The Fifth Day of Christmas

A day without worship of God
is like life without breath.

Seek out a time, a place and a people where you are able to worship God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind, and with all your soul. In doing so, you begin to love your neighbor as yourself. On these are based all the law and prophets.
Have a blessed Sabbath!
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don

The Fourth Day of Christmas

I am the third of four boys born to my parents. No sisters. God bless our parents! No kidding, God bless our parents! Four boys. How did they ever do it? How did they ever survive?

On this fourth day of Christmas I am giving thanks to God for my parents. Oh, I know, not everyone has had wonderful experiences with their parents and, for some, thoughts of parents are filled with anger, disappointment, frustration, guilt, or even hatred, yet, those are all the more reason I am giving thanks to God for my parents . . . for they opened my heart to God. In many ways, that is still an ongoing statement of truth.

As I think through all of the challenges I made for my parents: all of the things I knew I shouldn't do, but did; all of the truths I could of told and didn't; all of the kindnesses I could have shared and chose not to; and all of the aggravations from which I might have turned away and, yet, chose not to . . . when I think of all these things, and ponder that my parents chose to love me anyway . . . that is precisely where I see God, especially on this fourth day of Christmas.

I see God in the parenting which celebrates birthing new life, rather than mourning old injuries. I see God in the parenting which relishes growth of heart, mind and soul - the joys of a new individual - rather than insisting that the child be a copy of the parent.

I see God in the parenting which holds in the lap the weeping child in time of injury or loss, but understands the importance of setting free to run, learn and play, as well.

I see God in the parenting which values the teaching moment as well as the learning moment, understanding that true knowledge is a two way street.

I see God in the parenting which relishes laughter and play, as well as the focused determination of hard work and accomplishment.

I see God . . . in parenting which is a prayer in and of itself: always in conversation with the One Parent as life is lived, relationships are negotiated, and love is extended through grace and forgiveness, hope and trust, mercy and strength.

Being the third of four boys is not easy, but being the parents of four boys is even harder.

Thank you, God, for parents who look to you for direction and, on this fourth day of Christmas, find Your direction leading them to Jesus with wise people of every age.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

The Third Day of Christmas

On this third day of Christmas I am pondering the entire twelve days of this journey. Long held in Christian traditions is the notion that the 3 Wise Men arrived on the 12th day of Christmas, also known as Epiphany. But what has turned that tradition into a song . . . and what do each of the days signify in their original context? In researching the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", one website seems to have adequately encapsulated both the secular and the religious histories of this piece and I humbly send you to it for further reference:

www.brownielocks.com/twelvedaysofchristmas.html

I in no way endorse this site, but found it both informative and entertaining in its presentation.

Yet, all history and original meanings aside, as I entered the office this morning and said, "Merry Christmas!" to the Office Manager, she replied, "Well, you seem chipper this morning!" Why does it seem perfectly normal and maybe even expected on every day up to and including Christmas to say, "Merry Christmas!" and have others reply, "Merry Christmas to you!", while on the days after Christmas the greeting, "Merry Christmas!" elicits odd looks and comments like, "Well, you seem chipper this morning!"? Is it not still the Season of Christmas?

Does Christmas leave the house when the stores begin their bargain basement sales? Have we become so enculturated that a Holy Day in the church is just that, 'a day'? Have we been preparing for Christmas for so long, some beginning in September, that by the time we reach that most precious moment in time, we are so exhausted that we no more want to hear any more about Christmas than the atheist who didn't want to hear about it in the first place?

Whether the twelve days of Christmas refer to a season of gifts which continue arriving each day, or to the twelve days Christian tradition appropriates to the Wise Men in their travels to Bethlehem, or to the twelve tribes of Israel, or to the twelve points of Doctrine in the Apostle's Creed, or to the twelves disciples who walked with Jesus, in my simple mind, the point is not about the days at all. The point is that Christmas is more than a day, it is a way of being and believing on the journey.

At issue is not what each day signifies but, rather, what Christmas signifies in the ways we choose to live into the birth of Jesus Christ in our world. Such a turn in thought leads the believer to behave differently from what the world deems, 'normal'. For some, it may mean following a star to find what is birthed below it in Light. For some, it may mean going out from the stable and telling everyone they meet what has been seen and heard. For others, it may mean that the entire kaleidoscope of events is held deep in their hearts, pondering the revelations for the fullness of time to explain. And, for some, Christmas itself, as well as the days after, is that one transformational moment in time when the goodness and love of God emerges from the birth waters of Divine labor and makes new, even 'chipper', the hearts of those who receive the Gift.

