If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church. Click here.
Backspace, backspace – Friday (Dec 18) was the birthday of Charles Wesley. He was the brother of John, and the musical force in the founding of Methodism. He published over 6,000 hymns, O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing (all 18 verses), Love Divine All Loves Excelling, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing among them. The tradition is that many of his hymns were able to be sung to popular tunes of the day, even barroom songs. The theology in his hymns – especially the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the depravity of mankind, and humanity's personal accountability to God - did much to shape Methodism and United Methodism to this day.
A few days from the Church Calendar -
Dec 21 St Thomas He gets called “Doubting Thomas”, but I think that’s a bad rap. “Thomas asked questions other were thinking. When Jesus headed off to see Lazarus, Thomas suggested the disciples go with him. And at the end, Jesus said to Thomas ‘blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” (Sound familiar? That’s actually from the Email a Day from July 3, the other day on which the church remembers St Thomas!)
Maybe today is a day to realize that we don’t have, or need, all the answers. Maybe it’s a day to just let the mystery be.
Dec 24 Christmas Eve (Well, the church calendar apparently does not actually include Christmas Eve, so look below for it on the world/earth section!)
Dec 25 Christmas Day – the day we celebrate the reality that Jesus was born one of us. Someplace I saw a note a week or two ago about how some of the wonder Mary must have felt was not just that “the Word became flesh” but that the flesh it became was hers. Here’s one of the collects for Christmas from the Book of Common Prayer -
Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him,
and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin:
Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory,
now and for ever. Amen.
Ok, not really sure about that “pure virgin” part, but hey – it’s even more so a day to just let the mystery be! And maybe recheck the Words from last Thurs about the whole virgin thing.
Dec 26 St Stephen (the “Feast of Stephen” upon which Good King Wenceslas went out!) Well, Stephen was the first person to be martyred for the Christian faith. He was one of the seven deacons in charge of distributing food and aid to the poor. When he bested some of the religious leaders in a debate, they hauled him before a council where he gave a long speech, basically a summary of much of the Old Testament story, and concluded that his hearers were resisting the word of God, just as their ancestors had done. When they took him out to stone him, a young man named Saul watched over their coats.
(and an aside about Wenceslas - he was actually the duke (kníže) of Bohemia from 921 until his assassination in 935. His younger brother, Boleslaus the Cruel, was complicit in the murder. His martyrdom and the popularity of several biographies gave rise to a reputation for heroic virtue that resulted in his elevation to sainthood. He was posthumously declared to be a king and came to be seen as the patron saint of the Czech state.)
Dec 27 St John, Apostle, Evangelist (Well, ok, technically the church pushes St John’s day to the 28th and The Holy Innocents to the 29th this year because the 27th is a Feast of Our Lord, but we’re going to think about St John this week anyway.) He was one of the first disciples, a “son of Zebedee” who left him in the boat and went to follow Jesus. He was one of the “inner circle of Peter, James, and John” who were present for many significant events in Jesus’ life. He was also referred to as “the disciple that Jesus loved”. The Gospel, the Book of Revelation, and the three Letters from John are attributed to him, though some think some of them might have been written by one or more of his disciples. His gospel is significantly different from the first three. He was the only one of the 12 to stay with Jesus to the end and stand with the women at the foot of the cross, where Jesus gave Mary and him to each other. “In the beginning was the Word…”, “God so loved the world…”, “Let not your hearts be troubled…” (and then note that it was Thomas who said “We don’t know where you are going, how can we know the way” and Jesus said “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.”), the other “I am” sayings, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth...I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven…” - just some of the words and images we owe to him.
And some days from the earth/world calendar -
Dec 21 Winter solstice/Longest night
+ some are recognizing that not all feel “joyful and triumphant” and are starting to hold “Blue Christmas” services or gatherings. Might be especially meaningful this year. That’s not exactly what Elvis was singing about, but close!
+ Here’s a nice blessing that I picked up somewhere along the line. We usually light a candle sometime during the evening, or this year we were thinking maybe a flaming dessert!!. Probably not! Maybe a cupcake with a candle in it. We could say this while we eat it!
