It's the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and I am putting in time before going off to Lacombe to lead the early Christmas Eve Service at St. Andrews. Two families are doing the bulk of the reading, and the Junior Choir is singing, so it's light for me. But I'm extremely nervous! I've figured out that this is because I have so little control over the evening. Once things are under way, I get to sit and watch! Probably very good for me, but new, and different.
Christmas Eve brought us more horror, with the shooting of four firefighters in a town near Rochester New York. They had apparently been "lured" by a fire to the scene. Two killed, two critically wounded. The gun demons are afoot tonight, for sure. Echoes of the Christmas story with Herod's plotting to kill the newborn "king of the Jews." Evil always has a foot, or more, in the door.
You know it's Christmas when even Tim Horton's will be closed tonight and all day tomorrow. Walking past in the dark tomorrow morning and seeing it all dark will be a new experience for me. It's about half way on my 4 km walk, and is sort of a beacon of light in the dark world of 5:30 AM.
What Christmas thoughts do I think on a day like this? The insanity of God, in a way, for invading the human world in a baby, the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. And yet, it worked then. It's hard for me to see it working now, with so much violence in our world. I suppose that's the genius of the Ultimate Spirit, the Creator of All: to come in under the radar, in a form that melts even the hardest of hearts most of the time. Who can ignore an infant? Who can not smile at the squeals and twitches of new arms and lungs? It isn't without careful thought that the author of the Carols and Lessons Service for Families that we are using tonight has one of the Wise Men be a twelve year old girl!
The Santa Claus story puts it another way: the Great Gift Bringer is an old man. Hale and hearty in the story, but old, an elder, not a warrior, but a charmer who wins hearts with that smile and laugh. I saw a news item on St. Nicholas' Day in Holland, with the old bishop arriving by boat, with Black Peter close behind. Closer to the origins of the Santa myth, and closer to the religious and spiritual roots of the tale that is all "consumerism" today.
I wish I had more profound thoughts this afternoon. I feel like I should have. Just back from Tim Horton's, where many of the regulars were there, including some old and lonely folks who will have nowhere to go tomorrow. Perhaps they'll end up at the community dinner where Beatrix and I are working for the day. A different Christmas for us, one we've itching for over a number of years.
I look forward to year end, and year beginning, which will bring changes for me, and hopefully, a restoration of urological health! Some hard decisions to be involved in, and some renewal to share, I hope. May your Christmas celebration or feast be happy and blessed, and may your entry into 2013 be filled with hope and peace. Ciao!
Christmas Eve brought us more horror, with the shooting of four firefighters in a town near Rochester New York. They had apparently been "lured" by a fire to the scene. Two killed, two critically wounded. The gun demons are afoot tonight, for sure. Echoes of the Christmas story with Herod's plotting to kill the newborn "king of the Jews." Evil always has a foot, or more, in the door.
You know it's Christmas when even Tim Horton's will be closed tonight and all day tomorrow. Walking past in the dark tomorrow morning and seeing it all dark will be a new experience for me. It's about half way on my 4 km walk, and is sort of a beacon of light in the dark world of 5:30 AM.
What Christmas thoughts do I think on a day like this? The insanity of God, in a way, for invading the human world in a baby, the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. And yet, it worked then. It's hard for me to see it working now, with so much violence in our world. I suppose that's the genius of the Ultimate Spirit, the Creator of All: to come in under the radar, in a form that melts even the hardest of hearts most of the time. Who can ignore an infant? Who can not smile at the squeals and twitches of new arms and lungs? It isn't without careful thought that the author of the Carols and Lessons Service for Families that we are using tonight has one of the Wise Men be a twelve year old girl!
The Santa Claus story puts it another way: the Great Gift Bringer is an old man. Hale and hearty in the story, but old, an elder, not a warrior, but a charmer who wins hearts with that smile and laugh. I saw a news item on St. Nicholas' Day in Holland, with the old bishop arriving by boat, with Black Peter close behind. Closer to the origins of the Santa myth, and closer to the religious and spiritual roots of the tale that is all "consumerism" today.
I wish I had more profound thoughts this afternoon. I feel like I should have. Just back from Tim Horton's, where many of the regulars were there, including some old and lonely folks who will have nowhere to go tomorrow. Perhaps they'll end up at the community dinner where Beatrix and I are working for the day. A different Christmas for us, one we've itching for over a number of years.
I look forward to year end, and year beginning, which will bring changes for me, and hopefully, a restoration of urological health! Some hard decisions to be involved in, and some renewal to share, I hope. May your Christmas celebration or feast be happy and blessed, and may your entry into 2013 be filled with hope and peace. Ciao!
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