It seems that the assumptions made by many journalists may be right: The decision to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland was based in fear and prejudice. The Swiss people have, in my opinion, lost respect, ground and have lost the right to be called a "center for diplomacy".
If this decision had been made for the purpose of protecting the cultural heritage reflected in the architecture of the country, one might see some sense in the decision. But, the examples I have viewed of the minarets that have been built in that country do not tower over or detract from the cathedrals of Europe.
Some say the decision reflects the fears held by the Swiss that their country is being inundated by Muslim immigrants and that simply it mirrors attitudes from around the world fearing Islamic extremists. I have read the rhetoric of a variety of news reports, most of which see this decision as a major error in judgment on the part of the Swiss nation, calling it discrimination and bigotry.
Even the Swiss Bishops issued a statement from the Vatican saying that the decision presents "an obstacle to interreligious harmony".
Whatever the case, one thing is certain. The decision has moved the Switzerland out of its usual "neutral position" and into "reverse". This is surprising from the country that has been considered by many to be a "center for diplomacy". Since 1919 when it became the seat for the League of Nations, the city of Geneva has been "home" to the headquarters of international agencies, including departments of the United Nations and the Red Cross. Geneva has been the site for numerous "Peace Talks" and the Swiss government has maintained a "neutrality" in foreign relations for hundreds of years.
From personal experience, I can attest that it is not always easy to keep a neutral position, as the Swiss government lays claim to. When we moved to our small town of 300, I told our children that the parsonage we live in is "Geneva"- neutral territory. My intention was to stay out of the politics of feuds between families or organizations in this town. On a professional level, we take no sides. On a personal level, it's more difficult.
It would appear the same is true in this case. The Swiss government may be able to remain neutral about things, but clearly the Swiss people cannot. This decision is anything but neutral!
When I fail to remain neutral in town politics, I "lose ground" in the effort to move my community forward in their thinking. The Swiss have lost ground and lost respect in this maneuver.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Woman in the Mirror
The former Miss Argentina died yesterday following plastic surgery. The surgery was an elective procedure, reportedly on her buttocks. If it weren't so tragic, there would surely be any number of tasteless jokes being bantered about... There probably are some anyway.
For some reason, this 37-year-old woman felt that she needed to change her looks, and that it was worth whatever minimal risk was involved. She is not alone...
In March of 2008, the awareness of just how dangerous plastic surgery can be was raised when a Florida teen died after corrective breast surgery due to a rare reaction to anesthesia meds given during the "routine surgery".
A fellow blogger- a "nurse turned writer" named Marjike, points out that while complications from plastic surgery are "rare", they do happen. The problem, she says, is that people don't take plastic surgery seriously.
She writes on her blog: "Many people don’t see plastic surgery as “real” surgery. The thing is, it is very real surgery. It involves anesthetic, which has risks of its own, and the procedures – all of which have some risk. Is it worth it? Is this search for never-ending youth worth it? Some people think so."
This, for me, is the crucial question. In 2004, ABC News reported that some 9 million Americans had gone under the knife for some form of plastic surgery during the previous year. Some of those procedures were possibly not just "elective" surgeries, but still, the number is staggering to me. Really? 9 million people who are not happy with the way they look?
Oh, I believe that there are many, many more of us out there who aren't really happy with the way we look. We look in the mirror and see those extra pounds screaming at us, or the wrinkles laughing... Even "beautiful people" sometimes have a difficult recognizing their beauty in the reflection that stares back at them. Any 12-Step program or therapist worth their salt will tell you that you have to become content with the inner beauty or it won't matter how you look... You'll still feel ________________. (Fill in the blank: fat, old, dowdy, worthless...)
As for me, I don't like the extra pounds, and have taken many of them off in the past two years. There are many more still juggling there in the mirror's reflection, but they don't scream quite so loudly. I have come to accept the wrinkles that are laughing at me, although, yes, I use face cream much more regularly these days as the 50th birthday quickly approaches.
Most of all, I am trying to recognize the beautiful woman that God created... the child that He/She "wonderfully and fearfully knit" in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139) For, as the Psalmist says, "God's works are wonderful."
I am the mother of a young teenage girl. So far, when we watch reality shows on TV that feature models, such as "Project Runway" or "America's Next Top Model", we are able to appreciate the way that the "right" hair or makeup can enhance what a woman already has, and talk about how the pressures of that "perfect" body image are a bit ridiculous and somewhat impossible to attain. That's how it is so far, anyway.
