TCM Remembers 2021

This week seems it may be a lot of memorials.  I typically share this at the end of the year, but that was a bit full this time.  TCM always puts together a classy memorial reel, providing the most comprehensive look at the loss that film suffered in the past year.

This past years list included legends and so far 2022 is following in that vein.  There will be a couple more posts for specific individuals later this week.

One Year Later

"The mob was fed lies.  They were provoked by the president and other powerful people...They tried to disrupt our democracy, they failed...This failed insurrection."

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), January 6, 2021

"The violence, destruction, and chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable undemocratic and unamerican.  It was the saddest day I've ever had as serving as a member of this institution...We saw the worst of America this afternoon..."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) January 6, 2021

"last week's violent attack on the Capitol was undemocratic, un-American and criminal...those who are responsible for Wednesday's chaos will be brought to justice...The President bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) January 13, 2021

"Today was a dark day in the history in the United States capitol...We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms...To those who wreaked havoc today, you did not win."

Vice President Pence (R), January 6, 2021

"Once you start taking violent actions against law enforcement you're not a protestor anymore, you are an anarchist.  Whether it's anarchy or terrorism, they were trying to storm the Capitol and stop our democracy from working."

Rep. Steve Scalise (R), January 6, 2021

"When it comes to accountability the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem not the solution."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), January 7, 2021

"Chaos, anarchy.  The violence today was wrong and un-American."

Sen. Rand Paul (R), January 6, 2021

"On Wednesday the Capitol of the most powerful nation the world has ever known was stormed by an angry mob.  Americans surely never thought they'd see such a scene...It was a display not of patriotism but of frenzy and anarchy."

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R), January 7, 2021

"There is nothing patriotic about what is occurring on Capitol Hill.  This is 3rd world style anti-American anarchy."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R), January 6, 2021

I could go on...

 

What a difference a year makes.

Yesterday, the House held a moment of silence in remembrance of the attempted coup on the United States Capitol exactly one year prior.  The event was not meant to be partisan, rather a solemn remembrance of the tragedy that event represents in the history of our democracy.  Though the House is not officially in session, a majority of Democratic representatives attended.  For the Republicans, only Rep. Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice-President Dick Cheney, attended. The rest of the party could not seem to be bothered to attend.

They used to at least pretend to care.

Now we see that we are sadly no better off this year than we were last year.  Nothing has changed.  Despite all of their bluster, the Republican party simply fell in line.  

I wrote a year ago that we had to face two issues with the insurrection:  Inevitability and Identity.  We had to face that the events of the insurrection were inevitable.  They were the logical conclusion of all the events leading up to it.  The lies, the distortions, the instigation by people in the very highest offices.  Trump's team identified a base that could be manipulated and followed through.  They got what they wished for.

We also had to face that this was our national identity.  We couldn't sweep this away as not being a part of us, as being something external.  This was perpetuated by Americans.  The part of America that we do not want to acknowledge or deal with.  What we want to forget.

Our choice, though, was in how we proceeded.  Would we finally address the scabs that January 6, 2021 revealed?  The deep scars and healing that needed to occur?  Would we decide to live up to what America could be? Or would we continue to living in that paradoxical state in between?

Yesterday provides the clear answer.  At least a noticeable section of America is going to pretend like January 6, 2021 never happened.  Or that it wasn't that bad.  Or worse, that it should have gone farther.

I fear that those who believe that January 6, 2021 was not the end of an attempted coup, but rather the beginning of one are right.  This will happen again, it will be worse, and it will have more disastrous consequences.  

I pray I am wrong.  I pray we heed the better angels of our nature.  That we stand up for what unites us, rather than divides us.  I pray leadership comes to it senses and leads for the benefit of all of the nation, not just panders to their base for re-election.

Maybe we will listen.

Madam Vice President, my fellow Americans: To state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked — simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution — our Constitution — faced the gravest of threats.

Outnumbered and in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard, and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law.

Our democracy held. We the people endured. And we the people prevailed.

For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol.

But they failed. They failed.

And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again.

I’m speaking to you today from Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. This is where the House of Representatives met for 50 years in the decades leading up to the Civil War. This is — on this floor is where a young congressman of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, sat at desk 191.

Above him — above us, over that door leading into the Rotunda — is a sculpture depicting Clio, the muse of history. In her hands, an open book in which she records the events taking place in this chamber below.

Clio stood watch over this hall one year ago today, as she has for more than 200 years. She recorded what took place. The real history. The real facts. The real truth. The facts
and the truth that Vice President Harris just shared and that you and I and the whole world saw with our own eyes.

The Bible tells us that we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free. We shall know the truth.

Well, here is the God’s truth about January 6th, 2021:

Close your eyes. Go back to that day. What do you see? Rioters rampaging, waving for the first time inside this Capitol a Confederate flag that symbolized the cause to destroy America, to rip us apart.

Even during the Civil War, that never, ever happened. But it happened here in 2021.

What else do you see? A mob breaking windows, kicking in doors, breaching the Capitol. American flags on poles being used as weapons, as spears. Fire extinguishers being thrown at the heads of police officers.

A crowd that professes their love for law enforcement assaulted those police officers, dragged them, sprayed them, stomped on them.

Over 140 police officers were injured.

We’ve all heard the police officers who were there that day testify to what happened. One officer called it, quote, a med- — “medieval” battle, and that he was more afraid that day than he was fighting the war in Iraq.

They’ve repeatedly asked since that day: How dare anyone — anyone — diminish, belittle, or deny the hell they were put through?

We saw it with our own eyes. Rioters menaced these halls, threatening the life of the Speaker of the House, literally erecting gallows to hang the Vice President of the United States of America.

But what did we not see?

We didn’t see a former president, who had just rallied the mob to attack — sitting in the private dining room off the Oval Office in the White House, watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, lives at risk, and the nation’s capital under siege.

This wasn’t a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection.

They weren’t looking to uphold the will of the people. They were looking to deny the will of the people.

They were looking to uphold — they weren’t looking to uphold a free and fair election. They were looking to overturn one.

