Cause for Celebration

There are a lot of Christmas songs I find annoying. Frosty the Snowman tops the list. Perhaps I'm offended that a snowman can come to life and marry people when I have to go through four years of seminary to marry people? I'm not sure. And then there are the songs that heap on the guilt like: "So this is Christmas, and what have we done? Another year over, a new one just begun." WOW! That's not what this season is about at all.

Which begs the question, what IS this season all about? There are those buttons, bumper stickers, and tags that say "Jesus is the reason for the season." And while I can't argue with that, I'd hope that Jesus is the reason for our EVERY season. For our entire journey of life. For every day. For every breath.

So what's Christmas about? Why do we celebrate it every year over and over again? Haven't you celebrated it enough times? We know how the story goes. Angels. Mary and Joseph. More angels. Baby born in a manger. Swaddling clothes. Shepherds. Stars. Wise Men. So on. Why keep telling it?

We are surrounded by skeptics and cynics who remind us that Jesus was not born on December 25th 2,000 years ago. It was more likely in the spring of 6BC as opposed to December 25th 1 AD. And then there's the fact that pagans celebrated the winter solstice at this time for many years before the Christians began claiming this season. The first Christmases had no Christmas trees, no ornaments, no stockings, no Santa Claus because St. Nicholas hadn't been born yet, no Christmas carols, no Christmas eve services.

But late Monday evening as I stayed awake and sat outside in the 5 degree weather watching the lunar eclipse, I contemplated the moon and the winter solstice. The winter solstice marks the longest night and the shortest day in the Northern hemisphere each year in earth's trip around the sun. A time to light candles and wait to see if the days will again begin to lengthen. And THIS is when we chose to celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ?

And then it hit me, of course this is when we chose to celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. It is when we need him the most. As the evenings grow longer and the days get shorter, and the entire earth is farther away from the hot, hot sun than we are the rest of the year, we need a savior. We need someone to assure us that just as the earth moves back toward the SUN, we move toward the SON. Even our Christmas story is marked by an astrological sign. A star, burning brightly over the place where Jesus lay, guiding people to him.

It makes perfect sense to me, then, that we would choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus now. For Jesus is the light of the world and that causes us to celebrate. That light comes into our darkness. Not just every Christmas morning but in every dark occasion.

That light came to lonely shepherds, working hard on Christmas morning. That light came to two weary parents, who were exhausted by their journey, their angelic encounters, and the task of raising this child. That light came to the town of Bethlehem as the shepherds spread the good news. That light continued to spread as Jesus grew and began ministry. As he died and rose again. As he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. As the disciples shared his story.

That light comes to us still. Not just on Christmas each year but in every breath we take in which we fear the darkness is too much. When we are cold, weary, working hard, resting, rejoicing, weeping, or wondering what the point is after all. We can remember the promise that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

Jesus Christ is born. He is Emmanuel, God with us. This is cause for celebration.

Future

"I'm on my way to the future, she said & I said, But you're just sitting there listening & she smiled & said, It's harder than you'd think with all the noise everyone else is making."
-StoryPeople

Pre sermon Sermonating

So you know how Matthew starts up the entire New Testament with a list of Jesus' genealogy? Well this week's text is right after that. Joseph and Mary. Naming Jesus. Then citing the Old Testament and saying he is Emmanuel, God with us. This beautiful list of genealogy with a smart dismissal of it due to the fact that it is Joseph's ancestry and his sperm plays no part in Jesus' makeup. So who cares, right?

I have always been troubled by that. Why include a list of people and then negate it by ensuring us it was a virgin birth and Joseph never lay with his wife until after Jesus arrived? I know some people have flatly refused to believe in the virgin birth at all and it would seem on the surface that this would play in Jesus' favor. After all, if Joseph actually did contribute to Jesus' physical makeup, at least the genealogy would be intact!

But I got a new spin on this at text study yesterday with the local clergy. It then paired nicely with dual presentations by Lutheran Social Services on adoption. Over a slide show of beautiful children's faces, alight with joy and surrounded by their new families, the music rang out a message of love and home.

