My Christmas 3 x 3-Thanks for the study break, Coach!

Tagged by Coach, at Prepare Ye, and even though I do not "Christmas" until Advent, here's my Christmas 3 x 3:
What are your three favorite Christmas songs & who sings them?
O Holy Night- growing up we had an alto singer who sang this as a solo from the balcony, at the Christmas Eve service. Think candles, and peacefulness and an ethereal voice floating in from on high... still gives me goosebumps.

Silent Night- Again, ever since I was little, it is the first carol I remember learning back when I was in kindergarten- I thought it was "round john virgin"- that's why I had to come to seminary- to get the real answer.;)

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree- Have a Happy Holiday!( but a close second is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus- you can tell I was little in the 60's)

What are your three favorite "Christmas" foods? You know, the stuff you only get around Christmas or the holidays.
Ambrosia- part of my Southern roots. Oranges, apples, pineapple,coconut, honey and rum- no marshmallows. Yum!

Sandtarts- Just a little brown on the edges with walnut and cinnamon sugar on top. We make them as a family.

Eggnog-How much nog is in eggnog?

What are your three Christmas secrets?
I recycle gift bags- years ago there was a Christmas that lots of festive gift bags showed up holding gifts we four got, and the following year, I recycled them. After initially frowning, my in-laws now keep track of who has the favorite Santa bag.

I actually like fruitcake

Every year something gets lost at Christmas- one year, it was the Baby Jesus for the nativity ( since we do not put Jesus in the stable until the "proper" time) . I thought the dog ate him. One year, my 3 year old decorated the Christmas tree with my car keys. Bright, shiny, with a convenient hanging hook. They landed on the back side of the tree and were not found until Epiphany.

SO, there you have it. I tag Diane, at Faith in Community and Gannet Girl ( I know it's finals, but come out and play!)

The World Needs You

My Advent focus is the ELCA World hunger appeal concern. Below is the link to a 40 day calendar which you can use with your family or your church.


http://lss-elca.org/Home/Images/AdventCalendar.pdf

Love One Another

As many are out and about traveling in the bustle of the holiday and the frenzy of shopping and visiting, I offer this prayer from the Church Of Scotland "Pray Now" initiative.

Prayer
On pavements packed with pushing people,
In cities that never sleep,
In the roar of traffic and the glare of lights,
You speak...
Love one another.

Among the streetwise and the tourists,
Between the natives and the immigrants,
Inside the shops and the restaurants,
You speak...
Love one another.

In the crowded square and the darkened alley,
In the gorgeous galleries and the dirty gutters,
In the noise of so many different languages,
You speak...
Love one another.

God of love,
In the honesty of labour and in the creativity of the Arts,
In the gathering of the nations and in integrated community
May we speak love, to one another.

Starting "Christmas"

As many of you know, I commute to seminary and hence have lots of time to listen to the radio, books on tape, XM, etc. I have discovered that until a certain point in my commute, I must listen to the local FM station that has the best Traffax report so I know what might lie ahead. This also subjects me to sometimes amusing and often banal "morning drive time" DJ banter. Each morning, there is a question that people can call in and respond to. On Friday, here is what went down:

A local woman, who "loves Christmas" had put up all of her Christmas decorations outside, which apparently involved a lot of electricity and a lot of "stuff." Keep in mind that we have only just observed Veterans Day. Overnight, someone came and took her stuff and left a note telling her that the theft was in punishment for decorating too soon. Lots of behavior to consider.
So .. the morning question was essentially, don't people have to right to "start" Christmas whenever they want?
After all the economy and the world news are a real downer and we " need a little Christmas." This spawned a litany of people who all started calling in talking about their decorations and how important they are to them and a kind of pact to call all of their friends and all decorate NOW to assert their right to "Christmas" whenever they want it.
Did anyone call in to suggest the real meaning of Christmas? NO
Did anyone know the basis of the tradition for lights? NO
Don't even ask is the word "Advent" or "Christ" came up.
The closest anyone got to stating that things might be more than a little off kilter was one person who espoused the rule: No Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
Heavy SIGH.
I think that people are right, that the economy is a downer, that the war and world politics can be depressing and worrisome.
We DO need a good word.
But for all of the lights and inflatables and other "stuff" I think it is fair to say that there is no good word found within them.
Would that we would fight for the right to claim and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
But I guess there is still no room for Jesus - in the aisle at WalMart.

