Messin' with Tradition

This is the seventh in a series of personal reflections on Christmas posted during the 12 days of Christmas.

Pop Quiz:
1. According to Scripture, what animal did Mary ride as she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem?
2. In the Gospel of Luke, what does the Innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph?
3. How many wise men from the east came searching for the one born 'King of the Jews'?

Answers: 
1. If you said "donkey" you wold be incorrect. Scripture doesn't indicate how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. It just says they went. It is possible that Mary rode a donkey but it is just as likely that she walked.

2. There is no Innkeeper mentioned in either of the Gospel accounts of Jesus' birth. Luke simply says, "there was no room at the inn." The Innkeeper was probably first introduced to the story in a children's reenactment of the Christmas story to provide another speaking part to a story with few characters.

3. Again, the Bible doesn't indicate how many wise men came. Originally it was thought that there were 12 since that number has significance (12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples). Over time it has been whittled down to 3 wise men, one for each gift mentioned in the birth accounts of Jesus. Oh, and they didn't show up until Jesus was approximately 2 years old, assuming that the star that guided them first appeared at his birth and not before.

What do I make of this? Well, first of all, we are a lot more liberal with the "facts" that we take from scripture than we like to think. Much of what we "know" about the Bible as adults comes from the stories that we learned as children. And since we have no problem embellishing the stories for children we often end up with fictionalized accounts of what is recorded in scripture.

The Christmas story that we celebrate today is a mash-up of the two birth narratives recorded in the gospels of Luke and Matthew with the Epiphany story of the wise men thrown in. (Mark & John don't record a birth story.) It is what we do with most scripture. We mash-up the two creation stories in Genesis 1 & 2. We mash-up the two Ark stories in Genesis 7. In short, we create narratives to make sense of what we are given. In fact, creating narratives that provide meaning to life really is what humans are best at.

And that's okay. Does it really matter how Mary traveled to Bethlehem or how many wise men came in search of the child? Not really. Contrary to popular religious belief, salvation is not found in the details of the story. Salvation is received with the meaning of the story.

Family at Christmas

This is the sixth in a series of 12 personal reflections posted during the 12 Days of Christmas

I just returned home from what was basically a 5-day trip to see family during the Christmas holiday. On the 26th of December we put 100 miles on the car to spend the afternoon and evening with everyone on my side of the family. Then on the 27th we drove 8 hours to visit my wife's side of the family for two days before making the 8-hour trip home. No complaints. We had a good time visiting with people we enjoy spending time with.

It's great to reconnect with parents, siblings, in-laws and cousins. But why do we do it at Christmas? In North America it is the worst time of the year to travel (weather-wise) and we have already crammed so much activity into the season that staying home and relaxing seems like a more logical alternative.

What is it about Christmas and family? Why the compulsion to gather together for a meal and an elaborately orchestrated gift exchange? Fun? Yes. I know that I am lucky in that regard but we could just as easily do it some other time of the year. Tradition? Social Custom? No doubt these play into it as well.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, as a culture, we are trying to hang on to something here that is slipping away. For the past 500 years or so the nuclear family has been regarded as the basic societal unit. (For more on how it has only been that way for the past 500 years see Phylis Tickle's The Great Emergence.)  The family as the basic unit of society is currently being replaced by the individual. As we move evermore into a culture where the individual is the basic unit of society, we cling to the past, reluctant to let go of what is so familiar.

But more importantly, I remember the great fun I had and the things I learned about family and life at Christmas. I have fond memories of time spent with cousins while the adults laughed about things that happened in the past. I want my kids to have that experience. This year there were some pretty funny things shared at the family gatherings.We carved an ice sculpture out of the ice from the creek. We were amazed at the dancing ability of the kids. We discovered that grandma has special powers.We also welcomed the first spouse into the next generation (my niece's new husband) and were bluntly reminded that time doesn't stand still.

I'm wonder what Christmas will be like 30 years from now. Will my kids drag their families through the snow and ice to have a meal, open some gifts and laugh over things that happened on our Christmas vacation in 2010?

Well, I hope they will.

Alternate Gifts

This is the fifth in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas posted during the Twelve Days of Christmas.

I gave up my Christmas gifts & 16 people received clean water

A year ago at Thanksgiving my brother-in-law, who had drawn my name for the annual gift exchange, asked me what I would like for Christmas. I told him that I had decided to share my Christmas with those who have very little and that I was asking people to make a donation to charity: water or another charity of their choice. He immediately responded, "But I want to give you something to fill up your storage room in your basement."

