"Earthrise/Christrise" a Christmas Eve Sermon"

"Earthrise" Seattle Times

Forty-five years ago today, astronaut William Anders took the first color photograph of earth from space. It changed everything; 1968 was a year known by violence and war and assassinations, by change and chaos and the loss of trust in institutions, and this one photo gave a new, larger vision of what it means to be - to exist at all. Now known as "Earthrise," Anders' photo stood, and still stands, as a symbol of humility and wonder, of vulnerability and strength. For the first time, human beings could see our place in relation to the deep darkness of space. Our "little blue ball" shining in the midst of pin pricks of light surrounded by incalculable darkness, Earthrise shows both the vibrancy and the vulnerability of what it means to call Earth home.

Our Judeo-Christian narrative says that a God of sufficiency desired more - desired relationship - and by imagination and articulation brought creation in to being. The Christian story goes on to say that to poor parents in an occupied land, God's articulation became flesh and entered into the fullness of the human condition. In one person we find the fullness of God's grace and mercy, compassion and justice. Here, again, like in Earthrise, we find humility and wonder, vulnerability and strength.

Christmas is an invitation to a new perspective and the new experiences that perspectives brings. It takes us on a journey to see the world more fully and wholly and to engage in it without reserve. What does it mean to share this blue ball with one another? Christmas asks of us to do something almost impossible - to see and not be afraid, to confront the overwhelming aloneness of darkness and to not be overwhelmed, to see the joy and wonder and glory in that one little blue dot rather than the imposing emptiness that surrounds it as vast as it is. Christmas is about relationship - God's relationship with us and our relationship with one another. We live on a small floating ball together - Muslims and Buddhists, straight and gay, Easterners and Westerners, capitalists and socialists. We are immigrants, migrants, refugees, and travelers. Here we are. We live along rivers and in valleys, in deserts and on mountains. We speak hundreds and hundreds of different languages. We worship different gods. We sing different songs. We tell different fables. But we are neighbors. We are here in the ocean of space together.

When we as Christians arrive at the manger, we find not a king with power and armies and a palace. We find the brokenness of humanity in poverty. We also find the limitless joy and possibility of new life and the uncertainty that accompanies new parenthood. We find the earthiness of animals - their smell, their waste, their warmth. We find nomads and shepherds. And there are angels proclaiming to us over and over that we might not be overwhelmed by the smallness and the poverty and the uncertainty. They are the color in our story that punctuates the darkness of everything by saying "Do not be afraid for I bring you glad tidings of great joy." They sing what we should feel, "Glory in the highest." The manger is a new world without domination or violence. It is a the feeding trough for the world. It is where all come and find room and hospitality and warmth, and no one is turned away. The manger is like our Earth floating amidst space; it is one small place of respite in a conflicted hurting world.

May Christmas offer you a new perspective. May it change everything for you. In the midst of war and violence and grief and the loss of trust, may this day serve as a reminder of the wonder of life. In it, God's holy light pricks through the darkness. This evening, we welcome the Christ-child. May we nurture him with love by treating one another with gentleness and sacredness. As we live on the earth, may we treat it with reverence. It is God's breath shaped into our home. May we not look upon one another with suspicion but with love knowing we share a vulnerable experience with each other and that we need each other for our very existence. May Christmas be for us "Christrise," a new picture of reality that challenges everything and gives us hope. Amen.

*Ironically, William Anders left his home religion of Roman Catholicism after this experience, asking, "Are we that special? I don't think so."

