A Wish

There is an infant in a place meant for beast; with rough, broken straw in place of a comforting blanket. His mother is lowly, but His father is the Lord. He is hungry, but He will feed us first. He is tired, yet He will not rest until we ourselves sleep in peace. His every breath is delivered by patient, glorifying angels, and His night lamp is a burning star formed by God's own hands.

This infant is human, suffering with acceptance and readiness.

This infant is the King of all Kings, here to rule us all with right judgement and mercy.

Yet on this day, this glorious, holy, lonely day, all He wants is for you to notice Him. To love Him.

It is the only gift He has ever, ever asked for.

Is it really so much to ask?

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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ~ John 3:16

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Comments, questions, and discussions are appreciated and encouraged. Peace!

On Christmas

I don't think I could've put it any better, so, with humble respect, here's John Long: 'a Roanoke Times columnist, director of the Salem Museum and teacher of history at Roanoke College.'

"Ahh, Christmas. It's all about the shopping.

Economists make forecasts about the holiday shopping indicators. Analysts predict dire consequences for the entire global economy if we don't buy ourselves into a frenzy. Obediently we cram the malls, strategize about our Black Friday and Cyber Monday options, and push the outer limits of our credit to acquire the latest trendy gadgets. Because Christmas is all about the shopping.

Except that it isn't.

Christmas is about the getting. We encourage our kids to make their lists, advise them that they won't get everything itemized thereon, then proceed to get it all and more. We daydream of what we'll get from friends and relatives, and where we'll put it all once we have it. Maybe a yard sale is in order when the weather warms up, to palm off that stuff we got last year. Self-storage units, silent witnesses to American materialism, probably spike in sales after December. What other culture needs to construct so many personal warehouses to store possessions we can no longer fit into the biggest houses in the world? But we still want more, because Christmas is all about getting stuff.

Except that it isn't.

Christmas, of course, is about the giving. We're an extraordinarily charitable people, especially at this time of the year. We try to do our part for food banks and toy drives, and feel guilty that we can't do more. And all the shopping -- it isn't for ourselves; it's to find just the right present for the kids or Aunt Mabel or the boss. We keep the UPS trucks crawling the highways, we slay a million trees for wrapping paper, and if all else fails, we just pick up a gift card for Thelma and Ed. Because Christmas -- it's all about the giving.

Except that it isn't.

Christmas is about pop culture. Oh, sure, we know that once upon a time it wasn't the case, but nowadays what is Christmas without Rudolph and Frosty, the Grinch and Ralphie's Red Rider BB gun? We turn up the radio when we hear "Grandma Got Run Over" (at least the first thousand times). We immerse ourselves in "It's a Wonderful Life" and the "Sound of Music" (though only one line in only one song even mentions Christmas). So-and-so's holiday special is on TV tonight, so let's hurry back from the mall where we have to buy some performer's new Christmas CD to try to remind us what all this bustle is for. Oh yeah, that's right -- Christmas is all about pop culture.

Except that it isn't.

Christmas is about family, whether we like them or not the rest of the year. Christmas is about decorating -- why else would so many domestic quarrels erupt over whether or not the tree is straight? Christmas is about helping others and being nice one to another. It's about reliving happy childhood memories. It's about building future happy memories. It's about sappy sentimentality. Christmas is about inclusiveness and inoffensiveness, so much so that we scarcely dare even mention the name of the holiday in public anymore.

Except Christmas isn't about any of these things. They (mostly) have their place in appropriate doses, but they are ancillary; constituent features of a greater whole. When these things, even good things like charity and family, become the reasons for the season, we miss out on the actual point. So what's the point?

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14).

Christmas is about a baby. A shivering infant born to a peasant couple in a stable, a child who would grow up to change the world. It's about a God who loves us and calls us back to him despite our myriad flaws. It's about one who showed us what love truly is, so we can show it to others.

Get your shopping done. Gather the family around the table. Let the kids gleefully rip into the paper-clad boxes. Trim the tree, fill the stockings, hum the tunes and deck the halls. But don't let the good tidings of great joy get lost in the shuffle, or there's scarcely a point to the shuffle at all. For unto us a child was once born, whose name is called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

That's what it's all about. May yours be merry, and meaningful."

(Reprinted from the Roanoke Times.)

Imagine the glory. The peace and the wonder of the Most High, born to the lowest, her to give good things to all. Please, if you do nothing else, do not forget this message. Have a blessed, blessed Christmas!

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“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

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Comments, questions, and discussions are appreciated and encouraged. Peace!

On Eskimos

Eskimo: ‘If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?’
Priest: ‘No, not if you did not know.’
Eskimo: ‘Then why did you tell me?’"

The quote above by Annie Dillard has been puzzling me for quite some time.

It is commonly heard in the Christian faith that to spread the Christian faith and knowledge of God is one of the most important things you can do. We must save souls by gifting those who are in the dark precious information concerning the ‘true’ religion. Knowledge is power, after all.

