Andy's Blog: A Personal Word

December 2007 Archive

December 19, 2007

Dec. 19, 2007

As we get older, we often lose something of the wonder and mystery of this season. We have seen it all before so many times that we grow a bit jaded. It has come to sound all too familiar. We can find ourselves going through the motions, but without emotion.

Children, on the other hand, are caught up in the wonder because they are hearing/seeing it all for the first time. When gazed through new eyes, the meaning of Christmas captures the heart. John Shea in his book, The Hour of The Unexpected, tells what it was all about through the eyes of a child:
“She was five, sure of the facts, and recited them with slow solemnity, convinced every word was revelation. She said, ‘They were so poor they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat and they went a long way from home without getting lost. The lady rode a donkey, the man walked, and the baby was inside the lady. They had to stay in a stable with an ox and an ass (hee-hee), but the Three Rich Men found them because a star lighted the roof. Shepherds came and you could pet the sheep but not feed them. Then the baby was borned. And do you know who he was?’ Her quarter eyes inflated to silver dollars. ‘The baby was God.’ And she jumped in the air, whirled around, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion, which is the only proper response to the Good News of the Incarnation.”

If Christmas really is about the “word made flesh and dwelling among us,” then how else can we respond except with wonder, joy and gratitude? I don’t know if you will get what you “want” for Christmas, but I do know that God has already given us what we need – not hidden and wrapped in a box with ribbons, but wrapped in swaddling cloths laying in a manger for all to see.

December 12, 2007

Dec. 12, 2007

Holiday or Holy Day - which is this season really about?

Ann Lewis has a poem in which she speaks of Advent as a “season when dual citizenship holds us in awkward tension.” On one side, there is the call of the world which “eats and drinks its way to oblivion after dinner.” On the other side, is the call “to repent, be ready, keep wake, He comes.”

Like a complex piece of music, these themes entwine – they clash, they blend, they compete for our attention. Until there is some final resolution when
“harmony rests in aweful stillness, and the Child is born.” The question for us is “will He find us watching?”

We all feel this tension, this pull of so few shopping days left, so many parties to attend, so many cards to address – and at the same time the pull of the voice calling in the wilderness, the voice within each of us pointing us to the possibilities yet to be born. There is no escaping the tension – short of locking ourselves away. What this season requires of us is listening, watching, attending, so that we can hear the manger cry and recognize our citizenship in God’s kingdom. This alone is our hope, our peace, our salvation. 

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it is also the season to listen for what God wants to birth in us.

December 5, 2007

Dec. 5, 2007

I walked down to where the Outreach Team is collecting the Angel Tree gifts, and it looked like Bob’s Bike Shop. There were dozens of bikes, along with hundreds of other gifts. Once again this year, Trinity agreed to provide Christmas for more than 200 children. Families, classes and individuals stepped forward to make this possible. We even had one person take nine names,
“This is the way I celebrate Christmas,” he said.

Thank you for your generosity. I would also remind you of our Christmas Gift of Joy, that is taken during this season. This, along with our Lenten Offering, is the major source of our income for outreach beyond our walls. This money provides support for our United Methodist Children’s Home, the Firehouse Shelter, Urban Ministry, Birmingham Hospitality Network, Outreach Incorporated, Baby Love Ministry - and many more. 

I can think of no better way to keep the spirit of Christmas than including this gift for others in our giving. You may make your Christmas Gift of Joy Offering at any time during this season using the special envelopes provided or simply designating your check to “Gift of Joy.”

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