Why I Want Gifts for Christmas (by Katie M Ladd)

This essay is entitled "Why I Want Gifts for Christmas (by Katie M Ladd)" because I want gifts. For Christmas. This year. As I scroll through Facebook and read editorials, I see many people writing about their desire to forego gifts. "All I want is time spent with family." Really? That's all they want? I am clearly a bad person. I don't just want that. I want a new Blu-Ray player, Harry Potter movies to play on that Blu-Ray, the dent in my car fixed, my car detailed, maybe a new blender, a coat (my one coat is several years old), some pants that fit, underwear, gift certificates to go to the movies, hiking shoes, fig preserves (the best food on earth), an itunes gift certificate, good smelling candles, and a new pair of gloves. Okay, I won't be shy. I also want a scooter to drive to work, a signed piece of art by Charles Schulz* (my favorite art of all time! Go, Charlie Brown!), renovations done to my house (heck, a new house), an electric car, a new electricity panel at my house that could handle an electric car, solar panels on my house, a wi-fi fob on my tv so I can stream television shows, a fenced in yard, a puppy in my fenced in yard, a trip to Turkey and Greece, and a lot of money. I want all of these things. I am not exaggerating. I want every single one of these things.

I like things. I don't like shopping. But, I like things. I want things. I do.

And, yet...

I am not asking for these things (well, most of them) because even though I want them, I know that there is a better way to mark this holy season - there is a better way to live my life. One problem we seem to have in this country is that we have acquiesced to the premise that if we want it, we should have it. That is not an ecological ideal. It is not a communal idea. It is not an ethical virtue. It is not a Christian value. We can rise above our wants. We are, after all, sentient beings capable of reflection, thought, planning, and empathy. Despite the misguided resurgent devotion to Ayn Rand, the proper moral pursuit for a human being isn't necessarily that person's personal happiness or self-interest. We belong to groups - families, communities, churches, synagogues, mosques, prayer circles, hiking clubs, book clubs, alumna associations, alumnae associations, parenting groups, 12 step groups, circles of friends, and so forth. We do not belong only to ourselves. Pursuing aims, including "things," for our own self-interest without regard to how this pursuit affects others should not be lauded. Sorry, Ayn. You were wrong. Those who follow you today are wrong. I am more than a collection on wants or even needs. I am more. We are more.

For those who feel the need to pepper spray fellow shoppers, camp in tents in order to buy a new PlayStation, stand in long lines to get a deal on a pair of jeans, I wonder, "How much did this enrich your life and the life of your community?" Aren't you more than this?

The ethics of my faith and the mystery of the Christmas story remind us all that we are more than our basest selves. Human beings are capable of immeasurable kindness and compassion. Human beings are able to step away from self-interest for the sake of another. We are. You are. I am. We are able to ask this Christmas for a different kind of gift, not because we don't want other things, but because we are committed to something more.

The Christmas story is fundamentally a story about God bringing life from a place where no life should be. It is a story that parodies the birth stories of the great. It makes a farce of the powerful and the rich. The great song of Christmas is Mary's Song, the Magnificat. How ironic that the song of the soul of Christmas includes, "[God] has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:51-53) when we grapple and fight, scratch and claw our way toward a new toaster. Let's not allow Christmas to be ironic this year. Let's look with hopeful hearts for Christ's light to shine in our darkness, for God's Son to be born. Let's do Christmas differently this year. With joy. And simplicity. And love for neighbor. Let's approach Christmas with a hope for life in our lifeless communities.

I want things. I bet you do, too. Here's my actual Christmas list. Notice, it still includes a few things.
*Blu-Ray Player
*Harry Potter on Blu-Ray
*Donations to UMCOR
*Donations to the Woodland Park Zoo - specifically for the Western Pond Turtle
*Donations to Heifer International
*Donations to the Church of Mary Magdalene/Mary's Place
*Donations to the Trevor Project
*Donations to Jamaa Letu
*Donations to Nothing But Nets
*Donations to Wildlife Direct - Mountain Gorillas
*Donations to Operation Nightwatch
*Fig Preserves

Feel free to buy me gifts. All of you. I welcome the stranger reading this post to give me a gift, but don't get the Blu-Ray or the Harry Potter (I'm very particular, you see). Get the rest. Fig preserves are welcome.

*It was brought to my attention that I originally posted that I wanted art from Howard Schultz. Um, in my defense, I was drinking a Starbucks coffee at the time. Cross-contamination. I don't particularly care for art from him, unless coffee counts. I want art by Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and his crazy gang of friends.

