CHRISTMAS 2004
Some years I am brimming over with Christmas cheer - the friends, the family, the presents, the love - overflowing. This year for some reason - there is a tinge of sadness and melancholy in the midst of it all. Maybe I have been listening to the news too much or hearing of too many events that I cannot do anything about. Maybe it is because a good friend died on St. Nicholas Day. Maybe is it the mess in Iraq.

I don’t feel ready for Christmas even though all the presents are purchased and some are even opened (Jim and I had a bit of early Christmas today). But ready or not - here it is! Tonight we gather to hear the story and live again the miracle of God being born in our midst. God who loves us and joins us in our human journey - birth, life, death. All the wonder and suffering that it is to be human. Emmanuel - God with us. With us and for us. The beginning of our journey, the journey itself and the end of our journey - in whom we live and move and have our being. As St. Patrick says, “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of friend and stranger.”
(Hymnal #370)

John Shea says the signs of Christmas remind us that regardless of the state of our lives and the world - the promise of hope is always there. The star - stars are the most amazing things - I love to go out on a winter night and see the universe - I feel like I could almost fall off the world into the brightness. Yesterday I went out before dawn and saw a man made star tracking across the sky - for 4 minutes I watched (in my down robe and a blanket wrapped around me) as the Space Station trekked its way from NW to NE - two astronauts - one from Russian and one from the US - an amazing sign for someone who grew up when Russia was our enemy and fear ruled in our country. Now we journey through the universe together - who would have thought it could happen? At Jesus birth - the star marked the place where love could bring strangers together - Magi - scientists of their day, from another religious tradition, beautifully dressed with lovely gifts, shepherds - looked down upon by “nice” people - scruffy and somewhat scary, living in the fields with their sheep, a rough crowd, Angels - messengers from another realm of creation, singing with the songs of the universe, dancing in from the stars. Joseph - following his dreams, Mary - young girl whose heart was open to the will of God. All these people who would never be found together except by a miracle and the star shows us the way in the darkest of nights.
The tree - evergreen. No matter how cold the winter - its branches hold the promise of new life and green springtime. Wildlife gathers for shelter under its branches, cones provide food, and we bring them into our homes and churches to remember that even in the coldest of times - life continues.
The baby - born in less than ideal surroundings - typical of the birth of many children around the world. Babies come regardless of circumstance - rich or poor, in a hospital or in a manger, always with the same message - that God has not yet given up on us. And this particular birth makes all births holy - filled with the promise that love can overcome everything else and that the arc of justice bends towards earth - this child who will live into the fullness of who he was created to be - who shows us the way to live into the fullness of who we are created to be - who reminds of the fact that angels sang at our birth too - with our own special song. Can we hear it? In moments of despair and moments of joy - listen. Listen to the Angels singing sweetly over the earth - you are my beloved child and with you I am well pleased.

My favorite Christmas story is of a man who was having a terrible time in his life - he was probably going to lose his job, he had just had a big fight with his spouse, his daughter was in Iraq. It was not a good time for him. He decided to go out for a walk. As he walked through the falling snow - damp cold sifting down the back of his neck - head down, trudging along. The stores were alight with Christmas - bright icicles of tiny white lights, multi-colored strands of fat bulbs, gifts displayed in tinsel and a riot of red, green, blue, and silver. He saw none of it - so immersed was he in his troubles and the bad news of the world. Out of the corner of his downcast eyes he saw a manger scene, something about it made him stop. It was a big full-sized one - the figures gathered around - a fearsome angel, scruffy shepherds, Magi in all their royal garb, cattle, sheep, camels, and of course Joseph and Mary. Suddenly he became aware that there was no Christ Child in this scene - instead all the figures were gazing out with that sappy look adults reserve for babies - that aaahhh - isn’t that a wonderful child look. But instead of looking at a baby they were all looking at him. He was the beloved child - he is the one for which the whole world is waiting. He was filled with the love of that moment. His life had not changed but his world had.

In the words of another hymn by Christina Rossetti (Hymnal #84)
Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas: star and angels gave the sign.
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine
love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.

Look around for the signs of hope and have a Merry Christmas!!!