They weren’t looking to save the cause of America. They were looking to subvert the Constitution.

This isn’t about being bogged down in the past. This is about making sure the past isn’t buried.

That’s the only way forward. That’s what great nations do. They don’t bury the truth, they face up to it. Sounds like hyperbole, but that’s the truth: They face up to it.

We are a great nation.

My fellow Americans, in life, there’s truth and,
tragically, there are lies — lies conceived and spread for profit and power.

We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie.

And here is the truth: The former president of the
United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He’s done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interests as more important than his country’s interests and America’s interests, and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution.

He can’t accept he lost, even though that’s what 93 United States senators, his own Attorney General, his own Vice President, governors and state officials in every battleground state have all said: He lost.

That’s what 81 million of you did as you voted for a new way forward.

He has done what no president in American history — the history of this country — has ever, ever done: He refused to accept the results of an election and the will of the American people.

While some courageous men and women in the Republican Party are standing against it, trying to uphold the principles of that party, too many others are transforming that party into something else. They seem no longer to want to be the party — the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes.

But whatever my other disagreements are with Republicans who support the rule of law and not the rule of a single man, I will always seek to work together with them to find shared solutions where possible. Because if we have a shared belief in democracy, then anything is possible — anything.

And so, at this moment, we must decide: What kind of nation are we going to be?

Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm?

Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people?

Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies?

We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it.

The Big Lie being told by the former president and many Republicans who fear his wrath is that the insurrection in this country actually took place on Election Day — November 3rd, 2020.

Think about that. Is that what you thought? Is that what you thought when you voted that day? Taking part in an insurrection? Is that what you thought you were doing? Or did you think you were carrying out your highest duty as a citizen and voting?

The former president and his supporters are trying to rewrite history. They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection and the riot that took place here on January 6th as the true expression of the will of the people.

Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country — to look at America? I cannot.

Here’s the truth: The election of 2020 was the greatest demonstration of democracy in the history of this country.

More of you voted in that election than have ever voted in all of American history. Over 150 million Americans went to the polls and voted that day in a pandemic — some at grea- — great risk to their lives. They should be applauded, not attacked.

Right now, in state after state, new laws are being written — not to protect the vote, but to deny it; not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert it; not to strengthen or protect our democracy, but because the former president lost.

Instead of looking at the election results from 2020 and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections.

It’s wrong. It’s undemocratic. And frankly, it’s un-American.

The second Big Lie being told by the former President and his supporters is that the results of the election of 2020 can’t be trusted.

The truth is that no election — no election in American history has been more closely scrutinized or more carefully counted.

Every legal challenge questioning the results in every court in this country that could have been made was made and was rejected — often rejected by Republican-appointed judges, including judges appointed by the former president himself, from state courts to the United States Supreme Court.

Recounts were undertaken in state after state. Georgia — Georgia counted its results three times, with one recount by hand.

Phony partisan audits were undertaken long after the election in several states. None changed the results. And in some of them, the irony is the margin of victory actually grew slightly.

So, let’s speak plainly about what happened in 2020. Even before the first ballot was cast, the former president was preemptively sowing doubt about the election results. He built his lie over months. It wasn’t based on any facts. He was just looking for an excuse — a pretext — to cover for the truth.

He’s not just a former president. He’s a defeated former president — defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes in a full and free and fair election.

There is simply zero proof the election results were inaccurate. In fact, in every venue where evidence had to be produced and an oath to tell the truth had to be taken, the former president failed to make his case.

Just think about this: The former president and his supporters have never been able to explain how they accept as accurate the other election results that took place on November 3rd — the elections for governor, United States Senate, the House of Representatives — elections in which they closed the gap in the House.

They challenge none of that. The President’s name was first, then we went down the line — governors, senators, House of Representatives. Somehow, those results were accurate on the same ballot, but the presidential race was flawed?

And on the same ballot, the same day, cast by the same voters.

The only difference: The former President didn’t lose those races; he just lost the one that was his own.

Finally, the third Big Lie being told by a former President and his supporters is that the mob who sought to impose their will through violence are the nation’s true patriots.

Is that what you thought when you looked at the mob ransacking the Capitol, destroying property, literally defecating in the hallways, rifling through desks of senators and representatives, hunting down members of congress? Patriots? Not in my view.

To me, the true patriots were the more than 150 [million] Americans who peacefully expressed their vote at the ballot box, the election workers who protected the integrity of the vote, and the heroes who defended this Capitol.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

You can’t obey the law only when it’s convenient.

You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies.

Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America — at American democracy.

They didn’t come here out of patriotism or principle. They came here in rage — not in service of America, but rather in service of one man.

Those who incited the mob — the real plotters — who were desperate to deny the certification of the election and defy the will of the voters.

But their plot was foiled. Congressmen — Democrats and Republicans — stayed. Senators, representatives, staff — they finished their work the Constitution demanded. They honored their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Look, folks, now it’s up to all of us — to “We the People” — to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to keep the promise of America alive.

That promise is at risk, targeted by the forces that value brute strength over the sanctity of democracy, fear over hope, personal gain over public good.

Make no mistake about it: We’re living at an inflection point in history.

Both at home and abroad, we’re engaged anew in a struggle between democracy and autocracy, between the aspirations of the many and the greed of the few, between the people’s right of self-determination and self- — the self-seeking autocrat.

From China to Russia and beyond, they’re betting that democracy’s days are numbered. They’ve actually told me democracy is too slow, too bogged down by division to succeed in today’s rapidly changing, complicated world.

And they’re betting — they’re betting America will become more like them and less like us. They’re betting that America is a place for the autocrat, the dictator, the strongman.

I do not believe that. That is not who we are. That is not who we have ever been. And that is not who we should ever, ever be.

Our Founding Fathers, as imperfect as they were, set in motion an experiment that changed the world — literally changed the world.

Here in America, the people would rule, power would be transferred peacefully — never at the tip of a spear or the barrel of a gun.

