Every year parents are encouraged to spend lots on presents for their children. But I also want my children to learn that we give out of our abundance. THerefore I am making a commitment.
Whatever we spend on presents for the girls I will make a donation to charity (haven't decided which one yet, likely not general offering at the church) equivalent to at least 50% of that value. This may well become an annual part of our Christmas. ANd someday I will explain it to the girls (they are a bit young yet to get the concept of charity).
ANd now I challenge others to do the same with whatever percentage they choose to use.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Canada on Jon Stewart
It doesn't happen often but Canadian news made it to the Daily Show. In fact it led last night's episode! Watch the video HOSED. Includes some very stereotypical portrayals of US-an "knowledge" about Canada.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
A CHristmas Song ReWritten
I revised the words to "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" for our Advent 3 service with the sermon "Do I LIke Christmas?" Comments on their singability are welcomed and sought...
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Here at Riverview
Look at the Advent wreath so bright, shining with candle light.
They're flames of hope and peace for me and you.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Sales at all the stores.
Perhaps soon on a starlit night, carolers with faces bright
Will be at your doors.
Soon the angels will sing and the hilltops will ring
With the news that a baby is born
Shepherds will run to the child and his mom
As the light breaks on that blessed morn.
Can we hear the story while the wrapping paper is torn?
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
All around the town
There’s a tree up at Sunset Square, lights glimmering everywhere.
Gentle silence as the snow is sifting down
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will start
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
(Original Text ©1951 Plymouth Music Co. Revised text 2005 Gord Waldie)
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Here at Riverview
Look at the Advent wreath so bright, shining with candle light.
They're flames of hope and peace for me and you.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Sales at all the stores.
Perhaps soon on a starlit night, carolers with faces bright
Will be at your doors.
Soon the angels will sing and the hilltops will ring
With the news that a baby is born
Shepherds will run to the child and his mom
As the light breaks on that blessed morn.
Can we hear the story while the wrapping paper is torn?
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
All around the town
There’s a tree up at Sunset Square, lights glimmering everywhere.
Gentle silence as the snow is sifting down
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Soon the bells will start
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
(Original Text ©1951 Plymouth Music Co. Revised text 2005 Gord Waldie)
Monday, November 28, 2005
2 Holidays
In response to all those people put there complaining about "Holiday Trees" or "Happy Holidays" and how the secular world is "stealing Christmas" I put forward my 2 holiday theory.
Every year at this time the Western world gets ready to celebrate two holidays, one Christian and one secular. (Of course there are others from other faith traditions but this theory deals explicity with the events of and around Dec 25.) This is confusing because we call them by the same name and there is some similarity in symbols and practices associated with them. For the sake of clarity I will call them Christmas and Xmas.
Christmas is the Christian holiday. Symbols of Christmas include candles, shepherds, angels, and a baby in a manger. Practices include: reading the stories around Jesus' birth, singing carols about that story, talking about transformed lives, looking for signs of God-with-us, exchanging tokens of love and affection, and gathering with friends and family.
Xmas is partly an outgrowth of Christmas. It is also a response to the seemingly innate desire of humans for a mid-winter/solstice festival. Symbols of Xmas include Santa, snowmen, decorated trees, and bright (terribly wasteful) displays of electric lights on lawns. Practices include: an orgy of gift-buying, an incredible amount of overeating/drinking/spending, singing songs about reindeer and red-suited elves and snow, and gathering with friends and family.
Now lets be honest. Many of us celebrate both of these holidays, although many of us also favour one over the other--and how we choose to celebrate shows which one we favour. But they are not the same. Xmas is secular, it is marked by "Happy Holidays" and is best celebrated in the world at large. Christmas belongs to a faith tradition and in a pluralistic world (where not everyone shares that faith tradition) is best celebrated in more private settings. SO it is non-sensical to complain when the non-religious world celebrates Xmas. So stop complaining about the holiday tree, or asking stores to put up a manger scene, or about people who would rather go partying on Dec 24 than attend worship service. AS Scrooge said "You keep Christmas in your way and let me keep it in mine".
