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Posts tagged ‘Christmas’

Dec 10

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Mary

I can’t help but be drawn into Mary’s story each Christmas and Easter. I think it has to do with having my own kids, and imagining the road she walked as Jesus’ mom.

I came upon this little reflection written by Edward J. Farrell, and it has captured my imagination today.  Because Mary was human, just like us.  But a human with the most extraordinary collision with the divine, ever.

Woman
Mom
Mary of rattling tea cups and homemade cookies
Mary of open door, open hearth, open heart
Queen of warmth and hospitality
Strong, fragile woman
Vulnerable,  unshakeable woman
Believer in love, reality, people, God
Back stooped and ear bent in listening to life’s stories and to the giver of life
Stubborn fidelity to life in the face of death
Unflinching spirit that stares light into the darkness of the tomb
Heart that breaks and pours love over the thirsty earth
Missing her son when he is gone to another home
Looking up in the sudden expectancy of hearing his voice
Smiling wryly to herself and waiting
Waiting, gestating the kingdom once more
Growing in expectancy of second birth–this time her own
The moment of reunion rushes to meet her with open arms
And their laughter rocks the universe
Sending happy shock waves to echo in our dreams
Tugging our reluctant mouths into smiles of hope and anticipation
Amen, it will be so, Amen.

I would love to know what part of this, if any, sparks your thoughts.

Dec 8

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Family Advent week 1 and 2

If you’ve read this post, this this post is going to seem ironic.
I’m ok with that, I just thought you should be warned.

A few years ago, it occurred to me that it would be good to try to bring a bit of structure to how our family gathers itself around the meaning of Christmas. In this season, my work life is completely consumed with creating opportunities for our church to collide with the truth of Jesus’ birth. How hard could it be to do that for our family?

*pause*

So I wrote up a set of ‘readings’ for our family to do together around our own Advent wreath & candles. The voice of Shiny Happy Idealism in my head had me convinced that we could do this together every night during Advent.

(bwahahahaha-ha!!! ohhhh my….)

Over time we have gradually changed what we’re reading together, and I am now ok with what we are able to do within our real life schedule.  This year, we are completely re-writing everything.  Our son is now quite a good reader, and deserves his own lines.  Plus we want to keep bringing everything back to the ‘why’.  WHY did God send Jesus here?  Why?

Last night was our first time to read together. We turned off most of the lights, gathered around a table, and sat… reading… listening…. watching.   Click here to see what we read.

You’ll notice some pencil edits…. ‘week 1′ had to become ‘week 1 AND 2′, since we just didn’t get to it in time.
(Oh, and there is not yet a ‘week 3′ or ‘week 4′. I’m hoping by sharing this with you, I’ll be publicly motivated to get it done.)

Our kids seem to really love these little moments.  Our son loves that he can read his part by himself AND we let him use a lighter. Our daughter seems to really thrive the discipline of quiet, even though, as an 11 year old, it’s not normally something she sets up for herself.  I hope this is a tradition we can keep alive… and that makes a difference for them.

So tell me. What traditions keep the meaning of Christmas tangible for you?

Dec 7

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Permission to Christmas.

So I have this friend. She is incredibly smart. She loves being a mom, serving her God, and having a great theological discussion.  I learn about all of those things every time I’m with her.

So I was somehow relieved to learn this friend has gone ’round and ’round with how to celebrate Christmas.  Like me, she has worked hard to find new meaning within Christmas year after year in the past. Like me, she has felt the weight of trying to create a meaningful, tradition-filled experience for her kids.

She, however, has landed in a place I didn’t know existed.  She would very much like to de-emphasize Christianity at Christmas.

Her decision is not flippant, nor is it to be construed as an abandonment of faith. Through theological study, she has come to believe strongly that we should honor and celebrate the fact that God took on human form.  She believes we should tell and retell the story of God saving and healing us.  She believes we should live in gratitude and praise for God’s gift of new life.  It’s just that she believes we should be doing all of this every day; this should be the way we live, not a thing we talk about once a year on Jesus’ birthday.

Not that December 25 actually is Jesus’ birthday, which is another notch in the ‘what is this Christmas thing?’ column.

My friend acknowledges that it’s hard to manufacture a new spiritual high each Christmas, when she has disciplined herself to acknowledge the full truth of God’s presence in the world every day. It seems redundant to try to force extra amounts of faith and joy through her kids once a year, when it is a value in their family to live that way all the time. And it’s hard enough on a normal day.

Where my friend’s perspective spun me by surprise is that she feels almost a sense of relief.  She can fully enter into the cultural celebration of Christmas without guilt that she’s not doing enough to make it ‘extra spiritual’.  She will still participate in their church’s Advent & Christmas events… she is still decorating like a crazy person… she is still entering in to all the traditions she and her husband have established for their family.