On this third day of Christmas, may Christ be born anew in you again, and forevermore.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

The Second Day of Christmas

"On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves . . . ."

As I ate breakfast this morning, I was watching two turtle doves at the bird feeders just beyond the window of our dining room. Actually, the moment was something of an irony: turtle doves, long considered a sign of peace and goodwill, are 'ground feeders', they eat what other birds have rooted out or discarded from the feeders and let fall to the ground, and as these two were feeding on what was 'discarded by others' I read about the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto.

What is it about the human race that we are given the abundance of all the universe has to offer and, rather than celebrate what we have in common from the God who created us, we root through the good of all there is, seeking out only that which agrees with us, and let peace and goodwill fend for itself, living off the refuse of our decisions? I am not in a position, personally or politically, to make informed comments on Benazir Bhutto, but the senseless violence which permeates our world and assassinates alternative viewpoints of leadership, culture, social issues, religion, and economics, goes against the very essence of who God is and who we are called to be in relationship to God and each other, regardless of the religious tradition represented. It is as if some have found it easier to eliminate reasons for justice and peace than to sit at the same feeder and find viable ways to co-exist in mutual harmony: 'Let the doves eat our refuse, let peace live off what we do not want, while we muscle and bully each other for dominance.'

And life in the United States is not far removed from what we observe in Pakistan. The poor are becoming poorer, the powerless are becoming more powerless, and the differentiation between classes is becoming wider and wider. The Forbes list of the richest people in the world no longer includes any millionaires, only billionaires. Lazarus lays at the gates crying for a bit of bread, while the dogs lick the wounds of the violence being imposed upon him, and the rich man becomes fatter, sitting at the feeder of all that there is, while musing that, 'Lazarus could do better if he would only pull himself up by the straps of his own boots.' How long will it be before the doves of peace in this country are offered up on the roasting spits of the powers and principalities of this age? And how long will it be until the Christian community cries out, 'No more!' and walks the way of Christ in justice, peace and mutuality, working for meaningful solutions at the side of Lazarus, rather than courting the power and prestige of the rich man?

Hmmmmmmm. It is all a bit more than I really want to ponder as I watch the turtle doves eating from the ground below the bird feeders, but if I, and you, do not ponder it now and move in faith towards peace for all, than " . . . . two turtle doves . . . " on the second day of Christmas will never be anything more than a quaint thought and a romantic ideal, while violence and bloodshed become the norm by which all differences are settled.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don

The First Day of Christmas

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me . . . " is how the the old Christmas carol begins - and on this 'first day of Christmas', the 26th of December, I am pondering with Mary the gift of the Christ Child. God, the only One fully capable of 'true love', is giving us much more than " . . . . a partridge in a pear tree", God is giving us God's own presence, God's own self, God's own life. "Love Divine, All Love's Excelling" is manifest in the very breath of God born in Bethlehem. In God's Child, God's Love becomes part and parcel of the air we breathe and, in this season of Christmas, we are given reason to sing the carols of heaven as we walk the ways of the earth with God's Son, Jesus.
This Christmastide, pause along the way and breathe deeply of God's Love born for you. Then exhale in joy a carol of life lived in faith as, with the shepherds of old, you return to the fields of your living with a new song of wonder, proclaiming in transformed life Good News for all the world to hear.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Don

Church Sign for the Week:
THE LOVE OF GOD IS NOT DENOMI-
NATIONAL AND DOES NOT EXCLUDE
ANYONE. WHY SHOULD WE?
EVERYONE WELCOME HERE.

Getting It Right

At 4:00 in the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I find myself in the office wondering if everything which has been prepared is 'right' for services this evening. As Pastor and Teacher of a mid-size Christian congregation, I am more than just minimally aware that this one night may be the only night the Good News of Jesus Christ will be heard by some of the folks in attendance and I wonder what it is they will remember: Was the technology helpful? Did the music invite the worshipper to Bethlehem? Did they see the angels? Did they see the newborn King? The the message invite them to worship the King or to run away in terror? Will they want to learn more or end up caring less?

Then, just as I find myself pondering all these questions of 'having things right', I am reminded by the One who comes to us in the form of a child that we might know God, that all which is asked of me is that I be faithful to my call and to exercise the gifts in the power and presence of God's Holy Spirit. The outcomes of others lives, decisions and choices are up to them. So, like the shepherds before me who came to worship the Child, I go, " . . . glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." (Luke 2.20) and let 'Getting It Right' and the judgement of others to the One who is, has, and always will have it right and is the final Judge of all things in heaven and on earth. And that is as 'right' as it can be. Peace on earth to all!

Pastor Don