And we celebrate how beautifully God has created her, inside and out. God's works are wonderful. Let's help our young girls (and boys) learn that. As the song of my childhood goes: "Jesus loves the little children... red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight..."
When we look in the mirror, may we see that we are each a child of God, and oh, so very precious.
For some reason, this 37-year-old woman felt that she needed to change her looks, and that it was worth whatever minimal risk was involved. She is not alone...
In March of 2008, the awareness of just how dangerous plastic surgery can be was raised when a Florida teen died after corrective breast surgery due to a rare reaction to anesthesia meds given during the "routine surgery".
A fellow blogger- a "nurse turned writer" named Marjike, points out that while complications from plastic surgery are "rare", they do happen. The problem, she says, is that people don't take plastic surgery seriously.
She writes on her blog: "Many people don’t see plastic surgery as “real” surgery. The thing is, it is very real surgery. It involves anesthetic, which has risks of its own, and the procedures – all of which have some risk. Is it worth it? Is this search for never-ending youth worth it? Some people think so."
This, for me, is the crucial question. In 2004, ABC News reported that some 9 million Americans had gone under the knife for some form of plastic surgery during the previous year. Some of those procedures were possibly not just "elective" surgeries, but still, the number is staggering to me. Really? 9 million people who are not happy with the way they look?
Oh, I believe that there are many, many more of us out there who aren't really happy with the way we look. We look in the mirror and see those extra pounds screaming at us, or the wrinkles laughing... Even "beautiful people" sometimes have a difficult recognizing their beauty in the reflection that stares back at them. Any 12-Step program or therapist worth their salt will tell you that you have to become content with the inner beauty or it won't matter how you look... You'll still feel ________________. (Fill in the blank: fat, old, dowdy, worthless...)
As for me, I don't like the extra pounds, and have taken many of them off in the past two years. There are many more still juggling there in the mirror's reflection, but they don't scream quite so loudly. I have come to accept the wrinkles that are laughing at me, although, yes, I use face cream much more regularly these days as the 50th birthday quickly approaches.
Most of all, I am trying to recognize the beautiful woman that God created... the child that He/She "wonderfully and fearfully knit" in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139) For, as the Psalmist says, "God's works are wonderful."
I am the mother of a young teenage girl. So far, when we watch reality shows on TV that feature models, such as "Project Runway" or "America's Next Top Model", we are able to appreciate the way that the "right" hair or makeup can enhance what a woman already has, and talk about how the pressures of that "perfect" body image are a bit ridiculous and somewhat impossible to attain. That's how it is so far, anyway.
And we celebrate how beautifully God has created her, inside and out. God's works are wonderful. Let's help our young girls (and boys) learn that. As the song of my childhood goes: "Jesus loves the little children... red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight..."
When we look in the mirror, may we see that we are each a child of God, and oh, so very precious.
Monday, November 23, 2009
I'm Lobbying to Speak the Truth in Love
It would be easy to criticize the U.S. Catholic bishops for the actions involving them in the health-care debate. I doubt that Jesus would approve of the use of lobbyists to forward His Gospel message. And yet, as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, if I point a finger at the Catholic Church for this, there are "three fingers pointing back at me". The UCC is well-known for taking positions on any number of issues.
Am I being critical of the actions taken or am I critical of the stance itself?
Religious leaders have a duty to raise concerns about the moral implications surrounding any number of issues. However, the role of religious leaders in government policymaking should be as the “prophetic voice” and not as the “coercive arm”. There is a fine line between speaking "with authority" as an "agent of Christ" and speaking or acting in ways that abuse the power of that role.
My husband and I have taken care not to abuse the power that comes from being the only pastors living and preaching in a town of 330 people. During last year's elections, while some may have suspected who we intended to vote for, only our children knew for sure. On the other hand, when there is an opportunity to preach and teach "progressive ideas" like: peace, the responsibility to care for Creation, or the worth of all people as part of God's Creation, we believe it is our duty to "speak the truth in love", as is pledged during the ordination service of the United Church of Christ.
Others, often at the level of denominations or organizations, have used more aggressive approaches. The Catholic bishops in this instance may have "pushed the envelope", but they did it legally. The same is true, just barely, of actions taken by other religious organizations and their leaders.
When one of my colleagues, both a UCC minister and a state representative, ran for re-election several years ago, a group affiliated with, but "separate from", one of the large conservative Christian organizations launched an aggressive campaign to try to ensure his defeat. Letters were mailed out to thousands of constituents, filled with half-truths about his voting record, and condemning his association with the United Church of Christ and for having performed ceremonies to bless same-sex unions, both supported and expected by his congregation.