But super-Christian Christmas? no.  She has given herself permission to ‘Christmas’ freely.

My friend may be on to something.
Or it may be that we all are just thirsty for an Advent season that really IS about waiting, a quiet, melancholy state.
It may be that we all are aware that the air around a newborn baby in a barn would be quiet and a bit confused.
It may be that we wear seasonal expectations like heavy, weighted coats, when really it is a time to stop, remember, and celebrate God’s beautiful story. Period.

What do you think?

Dec 6

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Advent week 2 Light Foretold

Advent sermon series: Light
week 2: Light Foretold (or Darkness)

Order of worship
O Come All Ye Faithful (Kim Hill version)
welcome… reintroduce series and this week’s theme
(lighting to black)
Genesis 2-3 excerpts (reader in back of room)
“Light of Creation” narration part 1 (sin enters the world)
Lord Have Mercy
“Light of Creation” narration part 2 (the promise of light to come)
O Come O Come Emmanuel (traditional hymn)
Message: Light Foretold
-artist creates images on black canvas under blacklight during message
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus’ (band arr. from hymncharts)

Notes
read about week 1 of this series

Light was created, chasing away the uncreated darkness… humans were created and offered a beautiful life of freedom and creativity… darkness re-entered the world through a destructive choice. Light of salvation is promised.

We spent most of this service with the lights out in the room.  This is rare for our church (specific factors are described here).  It’s amazing how this changes the atmosphere, focuses everyone, creates expectation. You can almost hear people quieting themselves.

In darkness, we heard about Adam & Eve’s story of choice and vulnerability. In darkness, 3 high school students spoke beautifully about light and darkness. In darkness, we sang a song of confession, and a song of expectancy.

Then, with a single light on our pastor, we heard about this cycle of darkness & light.  And watched as a breathtaking work of performance art was created under a blacklight with paint and canvas, accompanying the progression of the message.  A swirl of light became a tree bearing fruit, then was overcome by darkness, then swirled into images of redemption and hope.

It was like an ‘art score’ under the sermon and it was stunning. (I hope to have video that can be shared soon.) There were some beautiful moments… when the artist’s work and the pastor’s words converged completely… watching people of all ages watch the painting… watching the crowd of kids swarm the artist and the painting at the end of the service… realizing my son was drawing his own version of the painting that was being created.

This was the most collaborative worship experience we’ve had in a long time. The actors & director working on the narration… the tech crew… the musicians… and my dear friend Christi who brought her heart, her faith, and her talent to share with the church. Lots of people doing their thing to bring glory to God. I am awed and grateful to have been a part of it.

In the coming weeks, our story continues:
week 3: Light Arrives: Emmanuel…. Light with us.
week 4: Light Bearers: we carry the light into the world

This post is a part of Sunday Setlists.  Check it out!

Dec 3

Advent week 1 Light of Creation

Sunday marked the first week of Advent.
Our sermon series for these four weeks is ‘Light’. We are tracing God’s story using Light as the thread weaving throughout.

This week, Light of Creation

Order of worship
welcome
kids’ songs: 3-4-5 year olds
ministry highlight: Thailand trip (in Feb we’re sending a group to Thailand where we support a few missionaries)
intro to theme
“Light of Creation” narration / advent candle
Creation video: gorgeous artistic representation of creation
‘God of Wonders’ (Mac Powell/Caedmon’s Call)
‘O Come Let Us Adore Him’
‘Your Name‘ (Baloche/Packiam)
Message: Light of Creation
(offering) Since the World Began (from Glory Revealed II): a truly beautiful song.

Notes
Our current auditorium is a multi-purpose room with large halogen lights in the house, and a few theatrical lights hitting the stage. House lighting is either ON or OFF (no dimming), goes OFF immediately, and comes ON gradually.  There are also windows on 2 sides of the room.  So it’s a bit of an action to have a dark room and arrange lighting changes effectively. Nevertheless, we are going to play with light throughout this series, so we have to be able to control it.

We covered the windows, and prior to the narration, went completely black. We lit the narrators, but mostly had very minimal lighting until the message. To accomplish this, my brilliant husband wired our musicians’ stand lights and our giant Christmas tree to dimmers, so even those elements are  now controllable.

The narration and video come from a Christmas production by Willow Creek church.  We will be using their narration pieces every week as our customary Advent readings. We have asked a few high school students to present these narrations memorized; Ryan & Brittany were the actors this week and they did a truly great job.

In the coming weeks, our story continues:
- Light Foretold: Darkness, and the message of light to come
- Light Arrives: Emmanuel…. Light with us.
- Light Bearers: we are to carry the light into the world

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