I don't believe that people are stealing Christmas. I do believe that Christians lose sight of their place in the world. Christmas is special to us. Let's show that, not by insisting everyone agree but by being true to the meaning of the season. And if others choose to favour Xmas, and we choose to join in some of that season, then so be it.
Every year at this time the Western world gets ready to celebrate two holidays, one Christian and one secular. (Of course there are others from other faith traditions but this theory deals explicity with the events of and around Dec 25.) This is confusing because we call them by the same name and there is some similarity in symbols and practices associated with them. For the sake of clarity I will call them Christmas and Xmas.
Christmas is the Christian holiday. Symbols of Christmas include candles, shepherds, angels, and a baby in a manger. Practices include: reading the stories around Jesus' birth, singing carols about that story, talking about transformed lives, looking for signs of God-with-us, exchanging tokens of love and affection, and gathering with friends and family.
Xmas is partly an outgrowth of Christmas. It is also a response to the seemingly innate desire of humans for a mid-winter/solstice festival. Symbols of Xmas include Santa, snowmen, decorated trees, and bright (terribly wasteful) displays of electric lights on lawns. Practices include: an orgy of gift-buying, an incredible amount of overeating/drinking/spending, singing songs about reindeer and red-suited elves and snow, and gathering with friends and family.
Now lets be honest. Many of us celebrate both of these holidays, although many of us also favour one over the other--and how we choose to celebrate shows which one we favour. But they are not the same. Xmas is secular, it is marked by "Happy Holidays" and is best celebrated in the world at large. Christmas belongs to a faith tradition and in a pluralistic world (where not everyone shares that faith tradition) is best celebrated in more private settings. SO it is non-sensical to complain when the non-religious world celebrates Xmas. So stop complaining about the holiday tree, or asking stores to put up a manger scene, or about people who would rather go partying on Dec 24 than attend worship service. AS Scrooge said "You keep Christmas in your way and let me keep it in mine".
I don't believe that people are stealing Christmas. I do believe that Christians lose sight of their place in the world. Christmas is special to us. Let's show that, not by insisting everyone agree but by being true to the meaning of the season. And if others choose to favour Xmas, and we choose to join in some of that season, then so be it.
There's Something About Mary...
And no, I don't mean the movie (although I certainly enjoyed it).
This Sunday the service is about Mary. I have this deep-seated belief that we don't spend enough time on Mary in the Protestant tradition. She is, more or less, a prop; something we need for the Christmas story to happen but not all that important otherwise. But whenever I read Luke chapter 1 I am struck by the strength that underlies her words.
Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened if Mary had said "No thanks" instead of "let it be with me according to your word". What grace, what strength to say "Ok, I will be pregnant when I shouldn't be. I will carry the child, despite the hazards."
Then we come to her visit with Elizabeth (who also shows signs of great strength but this week it is all about Mary). To begin with, as Luke writes his Gospel Mary is in Nazareth and Elizabeth is in the hill country of Judea--not a small trip! And then, when she could be forgiven for being ashamed and afraid, Mary sings her song. And what a song! Luke may not call Mary a prophet but this passage shows her as a truth-teller, as hope-filled, as Spirit-filled. She is a prophet.
It is easy to look at Mary as this meek, obedient servant of God. She takes on the task thrust upon her and then, on the evening of the child's birth, sits and ponders all that has happened. But there is so much more there. There is definitely something about Mary...
This Sunday the service is about Mary. I have this deep-seated belief that we don't spend enough time on Mary in the Protestant tradition. She is, more or less, a prop; something we need for the Christmas story to happen but not all that important otherwise. But whenever I read Luke chapter 1 I am struck by the strength that underlies her words.
Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened if Mary had said "No thanks" instead of "let it be with me according to your word". What grace, what strength to say "Ok, I will be pregnant when I shouldn't be. I will carry the child, despite the hazards."
Then we come to her visit with Elizabeth (who also shows signs of great strength but this week it is all about Mary). To begin with, as Luke writes his Gospel Mary is in Nazareth and Elizabeth is in the hill country of Judea--not a small trip! And then, when she could be forgiven for being ashamed and afraid, Mary sings her song. And what a song! Luke may not call Mary a prophet but this passage shows her as a truth-teller, as hope-filled, as Spirit-filled. She is a prophet.
