drool...

Joy to the world

Well, festivities are officially over. I went to some Christmas gatherings – 1 with neighbours, 1 with students and 1 with friends. They were all small and simple gatherings which I prefer as they are more relaxed and intimate, and cuts the need for the cocktail party small talk rubbish.

Anyway, I did spend a little bit of time and cloud out the eating and merry-making and reflect on what Christmas means for me. One thing was, I realised that I actually do like the carol “Joy to the world” as it talks about some significant points. 1. That everything on earth should rejoice because of the Incarnation – God becoming one of us, that we may be reconciled to God. 2. But we need to make space in our hearts, and in our lives to embrace Jesus and all that he requires of us if we choose to follow him.

A lot of my thinking about what Christmas means to me has been centred around John 1:1-18. I have heard it many times before. Even remember a song about it. But it has never quite grabbed me like it has since I had to prepare a bible study on it about 3 weeks ago. As Stu says in his sermon, this passage talks about a divine yet dangerous interference in all our lives (whether we choose to acknowledge that Interference or not). This reminds me of a bit in the “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Lucy and the others were eating with the Beavers and were hearing about Aslan for the first time. Upon hearing that Aslan in a lion, one of the children ask “Is he safe?” And the reply “Safe? Of course not. But he is good”.

So as we enter a new year, I will continue to ponder on the Incarnation and this divine interference.

Joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart, prepare him room

The ‘spirit’ of Christmas.

Christmas, the time where we fish out the phrase ‘peace on earth and goodwill to men’ from under the piles of stuff, and wipe the dust off it for another year. Looking around the Christmas rush, it really doesn’t seem very peaceful, and as people stress about what presents to get, I doubt there is much goodwill on their minds.

Why is it that we wait for once a year to try and think about other people, try and be kind and the whole peace and goodwill stuff? Shouldn’t followers of Jesus be practising this all year round? Why do people make excuses that nice things should be done in the 'spirit' of Christmas? Are people so selfish that they think about themselves the other 364 days of the year? I guess at least there is a day (or a brief season in the year) where people think about doing 'nice things' or at least being 'nice'.

I have decided not to have any “traditions”. I don’t send Christmas cards, don’t always give presents (except to immediate family) or things like that which are the norm. To be honest the main reason is because I procrastinate, so I never have any cards written and posted in time, or go shopping in time to beat the rush. And if I start doing that, then people expect me to do that every year and I can’t maintain a practice for very long. My ‘nice’ justification is: people expect cards and presents at Christmas. Won’t it be nice to surprise them with a card and/or a gift on a random day during the year? (OK. I haven’t put this in practice yet! But I like the theory behind it – after all God’s grace is an unexpected gift.)

Anyway, enough ranting. Joe has some great posts about Christmas which sound less cynical than mine.

The mad rush

Went to the supermarket 2 days ago. That was a mistake. The carpark was not just full, people were parking in spaces that were not officially parks. This is the rush that precedes Christmas. Its crazy. No wonder this is the most stressful time of year and this is the time that retailers love most. The amount of junk mail that has been stuffed in the letter box is phenomenal. I hate to think of the number of trees that have sacrificed themselves in vain for the sake of people getting presents they don’t need or want. Like stu, I can’t wait for Christmas to be over!

charity

What a great surprise. Walking into the office and discovering new chairs. I mean nice new computer chairs and not the dingy ones that we have been using for the past... umm... x amount of years (I don't even know how long we've had them for!). Well, I work for a Christian non-profit organisation, so we don't have a lot of money in the first place, let alone to spend it on furniture. The old chairs we had did serve its purpose - provided somewhere to sit. But weren't necessarily comfortable. And the best thing - they had been donated by Raewyn, our fantastic office secretary (part-time only too!) She donated all four of them, brought them in when the rest of us were not in the office (we have a very small office), lugged them up the stairs, and assembled them, all ready for us to sit on.

And she made some comment about charity. Is being charitable about giving away stuff that you won't use anymore but feel it a waste to chuck out? Shouldn't it be giving something that is worthy for yourself to use - something new! (I'm not saying giving away old stuff is bad. But it is common for people to give away old stuff that is often almost falling apart in the hope that someone else can salvage some use out of them, and so that they don't feel guilty about dumping it in the tip). Non-profit organisations are usual the recipients of such charity. No doubt, they are usually grateful, but don't they deserve better?

I think I will check the quality of the used items I give away from now on, so I don't 'dump' them on others (and try to give away new stuff sometimes).

In the countryside...

it isn't as quiet as I thought it would be. I'm in Havelock North for work at the moment. The silence of the night was broken by frequent mooing from the neighbour's cow. It is late morning, and I hear some sort of machinery/tractor thingy in the background, and some kind of insect noise.

I guess its a different type of noise from the city.

ho ho ho

As I lay tossing and turning in bed, my mind was churning things over. Questions like so what is Christmas all about? kept going through my head. I guess this post has the danger of sounding cynical and pessimistic, but Christmas has got to be more than running around buying presents for everyone, pine trees and sparkly tinsel, and the same ol' carols year in and year out. And so it is. It is about the Christ Child that was born to us in Bethlehem.