Christmas Children's Play - Sun, Moon, Star by Kurt Vonnegut

You know you pastor a cool church when the Christmas play is "Sun, Moon, Star" by Kurt Vonnegut. There are many Christmas pageants and plays for purchase. Many of them are very clever and funny. Most of them have nothing to do with Christmas. They are gimmicks contrived to "do something new with an old story." More precisely, they are gimmicks used to get churches to buy yet one more thing. Perhaps this reveals why I don't work in theater, but I think that the Christmas story is pretty interesting just as is. Angels, shepherds, birth, animals, stars, songs, love, danger, political intrigue, poverty, and riches - it seems to me that the original story has everything in it that a major blockbuster movie needs to be successful. Yet, I'm not beyond finding new ways to bring this most wonderful story to both children and adults.

Some authors who have found new and profound and even silly ways to tell Christ's birth include Madeleine l'Engle's "Sky Full of Children," which is all about creation, stars, and wonder. In it she asks, "Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second, and the Word, who had called it all into being, went with all his love into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped their hands for you?" Sky Full of Children is a chapter within her book on the Incarnation called "Bright Evening Star."

Leo Tolstoy also writes about the meaning of Christmas in Papa Panov's Special Day.

Frances Tyrrell took the old Canadian/Native American Christmas song "The Huron Carol" and turned it into an illustrated children's book, which is pretty outstanding.

Author Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones and illustrator Shelly Hehenberger offer us a tale that rests on John 1 in their book "Jesus, the Word."

These are not plays, per se, but they are tales that may help people enter the Christmas story afresh. I have seen all of these turned into plays in one way or another.

Of course, I am a pastor, and I think the best Christmas story is found in the Bible. To be specific, I am most moved by Luke's story (sorry Matthew).

Here's Kurt narrating his own story.

Republicans, Christmas, Partisanship, and Governance

It may not surprise anyone who reads this blog where my political leanings lay. However, I try to keep this blog from being a divisive place. On the whole, people pretty much want the same things: meaning, safety, a sense of home, belonging, and peace. People - rich and poor, Democratic and Republican, people of all colors and hues - yearn for wholeness and completeness, and they dream of a world that is better than the one in which we currently live. We may not all agree on how to get there or exactly how that dream looks, but in the main, I don't think people are as far apart as we are generally portrayed.

Given that paragraph on unity, I now move into dangerous territory - political territory - a partisan landscape that is fraught with ideological land mines, presumptions, coded language, and suspicion. Yet, as I labor to prepare the people in the church I serve to welcome the Christ-child, Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace, my heart is heavy and my soul wearied by the theatrics that are taking place in Washington, D.C.

Both parties play childish games, hold up processes necessary for governing our nation, and resort to name calling. It is disgust of both parties that compels many people to identify as "Independents." The childish maneuverings of people who should otherwise know better push the potential voter into a malaise from which it is difficult to be shaken or moved. Many potential voters in our political process stay home rather than choose between two evils on election day.

Yet, the Republicans have taken a no holds barred approach lately - an approach that I feel compelled to denounce because they have now invoked my faith, my religion, my Savior, and my holy festivals in their political high jinks.

When the Republicans won the House and made gains in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made this statement to the National Journal, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." While he appeared to ease back from that statement in an interview on FOX News, it seems that his party has not backed off it at all. They have been playing the obstructionist role with great verve. First, they would not allow any legislation to progress until passing a tax bill that includes an extension of the Bush tax cut for those making over $250,000. Once they won this battle, they did not step aside and allow other legislation fair hearing. Up next in their sights were the Health Care bill, DADT, the START Treaty, the Dream Act, and the omnibus bill. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint went so far as to demand a reading on the floor of the Start Treaty, something that has been available for review for eight months. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and John Cornyn (R-TX) called a press conference to decry the wasteful spending and pork in the omnibus bill -pork they themselves put in - and when pressed by reporters why they were making hay out of a bill they helped draft and over earmarks which they requested, they fled the podium. Their basic defense: Yes, we put those in, but we're going to vote against this bill because it's full of pork. Even in an interview on Republican-friendly FOX News, Senator Cornyn did not give a cogent reason for requesting earmarks and then voting against them. But none of this is what drove me to write this post. What drove me to this post was the Republican invocation of Christmas as a reason to cease the work for which they have been elected.