And they committed to paper an idea that couldn’t live up to — they couldn’t live up to but an idea that couldn’t be constrained: Yes, in America all people are created equal.

We reject the view that if you succeed, I fail; if you get ahead, I fall behind; if I hold you down, I somehow lift myself up.

The former President, who lies about this election, and the mob that attacked this Capitol could not be further away from the core American values.

They want to rule or they will ruin — ruin what our country fought for at Lexington and Concord; at Gettysburg; at Omaha Beach; Seneca Falls; Selma, Alabama. What — and what we were fighting for: the right to vote, the right to govern ourselves, the right to determine our own destiny.

And with rights come responsibilities: the responsibility to see each other as neighbors — maybe we disagree with that neighbor, but they’re not an adversary; the responsibility to accept defeat then get back in the arena and try again the next time to make your case; the responsibility to see that America is an idea — an idea that requires vigilant stewardship.

As we stand here today — one year since January 6th, 2021 — the lies that drove the anger and madness we saw in this place, they have not abated.

So, we have to be firm, resolute, and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote and to have that vote counted.

Some have already made the ultimate sacrifice in this sacred effort.

Jill and I have mourned police officers in this Capitol Rotunda not once but twice in the wake of January 6th: once to honor Officer Brian Sicknick, who lost his life the day after the attack, and a second time to honor Officer Billy Evans, who lost his life defending this Capitol as well.

We think about the others who lost their lives and were injured and everyone living with the trauma of that day — from those defending this Capitol to members of Congress in both parties and their staffs, to reporters, cafeteria workers, custodial workers, and their families.

Don’t kid yourself: The pain and scars from that day run deep.

I said it many times and it’s no more true or real than when we think about the events of January 6th: We are in a battle for the soul of America. A battle that, by the grace of God and the goodness and gracious — and greatness of this nation, we will win.

Believe me, I know how difficult democracy is. And I’m crystal clear about the threats America faces. But I also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope.

From the death and destruction, as the Vice President referenced, in Pearl Harbor came the triumph over the forces of fascism.

From the brutality of Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge came historic voting rights legislation.

So, now let us step up, write the next chapter in American history where January 6th marks not the end of democracy, but the beginning of a renaissance of liberty and fair play.

I did not seek this fight brought to this Capitol one year ago today, but I will not shrink from it either.

I will stand in this breach. I will defend this nation. And I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of our democracy.

We will make sure the will of the people is heard; that the ballot prevails, not violence; that authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred.

I believe the power of the presidency and the purpose is to unite this nation, not divide it; to lift us up, not tear us apart; to be about us — about us, not about “me.”

Deep in the heart of America burns a flame lit almost 250 years ago — of liberty, freedom, and equality.

This is not a land of kings or dictators or autocrats. We’re a nation of laws; of order, not chaos; of peace, not violence.

Here in America, the people rule through the ballot, and their will prevails.

So, let us remember: Together, we’re one nation, under God, indivisible; that today, tomorrow, and forever, at our best, we are the United States of America.

God bless you all. May God protect our troops. And may God bless those who stand watch over our democracy.

President Joe Biden, January 6, 2022, 9:16 am

The Eighth Day of Christmas 2021

New Year's Day

Welcome to 2022.  An opportunity to start a new chapter, a new story, a new verse.  

It seems we are all in want of that lately.  We want to shake off 2021 and all it brought and move back into brighter times.  There's no reason a new start should limited to today alone, but the day and the occasion does make for a good transition.

In this season of resolutions, I pray you make them and work towards them.  If nothing else, to try something new and different.  Something you've always wanted to do.  Be bold.  Be daring.  Shoot for the moon.  Be wild and ambitious.  But most of all be kind.  If it's one thing I've observed and wished for my life, it is that we need more kindness in the world, especially now.  Pure, unadulterated kindness.  To view the whole world as our neighborhood.  I hope to be a part of that change.

"Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness."  William Shakespeare

If we should keep anything of 2021, it should be a reminder that human connection is absolutely necessary.  We've seen how our time with our immediate families could be strengthened through time together.  We've longed for the ability to connect with friends, with family, with others around us that we've missed through these months.  We recognize that kindness, that friendship is a warmth shared between us.  

In year's past, I've shared a poem with thoughts and hopes for the new year ahead.  This year is no different, and the poem shared is a new one of hope from America's young poet laureate, Amanda Gorman.

“New Day’s Lyric”

May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.

This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.

What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.

Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.

We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot...

We'll drink a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

Happy New Year!  To 2022!

The Seventh Day of Christmas 2021

New Year's Eve, or Watchnight

I think we need to go back to Watchnight.  Late night services for Christians to review the year that has passed and make confession, and then prepare for the year ahead through prayer and resolutions.  For many, this also carries a liberation component.  Being set free.  In remembrance of the African American congregants gathering December 31, 1862, expectantly waiting confirmation of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

That all seems particularly appropriate to reflect on this season, as 2021 has remained a year of great change and worldwide unrest.  Avalyn starting Second Grade.  Jude starting Pre-K.  Jamie starting the Be the Bridge group with Carmen.  I started singing on the praise team and with the Cummins' Diversity Choir.  The store closed. 

It has been a marvelous time in seeing God's faithfulness, his provision, and his care.

It gives us much to hope for in the new year.  Hope for change and for a breakthrough.  Hope for a return to something close to normal.

As we all start to prepare for countdowns, for closure, for change, for the ringing out of the old and in with the new, I pray you all have a safe and wonderful night.  I pray you have time to reflect on what you've been brought through, and to recognize if nothing else, how you survived.  To recognize those that have pulled you through or been right there beside you.

To those who have continued to read through this second year of posts, thank you.  It means more than you can imagine.

To all, have a great night!  May it be safe and blessed and may your transition into this new year, into the new bring everything.  Highs and lows, joy and tears.  But through it all, may it bring love, kindness, generosity, and grace.

The Sixth Day of Christmas 2021

The Feast of The Holy Family

"Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.' 'Why were you searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?' But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

Luke 2:41-52

The Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated today on December 30, the sixth day of Christmas, because Christmas and New Year's both fall on Sunday this year.  It would otherwise be on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's Day.