It is easy to look at Mary as this meek, obedient servant of God. She takes on the task thrust upon her and then, on the evening of the child's birth, sits and ponders all that has happened. But there is so much more there. There is definitely something about Mary...
Sunday, November 27, 2005
To Worship or not to worship
On December 25th that is. Being a Sunday, do we have our regular Sunday service or not?
Here the Board decided to cancel, figuring that there would not be anyone there (and thinking that it would give me the morning with the girls). I was ready to plan a service of carol singing and storytelling, but also was not about to argue strenuously either way--it wasn't my decision to make. In another place on the web I have recently taken part in a discussion about this issue. There a colleague essentially called those of us who are not pushing our congregation to have a service spineless cultural collaborators. Now, even though such language is uncalled for, there is a point about why we choose to have or not to have worship (and different answers are best/right in different places). I think that the decision here was the right one. I think that the church needs to stand up for ways we can encourage families to spend time together. But I could also make a coherent argument for the need to have a service on Dec 25.
What are people out there doing? What, if any, discussions have been held in your faith communities about that Sunday? Here I am making use of a resource Richard has graciously made available. It is some resources for families to use at home.
PS> the Board here also chose to cancel on January 1. This one I disagree with (but again it is not my decision to make). But since I will be on holidays they would have needed to find someone to take the service--likely a challenge. IF I were going to be here I might have pushed harder not to cancel, and it likely would have been less of an issue anyway.
Here the Board decided to cancel, figuring that there would not be anyone there (and thinking that it would give me the morning with the girls). I was ready to plan a service of carol singing and storytelling, but also was not about to argue strenuously either way--it wasn't my decision to make. In another place on the web I have recently taken part in a discussion about this issue. There a colleague essentially called those of us who are not pushing our congregation to have a service spineless cultural collaborators. Now, even though such language is uncalled for, there is a point about why we choose to have or not to have worship (and different answers are best/right in different places). I think that the decision here was the right one. I think that the church needs to stand up for ways we can encourage families to spend time together. But I could also make a coherent argument for the need to have a service on Dec 25.
What are people out there doing? What, if any, discussions have been held in your faith communities about that Sunday? Here I am making use of a resource Richard has graciously made available. It is some resources for families to use at home.
PS> the Board here also chose to cancel on January 1. This one I disagree with (but again it is not my decision to make). But since I will be on holidays they would have needed to find someone to take the service--likely a challenge. IF I were going to be here I might have pushed harder not to cancel, and it likely would have been less of an issue anyway.
WE Wish You a Merry Christmas??
From CBC NEWS:
Cheerful demonstrators opposed to the commercialization of Christmas managed to sing six anti-consumer carols at a Winnipeg mall before security evicted them.
About a dozen members of a group promoting a "Buy Nothing Christmas" set up near Santa's house in Polo Park Mall on Saturday and sang their versions of the old Christmas favourites.
NOthing like some good old fashioned rabble rousing to celebrate the seasons. WELL DONE! It brings a whole new look at how to bring Christmas, and its true meaning, to the stores.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Hey Look! A Parade!!!
Today was the local Christmas Parade. Each year the church puts in a float. And for the third year in a row we won "Best Religious" (religious as in organization, not as in float content--as you can tell) Then again, a theology of Winnie-the-Pooh is worth exploring...
And here are the girls in their costumes (after a little cropping on the picture to take out other children)
And here are the girls in their costumes (after a little cropping on the picture to take out other children)
Friday, November 25, 2005
Great Picture Gallery
the old bill has a gallery of images of Jesus he has collected over the years. Quite an eclectic collection and well worth a look.
Due to the size of the collection it may take a while to load. He says that he also has them subdivided. The list of categories is in this post
In a related vien. Some years ago the Provincial Museum in Edmonton had an exhibit called Anno Domini. It was a look at different ways Jesus has been portrayed in art through the centuries. There is a companion website here (since the exhibit has long since been taken down).