Vice President Joe Biden has some feisty words for Republicans hiding behind Christmas (below). In Senators Thune and Cornyn's press conference regarding the omnibus bill, Senator Cornyn cried foul at the Democratic leadership jamming and cramming this bill down the necks of the newly elected at a time when they would like to be "shopping" and spending time with families. He seemed unconcerned with the families affected should the government grind to a halt. He seemed utterly distant from the realities of what occurs when the government is not fully funded and cannot operate even for the sake of national security. He seemed ignorant of the irony in allowing people to go unpaid and vital programs unfunded so that he can go home and celebrate the birth of Jesus, a poor child who would grow into the one whom Christians profess as Savior - healer and redeemer - of the earth. Moreover, he seemed completely ill-informed that Christmas doesn't begin until December 25 - not before. Christmas begins December 25 and lasts for twelve days. It does not begin in October or at Thanksgiving or a week before - it begins on December 25. That gives him plenty of time to do the work for which he was elected. Moreover, at the prospect of a post-Christmas Day session, Senator Jim DeMint rebelled against Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), saying that such a session would be "sacrilegious...deeply offensive to me and millions of working Americans across this country." And Senator Jon Kyl complained that coming back after Christmas would be "disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate."

As a working American and as a professed Christian, it is deeply offensive to me that people elected to be stewards and leaders of this nation and all that is in it are playing games with people's lives and with our security - and using the Prince of Peace as the one to hide behind. It is offensive to me when we cannot make steps toward peace by ratifying the START Treaty because it may give President Obama political leverage and because it may interrupt shopping. It is disrespectful of their office, of our nation, and to this Christian when people "use" the name Jesus to further their own self-interested partisanship to the detriment of the least, the last, the weakest, and the most vulnerable - the very ones to whom Jesus comes.

When Mary discovers that she is pregnant, she offers one of the most poetic proclamations of biblical faith when she gives God glory in singing what has come to be known by Christians as The Magnificat. She says:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on

the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all

generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done

great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who

fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with

his arm;

he has scattered the proud in

the imaginations of their hearts.

He has brought down the

powerful from their

thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with

good things,

and sent the rich empty away.

(Luke 1:46b-53)

If the Republican Christians in the Senate need to read something on the floor, I ask them to let the atheists, Muslims, and Jews head home and for them to stay and read Mary's song. Perhaps it will instruct them on who they are to be as Christians, and then perhaps they could spend some time in reflection before defaming the name of Jesus the Christ in the course of their political reindeer games.

I close my rant with a re-rendering of the Old Testament Reading from Advent 3A (December 19). The prophet Isaiah is speaking to King Ahaz, who does not trust God and who will not do as God says.

Isaiah: Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?

Katie: Hear then, O party of Reagan! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?

Dorothee Soelle on Christmas, Peace, and Fear

My sermon last week was about the conflict of peace and fear. In short, I preached about the angel's pastoral words to Mary - "Do not fear" - and that without them she might not have travelled to see Elizabeth and set herself on a course to give birth to peace in the world. For more reflections on this, see my older post Advent 4C - Mary, Fear and Peace, and Wendell Berry. It seems that this theme resonates for me right now. As I was reading today in "Watch for the Light," probably the best Advent book I've run across in eons, I stumbled upon an essay by Dorothee Soelle about fear, peace, and Christmas.

Without understanding this imperium [roman] in its economic and ecological power of death, we also cannot see the light of Christmas shine. Living in the pretended social market economy, we do not even seem to need this light!

Whoever wants to proclaim something about this light has to free the stifled longing of people. An interpretation of the Bible that takes seriously concrete, everyday human cares and does not make light of the dying of children from hunger and neglect is helpful in this regard. By showing up the incomparable power of violence in our world today, it deepens our yearning for true peace.