We know precious little about the life of the Holy Family.  Of the accounts that we have of Jesus's family life before his ministry, the account of him at the temple is the most complete.  We further have mentions of his circumcision and presentation and the family flight to Egypt and return to Nazareth.

Otherwise it would seem that Jesus's early life was fairly uneventful.  From Matthew, we see that early in Jesus's ministry, it is asked, "Isn't this the carpenter's son?  Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?"  Had Jesus performed more miraculous signs early in his life, surely those would have been known.  He would have already had a reputation.  As it was, he began developing his reputation with his ministry.

This means we have a lot of questions about his early life.  We don't know his family's relationship with their relatives.  Were Mary and Joseph shunned for their early, unplanned pregnancy?  For the rumors and shame they brought on the family?  Beyond Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John, did anyone else believe them?  Did they have anyone they could share their burdens, their questions with?

How did the time in Egypt affect the family?  What was their reception when they returned?

How did Jesus get along with his siblings?  Were they older siblings, as assumed in the denominations that perpetuate the virginity of Mary, or were they younger siblings trying to live up to Jesus's example?

How often did Joseph and Mary feel it was too much to handle, too much to bear?  How often did they worry about the life of the child they were caring for?  How often did they get angry at him for doing the things all normal children do?  How often were they frustrated with him, hurt by him?

We don't know how long Joseph lived into Jesus's life.  We assume that he may have passed away before Jesus's ministry began, because we never hear about him after the account at the temple.  Is this because he passed away or because he didn't support Jesus's ministry?  How long did Jesus apprentice under Joseph as a carpenter?  What was their relationship like?  Was there a bit of contention there?

Like many things, we have a tendency to sanitize the family life of Jesus because of an assumption of what holiness looks like.  We assume because this was God's plan everything was ordered and peaceful.  We assume the absence of chaos and stress.  The absence of storms.  

We forget that God's plan for Mary and Joseph immediately subjected them to rumors.  Immediately cast them into chaos.  The promise was not that the storms wouldn't come, it's that the one who calms the storm was going to be with them.

So for everyone in this season whose life is a mess...

Whatever your family life may look like...

Whatever your past has held...

Whatever your future may bring...

Remember, it's into these lives that God steps in and works.  In the midst of it all, in the uneventful and the chaotic alike, may you find him.  May you treasure him in your heart.  May you grow in wisdom and stature, and find favor with God and man.

The Fifth Day of Christmas 2021

St. Thomas Beckett

On the fifth day of Christmas, we talk about murder. Specifically a murder that happened 851 years ago. The Murder in the Cathedral, when the king’s men, acting on the “suggestion” of King Henry II put Archbishop Thomas Beckett to death for his defiance of the king. 

Becket had once been a trustee advisor to the king. He served as Lord Chancellor to King Henry and had even fostered the king’s son Henry as was the custom of the time. Becket as chancellor had focused on strengthening the secular governmental position. The expectation was that he would strengthen the tie between the church and the state with his appointment to Archbishop. 

Becket, however, saw things differently. And saw the importance of a distinction between the church and the crown.  He would repeatedly fight Henry on the jurisdiction of the English courts over church officials, the independence of the priests, and the influence of Rome. He became a fugitive and an exile to avoid the king’s ire. 

Eventually it was a breach of protocol that proved to be the final straw. King Henry had the Bishops of York, London, and Salisbury crown the heir apparent in 1170. Seeing this as a flagrant disregard of his privilege as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket excommunicated all three of them in November 1170.

It’s in response to this excommunication we have the scene that has transcended history. When told the news, Henry is said to have replied to his men, “What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" Or perhaps more famously, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”

His men saw this as a direct order and carried out the execution swiftly. On December 29, 1170, four of the king’s knights traveled to Canterbury to force Becket back to Winchester to account for his actions. From all accounts of the story, they left their weapons outside and only went back to retrieve them once Becket refused to accompany them. When the knights left to retrieve their weapons, the other monks at Canterbury tried to bolt the doors, but Becket refused. “It is not right to make a fortress out of the house of prayer!”

When the knights returned, they asked, “Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to King and country?” Becket replied, “I am no traitor and I am ready to die.” And with that, the knights went to work. It took several blows, but the Archbishop was murdered there on the cathedral floor, in a spot near a door to the monastic quarters, the stairs to the crypt, and the stairs to the quire.

“For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.”

Swiftly after his execution, Becket started being recognized as a martyr. And by 1173, he had been canonized as a saint by Pope Alexander III. December 29 has become his feast day.

We have a lot to learn from Becket today and in many ways are in large need of more religious leaders that will follow in his example.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention which part of his fight we can and should do without first. We have no need for the desire to keep church officials out of the secular court system. This has done nothing but create huge problems for the church throughout its existence. It is the ugly stain behind the Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse scandals on the macro level and the complicity in abuse of local churches at the micro level. When churches misuse and distort the doctrines of grace and repentance to cover up for abuse by keeping it as a matter for the church to govern, it is sin. Plain and simple. For believers, God instituted both government and the church, and gave specific purposes to each. To circumvent this system runs counter to his design.

What we do need, and need desperately, are religious leaders that will fight any erosion between church and state. That will fight to keep the church set apart, distinct, holy. That will not be swayed by the promise of power.

I’m sure there are pastors who believe they are standing in that gap. They are standing up to the current “corrupt” government in their eyes. They may even chuckle or more at minced epitaphs like “Let’s go Brandon.”

It’s easy to oppose something when it’s not your side.

But how many of those same leaders were calling out the actions of the previous administration when they were improper? How many leaders are still trying to curry favor with that president in hopes of his return to office and the power and influence it will bring? How many religious leaders sold their souls for Supreme Court Justices?

Forget leaders, how many Christians sold their souls so their team could be in power?

No doubt there are leaders that are standing in the gap, making their opposition known and like Becket trying to keep the church set apart. But in our largest Protestant denomination, in the most “powerful” Christian block, the one closest to home, we are not seeing it.