The truth of that statement was a bit unnerving. Even if I use the gifts I receive at Christmas, it usually means that something else gets moved down to the storage room to be forgotten about. The small pile of gifts that I receive every year are truly things that I want, not things that I need.

When it was all said and done, over $450 was given to various charities that provided water or animals to people around the world who needed them to live a better life.

And I didn't miss a thing.

There was no pile of gifts to put away when the tree came down. Later in the year I didn't find myself wishing that I would have received something. My quality of life didn't suffer at all. The people who wanted to honor me with a gift were able to do so in a way that made the world a better place. (In a tax-deductible way no less.) And to be honest, there were none of the awkward moments when you open that gift that isn't quite what you wanted but you have to act excited and thankful anyway.

This year I made a list of things that I wanted. Those were the things I found under the tree and inside the brightly wrapped boxes. People were more than generous and I am thankful for what I received. I really like my gifts.

The difference between this year and last year is the sense of peace and joy. Last year at the end of Christmas I had this deep feeling of peace and contentment that just isn't here this year.

I'm not sure what I will do next year. Maybe I can up the ante by giving alternate gifts as well as asking for them.

What are your experiences with alternate gift giving or receiving?

The Genius of the Grinch

This is the fourth in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas posted during the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last night I watched a video of two of my nieces, Rachel and Allison, in a production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I was reminded of just how great that story is. The Grinch has been a part of my own holiday tradition for years. At least the animated Christmas special directed by the venerable Chuck Jones.

The version we watched last night was performed by the elementary and middle school children at the private, faith-based school my nieces attend. I wondered how this non-religious story could work its way into the normally scripture-insistent culture of this private school.

Then it dawned on me that the genius of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is that it tells us what Christmas is not but then never tells us what Christmas is. The obvious lesson is that "Christmas doesn't come from a store. Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." But Dr. Seuss never says what Christmas is. He leaves it up to the audience's interpretation. And, at least in the animated version, there are several possible interpretations.

For the religious person, the star that shines above the Whos as they sing is an apparent allusion to the star that is said to shine over the manger in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus. The singing is a form of worship. Someone with a Christian background would obviously interpret this to mean that Christmas is about celebrating the  birth of Jesus.

For those who aren't thinking in that vein, Christmas can be interpreted to mean time spent with family and loved ones connecting and reconnecting in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season. The Whos come out of their homes on Christmas day and clasp hands to join in singing a song that has no overt religious connotations.

Or someone could easily interpret Christmas to mean observance of the traditions around Christmas. Christmas is about the preparations, the anticipation and the quiet reflection that is completely separate from the abject consumerism.

Ironically, Dr. Seuss's critique of a consumer culture was written in 1957 and the animated show was produced in 1966. So do we really agree with this critique or is it just fashionable to say what Christmas isn't without ever looking more deeply at what it is?

Skipping Christmas

This is the third in a series of twelve personal reflections on Christmas to be posted during the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last spring a friend gave me John Grisham's book Skipping Christmas. I started reading it in July but it just didn't feel right so I picked it up again a couple weeks ago.

It is a humorous story about a couple who decide to go on a winter cruise instead of celebrating Christmas when their daughter moves to Peru for a year as a volunteer. Most of the story revolves around the awkward social moments when people find out the couple aren't participating in any of the Christmas traditions. In the end their daughter makes a surprise return and the couple tries to cram in an entire month's worth of preparation in one day and are forced to rely on their friends and neighbors who have been offended at the couple's anti-social behavior to this point.

It is a telling story of what Christmas means in our culture. In this story Christmas is all about the elaborate production (lights, food, parties, decorations etc...) that is undertaken to satisfy some deep seated yearning for tradition.

At first I was upset about this. I don't want Christmas to be about a big production. In fact, I want it to be less of a production. But then I thought about Christmas Eve worship attendance. It is the worship day with the largest attendance of the year. People who don't worship the rest of the year make time to come on Christmas Eve. I know they come for a variety of reasons but doesn't it make sense that many come because it is part of the tradition? Dinner with the family, church and opening presents: It's what we do on Christmas Eve.

I'm not complaining. Maybe that's what people need. There is so much change in our world right now that we need these kinds of traditions. We long for them. We want to know that things are going to be okay and traditions have the power to do that.

Ultimately, isn't that what Christmas is all about? The message that everything is going to be okay? That we are going to be okay because God is okay with us?

Is the War on Christmas Over Yet?

This is the second in a series of personal reflections on Christmas that I hope to post during the twelve days of Christmas.

