Posts

When the music at the symphony concert is stunning, tears come to my eyes. At a wedding, I cry. A touching act of kindness brings tears. A movie in which a character makes a turn around makes me tear up. In the presence of extraordinary love or beauty, yes, a smile comes, but also tears.

When we think of Christmas, this small, vulnerable, poor child being born into the world to show us God, it is moving. To think about his life, his teaching, and his death. It is compelling. To reflect on all that he has been to people through the ages, it is beautiful. Such love. A book, a story, a life, cannot contain all of the love that we see in Jesus. His love is stronger than all of our weakness, all of our evil, all of our apathy, all of our hatred and meanness, all of our selfishness, all of our cruelty and violence. There’s nothing more beautiful than that.

So, among the smiles and hugs and laughs of Christmas, may there also be a few tears. May the love and beauty of those glad tidings of great joy to all people stir our souls once more.

Prayer: Christmas will always be more than we could ask or imagine. May it work its magic on us once more reminding us that the heart of creation is love, the breath of the universe is compassion, and the soul of the cosmos is beauty. Amen.

Joy to the world! O come, all you faithful! Angels we have heard on high. It came upon a midnight clear. The first noel. Feliz navidad. Sleigh ride. Silver bells. Jingle bells. Can you even imagine this season without music? Without the countless concerts and the carols accompanying you as you walk down the aisles of the grocery store? “In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas,” simply because of the ubiquitous Christmas music we hear this season.

The glad tidings of great joy to ALL people cannot be contained in words alone. We need music to express our sentiments this time of year, and lots of it. That’s why there is lots of Christmas music. There is the music that we sing in church; the conventional carols. There is popular Christmas music. There is country Christmas music. There is sacred Christmas music. There is classical Christmas music. All kinds of music. All themed to the Christmas season. It just shows you that the glad tidings of Christmas are celebrated by people of all musical tastes! All kinds of music lends itself to the themes of this season, themes of love, giving, and peace. Music exposes everyone to Christmas and spreads those glad tidings ever more widely.

Prayer: We are grateful for the music of this season. The glad tidings cannot be contained in words alone. We need melody and harmony and rhythm and tempo to share the feelings evoked by Christmas. Music is a beautiful gift for sharing what longs to be conveyed. Music lifts the spirits and touches the heart and we are thankful! Amen.

Evidently, two years ago, the prime minster and defense minster of Israel directed the Israel Defense Forces and the country’s intelligence and special operations agency to prepare for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The heads of both organizations were opposed to this initiative and never fully prepared for a stike. These leaders have now retired and have spoken out in opposition to an Israeli attack against Iran.

I found it very interesting that these leaders had the strength of conscience to undermine their superiors by not cooperating with the directive they were given. My impression is that it is rare to see such defiance at such a high level unless there is direct personal interest involved. And yet, it is heartening to hear of people following their consciences and doing what they believe is right from a moral and practical perspective.

Meaningful change in the world can happen when people take responsibility for doing their part, and sometimes that means not doing something that is expected of you. On a more mundane level, pertinent to the holidays, I know someone who felt obligated to give her extended family members gifts on Christmas, even though she knew they already had too much, and did not need another sweater, or another tie, or another bottle of lotion. But she went along with it because it was what was expected. Then one year, she broke free and gave each person a card with a note about the organization she had given a donation to in their name. She was very thoughtful, giving to things she knew each one cared about. She was concerned about how this would go over. The next Christmas, she got cards from some of her relatives who had donated to efforts that she cares about. So, this was accepted. Or at least, it was not rejected and she was not condemned for it.

If we believe that the birth of Jesus is glad tidings of great joy to ALL people, then we need to be ready to live those glad tidings in ways that may be defiant, subversive, or offensive to some. But if we simply support the staus quo, then who cares that Jesus even came at all? Glad tidings of great joy to ALL people is a big message, a world changing cataclysm. It’s not the usual “What’s in it for me?” perspective that motivates much of human behavior. So, get ready to rock the boat with those glad tidings!

Prayer: The glad tidings of Jesus’ birth are earth shaking and soul quaking. May we have the courage live those glad tidings whatever the cost. Afterall, that’s what Jesus did. Amen.