Today, on the Feast of Thomas Becket, that should be a somber reflection.

“Now is my way clear, now is the meaning plain:
Temptation shall not come in this kind again.
The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

The Fourth Day of Christmas 2021

The Massacre of the Innocents

"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

 'A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.'"

Matthew 2:16-18

Massacre of the Innocents by Léon Cogniet (1824)

There's a part of the Christmas story that we do not really talk about at all.  The massacre of the innocents.  After the Magis' visit, Herod becomes so enraged that he orders the execution of all male children in Bethlehem and its districts two and under.

Joseph is warned in a dream, so he takes Mary and Jesus and begins the flight to Egypt, where they will stay for the next several years.  And to the extent that we do mention it, this is generally where our discussion ends.

In doing so, we ignore a reality of the Christmas story.  That for the great joy it brings, it also includes great suffering.  A reminder of why the Christ child had to come.

Imagine the scene in Bethlehem.  Mothers scrambling to protect their infants.  Families torn apart by soldiers looking for such a child.  The chaos in the streets as they are going door to door.

The wailing of mothers' cries in the air.   Their anguish filling the streets.

Today, many scholars and historians question the historical accuracy of the account.  Josephus does not contain any mention of the event.  Modern biographers of Herod often dismiss the story as an invention, particularly given the comparison to Pharaoh's actions in Moses' story.  It became, then, the subject of liturgy and apocrypha.  Macrobius wrote in his Saturnalia, "When he [emperor Augustus] heard that among the boys in Syria under two years old whom Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered killed, his own son was also killed, he said: it is better to be Herod's pig, than his son."  Byzantine liturgy estimates 14,000 victims, Syrian lists put the number at 64,000, and Coptic sources at 144,000.  Modern estimations think it could have been as small as a dozen or so.  There is thought that given the smaller number of infants potentially in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time, it may not have warranted mention in Josephus' account.

Whatever the number, it remains a tragedy.

Artists through the ages have looked to capture the scene.  None have done as well as Cogniet has done above.  The other artists looked to capture the greater scene. The chaos, the massacre in total.  Leon Cogniet, a largely forgotten French artist, instead chose to focus on a single mother and child.  We still see the tragedy.  Another mother fleeing with two children.  A child dead on the ground.

But with the focus on the single mother and child, we feel what she is feeling.  The terror in her eyes as she stifles her child's cry.  Her eye's almost begging us for intervention.

For many, this still captures their modern Christmas.  This mother could be Afghani, Syrian, Yemeni, or Sudanese.  This mother could be Honduran in South Texas, her child being taken from her to be placed in a separate "detention facility."  Her being forced out of the country to a migrant tent city on the border "worse than Syrian refugee camps."

A single mother huddling in a cold, dark flat terrified of when her next meal will be.

We are called to remember them all.  At this season, yes, we are to remember the birth.  To remember the celebration.  Exceeding great joy.

But we are also called to remember the least of these.  This mother and her child on the streets of Bethlehem.

We are to remember that the coming of the Christ was to set in motion a revolution of love and justice that would eventually sweep away all tyrants and free all victims and end all wars.

"This Christmas, remember that the followers of the Christ are called not to side with empire, but to sit with the terrified, to comfort those who mourn, to join the meek and merciful and pure in heart. And to hunger and thirst for the righteousness only Jesus can bring."

That woe is me, poor child, for thee

And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,

"Bye bye, lully, lullay."

Coventry Carol

The Third Day of Christmas 2021

St. John the Apostle's Day

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John 1:1-5

Today marks the Feast of St. John, the evangelist.  Author of the Gospel of John and three epistles, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" is honored with a day close to Jesus's birth.  The second day of Christmas honors the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.  The second day honors the chief evangelist.

"It is God whom we adore at Bethlehem during Christmas time. Thus it was natural that St. John, the chief evangelist of the divinity of Christ, should be found beside the crib, to disclose the greatness of the Infant who reposes therein."

St. Andrew Daily Missal

We see this need for evangelism in the response to the birth.  It's something we see over and again in the Christmas story.  The first people to receive the gospel, the first to see Jesus beyond his parents, immediately went and told what they saw.  "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."  When the Magi saw the signs of the birth of Christ, the first thing they did was go looking for him.  In doing so, they inquired of those who should know "Where is he who has been born the king of the Jews?  For we saw his start when it rose and have come to worship him."  They told and worshipped.

That is our natural response to good news.  We want others to know it.  Good news is meant to be shared.  And the gospel is quite literally good news.  It is the good news.  And our response is to be that of the shepherds, of the Magi, of John the Evangelist.  To go and tell.

To tell those in our family.

To tell those in our close circle of friends.

To tell those who we come in contact with.

To tell those that we interact with regularly.

To tell all who will hear.

Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!

When I am a seeker,
I seek both night and day;
I seek the Lord to help me,
And He shows me the way:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The Second Day of Christmas 2021

Boxing Day, or the Feast of Stephen

Today, in many places with connections to the United Kingdom, is Boxing Day.  Boxing in this instance refers to the practice of preparing a Christmas box typically for postmen, errand boys, and other servants, consisting of gifts and gratuities to them for their service throughout the year.  It was given on the day after Christmas since they were most often having to work and serve on Christmas Day.  

From growing up in the family business, I really appreciate Boxing Day.  We always closed December 26 and enjoyed the day.  It was our holiday, since we would be open for nearly a complete work day on Christmas Eve.  We would take Christmas and the day after as our holidays because it impacted fewer customers.

Today is also Saint Stephen's Day.  A celebration of the life of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, with a feast in his honor.  And the Feast of Stephen makes me think of a Bohemian king.

Good King Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. Rex Iustus, the righteous king. 

Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death, viewed as a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his vigor. “But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for as is read in his Passion, no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.”

Oh, if that could be said of us.

So in this time, when all the gifts have been given, and we are basking in what we have received, may we take time to remember the less fortunate, the poor, the widowed, the orphan, the imprisoned, and the low.