Our text (Luke 2:15-20)refers to the praxis of transmission and proclamation. The frightened shepherds become God's messengers. They organize, make haste, find others, and speak with them. Do we not all want to become shepherds and catch sight of the angel? I think so. Without the perspective of the poor, we see nothing, not even an angel. When we approach the poor, our values and goals change. The child appears in many other children. Mary also seeks sanctuary among us. Because the angels sing, the shepherds rise, leave their fear behind, and set out for Bethlehem, wherever it is situated these days.

"Do we not all want to become shepherds and catch sight of the angel?" and "Because the angels sing, the shepherds rise, leave their fears behind, and set out for Bethlehem, wherever it is situated these days." Powerful Christmas message!

Christ Candle Reading 2008

We light the Christ candle in celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Peace, the Light of the World. Let God’s light shine forth, splitting the darkness of our making to bring God’s everlasting peace on earth and goodwill among all peoples. Amen.

Colbert's Christmas Special THIS Sunday

Stephen Colbert's Christmas special airs this Sunday at 10 PM. Tune in for fun and satire. You'll find the show on Comedy Central.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
A Colbert Christmas: Preview - Jon Stewart
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

CBS' "In God's Name" Video Online

A few posts ago I recommended a special on CBS called "In God's Name." If you missed it, CBS has now put the entire video online. To watch it, go here and click on "new."

As I celebrate these twelve days of Christmas (yes, believe it or not, Christmas just began!), I intend to celebrate the power of God's Light that splinters our darkness, God's Word that proclaims peace and justice, God's Incarnation found in the weak and vulnerable, God's Love that explodes my preconceptions and prejudices, and God's Grace which is beyond my understanding.

Terrible things are done in God's name. No better time than Christmas can call Christians to re-examine our actions and to correct them. We are, after all, followers of the Prince of Peace.

UPDATE: CBS appears to have removed this video from their playlist. It can be watched on YouTube. Here is the first part...follow YouTube links for the rest.


You can still read about the film at CBS.

The documentary has been put into book form and is available.

Beyond that, I do no know where you can purchase the vide.

Merry Christmas.

"Ring Out, Wild Bells" - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This was written in 1850, the same year Tennyson was named Poet Laureate.

Ring Out, Wild Bells

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Go here to read more Christmas poems.

artificial v real christmas trees - ahhh, the choice

"Get the biggest aluminum tree you can find, Charlie Brown, maybe painted pink." - Lucy Van Pelt

With Thanksgiving this week and the Christ the King Sunday this Sunday, we have moved from "I-hate-that-stores-decorate-for-Christmas-before-Halloween" to "It's-time-to-start-thinking-about-Christmas". It's true. Despite our efforts to hold the commercialism of Christmas at bay, December 2 is around the corner bringing with it the "advent of Advent" and the slinging of Christmas decorations about our houses and churches. Thus comes the annual question of environmentalists and Christians with conscience regarding the tree, "Real or artificial?"

I have asked this question myself. Should I buy a farmed tree and participate in the carbon suck of the tree farm industry or purchase a tree that can be used year after year despite the "tacky" factor involved in the fake tree? After quite a bit of research, I've come down on the issue: I'm getting a real one..and if you get one, so should you.

Online magazine Grist's advice columnist Umbra Fisk aka "Ask Umbra" has written two articles on the issue and has helped to persuade me to the real tree. In an article written in 2004, she tackles the issue of real v articial. During her research, she discovered that articial trees are primarily made in and then transported from China. Almost all artificial trees are made of PVC, which is a petroleum product. And, sometimes lead is used to stabilize PVC. So, run away from the idea of an artificial tree. Northwest Cable News' Wilson Chow spoke with the a representative from Strategic Energy Group and found the same thing. If you get a tree, get a real one.

