Second Tuesday in Advent

What follows is an article from the December edition of "Faith ALIVE!" - the newsletter of Faith Lutheran Church here in Phoenix. Pastor Renee Geiger captures a lot of how I think and feel about this season of Advent. I know lots of folks looked at me sort of cross-eyed on Sunday when I reminded people that the first day of Christmas is Christmas, which means all the days until then are preparation.
Maybe I'm feeling a little less prepared for the celebrations than usual this year, because I am wanting to savor every moment of Advent time. The journey of Advent resonates with me a lot this year. So slow down, and breathe, and enjoy the rain (or snow, if you live some place colder than Phoenix).

Pastor Renee writes:
Advent. I am amazed at how many people would join me in saying that this is their favorite season. For some reason, I want to become a little more poetic, more introspective, even more quiet at Advent, which is rather ironic since it's when things speed up all the more with shopping, cooking, cards and glitter.
Maybe, those of us who are Advent people think about the simplicity of the story of Jesus' birth, the visitation of the angels, the silent and holy night, and we somehow want to get ready - ready in a deep and real way for that which God, wrapped in human flesh, offers.
In worship planning we strive for more "space" and simplicity that might hold moments of silence - just to listen to God's Word, absorb the music and anticipate what God is saying to us in the Christ child.
Will we be able to take time to stop and consider another vision of life? How important this is for a world that is longing for salvation at this time, with all the realities around us. In Advent we will hear words of God's intention for a new creation, and we will hear words that send a proclamation that we are to wake up, stay alert, and repent as we are warned of the coming thief in the night. Ineed, this is a time when the entire world needs to be alert to what is happening to God's creation, and in human need and poverty.
Each Sunday we will light our Advent candles in awaiting the redemption of ALL of God's creation and ALL of God's people.
In these Advent waves of momentum and preparation, perhaps we will be able to hear the clear cry of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes entering into the cry of the world. And that cry reminds us that we are not alone. Immanuel, God with us, also cries a deafening shout of slavation, yes, even in the silence, even in war, even in melting glaciers, even in injustice, even with the very poor and the very thirsty.
Oh God, keep us courageously alert and at peace as we move into your vision. Help us to create space where we are not afraid or too preoccupied to hear what you are saying to us as we wait and prepare.

Second Sunday of Advent

Today was a hard day for me in worship - only because of the magnitude of the tension between Advent and Christmas.

I try to keep Advent, personally. And I see at as part of my job as a pastor and worship leader to help others keep Advent, too.

The surrounding culture's mad rush to get to Christmas as soon as possible (do-not-pass-John-the-Baptist-or-even-think-about-spending-less-than-$200) makes me nuts. And so we did a weird hybrid thing at Shepherd of the Valley this morning: we lit two candles on the Advent wreath, which was pushed off to the side of the worship space, because the risers for the children took up most of the chancel, and of course the fully decorated Christmas tree is up and lit (and gorgeous, true) and huge, in the chancel as well. As a congregation we sang Advent hymns. But then we also got the very well done Sunday School children's Christmas program, called "The Christmas Present," all about how Jesus is the best Christmas present (which he IS, but it's not Christmas yet!) The children's singing of "Joy to the world" was followed by a reading from Isaiah 11, another from Matthew 3, and a short (!) sermon about those Advent 2 texts - "REPENT!" I cried along with John the Baptizer. "Wait!" "Slow down!" "The wolf and the lamb will live together..." "The point isn't that Christmas is coming - the point is that CHRIST IS COMING!"

Advent is hard in church - after all, there are only so many Sundays between December 1st and Christmas, and there are so many groups who want to perform: the Sunday School kids' program, the Festival Choir Cantata, the Contemporary Worship Team Cantata.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I think this is one place where the church being countercultural is pretty helpful. After all, the first day of Christmas is (surprise!) Christmas! What if we had a cantata on the first Sunday of the Christmas season this year, December 30th? What if the kids' program was on Epiphany (January 6th)?

Is there a way to hold on to the preparation and anticipation of Advent and then really live into 12 whole days of celebration of Christmas? I remain optimistic that such things are possible, not just for individual households, but for whole communities, too.

I welcome your thoughts...

Volume 5 Issue 3 - Cafe - Stirring the Spirit Within

The newest edition of Cafe is out - all about friendship: changes, break-ups, unexpected relationships.

The first article is about how friendships change after having children. I haven't crossed that bridge yet. However, I have noticed that many of my friendships have changed since I got married (it will be 10 months ago, tomorrow). It's not that I don't love my friends, but living in a faraway city, working hard, commuting long hours, and working on my relationship with my husband just doesn't leave as much time for friends as I used to have. I wouldn't trade Grant in for anything, but I do mourn the changes in my friendships. I'm guessing I'm not the only one for whom this is true.

Thoughts?

