Now that the stores are not pestering us, we can get down to serious gift giving. Boxing Day, the Feast of Stephen, is a good day to give. Why? Saint Stephen gave his life so others might live in the truth. From that time forward, Christians have given materially and immaterially. Yet beware: living for stuff (any stuff) is bad. We are higher beings than those that can be satisfied with material things. Materialism: do not do it. Yet do... Read more
It is the first day of Christmastide! This is the day where we get to see reality and reality is more hopeful than I often feel. If you have messed up as I have, then hope seems foolish. I am not a hero nor likely to play one in the movies. The best thing I have done is to marry well and be part of the lives of four wonderful (now adult) children. I am sorry for the wrong and look... Read more
Tonight one strong woman made sure another strong woman would spend eternity in Paradise. In the Genesis story, our first mother and father (Adam and Eve) said “no” to God. They were allowed to do so and given what they had chosen freely. Our “no” meant “no” and humankind was allowed to do what it could to construct an alternative cosmic order. This attempt went badly. Often we denied what is to embrace our own imaginations, but more frequently we... Read more
Rejoice! One great good of Christmas is doubt that leads to wondering. At the end of the Christmas story, the tough Jewish woman that was the Mother of God had seen it all and heard everything: 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. Where is the doubt? The Mother of God is treasuring these words . . . it is not the words (in this case) she is doubting. She has experienced too much for that... Read more
I asked Alexa for a Christmas movie and what she gave me was Christmas Town. To say this is a bad movie is not enough. The film should come with a warning: it is a slough of syrup that sucks you into its sticky self until one hits a bottom of cynicism from the sugar shock. Hard to believe that the makers of the film thought kindly of those of us who love Christmas, romance, and our sentiments seriously, because this film... Read more
Get thee to the Dickens’ Christmas story you have not read: The Cricket on the Hearth. Nobody loves Christmas Carol more than I do, but if you are feeling Scrooge-ish about Scrooge and his ghosts read The Cricket on the Hearth. Dickens’ public loved the story more than any of his other Christmas tales, including A Christmas Carol. If we might not agree, we should at least consider their opinion. Read The Cricket on the Hearth as a Christmas play full of types, rather as Scrooge... Read more
Advent is the prelude to new life in the nativity of Jesus. To live that new life, we must let go of the score keeping and the pride that fixes us to sorrow and death. Today the church recalls a good man who lived in difficult times. Something new was coming to his nation, but it was not going to be good and he knew it. In the midst of troubled times, he saw that soon even the name of... Read more
It turns out that you can build a house a bit like build-a-bear: one piece at a time. The stuff comes over time and eventually, if one persists, good things happen. Yet a home requires people and here is an important truth: people are not pieces. People are people and using them to do anything is bad. So here is the bad news: that includes looking to people to “save” you. When we got married, I was twenty-two and safe... Read more
Our floors at Saint Anne’s are hard on ornaments and recently a wise man was shattered by the fall, losing his head, and revealing that he was hollow. This happens and not just to ornaments. Too often we feel like we know something, but reality is hard and what we thought we knew turned out to superficial. We lacked substance and what looked solid shattered. Physical reality is not getting harder, it is what it is, but we are often in... Read more
Christmas is indestructible even if we are not. Read more
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