This was "legal" because the group that pays for such activities is separate from the religious ministry, and funded by individual contributions earmarked for such. The leader who founded both organizations holds no standing in any denomination, but make no mistake, he is a "religious leader" in this nation. Perhaps if he held standing somewhere, he might be held to a "higher code".
Religious leaders, at least those in my denomination, are bound by promises made at ordination to preach and teach the gospel “without fear or favor” and to “speak the truth in love.” I would imagine the promises are similar in the Catholic church.
In the Christian faith, we look to Jesus as a model of religious leadership. Jesus had relatively little to say about the political leadership and policies of the day. “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what is God’s”. Still, when one considers that the daily lives of the Jews were governed more by religious law than Roman, one sees that Jesus did, indeed, speak out against injustices and in support of God’s love.
As a pastor, I have the duty and honor to speak out against injustice and in favor of God’s love.
Am I being critical of the actions taken or am I critical of the stance itself?
Religious leaders have a duty to raise concerns about the moral implications surrounding any number of issues. However, the role of religious leaders in government policymaking should be as the “prophetic voice” and not as the “coercive arm”. There is a fine line between speaking "with authority" as an "agent of Christ" and speaking or acting in ways that abuse the power of that role.
My husband and I have taken care not to abuse the power that comes from being the only pastors living and preaching in a town of 330 people. During last year's elections, while some may have suspected who we intended to vote for, only our children knew for sure. On the other hand, when there is an opportunity to preach and teach "progressive ideas" like: peace, the responsibility to care for Creation, or the worth of all people as part of God's Creation, we believe it is our duty to "speak the truth in love", as is pledged during the ordination service of the United Church of Christ.
Others, often at the level of denominations or organizations, have used more aggressive approaches. The Catholic bishops in this instance may have "pushed the envelope", but they did it legally. The same is true, just barely, of actions taken by other religious organizations and their leaders.
When one of my colleagues, both a UCC minister and a state representative, ran for re-election several years ago, a group affiliated with, but "separate from", one of the large conservative Christian organizations launched an aggressive campaign to try to ensure his defeat. Letters were mailed out to thousands of constituents, filled with half-truths about his voting record, and condemning his association with the United Church of Christ and for having performed ceremonies to bless same-sex unions, both supported and expected by his congregation.
This was "legal" because the group that pays for such activities is separate from the religious ministry, and funded by individual contributions earmarked for such. The leader who founded both organizations holds no standing in any denomination, but make no mistake, he is a "religious leader" in this nation. Perhaps if he held standing somewhere, he might be held to a "higher code".
Religious leaders, at least those in my denomination, are bound by promises made at ordination to preach and teach the gospel “without fear or favor” and to “speak the truth in love.” I would imagine the promises are similar in the Catholic church.
In the Christian faith, we look to Jesus as a model of religious leadership. Jesus had relatively little to say about the political leadership and policies of the day. “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what is God’s”. Still, when one considers that the daily lives of the Jews were governed more by religious law than Roman, one sees that Jesus did, indeed, speak out against injustices and in support of God’s love.
As a pastor, I have the duty and honor to speak out against injustice and in favor of God’s love.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Suffer the Little Children
I just returned home from my daughter's middle school. I've been there many times before... ball games, chaperoning field trips, accompanying the choirs and bands. But this time was different. This time, I was one of about 12 counselors, pastors and teachers, trying to help these young students answer the unanswerable "why?" Sometimes I listened, sometimes I gave little insights into how grief "works", sometimes I just sat with them as they held one another and cried.
There is no answer for them. There is no sense to be made of a senseless situation. One of them realized aloud, "You don't expect it be your classmate. A 90-year-old, yes, but not your classmate."
Another complained about the rumors that had already begun to surface. Yet another said she lived down the street and wondered if she would ever get the images of the flashing lights... the door being broken down... the screaming... out of her head.
My own daughter told another student that she has heard so many stories now, she doesn't really care to know "what really happened".
The reasons don't matter much anyway. Knowing what happened won't turn back the clock. I would imagine his parents are pointing fingers of blame at themselves and each other, or will be, when the shock wears off. That won't help much, either. Perhaps they could have done things differently, but perhaps they, like other parents, were "doing their best".
