Silent Night

Wishing you a white Christmas!

The Shortest Days of the Year

Today is the shortest day of the year. Sadly as I write this sunset is only three hours away and I am about to have lunch. Thankfully, the sky is full of brilliant white snow.

Over the next three days, the length of daylight doesn't get perceptively longer. It is not until Christmas day that we start to gain sunlight. In a time when we are so focused on the passing of minutes and hours, it is only at a subconscious level that we recognize this dark period of the year.

Whatever the true date of Christ's birth, we have to recognize the pastoral wisdom of our forebearers whose lives we're much more closely linked to the rising and setting of the sun. In their wisdom and desire to provide hope in truly dark time of year, they recognized the importance of providing hope. In this time of darkness, I am so happy that I have the Light of the World's arrival to look forward to.

All I Want for Christmas

In my deepest depths all I want for Christmas is the presence of God in my life. There can be no greater longing in my soul and there can be no greater gift in my life.

Not that I don't feel God's presence and love in my life. Not that I can't look back, over and over again, and see God's involvement like the aroma of a fresh cut Christmas tree. Not that I can't point to beautiful moments in my life where God's sweet voice called to me. I can.

All I want for Christmas is to be filled once again with the peace that comes from knowing that our loving Creator cares for me, my loved ones and the whole of humanity. I long for this every Christmas; don't you?

The Gift of Stability

It is simply astounding how important stability is in our lives.

Today my family and I delivered gifts from my school's giving tree to another family. We arrived at the home of this single mother and her four daughters earlier today. She has only recently moved into their apartment which was provided through "section 8 housing".

What was remarkable to me is how difficult life is for families who lack stability. What I mean is when families rely on only one parent and then that parent gets cancer and then another child becomes sick, stability for the family is gone. Oh, and add to that a power outage which spoils the food in the freeze, what do you do? You don't have extra money. You don't have extra time. You don't have extra energy. The success of a family is deeply connected to stability.

Consider then, Joseph's decision to stay with Mary. The stability of the holy family is so profoundly important. As we approach Christmas, remember those like the family I met today; pray for them. If you can, find a way to make them have Christmas. Families are praying for our help. Just like Mary and Joseph was praying for a place out of the elements.

The Incarnation and the Resurrection

This is a photo that I took one Christmas Eve at St. Matthew's Church, Bedford New York. I love the simplicity of the candles, crucifix and poinsettias. The power of the colorful flowers remind me not only of Christmas, but in this picture make the tie of the Incarnation to the Resurrection.

Does everyone talk about these things?

At dinner tonight, I overhead a heated conversation between a married couple. She was complaining about his brother's wife. This woman was a complete dissapointment. She was lazy. She couldn't even keep a job answering the phone at an Episcopal Church. She wasted money that they didn't have. She had trouble paying the bills, but continued to ordered expensive take out. All the while the wife complained, the husband listened patiently until a smirk crossed his face and suddenly ended the conversation. The funny thing about families is that all of us, who have been married for sometime, have experienced these kinds of conversations.

I wonder if Joseph's family members had similar conversations with their spouses. While we'll never know, I have to think they did; it's just too common. So let's assume that a conversation like the one I heard happened between one of Joseph's siblings and his or her spouse. It might have been very similar: "Can you believe she's pregnant? I don't understand your brother. How could he stay engaged to her? What is he thinking? I think she's crazy, all caught up with that talk of the Holy Spirit causing it. Thank God, they had the sense to leave town. Your poor mother..."

If your are having trouble with your family at Christmas time, think of Mary and Joseph. They were the first one's to have holiday famliy trouble.

The Date of Christmas

Once you've been in church long enough you start to hear things. These things come from the doubters. These people seem nice enough; they come to church religously, but their heart is not into church. Now mind you, they are not melicious. Unbenounce to these people, however, they say things that undermine the budding faith of many people. I ran into one of these people once, many years ago, and this person said to me, "You know, the date of Christmas is wrong." He was right, but not totally.

Early Christians weren't hung up on when Jesus came to save us. What was most important was that Jesus came.

It took several hundred years for the date of Christmas to land on December 25th. Here is what the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says: Clement of Alexandria (150 - 215 A.D.) suggested May 2oth. The first evidence showing December 25th as the date for Jesus' birth was the year 336. The date of the 25th gained more usage and prominence once Constantine became Emperor. So for almost 1700 years, Christmas has been celebrated on the 25th and the benefit of this date is simply this: During the darkest time of the year, for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the light of the world brings light and joy to our souls.

The Three Christmas Gifts

When we uncouple Christmas gift-giving from the love of our family and friends, we can tie it to God's profound, radical, unique, special divine love. In seeing that our gifts are simply tangible, material symbols of God's love for us, a natural rethinking of gift-giving occurs.

A significant question arises: How many gifts do I give my children? We can seek out the Bible for an answer. The Scriptures gives us a simple answer. The wise men bring three gifts to Jesus.

In our affluent society, especially in times of economic troubles, three gifts to our children gives gift-giving biblical proportion. It is generous, yet not so generous as to spoil.

Our family has found that once the myth of Santa has been debunked, on the school bus or the lunch room, the "wise guys" keep the fun alive, all the while remaining a means to teach.

The Christmas Story

What amazes me about the Christmas story is how perfectly normal people, who try to live their lives as best they can, are brought together by God. They are brought together because in the birth of Jesus, we learn several important things.

First is that humans, all humans, even the lowest people on the social and economic ladder, which in the Christmas story were the shepherds, are loved by God. This means that all of us our loved by the Creator of the universe. Second is that all of us, no matter what we have done in our lives, are beyond salvation by God. Moreover, God brings together not just the world’s powerful people to do his work, but more often than not, he brings together the young and the outcast to see his workings happen in the world.

