We have come this far, O God.
Somehow we have found our way from then to now;
From that place to this.
Some of us have danced our way to this moment;
Some of us have stumbled.
But, nevertheless, here we are;
Poised once again on the edge of a promise.
Maybe this time we will understand, O God.
Maybe this time.
We pray that it might be so.
Amen.
An Unsettled Christmas
Headlines that I read in the news last week troubled me.
According to Census Bureau data nearly half of the citizens in our country live below the poverty line or are classified as “low income households.”
That is about 150 million people.
Half of the population of our country.
And, here I sit getting ready for Christmas.
With not just enough, but more than enough.
True, I try to be thoughtful about how we spend our money and we do our part in supporting organizations that do what they can to meet the basic needs of others, but…
The truth is if one person is hungry that is one person too many.
At least that is what I believe.
Yet, here I am surrounded both by Christmas, with all it means to me, and by the reality that half of my fellow citizens; those whom I believe God names as my neighbor who will wake up tomorrow morning hungry or wondering how the next bill will be paid or if there will be enough hope to last one more day.
I am unsettled.
And, maybe that is the most I can do or be right now.
But, I don’t want to forget.
God, please don’t let me forget.
Trying to Pay Attention
Suddenly it feels as if there is more to do before Christmas than time that I have. I am adding more tasks to my To Do list than I cross off. And yet I want to savor the passing of these moments that lead to Christmas. I want to linger over the prayers and the reflection that I will write for Christmas Eve allowing the words that appear on the page to merge with the image of those who will gather here on Christmas Eve spending some of their precious time here rather than someplace else. I want to knead the bread that I will make a little longer than needed taking a moment to think about those to whom it will be given and about all the years I made bread at Christmas with my children as they grew up. I want to walk through the halls of the church and down the streets of the Village in which I live and take the time to give the other whose path crosses mine a few minutes of my undivided, undistracted attention allowing my Christmas greeting and prayer to linger in the space between us just a bit longer.
Ready or not Christmas comes.
I want to do what I can to be ready.
Two Reflections for Advent
From the Bible:
I will take my post.
I will position myself on the watchtower.
I will keep watch to see what the Lord says to me;
And how God will respond to my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write a vision and make it plain upon a tablet so that a runner can read it.
There is still a vision for the appointed time;
It testifies to the end; it does not deceive.
If it delays, wait for it; for it is surely coming;
It will not be late.” (Habakkuk 2: 1-3)
Reflection:
I love the picture these few verses paint.
Can you envision it, as well?
The challenger, in order to make sure his or her complaint is heard, climbs to the top of the watchtower at the top of the fortress purposefully built on top of the hill on in order to get as high as possible; as close to God as possible to make sure that God hears what she or he has to say. There, shaking a fist at God, the complaint is made on behalf of the people and an answer demanded of the Most High God.
And, God responds with this…
“Write down the vision.
It does not deceive.
If it is delayed, wait for it for it is surely coming.
It will not be late.
Write it large enough that the runner can read it.
The messenger running past way down there in the valley below.”
“Write down the vision…”
How large do we dare write the words of God’s vision for your life and mine, and for the world in which we live entrusted now to our care and keeping? How large do we write it across the landscape of our lives daring to describe the vision of what we imagine or dream or hope as we turn the corner towards the promise of Christmas?
This big (words on a 9×11 piece of paper)?
Or, this big (words on a piece of newsprint)?
Or, this big (large words written across a piece of paper 10’ long)?
How large do they need to be so that another might see?
Maybe there is…
At least in God’s scheme of things…
Something about Christmas…
That is more about proclamation than celebration.
From the Bible: Genealogy of Jesus (from Matthew 1)
A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Aram.
Aram was the father of Aminadab.
Aminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. (the genealogy continues…)
Reflection:
Biblical scholars will point out all the nuances and inconsistencies that are a part of Matthew’s genealogy. Names out of places and years that don’t add up.
That is there job.
But, here is what strikes me…
Beyond all the grand titles that are given to Jesus and put into words as we sing our Christmas carols:
Messiah.
Savior.
Son of God.
Lord of Lords.
King of Kings.
And, at a time of the year when we surround Jesus with halos and angels and have him greeted by great Kings from the east.
Matthew begins his story about Jesus by rooting him…
Deeply rooting him…
In a family tree.
Ancestory.com if you will which links Jesus to grandparents and great-grandparents and great, great, great grandparents.
And, on and on and on.
Stretching back in time…real time.
Rooting him deeply in a family and a history.
And, in the fabric of humanity.
And, in the end, in our family and history and humanity.
Can you believe it?
God with us.
One gift less…
Earlier this week, a member of Bedford Presbyterian Church sent me this link to a You Tube video by the Advent Conspiracy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU&feature=share.
The video hit home.
Because, even though supporting causes and programs that practice compassion in a complicated world has always been a part of our Christmas gift giving, I love thinking about and buying or making gifts for those whom I love. And, I love sitting in the front room of our home on Christmas morning and watching as gifts are given and received. But I think next year I will practice giving “one less gift” and instead set aside that money to buy food or provide shelter or build a home or something. And, I will encourage others to do the same.
All decisions about how we spend our money are important.
And, all contributions that meet the basic needs of others matter.
But equally as important is my own mindfulness;
My own paying attention;
To what I believe is the real meaning of the season.
The War On Christmas
I know it is just politics.
Each year at this time, some public figure says Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas, or they light up a Holiday Tree rather than a Christmas Tree and the pundits are off and running. All of it has become fodder for the 24 hour news outlets, the comedy satires and, now, a political ad for Governor Rick Perry. Most of the time I ignore it, doing my best to tune out the din and to pay attention to what is in front of me.
But today it got me thinking.
If I take Christmas seriously…
By that I mean that Christmas is more about God than gifts…
More about…
God coming;
God with us;
That which is Holy mixing it up with my humanity and your humanity so that we can never look at each other in quite the same way. (Was it C.S. Lewis who said, “You have never met a mere mortal.”?) then there can be no war on Christmas because Christmas does not depend one iota on you and me. It doesn’t need our gift giving. It doesn’t care whether we say Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday. It doesn’t even require our going to a church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It just happens.
Thank God!
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