What are you looking for this Advent season?

The following article was submitted by the Public Theology Forum - an ecumenical group of theologians and ministers of religion.

Few of us are completely satisfied with our lives and desire to change nothing about how we live. Indeed, there is a sense in which we are always looking for something more, something different, something better from/for ourselves, from those in power, those who live below the clock, those in upper St Andrew, everybody. This sense of seeking, searching, looking, wanting more is perhaps heightened during Christmastime, when there is the expectation that gifts will be exchanged, treats sponsored, spirits flow and everyone is in a better mood all round.

But what specifically are we looking for? Perhaps we seek presents (things, e.g., bonuses, tax concessions and waivers), presence (people - family, loved ones, that special person), or position (status and recognition, political office). Why do we seek any of these three 'P's? Maybe we seek them to fill a void, the emptiness that envelopes so many of us. Maybe we will feel valued, valuable, like somebody? Perhaps that is why there is a fourth 'P' that we seek desperately as well.

Many of us seek presents, presence and position in order to have power. We want power over ourselves, our circumstances and other people. This is not a new search, nor is the search always wrong. We should be concerned, however, when we seek to gain power, maintain it and restrain others from gaining it. Few would disagree that such hunger for power is not the case in Jamaica today, even as we point the finger at others.

Keen search

Interestingly, in the early chapters of Matthew's gospel we see a keen search going on that can shed light on the search that many of us Jamaicans are engaged in right now-that search for power. In fact, Matthew 2:1-12 immediately places the story of Jesus' birth in relationship to wider social and political events, all of which reflect some struggle over power or the other. Early on we meet Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar, as tradition has numbered and named them (the Bible does not tell us their names or even that there were three of them; the number three comes from the three gifts.). What were they looking for? These 'three' men from the East are searching for a new king - the king of the Jews (an important person). In their search, the wise men naively approach Herod, the king, and he too joins the search, albeit with them acting as his proxies. However, their reasons for seeking the child could not be any more different than Herod's or more telling.

Herod the Great is a character well-known to many Bible-loving Jamaicans. He is the puppet king of the Romans; a talented but tormented man who made murder, manipulation and lying his trademarks. Herod was a talented builder. He built an entire city into the sea (Caesarea Maritima), the fortress Masada and the Temple.

Even the Romans considered his buildings the best of their day. Yet, even as they respected his building skills, the Romans despised and distrusted Herod. The Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, is reported to have said that he would rather be Herod's pig than Herod's son since the pig stood a better chance of survival. To be in Herod's good books was to see you and your family's fortunes take off ('tek life'); to be otherwise, was to be out in the political wilderness and oftentimes a literal sentence of death. Herod appeared to have everything that many of us seek - presents, presence, position and power - yet he was not happy.

Irony

Ironically, the one he sought to murder, lives to grow in wisdom and stature before God and humanity, while Herod dies a horrible death in short order. Yet the all-powerful king becomes frightened by the news of the birth of a child somewhere in the backwaters of Judea. He saw in this birth a challenge to his power since this child was being called the King of the Jews. He has so much power in his hands yet he was frightened by news of a mere suckling.

Perhaps the reason for his fear was lack of control, which called into question his claims to power; he had no hand in arranging this birth but he could surely regain control by arranging the infant's death. Herod's fear leads him to engage his usual methods of deception and manipulation. He lies to the unsuspecting wise men, who approached him for guidance.

Herod bids them find the child and hurry back to him so he too may pay the child homage. His words reek of deception and we know his intentions are far from wholesome. Indeed, he has murder in mind (again). He calls together his religious and intellectual advisers (chief priests and scribes) and seeks their input yet uses the knowledge gained from them simply to further his own plans for what was later nothing short of a genocidal abuse of power. It seems that as Herod's power increased, his insecurity intensified. Somewhere inside he knows that which he grasps unto is fleeting and inferior.

What has changed?

It is clear that right from the beginning those who held power regarded Jesus and his message as a threat. Has this changed? Sadly, we have to answer, "No." The message that Jesus brought was a message of love, peace and good will. It was a message that deeply revered people and their flourishing. Jesus' message was that people were very valuable in the eyes of the creator and to be treated as such. This means that they are never simply to be used as a means to an end, not simply as a tool to gain power for someone else.

Valuing and respecting persons means that they deserve truth and "straight talk". However, in Jamaica today, lying is very much a means of maintaining power and restraining the flourishing of others. Lying and manipulation have become instinctive responses as we have built for ourselves a culture of deception, a culture based on deception. This ethos runs through the whole society, even the church, and is present in the very structures of our nation.

Like Herod, in our interpersonal relationships, in our family life, in our sexual encounters, our business dealings, our political promisings we embrace to deceive. Mothers deceive men about who fathered their child, men deceive women about their feelings, political leaders lie about their actions and intent, business people falsify customs manifests and form cartels to lock others out, children lie about their performance and attendance at school, policemen lie about witnesses and shoot-outs - the list is seemingly endless.

Education system

Our education system is designed to deceive us about who should be allowed to succeed, our economy is manipulated to disenfranchise the majority, the church chastises wrongdoing as it covers up its own faults. Lying and deception is an inevitable feature of our way of life when power is all we are looking for. Power over others is the baby king to whom we pay homage at Christmas and all during the year.

What has changed is that today people in power will issue Christmas messages and ads will appear in the newspapers acknowledging the meaning of the season; gestures will be made to quiet the masses (like Christmas work) and silently we cream off the profits and lie to the people. The church continues to conform to and support these acts of deception to the point where, unlike the baby king we claim to follow, no one sees us as a threat; our message has become lukewarm and we are just as power hungry.

Herod's power hunger has a deeper message for us - as we seek for presence, position and presents, we need to recognise that we must also be willing to facilitate the flourishing of others. For us to find what we are looking for, we must desire to give of ourselves to others. That is the real message of Advent.

Giving of ourselves will require the use of a kind of power that is different from what we are used to exercising. We must no longer be consumed with the desire for power over others but move towards a sense of power with the other; real power is cooperative and shared.

Members of the Public Theology Forum are Ernle Gordon, Roderick Hewitt, Stotrell Lowe, Marjorie Lewis, Richmond Nelson, Garnet Roper, Anna Perkins, Ashley Smith, Burchell Taylor, Karl Johnson, Wayneford McFarlane and Byron Chambers, co-ordinator.