Third is that God doesn’t simply love us, but God has offers to us eternal life. Meaning that in his love and salvation, God will give eternal life to all.

Christmas is important to Christians because when we look out upon the vast night sky filled with star and galaxies, we have hope. Understanding that our earth is one planet in a solar system that is on the outskirts of a galaxy that is on the fringe of the universe, we have hope. Our hope rests in the fact that in a far away country, in a little town, in a small manger a young woman gave birth to the hope of the world. The hope was and is this: God loves us so much that he sent to our world his son as a baby, so that all of us no matter who were are or what we’ve done can still be loved by God.

Joseph

I wonder what it must have been like for Joseph. Many historians say that he was married previously and had children which meant that he was a widower. How fortunate he must have thought he was to find, fall in love with and then engaged to marry Mary. How lucky he must have thought he was to have lost the love of his life, his partner and the mother of his children, and find another woman to be his wife, partner and mother.

Then he discovers that Mary is pregnant. He must have been thrown into the throes of confusion. Do I keep Mary as my wife? Or do I quietly let her go? He resolves to let her go. The measure of Joseph is that he chooses to let her go quietly so that she is not disgraced. Still, he must have been conflicted. It all comes to a head one night; in a dream God speaks to him. God says that he should still marry Mary.

When Joseph awakes, he returns to Mary and reaffirms his desire to wed her. We can only imagine the joy that both of them felt. Mary's interaction with the angel was affirmed by Joseph's dream. Excitedly they wait for the baby. And then they learned that they must travel to Bethlehem. It's no easy road to Christmas for these two people. It's no easy road for us either: the shopping, the malls, the rushing from here to there; the parties; the relatives; and the tree. How can we forget the tree?

Mary

I love Christmas and frankly, I don't care much for Advent. Why wait? Why hold back from saying, "Merry Christmas." It's not like we're waiting for the birth to occur. It's not like we have to patiently wait with the expectant mother. A birth is a risky thing, even in our modern times, but we know the birth will happen successfully. So I have a hard time waiting.

Like any expectant mother, I have to think that Mary must have had a hard time waiting, too. She had to leave home. What a thing to ask. No matter how spiritually mature she was, to leave her mother, other female relatives and friends must have been extremely tough. Many tears must have been shed. Now after riding alongside Joseph, they arrive in Bethlehem. We all know the story - "no room at the inn". With her hands pressed against her aching back, she must have been a sympathetic sight - "we've got a manger". Did she cry when she finally settled off her feet? She must have simply wanted the birth to happen: "Just get this baby out of me, please God."

For as much as we want our waiting to end, it is in the waiting that the growth occurs. Happy Advent and Merry Christmas! Tomorrow, I'll explore Joseph and the specialness of Christmas.

Bundled Satisfaction

It's hard to watch television these days without being overrun by someone trying to sell something for Christmas. A simple tree lighting ceremony is filled with entertainers selling their latest CD. Now I certainly am not naive to the reality of retail. I understand that the consumer industry is a vital part of our economy, especially in these troubled times.

However, no matter how many gifts we buy or how many gifts we give or receive, we'll never turn off that little voice in our head that says, "Is that all?" Like it or not, Christmas is not found in the gifts that we give each other. In order to find the true joy in Christmas, we need to uncouple love and gift-giving and recouple love to the divine love of God.

The true Christmas is not about "shopping, eating, gift-giving and being with loved ones" as one television announcer said this night, rather its about the little gift bundled in a manger some 2000 years ago. The baby Jesus is the only way to satisfy that little voice, because Jesus says to us, "Yes, I am all in all."

Tomorrow, I will explore how to bring Jesus and gift giving to our children together in a meaningful way.

Power and Might

Oh, God was thinking. He was thinking indeed. The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his son, Jesus to save it. In order to save the world, Jesus came to the world not wrapped in power, but in swaddling clothes.

As a baby the savior of the world, anointed by God, was born in the lowest of places, a manger. Why? If God wanted to save the world, then why not come as a mighty force, a wind, a storm, a plague, a voice from the heavens. Could he not have called with a voice that only he could use and brought all of humanity to its knees? Of course he could, but to what end? Humans would no longer find themselves free, but cowering in terror.

So God choose not to use power, but the wonder of love found in the gentle coo of a baby and the warmth of open face of a new born

God's Gift?

In the years before the birth of Jesus, the Jewish people had been told by their prophets especially Daniel that a Messiah or anointed one would be coming soon to bring the Israelites back to prominence as a people, a nation. So who would this Messiah be? Certainly someone of royal blood or lineage. Certainly someone who is educated. Certainly someone who has access to seats of power.

But who did God anoint? Who did God appoint as his Messiah? God sent a baby. God sent a baby born of a teenage mother and a carpenter, who lived in a remote, small town. One must ask: “Where is the royal blood? How could he be educated? And what kind of access to power would a baby, boy or man from a nowhere town have?” The answer is none. What is God thinking? Is that all?

Gift giving and Love

For a long time, I linked gift giving with love. The bigger or better the gift meant the more or greater the love. Maybe you think the same way. Who can blame us? That's what commercial after commercial tell us. But the commercials only feed on what is in us.



When I open my presents and discover the clothing, the book, the electronic device, the watch, or cash, I am happy, but then in the back of my mind a thought creeps in. It is like a little voice calling from a deep dark corner of my mind. The voice speaks softly, but clearly. It says, "Is that all?" And then the voice makes me think: If they love me, I mean really love me, then I would get more. Then I always shake the thought away. But the voice never leaves willingly.



There is a way to shut up that little voice. The first step is to uncouple gift giving and love.