And perhaps, we could all join in a chorus of his carol.

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, 
When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even; 
Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel, 
When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel. 

"Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know'st it, telling, 
Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?" 
"Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain; 
Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes' fountain." 

"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither: 
Thou and I shall see him dine, when we bear them thither." 
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together; 
Through the rude wind's wild lament and the bitter weather. 

"Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger; 
Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer." 
"Mark my footsteps, good my page. Tread thou in them boldly 
Thou shalt find the winter's rage freeze thy blood less coldly." 

In his master's steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted; 
Heat was in the very sod which the saint had printed. 
Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing, 
Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

The First Day of Christmas 2021

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.'  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."

I think we often run the risk of over-sanitizing the Christmas story.  Because of what we have made worship, what we have made religion, we view holy as orderly, as clean, as quiet, as presentable.  We've made that first Christmas, a silent night, a beautiful ordered pageant, worthy of a king.

In reality, that first Christmas was messy.  It wasn't pretty.

It was chaotic.

If it were us, we might look back at the time as our worst Christmas ever.

Joseph and Mary had their lives interrupted three times in a very short time.  Their planned marriage quickly turned into a scandal.  An unplanned pregnancy.  The requirement that they travel over 100 miles to Bethlehem to be taxed.  And then becoming refugees in Egypt to escape a tyrannical government.

We noticed last night that Joseph and Mary were still not married when Jesus was born.  They were still in the betrothal stage.  Jewish marriages were not completed until they were consummated, and we know Joseph did not know Mary until after Jesus was born.  Think of that, Jesus was born to unwed parents.

We have to wonder why Joseph and Mary were looking for an inn in Bethlehem.  Bethlehem was where Joseph's family was from.  In a culture where family was of the utmost importance, did they not have family any more that would take them in?  Were they ostracized from their family because of Mary's pregnancy?

The stable as well was the most unfortunate of places to be born.  It would have smelled of animal feces and urine.  It would have been dark, damp, cold.  The birth would have involved blood, and other human excretions.  A most unsanitary birthing room.  It would have involved pain and screaming.  The cries of Mary and Jesus.

And the bonding time with the baby was interrupted by ultimate outsiders, dirty, smelly shepherds.  The runts of the litter.  People who spent a little too much time with the animals.

In all that chaos, it was no less holy.  It was no less miraculous, no less worship.

So, to everyone who's life is messy, Merry Christmas!

To everyone who's life has been interrupted for the second, third, fourth time...
To everyone who is homeless...
To everyone without family...
To everyone with complicated family relationships...
To everyone at their lowest...
To everyone who is running....
To the refugees...
To the ostracized...
To the outcast...

To anyone who feels dirty, downtrodden, unloved...

Merry Christmas!

The Child is born, and He is here for all.

God bless us, everyone...

Yuletide - Christmas Eve 2021

It's Christmas Eve.  I pray you and yours have a wonderful night.  May the night be spent with those you love and may the blessings of the season be upon you.  May it be all you hope for, and all you need.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes--how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

A Visit From St. Nicholas, Clement Clarke Moore, 1823

Yuletide - Festivus 2021!

It's a Festivus for the rest of us.

Today marks the celebration of a very new holiday - Festivus.  Festivus was created for the 1997 episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Strike."  In the episode, it is revealed that George Costanza's family never really celebrated Christmas, but celebrated Festivus instead.  George's father, Frank, created the holiday after getting into a fight with another shopper over a doll one year.  Fed up with the commercial and religious aspects of Christmas, Frank set out to create his own celebration.  

Festivus is celebrated with a Festivus dinner, at which the family will partake in the Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength.    The Airing of Grievances begins early into the dinner when Frank starts "I got a lotta problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about it!"  He then goes down around the table listing specific injuries.  The Feats of Strength is celebrated immediately after the dinner when the head of the household selects a person for a wrestling match.  Festivus then only ends when the head of household is pinned in the match.  Traditional Festivus decoration is a bare aluminum pole.

It's a comical holiday, but has gained some larger adoption.

We've celebrated Festivus, sort of, pretty regularly in our family, though our practices are a lot closer to Christmas.  Christmas Eve Eve has been our little family's Christmas.  Since we are usually at one of the grandparents' houses for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, December 23 was our opportunity to have dinner, exchange presents, and watch a Christmas movie.  We've taken to eating Chinese food, a nod to A Christmas Story.  We still exchange presents, though our movie has changed, switching from Love Actually pre-kids, to something a little more family friendly.

It's our little day and though we've had to move up our celebration, we still will be partaking in a little Festivus this year, even though we will be between trips.  We're still going to find a Chinese restaurant and have our own little day in our hotel.

However you are spending the day, I hope you have a very Happy Festivus and a Merry Christmas ahead.

Yuletide - Blue Christmas 2021

"In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ."

Today marks the winter solstice or midwinter.  It's officially the shortest day of the year, and the longest night.  This is the period people think of when discussing seasonal depression.  When it truly looks darkest.

Today has also been traditionally Blue Christmas in Western Christianity, a day in the advent season marking the longest night of the year.   Many denominations hold church services that honor people that have lost loved ones and are experiencing grief.  

That hits home this year.  Churches not just being there immediately after a loss, but really continuing to deal with and acknowledge grief.  There are so many people struggling this year, so much work to do, and this is an important part of it.  I wish more denominations and churches were doing the same.

Blue Christmas also coincides with the traditional day of the Feast of St. Thomas.  Thomas the doubter.  You have a convergence of a recognition of Thomas's struggle to believe in Jesus's physical resurrection, the long winter nights before Christmas, and the struggle of the darkness and grief that is faced by people dealing with loss, depression, loneliness, anxiety, etc.  

It's a reminder that the holidays are not always a joyous time for a multitude of reasons, and that we are still to show love and care to those who may be in such a situation.  That we should recognize them.  Honor them.  And struggle alongside them.

Do you know how many people in your midst are really hurting right now?

May this midwinter be a good time to pause and reflect.  May we be aware of our surroundings and the situations of those around us.  May we be responsive to the need.  

