O is for On the Way.
Dear friends,
What a joy it is to be moving towards Christmas together! As we begin the season of Advent, our worship theme is “Refuge.” Like those travelers expecting a baby on the way to Bethlehem, we are all seeking refuge, comfort, safety, peace—and those words resonate differently this year, as we reflect on how those immigrants and refugees in our midst are being treated.
This Advent we are excited to be joining with three of our neighbor churches to host a temporary art installation, “On the Way.” “On the Way” uses the motif of road signs to remind us of the connection of the Christmas story with immigrant justice. Read more about this project below.
We hope that you will find what your spirit is seeking in our many Advent and Christmas offerings at First Parish. And we hope that you’ll take some time, during the week that “On the Way” appears on our campus, to reflect on what the artwork brings up for you.
Sending lots of love during this busy, joyful month! See you in church,
Nate and Kit
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“On the Way” is a temporary art installation, in the tradition of Christmas nativity scenes, that uses the motif of road signs to draw attention to the issue of immigrant justice. Like so many families living in fear in our country today, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were immigrants who sought refuge in a foreign land (Matthew 2).
As Lucy McDermott writes, “The Christmas story is a story of forced migration. Jesus lies in a manger in the stable of an inn not because his parents wanted to come to Bethlehem, but because Caesar Augustus required them to come to be registered. Later, in Matthew’s gospel, Joseph is told in a dream that King Herod wants to kill Jesus, so the young family flees to Egypt.”
Four neighboring churches (First Parish in Lexington, First Parish in Lincoln, First Parish in Concord, and First Parish in Bedford) have come together to commission and display this art installation, which is intended to move us out of our comfort zones and into deeper reflection and action. Each church will host the installation for one week of Advent, accompanied by a vigil, as we pray and work for more just treatment of immigrants in our midst.
(These four churches have grown closer through our Summer Worship Consortium, where we have shared summer services over the last few years. This fall, the ministers from these churches have begun meeting monthly to share about our ministries and brainstorm further collaboration, and this project is the first fruit of that. We are also excited about how “On the Way” ties into our Outreach special offerings this fall, which have gone towards two organizations, Project Citizenship and Political Asylum/Immigration Representation, focused on immigrant and refugee justice.)
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First Parish in Lincoln will host “On the Way” on our campus from Monday, December 8 to Monday, December 15.
Please join us for a vigil in front of the artwork on Wednesday, December 10 at 4:30 pm, with (hopefully) representatives from St. Anne’s and St. Julia’s.
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Tentative schedule for “On the Way”:
First Parish in Lexington: November 30 through December 8.
First Parish in Lincoln: December 8 through December 15.
First Parish in Concord: December 15 through December 22.
First Parish in Bedford: December 22 through December 29.
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As you spend a few moments with this artwork, ask yourself: How is our country treating those who have come here seeking refuge?
How do the images of force on the top of each sign relate to the images of vulnerability on the bottom? Where do you find yourself, in these images?
Where is the holy or the transformational to be found in our midst this season?
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About the artist: Jonathan Barachowitz is a mixed-media artist of Puerto Rican and Jewish heritage. He lives and works in the Boston area.
