:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

The other night I heard a story on This American Life about this group called Improv Everywhere. They basically pull off stunts that require improvisation in public places without letting anyone know what’s happening.

In this episode TLA tells two stories in which the group creates a kind of alternate reality where they aim to do things that appear on the surface to be very good. However, through their creation of a fictional world in which these good things happen, their actions in both stories are viewed as deceptive and even mean-spirited.

I hasten to add that many of their projects are harmless, funny, and even very beneficial and thought-provoking. I don’t mean to put down the bulk of their work, only to draw some lessons from a few projects that didn’t produce the expected results.

This point was driven home in particular in the story about a fake birthday party they gave to a random guy at a bar. The Improv Everywhere folks thought it was a great time because they bought him drinks, gave him gift cards, and made him the life of the party.

However, from the perspective of the unsuspecting birthday boy, no one was calling him by his real name, no one had shared any authentic experiences with him, and no one was meeting him where he was. In order for him to enjoy the “blessings” of this birthday party, he had to leave himself completely behind and meet the Improv Everywhere folks on their terms in their own fictional world. Nothing was real, but in order to get the good things offered, the unreal had to be embraced.

The beauty of Advent is the celebration of God’s move to meet us right where we are through the incarnation of Christ. He meets us in our reality and then blesses us and offers the Kingdom of God to all who will enter it.

As we offer blessings to others this Advent season, let’s commit to be the ones who reach out, who enter their world, and meet them right where they are. Too many people think they’ll get around to God when they change something or fix something in their own lives. Let’s put an end to this myth about the blessings of God.

God meets us where we are, even today. That is the message of Advent.