Ten Random Things

I've been tagged by fellow seminarian, David at Here I Stand to post Ten Random Things About myself. These are not necessarily in the order of priority, importance or general amusement value, but, here goes:

10. I am not able to get through a day without chocolate. It can be any kind, but unlike many people I know, I actually like the kind that have the cream center- raspberry is my favorite, followed by orange. My favorite feel good kind is Divine Chocolate. Yummy and socially responsible.
9. I own too many black clothing items ( hence I went to seminary). Probably every length of skirts, pants, and type of footwear in black can be found in my closet, which leads to my next thing.
8. I am uncapable of keeping an organized closet or desk. Open a drawer or door at your peril. The other day the dog was attacked by an avalanche of sweaters. I am a packrat. I save things just in case they have a future use. Invariably they will, but I may not remember where it is stashed.
7.
Remember the Thompson Twins? I love 80's music- of all genres. We sit around and crank the volume. Sadly we have ruined our children. However, I am a musical mutt- really anything except country or violent rap is fair game- for cranking purposes, really good organ music- Vidor's Toccata comes to mind.
6. I cannot kill anything including moths, lost ladybugs, or any other bug. I also save wayward rodents or bats and usher them outside ( even though I guess they will just come back).
5. The places I wish I could travel to are: The Holy Land; Germany; New Zealand and a safari in Africa ( no gun- just a camera).
4. The hobby I wish I had time for is photography, but becoming a better writer is up there.
3. Watching the little kids carry out the Baby Jesus to the manger while we sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve in the candlelit sanctuary makes me cry.
2. My pet peeve is injustice- people disrespecting others in all forms.
1. The thing I miss most about my daughters being older is how cool it is to hold a snuggling baby.

Change of Seasons

After a long spate of unseasonable warm weather farther into what I consider fall, it is now officially and definitively, autumnal. And as usual, we are overdue for taking in all of the porch things for the winter because "you just never know" it could still be nice another day. As much as I love fall, I am always a little wistful about the end of summer because the combination of "the school year" and being inside more, and not being able to pad around the property barefoot is an adjustment to the system.
This year, with the advent of my seminary education, the change of seasons has meant something even more pronounced. This morning, as I lumbered around the kitchen waiting for the coffee to kick in, my Beloved came in hoping that today was the day I would make pancakes. He is the perky morning person that I am not. ( I actually have a coffee mug that says "Attention morning people, be perky at your peril." )
I was actually not thinking of making pancakes, after another late night of high school football. ( The good news is that we have made the playoffs; the bad news is it is now cold, and last night rainy).
But here is the eager pancake person, and what was the last thing I did that reflected more than just trying to get through the balance of the week of school, teaching parish, marching band, and music lessons? When did my seasons change?
So, as I made the pancakes, I remembered that I used to make baked goods each week for our church fellowship- baking has a therapeutic quality for me. And I notice that my baking powder is now past its date, and there is a fine layer of dust on the stand mixer. And the bread machine? Lonely and untouched since August. I have shelves of cookbooks and always collected recipes to try, jamming them into the leaves of other cookbooks so that when you open the book, they flitter out like butterflies as they head to the floor. I used to be that person.
And I while I could blame the load of schoolwork, and family and parishas the exclusive reason for this change, the truth is it is more about transition.
As I continue to make the switch from prior vocation and focus to the present, there is more on the side of the scales that is "new and unknown" and less on the side of "same as it ever was." Recently Gannet Girl blogged about her health woes and the balancing act of returning to school.
For me the woe is that of redefining parts of self while desperately trying to hold on to others. I still want to be sitting on the porch in my barefeet... and yet, while this is beginning to sound like a pity party, in the midst of this, there are indescribably wonderful moments in the parish I am serving, and in school. I've been asked to do a session on the seminary radio program and I was told I presented a striking thesis in a paper on the Didache, which I view as instructive to the church as we address seekers in our midst. How to instruct others in the faith in new and engaged ways, while retaining core beliefs. Change of seasons.
Last Sunday I spent Sunday dinner in an 1800's farmhouse and learned not only all about the parish, and when the modern electrics and indoor plumbing was installed from lovely octogenarians, but about the struggles of the members and their commitment for decades to teaching the seminarians. Unless however, this parish is prepared to change seasons and invite the new, their time is limited. As I recently read in What's Theology Got To Do With It?, the failure to accept change denies God the ongoing nature of creation.
Something to ponder. God does not seek to keep the season unchanging, either outdoors, or in our lives. Stated another way, God is active in our lives bringing forth creative and redeeming work. So while I will continue to struggle with what of the old me can survive, the seasons are changing and I should give thanks for the new and challenging things I am blessed to explore.