Some people buy live trees with the goal of planting them after the holiday season. This, in theory, is a great idea. However, if you are like me, you live in a city where planting a tree is not an easy thing to do. Furthermore, it's important when planting a tree to take into account the terrain, the climate, and care of the tree. For most of us a live tree doesn't make practical sense.

Buying a real tree has its complications, that's for sure. If you can, buy local and look for an organic farm. The fewer miles travelled and the fewer pesticides used in farming the tree help reduce the environmental impact of your purchase. If you find a tree outlet that supports a nonprofit organization, that sells locally farmed trees, and that uses organic methods in their farming, tell everyone you know to buy from them! The only way to impact the tree farming industry is to support the farmers who make the move to organic farming. For more about the possibilities for organic trees, see "Ask Umbra's" latest column.


UPDATE: If you're in the Seattle area, Puget Sound Fresh lists the following tree farms as "Claimed Ecologically Sound:"
Fall City Farms - Fall City - King County - 425-222-4553
Cedar Falls Tree Farm - North Bend - King County - 425-888-3216
Stocker Farms - Snohomish - Snohomish - 360-568-7391

If you're looking for organic, Garden Treasures in Arlington, Washington says they carry them.

Looking for a tree and you live outside of Washington State? Here you go!

twelve days of christmas (christmas just started!)

I didn't think that I would post again before going on vacation, but there is something that I want to highlight, especially for people who have not been raised in a liturgically based denomination. Christmas is not a day. It is a season just like Easter, Lent, and Advent. As a season, Christmas lasts twelve days and ends when the magi, bringing their gifts, appear to the Christ child - Epiphany. So, when we sing about the twelve days of Christmas, we are singing about the days after Christmas, not the days before.

Even more little known among people is Twelfth Night, which falls on January 5, the day before Epiphany. Twelfth Night is a great time for feasting, celebrating the King of kings and looking ahead to the joy of Epiphany, which arrives the next day. Feasting on Twelfth Night is both an English and a French custom, which includes eating a King's Cake. Some have also reserved the King's Cake for Epiphany; both customs are traditional (FYI, King's Cake is part of Mardi Gras in the USA...this is where the custom comes from).

Remember, Christmas has not ended; it has just begun. For each of the twelve days of Christmas, we are invited to experience the miracle of the heavens and the earth co-existing in new and unimaginable ways. Many Christians, especially progressive Christians, have spent such a great deal of time demythologizing our faith that we have lost the mystery and miracle of our story. It is possible to separate myth, legend, and fable from fact and still hold to the truths of our myths, legends, and fables. The truth of our story doesn't reside in its factual accuracy; it resides in the ageless truth that life is stronger than death, that our worth doesn't arise from our birth or cultural position but out of God's grace, that God's deepest desire is for shalom - peace. Christmas has come. Let's not pack it away unmindfully, too quickly. Advent invited us to prepare for these twelve days. Let's enjoy them and marvel at how the heavens crashed into the earth, and the Prince of Peace struggled into the world amid the violence and greed of politics, amid the mess and stink of poverty, amid the scandal of his parentage, and amid the condition of humankind.

merry christmas...time to rest

Merry Christmas! Like many of you, I am tired after Christmas services, spending time with family, wrapping presents, cleaning house, entertaining visitors, and anticipating the Day! Christmas has finally come. We sang carols, lit our candles and raised them high to the heavens, and toppled from our beds on Christmas morn to open presents and spend time with folks we love. For me, at least, it's time to spend time remembering the power of the miracle of Christmas. I am taking a week away from the office, meetings, parties, and all engagements. I am heading south to visit my family and to re-experience the joy of being in a small town. The days are longer and life is clearer...it's something that feeds my soul, being in that place where I grew from a child to an adult. So that's where I go this week. It is my wish that we all would have such an opportunity - to slow down, feel the joy of belonging and love, and remember where we came from and where we have come to.

(Let's see if I feel so romantic after being gone for a week!)