The joy will come.  The light shines in the darkness, breaking that great darkness right before the dawn.  

But for tonight, we remember the night, and those that it is affecting.

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2021 - Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light

On the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we celebrate the love of God.  The greatest gift ever given! That an omnipotent, omnipresent God would step into time and space, into a moment, to live among His creation and to sacrifice Himself to provide a pathway for its restoration.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."

John 3:16-19

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

Luke 2:8-20

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 John 4:10

I pray you have a wonderful day in the Lord this Advent Sunday and are able to fully appreciate the love of God as it has been poured out to us.

The message remains the same.  Good news that will bring great joy to all.

And in so doing, let's go and tell.  It is good news after all.

Yuletide - The Ghost of Christmas Present

"Come in and know me better, man"

A Christmas Carol is a story that gets a lot of play in our house during this time of year.  We have the recent Jim Carrey motion capture version that Jamie used in class, as it is one of the most faithful adaptations.  We watch Mickey's Christmas Carol for Scrooge McDuck (lovingly homaged in last year's Ducktales Christmas episode).  We watch the derivations of the story, like Rod Serling's haunting Carol for Another Christmas or the noir Cash on Demand.  And of course, we watch the best adaptation of them all - Muppet Christmas Carol.  I'm not joking on that last part.  Michael Caine has to be one of the best Ebeneezer Scrooge's ever because he plays the role with such sincerity.  The perfect straight-man while surrounded by Muppets.  Someday soon, we'll have to catch the Indiana Repertory Theater's annual version.

Over the last several years, the Ghost of Christmas Present has become a fascinating figure to me.  A Father Christmas like figure.  A giant of a man - a symbol of plenty.  A cornucopia for a torch and a bountiful feast before him.  And through his journey he shows Scrooge the abundance of the celebration, even for those of meager means.

I also love the detail of him carrying an empty scabbard.  A symbol of the message the angels brought for this time of year, "on Earth peace, goodwill toward men."  The sword is not needed, the Savior is here.

The spirit also serves as a reminder to us of the fleeting nature of the present.  He exists only for the season and each year, a new brother is born.  In Dickens' text, it seems he lives for the Twelve Days of Christmas, as he disappears on the stroke of midnight on Twelfth Night, the eve of Epiphany or Three Kings' Day.  He is a reminder for us to "be present."  The spirit is merry because of his focus on the celebration of the night.  Unburdened by the mistakes of the past or the worries of the future, the Ghost of Christmas Present can enjoy the merriment of the season.  He can spread his light and warmth from his torch as he travels.

That is not to say that this spirit ignores the realities that many face over the holidays.  He shows Scrooge scenes of deprivation as well as plenty. And it is this spirit that gives Scrooge perhaps the most pressing warnings.  Warnings that all would do well to heed.

Toward the end of his visit, the spirit reveals to Scrooge two emaciated children, a boy and a girl, clinging to his robes. Ignorance and Want.  The boy is Ignorance and the girl is Want.  They are man's children.  "Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom unless the writing be erased."

The ills of Want are quite apparent.  Want represents the need we see all around us.  Homelessness, hunger, poverty, and neglect.  All social ills that we recognize and prioritize trying to address.  "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives."  Titus 3:14  We do so, because we recognize the dark ends that Want leads to:  disease, abuse, suffering, desperation, and death.  All ends we would seek to avoid.

The ills of Ignorance are less obvious, but far more dangerous.  Ignorance prolongs and worsens Want.  For Ignorance keeps us in fear: we fear what we do not know and understand.  It is ignorance that prolongs racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, religious intolerance, and hate.  For it is much easier to hate that which you do not know or understand.   It is Ignorance that looks at someone who is begging and assumes that they have not even tried to look for a job.  It is Ignorance that assumes that same person would just spend any money on alcohol or drugs.

And it is Ignorance that we first must tackle so that we can address Want.   "Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way."  Proverbs 19:2  That is the warning of the Ghost of Christmas Present.  Why Ignorance is to be feared more.  For it is Ignorance that will bring our doom, unless it is changed.

We see this through the character of Scrooge himself.  The first thing that is changed through his travels with the spirits is his ignorance to the world around him.  Through his travels, he becomes aware of the joys and the sorrows that surround him, breaking through his narcissism and myopic greed.  Through the removal of his ignorance, his heart can be changed.  And from that, he can be moved to address the wants that are all around him.  The want of the Cratchit family for basic provisions.  Tiny Tim's want for nourishment to help heal him.  Fred's want for family connection.

May we all be present this Christmas season.  Aware of those around us and open to their needs.  May we not let ignorance lead us, but may we seek to address want where it is found and meet it. May we share our abundance and bounty with those around us.  May we embody the peace of the season and may we rejoice in it.  And may we never forget the reason for Christmas past, present, and future.

Come, let's know Him better.

Yuletide - Las Posadas 2021

¡Entren santos peregrinos!
¡Reciban éste rincón!
Que aunque es pobre la morada
¡Se las doy de corazón!
¡Cantemos con alegría!
¡Todos al considerar!
¡Que Jesús, José y María
nos vinieron hoy a honrar!

Come in holy pilgrims!

Receive this corner!

Because, even though the place is poor

I offer it to you from my heart!

Let's sing it with joy!

Everyone at the thought!

That Jesus, Joseph, and Mary

Came to honor us today!

In Latin American and Hispanic Christianity, today marks the beginning of Las Posadas, a novenario, or nine day period of prayer and procession, reflecting on the journey of Joseph and Mary through Bethlehem looking for shelter.  The nine day period leading up to Christmas Day is also meant to reflect on the nine months Mary carried the Messiah.  

