“If I sin, I pray that my sin is to be too welcoming, and to have the door too wide open. Never do I want to stand before God and defend why I didn’t let someone into my community, family, church, faith or life because I kept the opening too narrow. I would rather explain why I let everyone in rather than defend why I kept one person out.”
-Rev. Katy Stenta
Usually I’m Christmassed way before Thanksgiving. The love and joy and hope of Christmas descends upon me (usually unexpectedly)
However this year there were technical difficulties regarding a Santa Hat (how can I wear this if my children keep stealing it) Christmas Music (I still don’t know where my CDs are) A Church Production of Charlie Brown (Cancelled: sad day) and family (no one is able to visit us this year)…plus it just felt a little too fast.
This week I transitioned, somehow in reading Mary’s Joy–it became mine,
Luke 1 46And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 56And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
And THEN (magically) I found things on the internet that made me feel like Christmas
Things like an amazing version of Angels We Have Heard on High (4 guys, 1 piano)
Things like this retelling of Jesus “Brilliant, no one will be expecting that!”
Then there’s this little girl sharing the Christmas Spirit with her parents, through singing/signing ;P
And an old favorite hallelujah! which is how being suddenly Christmassed feels to me!
Many pastors believe in delayed gratification, that singing Christmas hymns during advent is akin to a sin.
I don’t. I do think in giving Thanksgiving its due, and try to wait until them to do Christmassy things (altho what happens in the privacy of your own car is your business)
But, I love Christmas, there is something truly infectious about it…even as it is commercialized, the feeling itself is magical.
and important
and a good
and I’ll try not to be TOO annoyingly happy about it
🙂
I think I’m going to go watch Charlie Brown Christmas now!
“Second, there is no pre-Christian Jewish tradition suggesting that the messiah would be born of a virgin. No one used Isaiah 7:14 this way before Matthew did. Even assuming that Matthew or Luke regularly invented material to fit Jesus into earlier templates, why would they have invented something like this?”
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=17 An interesting thought…then the author goes on to note that virginal births were traditional in Greek Religions, not Judaism….I think I lie in with the camp where we make miracles a bigger deal today, than the Biblical people did. Miracles happened all the time, it was Joseph still marrying Mary that was Amazing………(ie God’s work is wonderful, but human’s good work is even harder to come by)…..
I begin to get oriented. The big whatchamacallit left, and as he passed a candle was lit.
Did I black out before that? I remember all the feelings I had, but I don’t know how much time passed, or if I really, actually saw anything.
The candle is flickering…..
Can something that shape even light a candle? I don’t even know if there are hands or claws or…
my mind went blank at “claws,” probably not a good direction for my thoughts to go. Maybe that’s how I blacked out to begin with.
The flickering candle is comforting…it marks the passage of time better than the dark does–it makes me think of morning….maybe I should go to bed. Its hard to tell without any windows.
I stand up–I’m surprised that I’m not shaky, maybe its because I’ve spent all my energy on the..confrontation. Ok, good to know for the future, when I go through an emotional rollercoaster, at some point, my body calms itself down.
I peer out to the hall, of course no one is there. There would be no sneaking in this place.
Determined, I pick up the candle and walk. Its only a hallway, I tell myself. Its not as if its a dungeon or the forest. My eyes follow a gold line trim on the wall, the gleam of it comforts me. Dancing in the light.
The first room I open, thankfully has a bed, I lie down. I carefully place the candle on the winged table nearby
I watch the shadows dance on the ceiling until I fall asleep.
My Santa Hat is older than my children.
I got it the first year of college at Oberlin.
At that time, I realized three things
1. I missed my family and church (the churches were CRAZY as a result of 9/11 and I couldn’t find a good one)
2. I wouldn’t be able to do much preparing for Christmas
3. People hated to be wished “Merry Christmas” something about the White Christian hegemony in a very liberal arts school.
Plus I had my first round of finals coming up (yikes!)
so I went to CVS and bought this really nice $5 Santa hat, it is a dark red with a clothlike white trim
I have worn it since that Dec 2001, ….and (amazingly) I haven’t lost it…
I wear it to celebrate Christmas
I wear it to celebrate Advent, to bring Christmas into conversations is a “safe space”
Every Thanksgiving I get it out, and start to celebrate.
Sometimes I think that God works less like a thunderous mountain of justice…and way more like my Santa hat.
My son talks as much as I do….my eldest one….
he talks, and talks and talks….