"Are you ready for Christmas?" This question seems to have replaced the "How are you?" as the question for this time of year. It seems to require just a simple "yes" or "no" but for me it is a dilemma. As a Christian, an Episcopal priest, a mother, grandmother, wife, etc. it causes me to review all the various layers of Christmas and often paralyzes my response. Yes, I am ready - presents are purchased and mailed (online shopping and shipping makes this easy if I can just get an idea of what people want) and my Christmas letter is written even if it is not printed and mailed yet and may not be even with 12 days of Christmas. Yes and No as a priest - the service bulletins are typed and being printed (I hope) but I do not have more than a few glimmerings of what will be in my sermon. No - as a Christian - I am never ready for the amazing gift of the incarnation - God being born in our midst. Were Mary and Joseph ready? Mary - a young woman (almost a girl, perhaps) - on the road, hoping to find shelter before the baby is born, pregnant - God knows how - and with a promise but not much else. Joseph - old? young? - a wife, pregnant not by him, taking her on a trip because the Emperor does worry about the lives of his subjects or the inconvenience he is causing. Totally not ready for what is to be the first Christmas. Am I ready - ready to have God born in me this night - as we sing in O Little Town of Bethlehem? Is there space in my life for God who is going to be as demanding as a newborn? who reminds me that all people are created in the image of God? (even "those" people), who will call me to seek justice for all people? to live in the world with compassion towards all (interesting that word compassion - in the Hebrew the root is womb of God), to love my neighbor as myself? Am I ready for the outpouring of Love into my life - a love that is not bribed or purchased, but surrounds us and dwells in the spaces between us - in whom we live and move and have our being? No - not ready - but God like some wild child playing tag with us says "ready or not - here I come" and when we are caught we know we are "IT" -- captured by LOVE.
Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;
love was born at Christmas, star and angels gave the sign.
Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign. Christina Rosetti (1830-1894)

How can an obituary capture a life of a friend? Of course it can't. In a few paragraphs a life of over 70 years is sketched in highlights. Each of us has a particular set of memories that only we and the person who has died share. Gail Jones was a fierce fighter for the ability and opportunity of all to carry out the ministry of Christ. She held a vision of all gathered around the table without regard for status in the church or society. And she danced the tango. Of all the stories she and I shared - her dancing most reflects the joy of life that I found in her presence. A well lived life - oh too short for her family and friends. Death is a subject about which a lot has been written. Is there something beyond our time on earth? Or is death the end. Religions and philosophers all have thoughts and beliefs about it. I sort of go with the line of the father in one of Woody Allen's movies - when asked if he worried about "you know, ... after?" the father says -"no, I will be dead!" But if I had to explain where my thinking is at the moment - I would go with "These Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman. (The daemons in his book are an externalized part of the human's spirit embodied in an animal form which changes form until puberty when it becomes fixed in one.)
"When you go out of here, all the particles that make you up will loosen and float apart, just like your daemons did. If you've seen people dying, you know what that looks like. But your daemons aren't just nothing now; they're part of everything. All the atoms that were them, they've gone into the air and the wind and the trees and the earth and all the living things. They'll never vanish. They're just part of everything. And that's exactly what'll happen to you, I swear to you, I promise on my honor. You'll drift apart, it's true, but you'll be out in the open, part of everything alive again." (The Amber Spyglass, page 335)
"The first ghost to leave the world of the dead was Roger. He took a step forward, and turned to look back at Lyra, and laughed in surprise as he found himself turning into the night, the starlight, the air... and then he was gone, leaving behind such a vivid little burst of happiness that Will was reminded of the bubbles in a glass of champagne." (The Amber Spyglass, page 382)
"Even if it means oblivion... I'll welcome it, because it won't be nothing , we'll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass and a million leaves, we'll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze, we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world which is our true home and always was." (The Amber Spyglass, page 336)
"To know that after a spell in the dark we'll come out again to a sweet land like this, to be free of the sky like the birds, well, that's the greatest promise anyone could wish for." (The Amber Spyglass, page 532)
And my favorite poem is When Death Comes by Mary Oliver

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps his purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering;
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Gail definitely did not just visit - she leapt into life like the tango dancer she is -- flinging herself out onto the dance floor of life and asking us all to join in and learn the steps as we did not know until we met her.

From a country western song

Life is a dance
With steps you don't know
Join the dance
Learn as you go!

A fun quiz to find out which book you are:


Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. You are a
mystery novel dealing with theology, especially
with catholic vs liberal issues. You search
wisdom and knowledge endlessly, feeling that
learning is essential in life.


Which literature classic are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

After Election Blues
All over but the scattered challenges - the election has been won by those claiming that they are the most moral and with the electorate agreeing it was one of the strongest motivation for voting. I guess I always thought that being moral had to do with caring for the “least of these” Matthew 25:34-40 not voting narrow self interest. I just don’t get how false piety and lies are moral. When so many are suffering in this country and around the world, we vote on the basis of a definition of moral that leaves children, the planet, those who are poor and hungry, and the marginalized out of the equation. I will play the blues for awhile and then it will be time to go back to the lessons taught by those who have struggled over generations to gain their liberty - support each otherr, organize, study, work, and most important - sing the songs of struggle and hope. I still believe that the arc of justice bends towards the earth and that we can help with every act of our lives.