May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night,
That each day forward is blessed with more light.
That the cycle of nature, unbroken and true,
brings faith to your soul, and well being to you.
Rejoice in the darkness, in the silence find rest,
and may the days that follow be abundantly blessed.
+ And also there is this conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn – if the skies stay clear! If 2 planets collide and the skies are cloudy do they make a sound?
+ the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. W Paul Jones says he scandalized his family by laughing at the size when he saw it. “It’s size and shape can hardly support the legend that it was a stepping stone into a new world.” Have you seen it? What did you think?
+ in 1965 the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was adopted by UN member states. Hmmmm…. We pause for prayer -
Dear God -
Help these people open their hearts and minds and see beyond the flesh and accept the unaccepted. Help them walk with open eyes to see the beauty you have given each one of us. - Ronny, age 15, Central Juvenile Hall, East Los Angeles
+ still on Dec 21 – it was the 80th day and Phileas Fogg finished his round the world journey.
Dec 22
+ the first Christmas tree to be decorated with electric lights. I wonder how long it took them to untangle the cords, I wonder how long they lasted before one bulb burned out and they had to check each one. Some of the lights we have decorating our window-boxes have gone out – it looks like squirrels have chewed through the wires apparently thinking the lights were something to eat?
+ Dwight L Moody died on this day in 1899. He began by evangelizing wounded civil War soldiers, and went on to form Sunday school associations, and international revivals. His practices included using popular, emotional hymns and songs, printing religious tracts and were much copied. He founded the Moody Bible Institute.
+ and then someone named Joe Strummer died on this day in 2002. I never heard of him, but he was a singer/songwriter and – wait for it – a guitar player! (Ok – I looked him up and his real name was John Graham Mellor, and he was a founding member of the punk-rock band The Clash. So that’s not quite as cool as it seemed at first, but…..)
+ another Joe – Joe Cocker died in 2014. He sang With a Little Help from My Friends at Woodstock, Up Where We Belong for An Officer and a Gentleman, and You Can Leave Your Hat On for the movie 9 1/2 Weeks (Tom Jones sang it for the film and the play The Full Monty!) Cocker performed for George H W Bush at one of his inauguration concerts in 1989. I didn’t know all that.
Dec 23
+ the transistor was invented. When I was a kid – having a transistor radio was a pretty big deal.
+ in 1975 President Gerald Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act and we all started using the metric system. Didn’t we? Actually there are three countries in the world that don’t use it – us, Liberia, and Burma(Myanmar).
+ in 1888 van Gogh cut off his ear in a bout of depression.
Dec 24 Christmas Eve
+ Santa and the reindeer, caroling, Sunday School pageants, midnight mass, candlelighting service – what are your warmest Christmas Eve memories?
+ here’s an unhappy note – in 1865 the KKK was formed.
+ in 1914 the Christmas Truce broke out among the soldiers. It lasted until their officers forced them back into battle. It seems like we just noted whoever it was that said old men declare war and send young men (and women) off to fight them.
+ of course in 1826 something called the Eggnog Riots broke out at West Point, the cadets having over-indulged.
+ John Muir died on this day in 1914. He had a hand in establishing the National Parks – especially Yosemite, Sequoia, Mesa Verde, Glacier, Mount Rainier, and Crater Lake.
Dec 25 Christmas Day
+ Isaac Newton, Humphrey Bogart, and Rod (Do, do do do; do do do do…) Serling share Jesus’ birthday.
Dec 26
+ 1966 Kwanzaa was observed, celebrated for the first time.
+ Jack Benny died in 1974. A certain amount of racism in the show, but he was a master of the slow look.
Dec 27
+ the Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded. When I was young(er) they used artwork by Kathe Kollwitz of poverty and hunger with the line “Seed corn must not be ground.”
+ Charles Darwin set out on the HMS Beagle in 1831. His journey took a little bit longer than Phileas Fogg’s – almost 5 years!
Two options for this week’s challenge -
1) write a “longest night” poem/prayer;
2) if you were going to change your last name to reflect something about you – more than “one who comes from the West” – what would you change it to?
That’s it for now -
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