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:14)
I heard more than one statement from adults in my community that "a child shouldn't have worries that big!" They are right. A child should not have to suffer. But they do. Sadly, they do. Whether their problems are real-- and some of them are-- or imagined, there are many youth who do not have adequate support systems in place to deal with those problems.
Peer pressure, eating disorders, homework, teasing... My generation faced those problems, too. But my generation was more likely to have caring neighbors, stay-at-home moms, or grandparents who lived close by to help us get through our struggles. My generation was more likely to have someone... anyone... monitoring our activities after school and on weekends. My generation was more likely to have more of what the Search Institute calls the "40 Developmental Assets".
The more assets a child has from that list, the less likely they are to be troubled or "trouble-makers." Those assets include things such as:
· families that are supportive, communicate well and stay involved in their children's lives.
· caring neighborhoods and schools.
· a feeling that their community values youth.
· three or more non-parent adults with whom the youth have relationships.
· encouragement from family and teachers.
· a feeling of safety at home, school and in the community.
· opportunities to serve in the community, as well as to just be a part of it.
· clear boundaries from parents, school officials and neighbors
Those of us who are parents, as well as those who work with or care about the youth in their churches and communities can learn something from the tragedy that took me to the school today. Children can and do have problems that are so huge to them that they cannot imagine a way out of them. Whatever else we may do, we must listen to them. We must talk with them. We must build relationships with them. We must help them to trust as many adults in their lives as is possible.
We must, must, MUST "suffer" the children to come... hopefully, to Christ, but at the very least to us, so that the children are not the ones to suffer.
There is no answer for them. There is no sense to be made of a senseless situation. One of them realized aloud, "You don't expect it be your classmate. A 90-year-old, yes, but not your classmate."
Another complained about the rumors that had already begun to surface. Yet another said she lived down the street and wondered if she would ever get the images of the flashing lights... the door being broken down... the screaming... out of her head.
My own daughter told another student that she has heard so many stories now, she doesn't really care to know "what really happened".
The reasons don't matter much anyway. Knowing what happened won't turn back the clock. I would imagine his parents are pointing fingers of blame at themselves and each other, or will be, when the shock wears off. That won't help much, either. Perhaps they could have done things differently, but perhaps they, like other parents, were "doing their best".
Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:14)
I heard more than one statement from adults in my community that "a child shouldn't have worries that big!" They are right. A child should not have to suffer. But they do. Sadly, they do. Whether their problems are real-- and some of them are-- or imagined, there are many youth who do not have adequate support systems in place to deal with those problems.
Peer pressure, eating disorders, homework, teasing... My generation faced those problems, too. But my generation was more likely to have caring neighbors, stay-at-home moms, or grandparents who lived close by to help us get through our struggles. My generation was more likely to have someone... anyone... monitoring our activities after school and on weekends. My generation was more likely to have more of what the Search Institute calls the "40 Developmental Assets".
The more assets a child has from that list, the less likely they are to be troubled or "trouble-makers." Those assets include things such as:
· families that are supportive, communicate well and stay involved in their children's lives.
· caring neighborhoods and schools.
· a feeling that their community values youth.
· three or more non-parent adults with whom the youth have relationships.
· encouragement from family and teachers.
· a feeling of safety at home, school and in the community.
· opportunities to serve in the community, as well as to just be a part of it.
· clear boundaries from parents, school officials and neighbors
Those of us who are parents, as well as those who work with or care about the youth in their churches and communities can learn something from the tragedy that took me to the school today. Children can and do have problems that are so huge to them that they cannot imagine a way out of them. Whatever else we may do, we must listen to them. We must talk with them. We must build relationships with them. We must help them to trust as many adults in their lives as is possible.
We must, must, MUST "suffer" the children to come... hopefully, to Christ, but at the very least to us, so that the children are not the ones to suffer.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Walking the Via Dolorosa with Mary
I've been thinking about a classmate's observation about the character of Mary as portrayed in Mel Gibson's movie, 'The Passion of Christ". My classmate noted that his observation that "the mother can endure and nearly be indifferent to so much suffering also" was a bit unnerving. It made me pause because I didn't seen her in the this way when I watched the movie.
My husband and I discussed that, for both of us, the scene where Mary follows her son down the "Via Dolorosa"... shocked and helpless to do anything to stop what she is witnessing... with Satan matching her, step for step on the other side of the street... is the ONLY part of the movie that we resonate with.