The Young Clergy Women's Project

Thanks to a link on a blog I read from time to time, I have discovered a wonderful online community called The Young Clergy Women's Project.
Not all of you readers will be able to join the community, since membership requirements include being female, ordained, and under 40. That said, there's also a great zine written by the community, called Fidelia's Sisters, which is available for everyone. The current issue cracked me up - I totally relate with the author's use of words (appropriate and otherwise) in the article titled "What did she just say?"
When I was studying preaching during seminary, we were warned of "pulpit voice" - that strange phenomenon when someone's voice undergoes obvious changes every time s/he preaches or prays or is leading worship. It's amazing how some people don't sound like themselves at all when they preach.
And to me it's funny how people sometimes EXPECT pastors not to sound like themselves when preaching - maybe not in vocal characteristics, but in the words they use (and more importantly DON'T use).
I will never forget hearing the story of Pastor Bob, a wonderful retired pastor in Northwest Montana, who was filling-in for a local pastor one Sunday morning. He used the least polite word for "poop" during his sermon about world hunger issues. And then Pastor Bob went on to point out, and lament, the fact that most of his hearers would be more outraged by him saying "sh*t" during worship than they would be that millions of children would go to bed hungry that night.

How easy it can be to separate outward righteousness and real holy living. We are good at getting our priorities screwed up, aren't we? Maybe it's a good thing we'll be getting a dose of John the Baptist on Sunday...

Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c. 342

Today is the feast day of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra. He's one of the church's most beloved saints, though relatively little is known about his life. In the fourth century he was a bishop in what is now Turkey.

There are lots of legends that tell of his love for God and neighbor. And there are lots of web sites that can help us understand how the "Saint Nicholas" remembered by Christians for centuries, became the "Santa Claus" that gets plastered all over everything this time of year.

I suggest a visit to The St. Nicholas Center and some anonymous gift-giving to remember his life of faith and service.

Festival of Lights

We Christians aren't the only ones lighting candles this time of year. Hanukkah began yesterday evening at sundown (per the Jewish way of keeping time - the new day starts at sunset...). So today is the first day of Hanukkah.

And if you want to learn more about it, I commend you. I think it's always a good idea to understand the holy days, traditions and celebrations of people who profess faiths other than our own. My friend Rabbi Sarah Mack, who serves a congregation in Providence, RI, recommended this site to me as a beginning place to learn about Hanukkah. Enjoy!

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe. Help us to understand each other, to reach out our hands in welcome and peace. Amen

'Tis the Season

It's Tuesday of the first week of Advent, and yes, this is the article I wrote for the December "Shepherd's Psalm" - SOV's monthly newsletter. I wrote it mid-November, and I agree with myself even more now (no, that's not always true...).
So - I hope you enjoy my thoughts, and I encourage you to ADD YOUR OWN! Let's share our ways of keeping the season of Advent and remembering what Christmas is all about without going crazy. Just add a comment to the end of this entry, and come back to see what others have to say, too.

I often hear the phrase “hurry up and wait,” usually when someone is frustrated with the process of getting something done. I think the season of Advent is also a time of “hurry up and wait,” though without the exclusively negative connotations that most often go with the idea. During this season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we are called on to wait, to prepare, to be ready – not just for the celebration of our Lord’s coming the first time around, but for his coming again.
Prepare. Prepare ye. Prepare ye the way. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. As anticipation builds and each day another door opens on our Advent calendars, the waiting seems to get harder and harder. The older I get, the more I yearn to really keep and observe this season of waiting. After all, things are not as they will be, and sometimes I have very little patience for the maintenance of the status quo. I’d like to see some of the rough places made plain, the crooked straight, the hungry filled, those who weep rolling on the floor in joyful laughter.
Then I remember that God’s kingdom is both now and not yet. It’s not here in all its fullness, but we get glimpses, moments when the light really does outshine the darkness and grace is there to reach out and touch. And there are things I can do to sharpen my vision, or at least remember to be on the look-out. At this time of year I can sum up that strategy in just a few words: simplify, remember, give.
Christmas doesn’t have to make us crazy. Here are a few of my favorite things to remember and try:

• Check out www.SimpleLiving.org - they’ve got a great magazine, called “Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?” with lots of great ideas for a Christ-centered holiday.


• Set a spending limit for Christmas gifts and then stick to it. This year my sister and I have capped spending on each other at $25 – it makes us get more creative in our gift-giving and helps us be stewards of our resources and the planet.


• Try alternative giving, especially for those who “already have everything.” All kinds of organizations can put even modest donations to good use. Ask me for a copy of The Giving Catalog of the ELCA if you’d like more information.


• Call “Time Out!” on the shopping and frenzy, and give someone (maybe even yourself) the gift of your time.


• Use recycled or re-used wrapping paper (or none at all!) and be kinder to the earth this season.


• Find a good devotion to do each day, on your own or with friends or family. Light the candles on an Advent wreath and remember why this season is so important in the first place. I enjoy the daily God Pause email devotional from Luther Seminary. You can sign up to receive it, too.


• Remember that “no” is a perfectly acceptable answer to a yes-or-no question. (You really DON'T have to do it all).

May God bless you, and your waiting, during this season of lights, time, and great love.

P.S. - How are you waiting and preparing during this season of Advent?