How much does blood have to do with it? Don't we claim various families as we go through life? Claim a church family, a work family, a family made up of loyal friends? And I do believe there is even a certain amount of claiming the very ones to who we are blood related. My sibling and I have only liked each other in the past few years. Before that, we fought likes cats and dogs.

And it is common to refer to other Christians as Brothers and Sisters in Christ. As my supervisor asked, "Is water is thicker than blood?" We even think about Godparents here that are not always blood relatives. Or if they are, it is not that blood relation that drives their presence at the baptism, but their personal witness to Christ.

So as Joseph claims Jesus by naming him, he is bestowing upon him all the meaning of family. He is embracing him as his own, despite the biological block. The message may just be that Jesus can be claimed by all people, no matter their genealogy or past. The message may be that Jesus claims US, no matter OUR past. Either way, our stories are linked, integrally. No amount of boo hoo-ing ancestry or origin will forgo that mutual claim.

Convenience or Stuff

The battle rages on between living simply and convenience. What stuff is essential and what is a perk? What things truly make our lives simpler and/or easier and what things do more to clutter our lives than help them out?

The best example of this is the kitchen. I promise you there is a gadget or gizmo for absolutely any function or task in the kitchen. Bread slicers, juicers, grapefruit spoons, food processors, hot dog cookers, potato mashers, pastry knives, toasters, and even a strainer lid to go over a can to assist you in draining it (I bought it once, don't laugh). Entire websites dedicated to the latest in kitchen gadgets. There are 12 different kinds of knives and various types of spoons and a spork! Glasses for particular drinks. Plates and bowls for certain types of foods. The list goes on and on and on. Go to a Pampered Chef party! Look at the SkyMall magazine!

It has certainly been interesting seeing what tools the man who lived in my house previously has. There are entire drawers and cabinets that I've never once used. And then, oddly, a few gadgets that I simply adore using (an over the glass metallic juicer is awesome for making my green tea lemonade!) and other ones I cannot for the life of me understand.

Some sit in drawers and gather dust aside from the once or twice a year we might pull them out. Some we use so frequently that they never lie in wait in the drawer but are usually found in the drying rack or sink!

We never use them all. And in truth, we could live without most of them quite easily. I've survived for quite sometime without a pastry knife though I would love to have one. I have friends who have never had a food processor and use a blender for everything. A friend on internship decided not to bring her rice cooker but her Rabbit wine opener had to go with her (and for this, I cannot fault her - those things are AWESOME).

Are our lives any different? The things we believe we must have because they'll make our lives easier when in reality, we are surrounded by drawers of clutter. By brain space full of useless facts. By shelves full of books we will never read. By minutes wasted with time saving strategies. By bodies full of extra calories. By pantries full of ready made food. By vanities full of products and medicine cabinets full of pills and creams and ointments.

I'm sure there are more. I'm at the point where I'm sorting through what is essential and what is superfluous. I recognize this will change when I have a partner, when I have a family, when I am older. But right now, I honestly don't want a freezer full of frozen meals or an entire shelf in my bathroom for my "essentials" (face wash, face lotion, acne med, eye make up remover, Zyrtec, 5HTP, qtips, body lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, Listerine, mascara, hairbrush, hair gel...).

But I do love that over the glass juicer.... ;)

Preaching is Yay

Just in case you all want to keep up on the sermons I am preaching...

http://messiahlutheranbillings.org/

The manuscripts will all be on the church website shortly after I preach 'em!

Babies

In my book about authenticity, my bookmark is a picture of my god baby screaming at the top of her lungs. There is something entirely refreshing about this photo (aside from my desire to pluck her up and hug on her that is).

With a baby, you will always know when they are upset. They'll be screaming. Crying. Making a fuss until their need is met.

You'll know when they are excited, happy, or passing gas. They'll be smiling. Giggling. Squirming with glee.

If they are curious, they'll reach out and touch. When they can, they'll ask questions. "Whassat?" is one of my favorites.

There is nothing that is not absolutely congruent about what babies are feeling and what they do.