It's how it has often been for us with our oldest son, as we watched him carry his own crosses, carefully crafted by his abusive birth parents, weighed down by his mental illnesses, sometimes driven by evil to act out and sabotage his future... all the while, we're anything BUT indifferent to his suffering. And equally helpless to stop what we are witnessing.
The movie came out shortly after our son had to be removed from our home to protect our other children. He refused the treatment that would have allowed him to stay in the home. Helpless to stop him from decisions that led to his placement in a juvenile detention setting, we grieved our powerlessness.
I cried through that whole scene, and it had nothing to do with the bloodied Jesus-- I was already numb to that thanks to Mel's violence. It was Mary I cried with, and myself I cried for.
As a Protestant, I have grown up keeping a "healthy distance" from the mother of Christ. Now that I am a mother, I find her quite comforting to have around from time to time.
My husband and I discussed that, for both of us, the scene where Mary follows her son down the "Via Dolorosa"... shocked and helpless to do anything to stop what she is witnessing... with Satan matching her, step for step on the other side of the street... is the ONLY part of the movie that we resonate with.
It's how it has often been for us with our oldest son, as we watched him carry his own crosses, carefully crafted by his abusive birth parents, weighed down by his mental illnesses, sometimes driven by evil to act out and sabotage his future... all the while, we're anything BUT indifferent to his suffering. And equally helpless to stop what we are witnessing.
The movie came out shortly after our son had to be removed from our home to protect our other children. He refused the treatment that would have allowed him to stay in the home. Helpless to stop him from decisions that led to his placement in a juvenile detention setting, we grieved our powerlessness.
I cried through that whole scene, and it had nothing to do with the bloodied Jesus-- I was already numb to that thanks to Mel's violence. It was Mary I cried with, and myself I cried for.
As a Protestant, I have grown up keeping a "healthy distance" from the mother of Christ. Now that I am a mother, I find her quite comforting to have around from time to time.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Jesus Would Insist Upon a Separation of Church and State
Dorothy Okray, on her website of church resources, poses a question for those of us preaching this coming week on "Christ the King" Sunday. Citing the corruption which took control of the Church in the Middle Ages, when the Christianity became the religion "of the state", resulting in a number of autrocities, including regrettably, the "Crusades" and the "Inquisition", Ms. Okray wonders:
"Do you dare preach about the corruption of power in the Christian Church... teaching its past...revealing the sins of the present? In fact, do you preach about the too familiar problem of the desire for power within the local churches? Remember, you can't fix a problem until acknowledge there is one. Think about it."
"Do you dare preach about the corruption of power in the Christian Church... teaching its past...revealing the sins of the present? In fact, do you preach about the too familiar problem of the desire for power within the local churches? Remember, you can't fix a problem until acknowledge there is one. Think about it."
Hmmm. She poses a good question. One that merits the "think about it" challenge.
As I did just that, a thought came to me that may not be unique, but it was certainly a new awareness for me. I suddenly saw the irony in "Christ the King Sunday" and "Thanksgiving Sunday" falling on the same week. The Pilgrims, who are credited with the first "Thanksgiving feasts", fled to this land to escape the "state religion" of England, and find a place where they were free to express their faith as they wished. The Pilgrims were Congregationalists, my "ancestors" (speaking of my church family, that is). My biological ancestors, however, did much the same thing when they immigrated by masses from Cardiganshire, Wales, to communities in Southern Ohio approximately 200 years later.
Dorothy Okray is right when she speaks of the injustices meted out by early Christianity, as evidenced in the records of history. Once it received the "sanction" of the Roman Empire, the power behind that support was often misused, as power over another tends to be. It is why I am uneasy when the United States government becomes involved at all in matters of the Church. It is all-too-easy for the power behind that support to be abused and misused.
It's why I believe that Jesus himself would have not only encouraged, but insisted, on a separation of church and state.
Jesus said, "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17)
Friday, November 13, 2009
Reclaiming Christmas as a Holy Day, Not Just a Holiday
No one really knows the exact date of Jesus' birth. It may not have been in December at all. Writings from the early church indicate that the nativity was celebrated on different dates in different places, and some of the patriarch's of the Church were opposed to celebrating his birth at all. But, for more than 1500 years, most Christian churches have traditionally celebrated his birth in December, and as early as 354 AD, the feast of Christmas was placed as December 25th on the calendar.
The name "Christmas" itself is derived from "Christ's Mass", the Latin for which was first used around the year 1063 AD. Ironically, most churches do not offer worship services on December 25th at all, instead celebrating the night before, on Christmas Eve. (The exception to that might be if Christmas falls on a Sunday, but not even that is a guarantee in recent years!)
