Doesn't it feel more like Spring than Winter to you? It sure seems like we have skipped right over the colder and snowier (traditionally) parts of the year and headed on to the next stage of natural life and rhythm.
Such is also often the case for those who maybe celebrated the birth of Jesus a few weeks ago, maybe reconnected with a community of faith, only to return and find out he's all grown up and headed on his mission to announce God's kingdom is here. Things sure seem to move fast sometimes.
There will be no surprises though for how we often spend the first few weeks of any new year. Many people make "decisions" about their health, relationships, finances, or other things during this first month of the year. Most of us who do will totally abandon those decisions within a few weeks. In fact, the Christmas candy discounts were still going on December 29th when the Valentine's Day candy was already on sale! It was almost like we commercially replaced on kind of love with another.
Maybe we are all just in need of a little spiritual check-in with one another. While many of us find ways to "make it" through the Christmas season, it often comes back to haunt us in January when the first credit card bill arrives to remind us of our over-exhuberant spending. It is one of the first signs of disillusionment meant to suck the joy and energy out of our spirits and forget why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
So, while nature takes a little cleansing warm-up and rain to wash the iced-up piles of snow away, why not take a moment to reflect on the many ways you are blessed. Maybe take time to reflect a bit on how you are connected to people, or desire to be connected to others so that you may discover a bit of the divine spark that binds us together as people.
Stop by for a spiritual check-in and together we can discover where God is calling us here in this place and in this new year.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
No deep thoughts this week, just a moment to take time and reflect why we celebrate Christmas. It may be hard to remember as you deal with horrid weather, bad parking, overexhausted store clerks, fussy people, overstimulated children, and trying to get everything done at home.
Last night, my wife and I watched two of the Peanuts Christmas specials. The first one, older than us, was a favorite must-see when we were children every Christmas. The other, "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown," came out in 1992, so perhaps its one of your must-see Christmas shows. The latter one has a great scene that I thinks reflects perfectly the way life truly is for many of us.
Sally and Linus are sitting in an armchair. Linus is the theologian in the Peanuts universe. He is the one that believes in the mytery of life, though he sometimes gets things a bit confused when it comes to make-believe (hence the confusion over The Great Pumpkin and Santa Clause). Sally wants Linus to tell her what the Christmas season is all about. She has kind of had it with the season and all its pressures to perform and do so much. So Linus begins launching into the birth story of Jesus as it is presented in the Gospel of Luke. But while Linus is telling the story, Sally begins to complain, talking about shopping and all the troubles of trying to keep up with the commericialism of the season.
I love that scene because here in a nutshell, Charles Schulze has illustrated our culture perfectly. The birth story of Jesus is an amazing story. Perhaps it is as familiar as a holiday special. And we can kind of hear it in the background, but we are unwilling to really listen to it unless there might be something new to hear. We hear the story. We perhaps even desire to hear and believe the possibility of hope. That gets hard to do as we worry about our own life, friendships, family, things lost, missed opportunities, etc. Or perhaps it is just stress that is added because let's face it, the noise of the commercial season has been going loud and strong since what, September?
So the lesson we learn from Peanuts is that if we take a deep breath it will let us hear that old story. Let us really pause to listen.
Let us choose carols of hope instead of commercialized Christmas songs selling a Christmas that can never exist. Let us instead celebrate the birth of Christ as a reminder that there is another way.
One last image to think about....another favorite comic strip, B.C., had a simple Christmas message one year. We see B.C. walking in the desert. Above him is this bright, outstanding star which has captured his imagination. But he is not paying attention and stumbles on a rock causing him to fall and bump his head. When he lifts his head up to look again, the star has been blurred in his vision into 3 stars that bear a striking resemblance to 3 crosses. In three little panels the cartoonist has shown us the whole point of the Christmas story. Jesus is coming to call us into a new life that is going to lead to a horrible sacrifice, but one that will change the world. It is a symbol that you are never alone and that there is a deeper, more meaningful way of living.
The message of Christmas is that in a scandalous unmarried mother's teen pregnancy, comes an intervention in human history of God's amazing grace and love, who is Jesus.
