What I Got for Christmas

What did you get for Christmas? As usual, I was blessed beyond deserving. I received some shirts, some much needed exercise equipment, gloves, books, and a gift certificate to Borders. I am headed to Borders in just a couple of minutes to use that one!

I also got some wonderful intangible gifts. Our families and several friends have shared time and meals with us over the last few days, and that has been a joy. We have even had a good time with Daisy, Josh's 75 pound, pure-bred Bloodhound! And I had some stereotypes shattered. I was speaking with one of our members a few days ago about seeing Twisted Sister singing O Come, All Ye Faithful on the Tonight Show. That show blew up one stereotype. Our member has played in rock bands, and a few days later she brought me a CD with Goth Christmas music on it. Clearly I didn't know as much as I thought about Goth music. I didn't think I knew much, but I had it pigeon-holed in a narrow box. The CD blew me away with its beauty and its power. God used all of this to remind me of the many ways the good news can be shared and that I better think twice before I put any group into a box.

And my best Christmas gift was the Good News that is old but always fresh. God has come into the world like one of us - "veiled in flesh the God head see" - and nothing will be the same.

Jimmy

A song of Christmas

One of the most important musical groups to me in my teeenage/young adult years was Peter, Paul, and Mary. I learned about them in the period just before going to high school, and fell in love. Folk and country music make up my "soul music" in Tex Sample's phrase, and they tapped into that part of my makeup. I am always touched by their guitar work. I love the way their voices weave together. They were my first introduction to people like Bob Dylan and to melodies like Bach's harmonies in the hymn Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light. And the message! You wouldn't call them a Christian group in the usual sense of that term, but their songs are clearly grounded in Christian values and are sometimes overtly Christian. Running throughout their wrk, and very important to me, is a strong call to justice in the world. One of the ways I figured out that Julie might be the woman for me was learning that she, like me, had every record that Peter,Paul, and Mary ever made!

Several years ago Julie and I ran into a video of a Christmas concert that Peter, Paul, and Mary did in the late 80's with the New York Choral Society. It has been a staple of our Advent/Christmas celebrations ever since, often left on to run throughout much of the day as we go about seasonal activities. Allyson was an early convert. She has her own copy of the tape now and plays it regularly. There are fun chidren's songs and a variety of powerful Christmas pieces. It is a powerful part of the season for us.

One song that is included that at first glance may seem strange is a version of Bob Dylan's classic, made known to many of us by P,P, &M, "Blowin in the Wind". It is not a seasonal song and one might wonder how it made the concert. Maybe it's partly because it is so closely associated with the trio. Or maybe there is a deeper logic at work. One thing is certain: the performance is moving. There is in the video a shot of a black man, a member of the Choral Society, with tears running down his face as the song is sung, a testimony I think to the struggle of blacks in our society and to the fact that the answer to Dylan's questions is still being worked out. We also have a cassette tape of part of the concert, and I was listening to it last night as I came home from work. I found myself in tears as I listened to this song. Partly, perhaps, because it reminds me of a time in my life when I was younger, and all things seemed possible. Partlty because I was thinking of the gemtlemean in the video and of his pain. But partly because I believe this song does link up with the Christmas story. We will read this week Mary's Magnificate from Luke 1. That song by the mother of Christ is radical. It speaks of the reversal in the world that will come about as a result of the birth of this child. The mighty will be brought down. The poor and humble lifted up. The hungry filled. The rich sent away empty. Justice for all people established. All this because God, in Christ, is working to bring about the world that God has intended from the very beginning. A world envisioned at least in part by the questions in Bob Dylan's song. God is doing something amazing in Christ. The season and the song invite us to join God in this work.

Jimmy

A Wonder

One of the books I am reading for devotins this season is Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. There are some wonderful writers in the book, and it is a stimulating read. One of the early authors quoted is J. B. Phillips, a noted English biblical scholar of the middle part of the 2oth century. I became acquanted with his work in the 60's, first through his translation of the New Testament into modern English. It remains a translation that I keep near on my shelf and consult regularly. Another book of his that influenced me heavily was called Your God Is Too Small. He is worth reading.

His piece in the devotional book is called "The Dangers of Advent." (Side note: many authors speak of the challenge in this season of getting ready for the arrival of God. One book on my shelf refers to Advent in the title as The Unsettling Season.) I want to share with yo one part of this article.

The particular danger which faces us as Christmas approaches is unlikely to be contempt for the sacred season, but nevertheless our familiarity with it may easily produce in us a kind of indifference. The true wonder and mystery may leave us unmoved; familiarity may easily blind is to the shining fact that lies at the heart of Christmastide..... we may not always see clearly that so much decoration and celebration has been heaped upon th efestival that the historic fact upon which all the rejoicing is founded has been almost smothered out of existence. What we are in fact celebrating is the awe-inspiring humility of God, and no amount of familiarty with the trappings of Christmas should ever blind us to its quiet but explosive significance For Christians believe that so great is God's love and concern for humanity that he himself became a man. .....That is why, behind all of our fun and games at Christmastime we should not try to escape a sense of awe, almost of fright, at what God has done..... Nothing can alter the fact that we live on a visited planet.

Phillips wrote before some of us began to worry about inclusive language, but his writing continues to have depth and power. May you sense some of teh awe-inspiring mnature of the season in the days to come.

Jimmy

Advent Reading

I ran across this readind recently in an Advent devotional by Christoph Blumhardt. Perhaps it will speak to you as it did to me.

"Anyone whose attention is fixed on the coming reign of God and who wants to see a change brought about in God's house will become more and more aware that there exists a universal wrongness that is pulled over us like a choking, suffocating blanket. he will know that the thing to do is to take hold of God's hand so that there is some effect on this night, so that at least a few areas are made receptive to God's truth and justice and we are made ready to recieve God himself. But to do this work we have to have a light. With this light we can then illumonate every corner where we have some work to do. Then we will see where the garbage is, where there is work to be done. This is really very hard work, but this is what preparing for Advent means..... Jesus, with this light, was not well received, and neither were his apostles...... The truth - the fact that people's lives are not right - is too much for most people to grasp..... The sacrifice of Christ, which makes it possible for a new humanity to arise in the resurrection - this sacrifice appears as foolishness."

There is more depth to Advent and Christmas than we sometimes acknowledge. More next time.

Jimmy