Yet return to the story of Adam and Eve. They were somewhat like children; pure, innocent beings, content in their lives under a God they did not question. They did not know of sin or evil, simply that there was God, and He had made them. As it states in Genesis (2:15—3:7):

“Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. He told him, ‘You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.’ …Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, He took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him...The man and the woman were both naked but they were not embarrassed.

Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, ‘Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?’

‘We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,’ the woman answered, ‘except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.’

The snake replied, ‘That’s not true; you will not die. God said that because He knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.’

The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.”

I return once again to the original quote. Was the priest so different from the snake? Offering fruits that bare heavy, heavy knowledge and responsibility on to the Eskimo, a mere child? The Eskimo must now constantly watch his back for sin which he was previously both unaware of and untouched by, all because he now knows.

It is my belief that God is already with all, despite religious or cultural origin (An idea which shall be discussed later). He is, after all, the creator of all men. So why is living under the influence of purely God such a crime versus living under the knowledge of God and sin and salvation and hell?

So why did the priest ‘educate’ the Eskimo if it only inundates someone previously so pure with something so heartbreakingly heavy?

I still cannot make sense of it, and I apologize for the confusion in my words. If you have any thoughts, I beg of you to share them. Perhaps we can figure this out.

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“…Curtis and his daughter spent sixteen pleasant days on Nunivak Island among the Noatak Eskimos, people he described as happy and content. He was pleased to have finally ‘found a place where no missionary has worked’ and wasn’t shy about saying he hoped things stayed that way: ‘Should any misguided missionary start for this island, I trust the sea will do its duty.’” ~ Gulbrandsen and Youngblood in Edward S. Curtis: The Collection

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For Further Reading:

1) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

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Comments, questions, and discussions are appreciated and encouraged. Peace!

On Finding God

One does not ‘find’ God.

It’s a preposterous notion, quite frankly. To assume that the Lord is somehow missing, that a large amount of labor and luck is required in discovering His whereabouts. God is not a lost child, nor is He a missing person. He has not hidden Himself away in some far off place from us, watching with mild disinterest as we call out the search teams to light the way towards His possible midnight recovery, sighing and lighting a cigarette as we desperately call out His name.

It is not our place to ‘find’ the Lord.

It is, however, our place to come to Him.

God is there, He is everywhere, and He is waiting for us. Julian of Norwich writes,

“We are His crown, the crown which is the Father’s joy, the Son’s honour, the Holy Spirit’s pleasure, the endless, blessed wonder of all heaven.”

Now, who among men and higher beings would forsake such gems? I don’t mean to inflate your ego here, for we are little more than animals. We are crude, rude, and violent beasts, prone to war and unspeakable acts along with petty backstabbing and fits when life—which moves at its own pace, mind you—does not bend to our will. We have a taste for brutish pleasure that satiates purely the body’s carnal desires. We are hesitant to drop our dirty doings and leave for the house of God, often unwilling to abandon the ways we are so used to, which are the same ways that are slowly bringing about our ruin. It is a disgusting, albeit unfortunately fitting description, and I desperately hope that I have caused you to feel uncomfortable, perhaps even ashamed. And I hope this for several reasons. In The Cloud of Unknowing, it states,

“Perfect correspondence to His grace consists in a strong, deep, interior sorrow…The sorrow I speak of is genuine and perfect, and blessed is the man who experiences it…This sorrow purifies a man of sin and sin’s punishment. Even more, it prepares his heart to receive that joy through which he will finally transcend the knowing and feeling of his being.”

But how is knowledge of who you are and what you are, and the corresponding sorrow and shame, vital to coming to God? It is vital because we must move past ourselves. I return to my original analogy. It is not God who is lost; it is us. Until we recognize ourselves for the faulty creatures we are, we cannot make our way forward. We will only stagger, drunk on our imaginary achievements and pleasure seeking, before falling flat. We must recognize our problems, and then make our way home, even if we stagger, back to where the Lord is waiting with anxious, ancient worry. And, believe me, He is waiting. We are the crown of the Lord because He has made us and given us the capacity to love so deeply and achieve so much when we truly wish to be influenced by Him. What has been made by the Lord is beautiful, but we must first reconcile our freedom with our responsibility. Once we wake up from our sins, recognize our addiction to treachery, and work through our withdrawal from evil and temptation, the Lord will welcome us back with wide arms and a feast at His table. There will be rejoicing in the house of God, for we who were lost have returned.

So therefore it is clear that it is not our duty to ‘find’ God.

It is our duty to first find ourselves, and then make our way to our union with the Lord. He is waiting, deeply in love with us, and moved by our trials. God is God, and we are Man, and we must come to Him.

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“…God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~Mother Theresa

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For Further Reading:

1) The Cloud of Unknowing
2) Revelations of Divine Love (Chapter LI [51]) by Mother Julian of Norwich

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Comments, questions, and discussions are appreciated and encouraged. Peace!