Thoughts on Christmastime...

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One of the things that I greatly enjoy about the lead-up to Christmas is the discussions that inevitably take place on the meaning and place of the Holiday.  The newspapers, blogs, and television always seem to have stories on the proper place of religion (and Christmas in particular) in a pluralist, secular democratic society.  Editorials and Op-Eds will explore the historicity of Christmas (the virgin birth, the star, angels, etc.), the commercialization of the holiday, and the "true meaning of Christmas".  Devout atheists will dogmatically decry the ubiquity of religion this time of year.  Staunch conservative evangelicals will lament and rail against the increasing loss of the "reason for the season" as well as their freedom to wish their neighbour a "Merry Christmas" without fear of social judgment.

Sure, there are the same old objections being raised my nominally informed individuals eager to educate the seemingly ignorant masses: Jesus wasn't born in December; many aspects of what we know of as Christmas have been appropriated from pagan celebrations, etc.  I have a little smile on the inside when I hear these objections being raises as if they were any sort of threat to the Christian celebration.

I enjoy that at this time of year people feel a little bit more able and free to discuss those topics which are grossly neglected for the other eleven months of the year.  I enjoy that people of all creeds and cultures are able to consider what it means to be filled with peace, hope, and love.  I enjoy that people feel it a socially acceptable thing to help out their neighbours this time of year, to give a stranger a friendly greeting, to carry a generous spirit.  Sure, there are malls packed with frantic shoppers, there are angry, frustrated drivers, and grumbling Scrooges... I guess it's a package deal.  I'll take it though.

Oh yes, and there is Peanuts:

Good show Linus, good show old chap.

Gloria Deo
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Thoughts on Christmas: Imagining the Incarnation...

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Last Sunday in Church we sang "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime."  This song is the English version of the 'Huron Carol," which, interestingly enough, is Canada's oldest Christmas song.  I was listening to a lovely version by Bruce Cockburn and it got me to thinking about the ways in which we conceive of the events surrounding the Incarnation... the story of Christmas.

In the Huron Carol, it's author, Saint Jean de Brébeuf gave the Christmas story to the Huron people in imagery the could relate to.  One famous English translation reads:

'Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp'd His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high...
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."

O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."

This version of the Christmas story places Jesus among the snowy winter forests of Canada with hunters coming to see the new-born king.  There in a "lodge of broken bark" the child is found wrapped in a "ragged robe of rabbit skin."

The historical Jesus was born of humble means in a little town in Palestine to Jewish parents but that hasn't stopped men and women throughout the centuries from bringing their collective imaginations to bear on the historical reality of the Incarnation... and I think this is a wonderful thing to do!

The gift of Christmas, i.e. the Incarnational redemption of all creation, is an inheritance shared by all humanity.  Every people group and every individual have claim to the joy and hope that was born that day so long ago in a little Jewish town.

It seems meet and right that the Incarnation, which was the union of the human and divine, the infinite and the finite, should also be the union of the universal with the particular.  Indeed, there will only ever be one historical reality through which the Son of God was born into this world, but the ways in which we imagine that birth will ever be myriad.

As for me, I'm a little bit partial to Gerard van Honthorst's "Adoration of the Shepherds".

Gloria Deo
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Life Lessons: Learning Love...

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"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

 If there is one gift that I can pass along to my little son, I would give him the gift of life.  My wife and I, through the miracle of procreation, have already given him the gift of biological life.  But there is a fullness of life that goes infinitely beyond merely being biologically alive.

I was reading my wife's blog the other day and was struck by a photo which she had posted on it.  It is a photo of Isaac crawling down the long tunnel of a large cardboard box with me in the background cheering him on.  As I considered this picture, it became increasingly clear to me what it is that I am intuitively teaching my son: life.  Every day I teach him to smile, to laugh, to sing, and to dance (lots of singing and dancing).  Some days I teach him to roll and play, to wrestle, to climb, and to tickle.  I talk to him and I listen to him.  In all of this I am teaching him to grasp life in each little increment that comes his way.  I am teaching him, by example, how to live.  One day, I will walk with him through sorrow and loss.  I will share with him joy and celebration.  In all the various climes of life, I will teach him the resiliency and splendor of love.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear"

 My hope for Isaac is that he learns to live life without fear - that he learns to love.  Today this takes the form of exploring the house, of treating each little moment as an opportunity to learn and grow, to laugh and love.  I hope that he takes each moment as a gift, as an invitation to live abundantly.