Christmas is a holy day.
So, why is it that this holy day seems to have been shanghaied by the holiday?
Every year, the holiday gets more and more secular in nature. People who have no church connections or religious beliefs at all celebrate the holiday. True, some of our cherished Christmas traditions such as gift-giving, decorating with greenery and the use of a Yule log all have their beginnings in celebrations that honored various sun gods, but the "guest of honor" is NOT a "sun god", and Jesus is largely missing in many celebrations. One might say that everyone else comes "home for the holidays" except the One for whom the season is named.
Almost as great a concern for me, however, is that every year, the holiday season seems to get longer and longer, so that, by the time people arrive at the holy day, the focus seems to be on anything but the birth of Christ.
This year, it seems to be more extreme than I remember it ever being before.I am writing this blog on Friday, November 13th. I have just arrived home from Christmas shopping in the "big city". I do this early, not because I like it, but out of necessity. The weeks before Christmas are often so full of church obligations that I don't even get a day off! I am not-- let me repeat-- I am NOT in "the holiday spirit", and won't be until, at the very least, the day after Thanksgiving.
In fact, the only holiday I am concerned with right now IS Thanksgiving. It can't come soon enough! Since we will be spending four nights at our family cabin, I am very much in THAT holiday's spirit.
As I drove home today, I noticed a billboard on the side of the road in one of the quaint little suburban towns. It was an advertisement for a "Christmas Holiday Concert", and I thought, "Oh, I wonder when that is going to be." As I drove closer, I noticed the date. The Christmas Concert will be on November 21st!
I shook my head in disbelief and reached to push the button, turning on my radio. My disbelief turned to shock when the song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" blasted through the speakers of my car. I quickly pushed the button again, and, in the silence, wondered how it got to this point-- that the season of Christmas has become as long as Lent! And Advent-- that blessed anticipation of the joy to come-- is all-but-forgotten in the merrymaking.
Christmas may be a holy day, but the holiday season has become anything but. "O Come, o come, Emmanuel!" Our hope lies in You.
The name "Christmas" itself is derived from "Christ's Mass", the Latin for which was first used around the year 1063 AD. Ironically, most churches do not offer worship services on December 25th at all, instead celebrating the night before, on Christmas Eve. (The exception to that might be if Christmas falls on a Sunday, but not even that is a guarantee in recent years!)
Christmas is a holy day.
So, why is it that this holy day seems to have been shanghaied by the holiday?
Every year, the holiday gets more and more secular in nature. People who have no church connections or religious beliefs at all celebrate the holiday. True, some of our cherished Christmas traditions such as gift-giving, decorating with greenery and the use of a Yule log all have their beginnings in celebrations that honored various sun gods, but the "guest of honor" is NOT a "sun god", and Jesus is largely missing in many celebrations. One might say that everyone else comes "home for the holidays" except the One for whom the season is named.
Almost as great a concern for me, however, is that every year, the holiday season seems to get longer and longer, so that, by the time people arrive at the holy day, the focus seems to be on anything but the birth of Christ.
This year, it seems to be more extreme than I remember it ever being before.I am writing this blog on Friday, November 13th. I have just arrived home from Christmas shopping in the "big city". I do this early, not because I like it, but out of necessity. The weeks before Christmas are often so full of church obligations that I don't even get a day off! I am not-- let me repeat-- I am NOT in "the holiday spirit", and won't be until, at the very least, the day after Thanksgiving.
In fact, the only holiday I am concerned with right now IS Thanksgiving. It can't come soon enough! Since we will be spending four nights at our family cabin, I am very much in THAT holiday's spirit.
As I drove home today, I noticed a billboard on the side of the road in one of the quaint little suburban towns. It was an advertisement for a "Christmas Holiday Concert", and I thought, "Oh, I wonder when that is going to be." As I drove closer, I noticed the date. The Christmas Concert will be on November 21st!
I shook my head in disbelief and reached to push the button, turning on my radio. My disbelief turned to shock when the song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" blasted through the speakers of my car. I quickly pushed the button again, and, in the silence, wondered how it got to this point-- that the season of Christmas has become as long as Lent! And Advent-- that blessed anticipation of the joy to come-- is all-but-forgotten in the merrymaking.
Christmas may be a holy day, but the holiday season has become anything but. "O Come, o come, Emmanuel!" Our hope lies in You.
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