If the picture on this blog is of interest to you, I strongly recommend the art work of He Qi, a phenomenal artist.

short shrifting christmas

Christmas is almost here. Throughout Advent I have been one of many pastors asking parishioners to wait patiently; Christmas will come. Protestants and people who have come to the church without a childhood background of learning Advent rituals want to skip right past Advent. Why focus on the darkness? Why hold at a distance the joy and happiness associated with Christmas, especially if all we're doing is holding it off for the sake of waiting?

Over and over pastors like me (and, well, me) have told people to wait, so why, then, have I called this article "short shrifting christmas" when it seems like what I really mean is that we short shrift Advent? Well, it's because I think that in our rush to Christmas we lose the heart of Christmas. We are so weary by the time Christmas Day arrives that many of us are relieved to tear down the tree and toss it out back. We're beat. We're irritated with the Christmas carols that play relentlessly on the radio, in the elevator, at our doctor's office, in department stores, and even walking down city streets...Our minds are screaming, "Make this stop!!!!" while we plaster the Christmas smile on our faces. The jump to Christmas before Thanksgiving robs us of two beautiful liturgical seasons, neither of which have a whit to do with presents - or even family for that matter. Advent invites us into a season of prayer and preparation for the coming of God Among Us. What a holy season! Christmas is the inbreaking of God into the world - your world, my world, the world torn apart by ruthless killing, heartless prejudice, and barbaric war. We short shrift Christmas because we forget that, at its heart, it is a holy day in a holy season that demands for us to look at God - and to see, really see, God in the midst of the weakest and most vulnerable.

Christmas is a justice holiday. God breaks into the world and forces us to see how the most vulnerable are tossed aside (a child born in a barn? a cave? pick your story). This leads to the inevitable questions, "How do we respond to the most vulnerable? Do we perpetuate systems that create the injustice that marginalize and oppress? How might we live differently by recognizing the holiness in all of life, not just the strong, the pretty, the grand, and the convenient?"

We short shrift Christmas when we don't wait for God to act in God's time - to break into our world with an invitation to become something new, something we have yet to imagine. Christmas begins on Christmas Day; it doesn't end there. We have twelve days of it. It's too bad we're sick of the idea of it before it's even begun. I wonder how we might be in the world if we let Christmas come to us rather than grabbing for it every November, greedily grasping at saccharine images that offer us no real hope, no real transformation. Christmas, if we let it, gives us a young woman Mary frightened and faithful, Joseph confused but persevering, Elizabeth and Zecheria stricken dumb by his incredulity and sent singing with his joy, Elizabeth pregnant with a prophet, King Herod filled with fear, wise astronomers on a mission, shepherds unceremoniously - strike that...very ceremoniously - taken from their work and sent on a weird journey, and a messy birth in bad circumstances. This story invites us into the mess and filth of life, into the fear that accompanies every life changing journey, into a story of hope and wonder and awe at the idea of life emerging...without apology. The grandeur of angels crashing into our world of shepherds. The heavenly host with harps of gold clattering against our reality of poverty and homelessness.

It's too bad that we short shrift Christmas - tired of it before it comes. It really is something great.

Awe

My vocation is seeking God.
In the warmth and simple love of my cats. Georgie, neurotic from who knows what, whines until his back is scratched, right in front of his tail. And Fred, curmudgeonly Fred, he picks with his nails until welcomed under the covers, to flip and roll with delight in the warmth of my body.

My vocation is seeking God.
In the struggles between wills in my church,
In the streets dappled with newly fallen rain,
In each face I see: smooth and not yet weathered by time and experience,
wrinkled and battered like a well traveled suitcase.
It's a good job.

But too often I miss God for the things in front of me.
I forget to look up to the sky: blue, white, magenta, gray,
dotted with birds of all kinds - airplanes zooming people near and far -
stars filled with mystery far and long ago.
I forget to find the miracle in a smile or bitter hot coffee or the home which steadfastly shelters me every night.
How can I miss the miracle of life wrestling all around me?
But I do. My eyes lose the wonder they once had
when every day I awoke to say, "What a beautiful day."
And my mom shook her head in wonder at me.