May the love of Christ bless you this Christmas season with love and grace.
Last night, my wife and I watched two of the Peanuts Christmas specials. The first one, older than us, was a favorite must-see when we were children every Christmas. The other, "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown," came out in 1992, so perhaps its one of your must-see Christmas shows. The latter one has a great scene that I thinks reflects perfectly the way life truly is for many of us.
Sally and Linus are sitting in an armchair. Linus is the theologian in the Peanuts universe. He is the one that believes in the mytery of life, though he sometimes gets things a bit confused when it comes to make-believe (hence the confusion over The Great Pumpkin and Santa Clause). Sally wants Linus to tell her what the Christmas season is all about. She has kind of had it with the season and all its pressures to perform and do so much. So Linus begins launching into the birth story of Jesus as it is presented in the Gospel of Luke. But while Linus is telling the story, Sally begins to complain, talking about shopping and all the troubles of trying to keep up with the commericialism of the season.
I love that scene because here in a nutshell, Charles Schulze has illustrated our culture perfectly. The birth story of Jesus is an amazing story. Perhaps it is as familiar as a holiday special. And we can kind of hear it in the background, but we are unwilling to really listen to it unless there might be something new to hear. We hear the story. We perhaps even desire to hear and believe the possibility of hope. That gets hard to do as we worry about our own life, friendships, family, things lost, missed opportunities, etc. Or perhaps it is just stress that is added because let's face it, the noise of the commercial season has been going loud and strong since what, September?
So the lesson we learn from Peanuts is that if we take a deep breath it will let us hear that old story. Let us really pause to listen.
Let us choose carols of hope instead of commercialized Christmas songs selling a Christmas that can never exist. Let us instead celebrate the birth of Christ as a reminder that there is another way.
One last image to think about....another favorite comic strip, B.C., had a simple Christmas message one year. We see B.C. walking in the desert. Above him is this bright, outstanding star which has captured his imagination. But he is not paying attention and stumbles on a rock causing him to fall and bump his head. When he lifts his head up to look again, the star has been blurred in his vision into 3 stars that bear a striking resemblance to 3 crosses. In three little panels the cartoonist has shown us the whole point of the Christmas story. Jesus is coming to call us into a new life that is going to lead to a horrible sacrifice, but one that will change the world. It is a symbol that you are never alone and that there is a deeper, more meaningful way of living.
The message of Christmas is that in a scandalous unmarried mother's teen pregnancy, comes an intervention in human history of God's amazing grace and love, who is Jesus.
May the love of Christ bless you this Christmas season with love and grace.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Longest Night Event Postponed
Steve just went over to Rivier College to check out whether we could still hold our prayer service tonight, and he found too-slippery hills and no safe places to park. So we're going to postpone the event. Thanks to Crystal for all the work she put into planning this and inviting people. And thanks to Steve for being out on the roads to make a final decision!
Kari
Kari
Monday, December 17, 2007
"Now the Birth of Jesus...."
Most of us receive the good news about the birth of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. That is to say that all the TV specials often find the wealth of information about this event in Luke's telling of the birth and life of Jesus. But what about Matthew's Gospel? This often intriguing view of Jesus' public ministry and life is often quite challenging as we discover the crux of Matthew's own perspective for the community that received this good news.
And so, this week, I thought it pertinent to look at how Matthew's telling of Jesus' birth happens. Matthew wants to place Jesus more historically in the genealogy of the Jewish people and so he launches off his Gospel with a listing of the family tree. It is an interesting way of trying to combine the ancient life of a community with its present and future living. But then Matthew begins his story: "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah began this way..."
For Matthew there is no beautiful Mary singing about her overwhelming joy of being chosen by God. Matthew begins his story with scandal at its heart. Matthew lulls us into a sense of comfort as he begins his phrasing with this opening statement. Here is a familiar story. It is a story we have heard before. But Matthew wants to point out something deeper that requires us to begin suspending our past.
For Matthew begins by pointing out that Joseph is a recently engaged man. He is going to prepare the way, for his wedding. He has arranged to marry this young woman, Mary. One day he goes to visit her and discovers that she is pregnant! How can this be? Joseph has every right to take Mary out into the square, condemn her and stone her. This was his right.