Living life abundantly doesn't necessarily involve jumping out of airplanes or traveling to far-off exotic places - these are equally means by which one can run from life - no, it involves learning to love, weeping with those who weep, laughing with those who laugh, accepting each moment and each person as a gift from God and responding appropriately: in love.  This is what I hope to teach my son.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God"

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Thoughts on Advent...

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Every year I have an internal struggle regarding the proper place of Advent in my life and in our society.  Perhaps this is just a part of a larger struggle that I have reconciling the relationship between the Church's understanding of time and the world's understanding.  For Christians, time is understood as a sacred part of God's created order.  And as such, the Church has - over the many centuries - developed a liturgical calendar which is intended to serve as a guide in the proper ordering of our worship and devotion.  There are times of the year to fast, to mourn, to celebrate, and to feast.  There are times/seasons set aside for the intentional contemplation of the Incarnation, for the Passion,  for the Resurrection... times of hope, times of longing, times of tears, times of joy (am I beginning to sound like a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes or perhaps a song by the Byrds... turn, turn, turn).  The struggle is one of reconciling the sacred nature of time and the ways in which we choose to spend the hours/days as Christians with the ways which our dominant culture tells us to spend our time.

Advent is a season of preparation for the coming saviour.  It is a time of focused contemplation and prayer; a time of looking forward to the dawn of hope, i.e. the arrival (Latin adventus or "coming") of God in the form of a newborn child.  It is intended to be a time in which we consider our lives and our world; we consider our needs, our pains, our sorrows; we consider our hopes and desires for love, for healing, for fulfillment; we consider our need for the coming Saviour, Love incarnate, who brings with him the embodiment of redemption, for each of us, but even more so, he brings the redemption of all of creation.  Advent is a time of anticipation, longing, and hope.

Yet, more often than not, it seems to be a time of frantic shopping, a time to be inundated with Christmas songs everywhere one goes, a time of celebration and feasting (or sometimes  wanton gluttony).  I heard one person describe the problem of reconciling Advent with the secular Christmas season something like this: So, we are going to throw a party for Jesus.  It's a birthday party for the Son of God.  But instead of waiting until his birthday, i.e. the day on which he will actually be here for it, we start partying a month or two early with the end effect being that by the time Jesus arrives for the party we are all tired and done celebrating.  He arrives just in time to see us pack up the festivities - the presents all open, the food already consumed.  Yeah, happy birthday indeed.

To me it often feels like we are opening our presents before Christmas.  It feels like we are spoiling the feast by constant and excessive snacking.

The answer seems quite straightforward: don't celebrate Christmas until Christmas.  But it is seldom quite as easy as that.  Our culture has structured this festive season such that everyone is used to having parties, and doing the various things of Christmas before the Christmas season even begins.  Suddenly I look like a scrooge for begrudging the radio stations, the television networks, the myriad of stores and public spaces, for getting this Christmas things going way too early.  Easter, in comparison, is a piece of cake.  I join with the Church in the practice of Lent.  I fast, I pray, I give up many of the normal things of life so that I can gain perspective on the suffering of our Christ, on his death and resurrection: so that I can truly celebrate the feast of the Resurrection when Easter Sunday comes.  But, Advent and Christmas... they are a much different story.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, contrary to popular opinion, are not the twelve days leading up to Christmas.  No, they are instead the days from Christmas day until January 5th (the day before Epiphany).  They are the twelve days which comprise the Christmas season: they are the party days.

Well, Advent begins today.  This year, as in previous years, I will seek to participate in the Advent season by fasting, by prayer, by contemplating my life and the world in which I live.  I shall look forward to the coming of our Lord for the redemption of the World.

What I will try not to do: I will try not to grumble and complain about the incessant assault upon my senses (and upon the Advent season) by the secular Christmas season.

Will I go to any Christmas parties? I don't know.

Will I have chocolates, candies, and decadent foods?  No.  I will wait until Christmastime.

Most of all, though, I will seek that face of God.  I will encourage my desire to know He, who is Love Incarnate, born so long ago into a most humble of circumstances, for the redemption of all creation.

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