The second question that then ran around in my head was - so what do Christians celebrate at Christmas? A baby? OK. Jesus was not just any baby. He was God and all, but again, there's got to be more to it than the nativity scene. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with presents or colourful (but tasteful, please!) decorations, carols or the whole baby Jesus thing, but I don't want to spend this time every year reflecting on this special baby born 2000 years ago in a dinky little manger. I need much more than that. I need a reason to really celebrate from deep within.

And in the wee hours of the morning, I found a reason to celebrate. [I had spent some time last Friday studying John's prologue to his gospel (John 1:1-18). So I think my thoughts are 'tainted' by that.] I will celebrate the Incarnation. Celebrate the fact that I don't have to try hard to build a bridge across to "god". Incarnation means the Bridge has been built by "god" and I just need to find it (which is a lot easier than having to build it myself). Incarnation means I get to connect with God in a deeply personal and meaningful way. But Incarnation also means, I go and do likewise. I need to be a link that others can connect with, so that they can Connect with the Bridge and thus find a reason to celebrate the Incarnation.

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am... I am

Argh!! The birds are chirping!

No, I don't have anything against birds chirping. In fact I do think it's quite nice thing to wake up to. But when you lie in bed tossing and turning, tossing and turning and then the birds start chirping - you know you're in trouble! It's time to wake up soon, but I still haven't fallen asleep yet! Argh! Going to be in a rather zombie like state today as I got about 2-3 hours sleep last night. *sigh* Who was the idiot that invented insomnia?

At last!!!

Finally bought How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb today. Been holding out since it was release about a month ago. Saw it was on special at the Warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain!). As a result, I managed to save $8 on the CD+DVD copy (I know, I'm a cheapo!) But the satisfaction of saving some dosh and finally getting to listen to it was just, well... damn satisfying. But I didn't do justice to the album as it played kinda softly in the background (didn't want to wake my flatmate who was napping). So tomorrow I may come back from work a little early and turn up the volume and enjoy it in full surround sound. No doubt you'll be hearing more about it in the days to come.

The loverliest motion picture of them all

My Fair Lady

Watched My Fair Lady again a couple of nights ago. The last time I watched was at least more then 10 years ago. I enjoyed it then, and enjoyed it even more now. Its actually funnier when you watch it as a adult - as you get all the little nuances. I really got into the movie and the best bit is, by now the songs are all familiar so you end up singing along.

Recommend a revisit if you haven't seen it for a long time!

on a sombre note

Our heart finds peace in knowing that death is not the end.
Death opens the way towards a life where God welcomes us to himself for ever.

Today's daily meditation from the Taizé site.

My 'niece' was born 2 days ago. It should be a happy occasion. It is... but I am reminded. She will never meet her father, except through her mother's and grandparents' (and aunts' and uncles') memories, photos, stories. Life is never fair. Even as we celebrate a birth, we mourn a death.

My cousin passed away about 3 months ago after losing a battle with cancer. I gained some insight in my own faith, his faith and a different picture of God. Once again, I need a sense of a God whose sense of justice and grace I cannot humanly comprehend, to help me have hope that this little girl is born into a place where death can be turned into a celebration of life.

A warm and sincere welcome to the world Kymberli.

Its that time of year again

www.buynothingchristmas.org

Yup. The Christmas madness is upon us. Tons of junkmail in the letterboxes with sales items, the same ol' Christmas songs playing in the malls, giant fake pine tress, and tinsle tinsle everywhere. And not to forget - Christmas shopping. No, this isn't just me being cynical about it all, but it makes a bloody stressful time. This year I’ve debated whether to join the throngs of shoppers. Maybe I won’t. Not really because I want to make a stand for something. One reason is – I am broke. And the other is I simply don’t like shopping with crowds. Where do all these people come from?? Guess I have to come up with creative alternatives!

Have more faith!

How many times have I heard that phrase? Not only been said to me but heard of it been said to others. Ironically sometimes said to those who have ‘more faith’ than the person who has said it. Was kinda listening to a series on 1 Peter at our recent Student Leadership Conference. And during one of the talks, PW talked about how we need to say to people to have hope rather than to have more faith. Telling people to have more faith doesn’t really help someone or encourage them. Instead it usually is more discouraging. Rather to have hope – hope in something (or someone) that is bigger than us is more reassuring.

I’ll have to agree with that. Telling someone to have more faith can be quite condescending. And in someways judgemental. It implies that the person doesn’t have enough faith (what is enough faith anyway, and how much more faith to have?) To have hope is to look beyond yourself, and placing trust in God. And in my understanding, hope doesn’t everything has to turn out sweet and dandy. But more that there will be an end to the situation or circumstance. Don’t really know how to explain it, but it has more depth than telling someone to have more faith. And definitely more uplifting. After all, that is what I think following Jesus is about. Not about having more faith. But in the hope that lies before us. What is the nature of this hope? Not sure. But that is part of the mystery of Jesus.