Okay. I know that the War and Christmas is pretty much a media hype thing but people are starting to take it way too seriously. A pastor in Texas started a website called GrinchAlert.com which encourages people to list and support stores that say Merry Christmas and boycott stores and businesses that refuse to say "Christmas" but instead use "Happy Holidays."

Parody news sight XIANITY has been highlighting the extremity of this fake war in their tweets:

Make Christmas more Christian, tonight, along with cookies and milk, leave Santa a gospel tract.


Make Christmas more Christian, when someone wishes you "Happy Holidays", condescendingly respond "Merry CHRISTmas"


Make Xmas more Xian, let a homeless family sleep in your life-size nativity, as long as they dress like shepherds.

When did Christians become so self-serving? When did Christians lose sight of the fact that Christianity means being at odds with the dominant culture? Why on earth do Christians believe that the rest of the world is here to serve us and make our life and our faith more readily accessible?

Shouldn't we Christians be going out of our way to share the grace and love that we believe God shared with us in the birth of the Christ child? Shouldn't we be the ones who understand that it is hard to make a living working retail and we understand that not all of your customers are Christian? Shouldn't we be the ones who are forgiving and kind to others?

I think Stephen Colbert nailed it when he spoke recently about the way so many who want to live in a Christian nation have forgotten what Christ is all about.

With a Peace of the Spirit

Christmas Pomp & Circumstance

2010 Papal Christmas Address

This is the first in a series of 12 personal reflections on Christmas that I hope to post during the 12 Days of Christmas. 


On this first day of Christmas, while drinking coffee and waiting for my teenage children to wake up, I came across the following tweet from author Donald Miller: Watching the pomp of Christmas around the world. It's like we want to give Christ the entry He deserved but did not orchestrate for Himself.

I didn't watch the pomp of Christmas last night. I took part in it. The church I serve held three Christmas Eve worship services. We hosted over 800 people who came in their Christmas finery, excited to squeeze the service of Lessons & Carols into their traditional family celebrations.As one pastor I know recently said, "Singing Silent Night by candlelight is the highlight of the worship year."

The question I have is this: If Christ did not feel that it was necessary to come into the world amidst all pomp and aplomb, then why do we insist on celebrating his presence among us this way?

It's as if God appeared and said to humanity, "Look over here. Look at the poor family with no place to stay if you want to see me. Look over here at the miraculous ordinariness of a baby's birth if you want to know where I am. Be among the people who are being persecuted if you want to know my glory. Stand with the social outcasts if you want to see angels herald my arrival."

And we respond, "That's pretty cool God. You really are sneaky but we see you now. We prefer to make a big deal out of this because we don't want you sneaking up on us again." We stand in churches around the world and point at the manger as if we had just found Waldo.

But Christ left the manger a long time ago. Christ is spending this Christmas with the homeless. Christ is spending this Christmas with the forgotten veterans who gave their life and are still alive. Christ is having Christmas dinner with families that are so dysfunctional that they can hardly be in each other's presence for the entire evening. Christ is handing out gifts of strength and peace to widows and widowers, orphans and the recently divorced who struggle to make it through the holidays. Christ is spending this day with those who are receiving the news of a suicide or the sudden death of a family member or friend.

If you experience the Peace and wholeness of God in the pomp of Christmas that's great. I don't mean to belittle that experience. But next year instead of giving Christ the entry we think he deserves maybe we should be joining him in the places in this world that he has already quietly entered.

With a Peace of the Spirit
Kevin

Getting Ready for Christmas Day

I've been singing this song by Paul Simon all day since I downloaded it from iTunes. I heard it performed on the Colbert Report last week. Lyrics are below. I want to sing this next year for Advent in church.

The words in the background are from a recorded sermon preached sometime years ago. I get the feeling that  for the preacher, Christmas Day isn't just about December 25, but about a day when we will stand fully in the presence of God. The song masterfully captures the mix of anxiety and anticipation around Christmas.

From early in November to the last week of December
I got money matters weighing me down
Well the music may be merry but it’s only temporary
I know Santa Claus is coming to town

In the days I work my day job
In the nights I work my night
But it all comes down to working man's pay
Getting ready I’m getting ready ready for Christmas day

I got a nephew in Iraq
It’s his third time back
But it's ending up the way it began
With the luck of a beginner
He’ll be eating turkey dinner
On some mountain top in Pakistan

Getting ready oh we’re getting ready
For the power and the glory and the story
Of Christmas day (repeats)

If I could tell my mom and dad
That the things we never had
Never mattered we were always ok
Getting ready ready ready for Christmas day

Ready getting ready
For the power and the glory and the story
Of Christmas day