Las Posadas derives from the Spanish word posada, meaning lodging or accommodation, here referring to the inn in the Nativity story.  Celebration of this 400 year tradition starts with two actors dressing as Mary and Joseph, leading a procession to certain houses designated as inns, usually those at the end of a street.  The procession is headed by a leader carrying a luminaria and can often contain other players of the Nativity story (angels, shepherds, etc.).  The procession makes its way from house to house, singing carols in hopes to have a place to stay.  They are initially met with "no posada," no room, until the end of the street.  There, the residents of the houses respond by singing a song, recognizing Mary and Joseph, and allowing the procession to enter.  The procession comes in and kneels to pray before a Nativity scene.  At the end of each night, carols are sung, children break open a star shaped piñata, and everyone sits for a feast.  This is repeated throughout the nine day period, with a new house each night accepting them in for the festivities.

My introduction to Las Posadas came through The Three Caballeros.  That film was part of Disney's Good Neighbor program, an extension of the United States' government's policy at the time, designed to highlight the relationship with South America.  As a result, The Three Caballeros and its sister production, Saludos Amigos, are both a mixture of travelogue, history lesson, art appreciation, and animation.  In The Three Caballeros, both Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles, reveal the best aspects of their countries, Brazil and Mexico, respectively.  Panchito includes a description of Las Posadas, complete with beautiful Mary Blair, small world-esque paintings to accompany the story.  The image above includes examples of this art.

That film introduced me to the beauty of this celebration.  A real visual and tactile experience of what Mary and Joseph would have experienced that cold night.  Traveling from inn to inn looking for someplace for shelter, some place for refuge.  Repeatedly encountering doors slammed in their face.  "No room."  "No posada."

Another reminder that our sanitized version of the Christmas story leaves much to be desired.  We revere that night so much (and rightly so), that we forget it was not the safe, pleasant pageant we've made it.  It wasn't a silent night.  It wasn't likely a midnight clear.  It was cold, it was noisy, it was smelly, it was dark.  For Mary and Joseph that night held fear and trepidation.  Would they find shelter?  Would there be a safe place for Mary to bear this child?  When the only place they were offered was a stable, would it be warm enough?  Would it be enough?

It also reminds us of what our response is to be.  We are to make room for the Savior.  In doing so, we are to make room for his people.  Making room for the Savior on that first Christmas night meant providing shelter for his mom and dad.  Meeting this family in need of refuge and allowing them in.  Allowing dirty shepherds into the space to come and see him.  

It means caring for the stranger.

It means caring for the refugee.

It means treating each person with the kindness we would afford him, because they are made in his image.

It means making room.

I pray this Christmas season you make room for those in need around you.  There is a lot of need this year.  From those families still separated at the border, to those suffering from compounded depression, to those wondering where there next paycheck will come from in this uncertain year, and to those grieving loss from this pandemic.  The Christmas story is messy in order to remind us that regardless of the humble circumstances, even though our place is poor, God still stepped down into it.  And we are to do the same.

¡Entren santos peregrinos!

Yuletide - The Magi - From Reason to Faith

"Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior 

All that we have, whether costly or meek 

Because we believe 

Gold for his honor, and frankincense for his pleasure 

And myrrh for the cross he will suffer 

Do you believe? 

Is this who we've waited for?"

"In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 

'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path."

Matthew 2:1-12

Continuing in the biblical story of Jesus's birth, we have to jump for the account of the visit of the Magi.  

There are many facts about this encounter that are left unexplained.  First, we don't know exactly when they arrived.  They likely arrived several months after the birth of Jesus.  We don't know exactly how many, but it could be as much as twenty-four months or two years.   So, despite what your nativity scene may show, the Magi were not present at the stable.  

Further, we don't know exactly how many Magi traveled to meet the child.  Our songs and some traditions assume three because of the three gifts that they brought.  Other traditions include as many as twelve.  

We don't know exactly where they came from.  It is indicated that they came from the East, but there is no further indication of the region.  Many believe they could come from the areas of Persia or even India.

We don't know what they rode. whether camels or donkeys.  We don't know their names, though some are ascribed to them.  We don't know their fates.  We just see their importance in the birth story.

For the Magi represent a common thread in scriptures: the idea of the righteous outsider.  

The idea of someone outside the faith, outside the Israelite nation, who saw the power of Almighty God and believed.  Often, especially when the Israelites, the chosen themselves did not see it or believe.

Though the Magi came from another faith, likely Zoroastrianism, they recognized the importance of the signs in the heavens that they witnessed.  They recognized the majesty and wonder of the star and came asking "Where is the child?  Where is the one born King of the Jews?"  The priests, the Levites, the Jewish rulers of the day undoubtedly had see the same star, had seen the same signs in the heavens.  But only the Magi recognized their importance and felt compelled to do something about it.

The Magi, to me, also represent the idea of how wisdom and reason can lead to faith.  Despite the often insistence of Conservative Christianity that science and faith are diametrically opposed, the pursuit of knowledge has been one of the many paths that has led several of our important theological figures to belief.  C.S. Lewis famously turned from atheism to faith through reason.  Several current writers have made their notoriety in making A Case for Christ or stating that they Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.  People whose pursuit of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom, and intellectual curiosity lead them to Christ.

It's as if in many churches we forget there are Intuitive and Feeling personality types.  We get those who come to Christ through an emotional appeal. Who hear that great conversion story and are moved by it.

We're not sure what to do with those who respond more to facts than to emotions.  Who won't accept easy answers.  Who will question and will push and dig further and further into the historicity of scripture, the battles in church history, canonicity, and translation, and tradition.  Who will challenge the system.

We have to be better equipped to answer both.

The Magi remind us why.  The Magi's knowledge of astronomy and astrology led them to understand the significance of what they saw in the stars.  Their knowledge of other religions led them to understand the importance that this sign meant to the Jewish people.  Their intellectual curiosity spurred them out of their laboratories and studies and into the West to see what would warrant such a display.

In their intelligence, they brought gifts perfectly suited for the new Messiah.  Gold, a gift for a king, for royalty.  Frankincense, a gift for a god, for divinity.  Myrrh,  a gift for the dead, for a sacrifice.  All costly, and all significant.

Oh that we could share in that same wisdom.  In that same curiosity, which pushes us to pursue the Christ child further and further.

And which leads us to share in that exceeding great joy of discovery.