Week Three — Advent Contra Empire
Wakefulness as Resistance: When We Refuse to Learn War Anymore
Week Three — Advent Contra Empire (Eastern Orthodox Calendar)
Wakefulness as Resistance: When We Refuse to Learn War Anymore
Texts: Isaiah 2:1–5; Matthew 24:36–44
Opening Meditation
Beloveds, we are standing in the third movement of this decolonial Advent, where the prophets speak into our restless nights and remind us: another world is possible, and it might be nearer than we think.
Isaiah envisions nations unlearning the choreography of violence.
Matthew calls us to stay awake—not in fear, but in fidelity.
These texts don’t contradict each other.
They complete one another.
One imagines the world as God dreams it.
The other reminds us that God’s dream may arrive at any moment—quietly, unexpectedly, like a breath brushing past us in the dark.
This is a week of abolitionist vigilance, of refusing empire’s sleep, of choosing love over militarism, tenderness over domination, and wakefulness over despair.
Isaiah 2: Unlearning War, Choosing Light
Isaiah speaks into a world swollen with empire, scorched by conquest, and weighted with the machinery of death. And yet he dares to say:
“In the days to come…
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Isaiah imagines a future where:
nations refuse to participate in militarized logic
dominance is not the language of belonging
violence is not a virtue
security is not measured in weapons
the earth is not soaked in blood
people walk together in the light of the Holy One
This is not naïveté.
This is abolition.
A holy refusal of the myths that make empire possible.
Isaiah is speaking to us now:
Stop learning war. Start learning care.
Matthew 24: Staying Awake When Empire Wants Us Asleep
Matthew’s apocalyptic scene is not a threat. It is a wake-up call delivered into a world lulled into complacency by the spectacle of violence and the sedation of empire.
“No one knows the day or the hour,” Jesus says—not to frighten, but to remind us:
Liberation doesn’t arrive on empire’s schedule.
Transformation doesn’t follow the calendars of the powerful.
God shows up through rupture, surprise, interruption.
People were eating and drinking, marrying and celebrating—not because celebration is wrong, but because they were anesthetized, unable to see the suffering around them.
The danger is not pleasure.
The danger is distraction—the kind that keeps us from noticing who is being crushed.
Jesus isn’t calling us to paranoia.
He’s calling us to presence.
To stand alert in a world that wants us numb.
To practice wakefulness as a spiritual discipline.
This is the vigilance of abolition:
eyes open, ears attuned, hearts soft, bodies ready to repair.
The Thread Between Isaiah and Matthew
These two texts weave one truth:
The world God imagines is being born in unexpected places,
and we need to stay awake to midwife it.
Isaiah says the future will be shaped by those who refuse violence.
Matthew says the future will arrive when we’re not expecting it.
Together, they teach us:
abolition begins in imagination
imagination requires wakefulness
wakefulness is an act of resistance
resistance is how we prepare for liberation
This is what Advent Contra Empire is for: to sharpen our sight, soften our hearts, and invite us into holy wakefulness.
A Pastoral Word for This Week
Beloveds, we are living in a world that has been schooled in war—externally, internally, spiritually. We have inherited the muscle memory of violence, the reflexes of domination, the scripts of self-protection in a culture built on fear.
Isaiah invites us to unlearn.
Matthew invites us to awaken.
Together they invite us to choose:
tenderness instead of retaliation
presence instead of sedation
courage instead of control
imagination instead of despair
What if the Son of Man coming unexpectedly is not a threat of divine surveillance, but a whisper:
Stay ready for love.
Stay available to repair.
Stay awake to the possibility of peace.
What if God shows up through the cracks of our unlearning, precisely where empire has taught us to shut down?
This is the week to stay awake to peace-making.
Advent Contra Empire Field Guide — Week Three
Embodied Practices for Unlearning War + Staying Awake to Peace
1. The Practice of Unlearning (Daily)
Write down one way you were taught war:
defensiveness
dominance
self-erasure
control
perfectionism
scarcity
supremacy
Then ask:
How can I unlearn this today—one small step at a time?
Let unlearning become your liturgy.
2. The Practice of Peace-Making (Daily Gesture)
Offer a micro-gesture of abolitionist care:
soften your tone
ask a sincere question
forgive a small slight
repair something broken
tend to a creature or plant
choose curiosity instead of judgment
Each gesture is a plowshare hammered from the metal of your old defenses.
3. The Practice of Wakefulness (3–5 minutes)
Before bed or upon waking, sit in silence.
Whisper:
“What is God inviting me to notice that empire wants me to ignore?”
Let your body tell you the truth.
4. The Practice of Nonviolence in the Body (Somatic)
Place a hand on your chest.
Breathe deeply.
Let your breath drop your shoulders.
Say aloud:
“I do not need war to feel safe.”
“I choose light.”
Let this rewire you slowly, gently.
Benediction
May you unlearn the lessons empire carved into your bones.
May you choose the tools of peace over the weapons of fear.
May you stay awake to the soft arrival of liberation.
And may the Holy One—who comes unexpectedly, quietly, like water rising beneath the floorboards—find you ready to build a world where we learn war no more.
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