Listening to the radio this morning I hear many stories about the efforts to keep people from voting. Last week I was at our Fremont County Courthouse in Lander, Wyoming and overheard one of the clerks talking to a voter. It was someone who lived in a distant town - 75 miles away - who was suddenly faced with going to Casper (150 miles the other direction from Lander) for medical treatments. The clerk volunteered to stay after work to meet her at time when she would be driving through Lander so this woman could vote. I asked about her response and the clerk said it is important to make the effort so every one can vote. I have also experienced the clerk going out to a handicapped person's car so that he did not have to make the long trek down to the basement of the courthouse. I wish all the country could experience the commitment to fairness and opportunity that this one woman makes to our democratic system. Maybe it is just that Wyoming is small in population and we are all neighbors in a county larger than Massachusetts, but I hope this is the true heart of our country.
PS - Miracles abound - the Red Sox won. YAY!

Well, I feel a lot safer today - since our glorious government captured that notorious musician Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. Singer of such famous songs as Peace Train, he certainly threatens my sleep. I heard the news just before turning off NPR last night and I can tell you that I slept more soundly than I have for years. Thank you Tom Ridge, John Ashcroft, and of course, George Bush. I think I will light the candles in my new votives. YIKES!!
More on Yusuf Islam.

The Bible - I heard something the other day that encapsulated my thinking about this set of books (for it is more than one, written at many different times by many different authors). This person said "It is like our family albums". Pictures, clippings, and mementos of encounters with a common experience. It tries to tell of encounters with the Holy and make sense of the Divine-Human relationship. Like the family album we may have stories about the pictures and know the names of the people we are viewing but there is always a level that cannot be seen or understood because we were not there when the photo was taken or the event occurred. When I read the Bible with this sort of lens - I stop fighting with it and using it like a template. When it contradicts itself, I can see that this is because there were different points of view about events, like when people are interviewed after a wreck and remember totally different versions of the same event. One person said about Revelation - it is like Modern Art - trying to convey ideas through metaphors, feelings, and images - not representational or photographic. When we try to apply scientific, rational principles to works of art or scripture we miss the point and end up analyzing the paint.

PEACE
Is peace possible? The news lately is so horrific and it seems we are in a death spiral. It is hard to keep from sinking into a morass of sadness over humankind's inability to live together on this small fragile planet. It helps me to get in touch with the words and music of those who have lived through other times of suffering. Here are the words of the former Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu:

"We have seen those who formerly seemed invincible fall and bite the dust too. We give thanks to God that goodness is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, light is stronger than darkness and life is stronger than death-that victory is ours through Jesus Christ. Might will never be right. God has made us for goodness, for love, for compassion, for peace, for laughter, for gentleness, for sharing and caring-and God is in charge."

Bishop Tutu's victory did not come from returning suffering on those who made him suffer but is a victory of love over evil. It is the only way all this terror will stop.

For music I recommend the BBC Radio 3. On Wednesdays they broadcast Choral Evensong from various churches around the UK. It is cached so even if you miss it live you can hear it during the week.

Here is a fun quiz to find out What Christian Theologian You Are.

"We reject the false doctrine that the church could have permission to hand over the form of its message and of its order to whatever it itself might wish or to the vicissitudes of the prevailing ideological and political convictions of the day."

You are Karl Barth! You like your freedom, and are pretty stubborn against authority! You don't care much for other people's opinions either. You can come up with your own fun, and often enough you have too much fun. You are pretty popular because you let people have their way, even when you have things figured out better than them.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

As I have mentioned before, most days I try to post some remarks on the Daily Office - consecutive readings of the Bible from the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Testament. Last week I was reading the passage from Mark 10 and it occurred to me that it was the disciples fear that made them ask for status with Jesus in his future realm. Seeking status is a response that comes when we are fearful of our position with others. Those who work with group dynamics say that all persons have concerns about Inclusion, Affection and Control. Will I be accepted, will I be liked, Will my opinions be valued? The satisfaction of these needs by position and status can become almost like a drug. As I thought about this I wrote:

Fear seeks status
Faith seeks service

Whenever I start obsessing about what others' think or where I belong, it is a sign that I have moved into that place of fear. When I remember that I am created in the image of God and I am created to be in the place and this time - the fear recedes, I can breathe and act without fear.

Something for fun and Harry Potter fans. Take the quiz at the site below.


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.