Some of his talking includes the following traits
1. Asking a question and then immediately repeating it, so there is no time to answer (sometimes including frustration that the parent is not answering quick enough)
2. Talking too much in class (of course)
3. Waking me up in the middle of the night to say something that is REALLY important to tell me…usually something we just remembered about school. (although his father does that too)
4. Asking for explanations…(this is beyond the why? stage) where everything needs to
Defensive tactics for Sir Talksalot include
1. Not even trying to answer…or pretending that we didn’t hear the question
2. Reminding him not to talk as much, trying to think of quiet activities to do instead of talking
3. ….ugh…finally I usually tell him that its sleeping time, not talking time….
4. Telling him we don’t know…at the go, it doesn’t work to say that partially in…
5. Take time out of the day and make sure to pay full attention and talk directly with him at some point during the day!
Katniss Everdeen is not a typical girl! (this article was written after my blog)
1. When I first read the first chapter I wasn’t sure if Katniss was a girl or Gale was a girl…..
2. She can’t lie: Notice how she’s always the last to know about the real plot (wait Peeta is actually in love with me, I thought we were just pretending is the first book, and a whole host of things in the second one I can’t name). Stereotypically
3. Katniss is not in a typical Love Triangle…I feel like the girl is usually caught in a direct competition where the ENTIRE plot rides the triangulation….Katniss says she’s too busy to worry about being in love…and I think she’s right.
4. Love Triangles don’t exist for boys in books, usual for Men there are two equally viable possibilities and sorting it out is more about what kind of life the hero wants to live (i.e. quiet and nerdy or fast and exciting). For girls its about who is the “RIGHT” boy…I think Hunger Games is more about the possibilities of living with Peeta vs. Gale as opposed to one being “right”
5. Katniss is a dunce about others but she is very self-aware…I like it
6. She grows (always important to me)
7. Every time you think you get how deep the plot is, it gets thicker
8. Its a study on PTSD
Tiny Review of Catching Fire (spoilers ahead)
Catching Fire is intense, people who are not familiar with the book tend to be surprised.
There is a lot more kissing than in the book (as I remember Katniss kisses Gale and Peeta once (for real) each…)….still I found myself taking it into stride
The “feel” is right: This is important because the pacing and details have to change some (the books are mostly introspection, which doesn’t translate to the screen”) however, I think the changes they did were (mostly) sensible for onscreen, and I have no doubt this is because Suzanne Collins has experience writing for TV as well as books
Finally! ending was interesting: I won’t give it away, but they uncover something that is a major mystery in the third book…wondering how they will handle this in the next movie….
Missing Link: I wish they did more with the minor characters, part of what is engaging for Katniss (for her audience and for us) is how she connects with the other characters, they missed that some with nuts & volts as well as the morphlings (who were barely onscreen)….also Peeta connects more to them and is particularly good with the morphlings which we completely miss…a regretable loss….
PS Cinna is my favorite character, I wish they gave him a couple more minutes of screen time about him “putting all his emotion in his work”
Overall: A great adaptation of the book…however ALWAYS read the book
Having written about Parables and Fairy Tales and the importance they play in defining the universality of the human condition for every particular human–and hence why they are awesome. I feel you are ready for the truth.
Star Trek and Dr. Who are Parables
Not only are they like most science fiction which discusses how the human race will interact with and respond to technological changes in the future (which is a little different than fantasy which explores humanity-exactly-as-it-is-except-there-happens-to-be-magic)…but these are characters whose stories are literally written and re-written from different perspective…
I mean at the end of Season 6 (yes I’m on netflix so I’m behind a season) when time has stopped, a villain offhandedly remarks that Rory is “the one who won’t die” which is so true, (WARNING: SPOILERS, Skip to next paragraph if you care) because Amy and Rory go through 5 different versions of reality to…
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YAY Co-Pastors ALL the WAY! Co-Pastors, the modern, Biblical model of leadership (Jesus sent them by two)
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his appearance or stature, because I haven’t selected him. God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16.7)
I recently wrote a post about my personal journey in discerning my call. A part of that journey is moving from associate pastor to co-pastor. December 15, 2013, we will be installed, which coincidentally marks John Anderson’s 22nd year at St. John’s (started December 24, 1991) and my 10th year of ordained ministry and time at St. John’s (started November 17, 2003).
Reflecting on my time as an associate pastor, I am extremely grateful for the example and legacy that John Anderson has set, not only as a pastor, friend, and colleague, but more importantly as a Head of Staff. He has greatly affected, influenced, and shaped my role…
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katyandtheword 