As adults, we've squelched that. Been taught not to cry or be too overjoyed about anything. Hold back curiosity. Etc and so on.

What would happen if we broke down in tears when we spilled a glass of juice or we were hungry? Letting ourselves feel whatever was passing through our mind at the time instead of "steeling" ourselves against our emotions. And it might teach the next generation that it is okay to feel things. Okay to feel sad, happy, mad, glad. Okay to cry and shout for joy.

What kind of world might that be?

Unsubscribe

Every year, around this New Year time (it is the new year according to the church calendar, btw), I give myself the gift of unsubscribing. What's this, you ask? It is part of decluttering my life!

How many e-mails do you get in a day that you immediately delete? From the airlines advertising a cheap flight, from Ticketmaster, from some inspirational quote/scripture/blurb of the day, from iTunes and whatever else you may or may not have signed up for.

I'm not talking about spam, those e-mails announcing how easy it is to enhance what God gave ya, because your spam filter should be taking care of those. I'm talking about all the rest of it.

Unsubscribe. Uncheck the box for special offers, monthly newsletters, updates on your favorite musical artists, and so on. You don't need the clutter.

And if you find yourself missing a full inbox, go online and find something to subscribe to that might actually bring you joy. For instance, I always read my Story of the Day from StoryPeople. And though it is not always earth shatteringly brilliant, it more often than not brings a smile to my face.

Find a devotion you like, a quote of the day from a site that seems to fit you, the photo of the day from National Geographic, or whatever tickles your fancy (no, not enhancement fancy!).

But unsubscribe from that stuff you don't read. You don't read it anyway! Your brain will thank you.

St. Francis of Assisi

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

"Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

"Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. "

—St. Francis Of Assisi

Humility and Wholeness

"To be human is to ask unanswerable questions, but to persist in asking them, to be broken and ache for wholeness, to hurt and to try to find a way to healing through the hurt." -The Spirituality of Imperfection by Kurtz and Ketcham

I'll be honest and let you know I spent much of the past two days deep in hurt... Reexamining old wounds and marveling at how they are apparent today. I give thanks for the generous friends, family, spiritual director and internship supervisors that have patiently waited for me to stop questing for perfection and start seeking wholeness instead.

This book I picked up (which is amazing) speaks of AA and many twelve step programs as "more a journey toward humility than a struggle for perfection." What a cool way to look at healing! A way to look at spirituality through our imperfections, our hurts, our pain - and use them to find meaning in the chaos and darkness of the world. The 12 step is just one example.

I dig it. This path is the answer to a prayer cried without words from the depth of me. Why didn't anyone tell me life was so difficult? Life is beautiful but it is requires all I have to give.

Well, here I go!

Uncomfortable

Internship will be an uncomfortable year. Neither good nor bad but uncomfortable.

I'm wondering if this is really our call as Christians, especially as pastors and ministers. Ministry is quite frankly, the most uncomfortable thing I've ever done. It pushes me to deal with everything that blocks me from living the gospel and loving people.

I am hesitant to admit those issues seem numerous. I don't have it all together. I don't have it all figured out. And what's worse? I never will. There will never come a time when I will say, "Yup. I've figured it all out." Does it say anything about me that this is in any way surprising or frustrating?

Or perhaps something about my theology that I want to be in control and be perfect? I wish that weren't the case but the indicators point to "true." So I'm uncomfortable. Trying to figure out how to have a little more grace with myself about who God made me to be... and who I am.

I have believed for a while that our imperfections are problems in need of fixing. The problem is that I know problems need fixing. It can't be wonderful to constantly be late or so worried about being vulnerable that one avoids all human interactions. Help is needed.

On the other hand (and this is what I'm struggling to take hold of), we are whole already. Not broken and busted in need of repair before we are whole... but whole to begin with.

Strange how I can see that about other people - their wholeness and worth and dignity - but miss it in my own person. I'm going to work on loving myself as God does... and not just my neighbor.

Blessings on your Thanksgivings. I give thanks to God for a place to vent my worries and share my joys and for each of you who reads this. ;)