is traditionally a time of waiting, as Mary waited for her baby Jesus to be born.  For me, it is also a time of quiet reflection as my energy lessens as the darkness comes earlier in the day, and lasts longer.

This Advent season finds many of us tired, and fearful of the future.  For some of us, it feels as though we are waiting for the other shoe to drop, for more bad news that comes in a daily onslaught.  For those of us who care about our immigrant friends, it is heartbreaking to hear of their fear of being detained and deported, of families breaking apart, of jobs lost and poverty worsening, of children being abandoned and entire communities on high alert.

As President of Farm Worker Ministry Northwest, I serve on the Board of National Farm Worker Ministry.  We educate and organize the faith community and others of moral conscience to advocate and support farm workers as they seek to better their lives.  Sadly, farm workers face a multitude of intersecting evils including poverty wages, unsafe working conditions, racism, climate change exposure to heat and smoke, wage theft, exposure to pesticides, child labor, gender discrimination and sexual harassment, substandard housing—in addition to immigration problems.  For almost 90 years now, farm workers have been left out of the federal protections of the National Labor Relations Act which forbids employers from firing a worker for joining, organizing or supporting a labor union.  Very few farm workers belong to a labor union.  Some work on farms that have been certified through the Fair Food Program or the Equitable Food Initiative which gives farm workers safer and more equitable working conditions.  But the vast majority of farm workers work with no labor law protections.

Most farm workers today are immigrants from Mexico or other parts of Latin America, and at least half are undocumented.  Year after year federal legislation gets introduced to relieve some of the evils that farm workers face, but very little gets done.  And yet, these workers go to the fields and factories each day, doing jobs that no one else wants to do, working hard and toiling invisibly to give us our daily bread—truly essential workers.

We don’t know exactly what the future will bring, but we know that it will hard on our immigrant families.  We are waiting, fearful of the future, and like Mary we wonder “how can this be?”  But we also must remember the angel Gabriel telling Mary that “the Lord is with you.”  This is the time for us to come together in faith and hope and solidarity, letting all in our community know that they are not alone, and that we join them in their struggle.  This advent season is not the time for despair, but the time for preparation for the birth of something new-stronger communities which care about everyone, especially those who toil so hard for so little.

Let us make this Advent season a time of quiet reflection on our faith and our connection to God/Spirit/Love.  Let us pray for strength and guidance to do what we can for our neighbors.  And let us reach out in love and solidarity in ever-widening circles of care, right where we live.

The Rev. Connie Yost is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister.  She is President of Farm Worker Ministry Northwest, a member organization of National Farm Worker Ministry.  She supports the farm workers at Windmill Mushroom Farm in Sunnyside, Washington who have been trying to unionize with United Farm Workers for nearly three years while experiencing multiple employee firings, unjust work quotas, and management harassment.  Hear their story here.  She lives in Portland, Oregon.