On the street corner, in front of the local market, is a homeless woman
in her heavy ski jacket, with wiry gray hair.
She is there most days
selling a newspaper
written to remind people like me that not every one can forget life's wrestling matches; that there are people who watch the sky every night, when the rain falls to dapple the grass, bend the trees, and soak the evergreens. They are there to see the stars in the nights so cold the air burns our lungs. She is John the Baptist.
Less crazy
Less loud
But a prophet
Telling me something important about God.

I rejoice.
Time stands still.
Every time I look her in the eye.
There is God.
Not in my sanctuary.
Not in my ideas.
Not in doctrine.
There.
She stands before me when I need a quick lunch or milk,
reflecting the expanse of the sky
and bending under the weight of my forgetfulness.

Her beauty,
Her sorrow,
Are both there - Divine and relentless.
I should buy milk more often.

We all need awe.

progressive christianity and the prince of peace

I've been busy trying to finish getting out all of my Christmas cards. Almost every card that I am sending this year wishes the recipient peace in the new year. However, while we call Jesus the Prince of Peace, we hardly ever explore in our churches what that might mean for us. During a time of war we may spend a little time expressing our wish that our troops will be safe, that innocent Iraqis won't be killed, and that we hope for the war to end soon. These are worthwhile wishes, but peace extends much further than a hope for the end of war. Peace is not the absence of war; it is the presence of a different way of living. Peace is a state of being of total welfare, security, and justice. There is no real peace without justice. There is no real peace without welfare for all. Peace is a relational word and it implies that we are concerned not only with our own security but the processes that we use in order to safeguard it. It implies concern and care for others. And it implies a state of rest and community with the Divine.

Christians - especially progressive Christians - have a special opportunity this time of year to reflect upon the power of the Prince of Peace being born into our world, into our communities, our nations, our earth...into our hearts and minds. The Prince of Peace would challenge much of how we live - including the wars that wage, yes, but so much more. One thing that has been on my mind is the cruelty of the death penalty. Regardless of the legal reasoning for it, the death penalty flies in the face of the Prince of Peace who himself was the victim of capital punishment. Capital punishment is based in an ethic of retribution and cannot be tolerated by a people who value peace. Capital punishment and peace are mutually exclusive.

Two articles about the death pentalty have caught my eyes this week. In a New York Times article called "Death Sentences Decline, and Experts Offer Reasons" Neil A Lewis takes a look at the death penalty in the United States. He writes, "At the Justice Department, the Bureau of Statistics reported last week that there were 128 death sentences in 2005, down from 138 the year before." There are many reasons why fewer convicted people have received the death penalty, but most of the reasons do not deal with the morality of the death penalty itself. The other article was an AP story that reported the decisions by Florida and California to temporarily halt executions. Just this week an execution by lethal injection in Florida took 34 minutes - twice the amount of time that most executions take. Apparently the needles were inserted too far and went through the veins, forcing the body to absorb the chemicals rather than allowing them to move through the body via the blood stream. California, as well, has had difficulties with its execution process. Both of these articles haunt me. They call me to confession. Every time that we look at a cross we should see not only a symbol of resurrection and new life but also the mechanism of torture and death brought to the Prince of Peace.

Why, during this season of the Prince of Peace, do we live in a nation where the church, especially the progressive church, is virtually silent about the death penalty? Why don't we engage in debate about the morality of the death penalty? Is the church too afraid to stand firmly against this practice? Have we forgotten the system of oppression into which the Christ child was born and in which he died...himself a victim of capital punishment? How can people of faith, especially those who profess an ethic called "pro-life" support the death penalty? I remain dumbfounded at the tolerance that we have for such cruel and anti-Christian acts like the death penalty. As I look at my Christmas cards I wonder if we really want "peace for all." What can progressive Christians do to speak out against the barbarity of the death penalty and proclaim the arrival of the Prince of Peace?

the vicar of dibley's christmas nightmare

It's a good thing Methodists don't drink. For more British humor, buy the whole series...