Due to the size of the collection it may take a while to load. He says that he also has them subdivided. The list of categories is in this post
In a related vien. Some years ago the Provincial Museum in Edmonton had an exhibit called Anno Domini. It was a look at different ways Jesus has been portrayed in art through the centuries. There is a companion website here (since the exhibit has long since been taken down).
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Light in the Darkness
“In the beginning was the Word…what has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:1-4)
Strings of coloured lights draped around trees, icicles of lights on eaves, lighted plastic figurines on the lawn, candles flickering in wreaths or on mantles; light is definitely a part of our Christmas celebrations. In fact, light is one of the central themes of Christmas. Light coming into the darkness. Light that drives away the shadow. Light that makes plain those things that were hidden.
One of the most common fears in childhood is to be afraid of the dark. And with good reason. In the dark ordinary things can seem monstrous. One never knows for certain what might be lying in the shadows. The dark is scary.
The world is a dark place. And at times it only seems to get darker. This is not new. The world has always been a dark place, there have always been shadows looming. But throughout all the darkness, even in the darkest of times, people have found hope. Strange thing about that, even when they have every reason to despair, people find hope. People find hope as God is once again revealed to be Emmanuel, God-With-Us.
That is what Christmas is all about. In fact it is a large part of what Christianity is all about, that recognition that God is with us, even if it is in surprising and unexpected ways and places. To a people suffering under the oppression of Roman Legions God came as a peasant child to a no-name family. In a world where mighty armies were the way to go God spoke out in the voice of a single man, calling people to a new way of living together. And after his execution people came to know that even death could not contain this man. No matter how hard they tried, people could not extinguish the light he brought to the world.
Today it is very easy to count the shadows looming at the door. It is very easy to give in to the fear of those shadows. In fact the world may well get darker yet. It may be that we have to go deeper into the shadows of uncertainty before we find a new path, the path God wants us to find, that will once again be brightly lit. But take heart. No matter how dark it may seem at any one time, there is always light. There is always light.
The ancients celebrated the winter solstice by praying that the sun would return. On the shortest day, the darkest time of year, they celebrated the coming back of heat and light. We continue to hold that celebration. At Christmas we celebrate the coming, again and again, in surprising ways, of Light. The light that can not be put out. As John says: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5). And the darkness never will overcome it. Thanks be to God for light in our darkness.
Strings of coloured lights draped around trees, icicles of lights on eaves, lighted plastic figurines on the lawn, candles flickering in wreaths or on mantles; light is definitely a part of our Christmas celebrations. In fact, light is one of the central themes of Christmas. Light coming into the darkness. Light that drives away the shadow. Light that makes plain those things that were hidden.
One of the most common fears in childhood is to be afraid of the dark. And with good reason. In the dark ordinary things can seem monstrous. One never knows for certain what might be lying in the shadows. The dark is scary.
The world is a dark place. And at times it only seems to get darker. This is not new. The world has always been a dark place, there have always been shadows looming. But throughout all the darkness, even in the darkest of times, people have found hope. Strange thing about that, even when they have every reason to despair, people find hope. People find hope as God is once again revealed to be Emmanuel, God-With-Us.
That is what Christmas is all about. In fact it is a large part of what Christianity is all about, that recognition that God is with us, even if it is in surprising and unexpected ways and places. To a people suffering under the oppression of Roman Legions God came as a peasant child to a no-name family. In a world where mighty armies were the way to go God spoke out in the voice of a single man, calling people to a new way of living together. And after his execution people came to know that even death could not contain this man. No matter how hard they tried, people could not extinguish the light he brought to the world.
Today it is very easy to count the shadows looming at the door. It is very easy to give in to the fear of those shadows. In fact the world may well get darker yet. It may be that we have to go deeper into the shadows of uncertainty before we find a new path, the path God wants us to find, that will once again be brightly lit. But take heart. No matter how dark it may seem at any one time, there is always light. There is always light.
The ancients celebrated the winter solstice by praying that the sun would return. On the shortest day, the darkest time of year, they celebrated the coming back of heat and light. We continue to hold that celebration. At Christmas we celebrate the coming, again and again, in surprising ways, of Light. The light that can not be put out. As John says: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5). And the darkness never will overcome it. Thanks be to God for light in our darkness.
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