Celebrate! Good Times! Come On!

That is the title of my reflection for Thursday.  ANd of course the first thing Beloved thought of (and it was in my head as I wrote it in the bulletin to be honest) was this song (which one of Beloved's friends thought I shoud sing a la Glee during the service--trust me that will NOT happen):



But for the longest time that was about the only thing that was coming to mind.  Then last week I realized that what I really needed to do was change the first 2 exclamation points to question marks.  Punctuation makes a big difference after all.  But think about it Celebrate? Good Times? Come ON! makes a very different statement doesn't it.

But really isn't that the message of the world around us?  In this place 2 of our major employers have been defunct for 2 years now.  Globally we are still struggling out of what is considered by many the deepest recession since the 1930's.  LAst week's conclusion to the Copenhagen summit was very unsatisfactory to many.  Afghanistan and Iraq still build up a body count.  There is much around that puts the question mark in place of the exclamation point.   THese are good times?  WE have something to celebrate?  Srsly?

YEs. Srsly.  THat is the point of Christmas Joy.  It doesn't mean happiness (I would note that nowhere in the faith story are we promised happiness).  Christmas Joy comes from noticing that GOd is being born in the midst of this horribly troubled world.  Christmas JOy comes from the promise and hope that God is still breaking into the world.  So yeah, Celebrate!  Good TImes!  Come ON!  THe angels once again are singing a song of good tidings of great joy that shall be for all people.

ANd even better, now I have a way in.  A dialogue between a preacher trying to wrestle with the title in a troubled world and GOd who has called the title forth.  Assuming the dialogue gets written Beloved will record the GOd parts and then I'll have the dialogue using the recording and the computer on Thursday night (God as a disembodied voice).  OR maybe we'll record the whole thing and just play it as a radio show.  Naw, probably recorded and the pause button....