Joseph though shows an interesting, and scandalous character to the community hearing this story. We might think it fairly normal in our day and age. Joseph decides that the best thing to do is to backstep. He decides that he will just quietly say to Mary that he just cannot honor his contract with her for marriage and assume she will agree given the situation.
This is all normal don't you think? But before Joseph goes to tell her, one night he has a dream. Dreams and visions are important and can help the listener understand, or accept what happens next. It is in dreams where the holy and sacred enter into our world sometimes. In dreams we can tap into a spiritual awareness that we might not be able to see. It is in his dream that Joseph experiences his own angelic announcement. It is here where Joseph is given a glimpse of the future of this baby that is growing in Mary's womb. He is given an awareness of the connection of the present with a prophetic thread in the history of his people. God is about to do something amazing. "God has done something amazing and you are a part of it, Joseph."
The angel's words recall the sense of what Jesus' ministry will be. The angel tells Joseph that the baby's name will be "Emmanuel," meaning "God with us." It is a hint of the ministry that Jesus will be about. Jesus will come to turn the world upside down; a world that has a chance to rethink how it lives, breathes, and acts. It will be a world that discovers God's very presence everywhere in it.
This is something that By the Way experiences in the people we meet and the community we are forming. As we gather this week for the Service of the Longest Night, it will be a sign for us all that God is with us. That this place where we live, Nashua, is part of God's kingdom, and we together are signs of God's grace to one another in our deepest pain, and in our overwhelming joy in living.
God is doing something amazing and you are a part of it.
And so, this week, I thought it pertinent to look at how Matthew's telling of Jesus' birth happens. Matthew wants to place Jesus more historically in the genealogy of the Jewish people and so he launches off his Gospel with a listing of the family tree. It is an interesting way of trying to combine the ancient life of a community with its present and future living. But then Matthew begins his story: "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah began this way..."
For Matthew there is no beautiful Mary singing about her overwhelming joy of being chosen by God. Matthew begins his story with scandal at its heart. Matthew lulls us into a sense of comfort as he begins his phrasing with this opening statement. Here is a familiar story. It is a story we have heard before. But Matthew wants to point out something deeper that requires us to begin suspending our past.
For Matthew begins by pointing out that Joseph is a recently engaged man. He is going to prepare the way, for his wedding. He has arranged to marry this young woman, Mary. One day he goes to visit her and discovers that she is pregnant! How can this be? Joseph has every right to take Mary out into the square, condemn her and stone her. This was his right.
Joseph though shows an interesting, and scandalous character to the community hearing this story. We might think it fairly normal in our day and age. Joseph decides that the best thing to do is to backstep. He decides that he will just quietly say to Mary that he just cannot honor his contract with her for marriage and assume she will agree given the situation.
This is all normal don't you think? But before Joseph goes to tell her, one night he has a dream. Dreams and visions are important and can help the listener understand, or accept what happens next. It is in dreams where the holy and sacred enter into our world sometimes. In dreams we can tap into a spiritual awareness that we might not be able to see. It is in his dream that Joseph experiences his own angelic announcement. It is here where Joseph is given a glimpse of the future of this baby that is growing in Mary's womb. He is given an awareness of the connection of the present with a prophetic thread in the history of his people. God is about to do something amazing. "God has done something amazing and you are a part of it, Joseph."
The angel's words recall the sense of what Jesus' ministry will be. The angel tells Joseph that the baby's name will be "Emmanuel," meaning "God with us." It is a hint of the ministry that Jesus will be about. Jesus will come to turn the world upside down; a world that has a chance to rethink how it lives, breathes, and acts. It will be a world that discovers God's very presence everywhere in it.
This is something that By the Way experiences in the people we meet and the community we are forming. As we gather this week for the Service of the Longest Night, it will be a sign for us all that God is with us. That this place where we live, Nashua, is part of God's kingdom, and we together are signs of God's grace to one another in our deepest pain, and in our overwhelming joy in living.
God is doing something amazing and you are a part of it.
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