Mini Sermon on Luke 15:11-32

As a part of our homiletical theory class, we need to deliver a 3 minute mini sermon. Comments are invited:

But now, he’s broke; credit cards are max-ed out; he’s been evicted; no wants to hire him with his criminal record; all of his “friends” have moved on; he’s HIV-positive. He dives in dumpsters for food and catches a day labor job when he can.
“Maybe my old man will put me up for awhile-I’ll see what I can get out of the family.”
This is what he thinks as he starts hitching home.
“I’ll tell him I’m sorry”
But somewhere along the way, he really believes it. Home is the one place they will still love me- even now. “Forgive me!”
His Dad gets a call from the neighbor who swears he saw the kid hitching on the Turnpike at the last interchange. And the father jumps in his car and takes off to find him. Even now- even after the son stole the family’s Social Security numbers and ran up debt.
For one simple reason he goes- compassion. Not just love, or pity. Not mere sympathy or even yearning, but deep down, melt your heart , raw emotion in your gut, in your very being- compassion. The father loses himself to compassion for this flesh of his flesh- “This is my son!”
Compassion fuels the process of restoration. The son is embraced again, not after a period of reintroduction, restitution and passing litmus tests; not after ritual purification and works of righteousness , but NOW.
The Greek word for compassion is used six times in the New Testament, each in a similar way. Compassion and healing of wounds; compassion and caring for the distressed; compassion and raising the dead.
And this son was by all rights “ dead” because of the separation. He was lost, ruined and without life. Jesus will go on in Luke Chapter 19 to state that the Son of Man has come to reclaim just such people. Not by teaching in the temple to the worthy, but by seeking out the lost, and sharing among them and living in their midst.
What of the “lost” in our world? Often they are those who have made really bad decisions; those who are hard to love or even scary to be around. But, coming back to our text, I wonder if there is a reason the parable stops short of wrapping up the story of the older brother. The one who has remained faithful in the family; who is angered by the lavish party.
It can be easy to feel like him. “Why should my money support the welfare mom who just keeps having kids?” “Why do I care about the immigrant, or any of these others?” “What is there to love about these?” “They’ve made their bed – they can lie in it!” “Let them follow the rules like I do!”
Hear again the Father: “Rejoice with me! Your brother was lost and now is found! Come to the celebration- be a part of the restoration!”
We don’t know if the older brother joins the party or not. What we do know is that God loved us and had compassion for us to the extent that the Son was sent to run out and meet us. Even though all of the “older brothers” grumbled at the ridiculousness of it all. God lost all sense and sought us out anyway. Later in the New Testament, the disciples are commissioned to carry on this ministry- seeking out the lost and proclaiming the message of grace, mercy and forgiveness. And God is seeking still.
SO who are we? Lost ones found? For sure
Angry older brothers and sisters? Let’s hope not. For just as we are beloved children of God, so are all of our lost brother and sisters. We need to ask- what kind of family does God call us to be?
AMEN