Christmas Anonymous

Christmas Anonymous 12 Step Recovery Program *

1. We admitted we were powerless over Christmas—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. To that end we reread the Nativity story in Matthew, Luke, and John.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. (Romans 6:17, 18; Ephesians 2:13)
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves; then did the same for the pile of newly accumulated gifts, culling and assimilating as required.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. We then worked out on the treadmill and had a low fat, low sugar, low sodium, high fiber, but delicious none the less meal.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Replacing the offending gift given to Aunt Hattie and setting up a fundraiser through our favorite charity tops the list.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to Christmasoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

*I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone who has taken part in any of the 12 step recovery programs, or to the organizations that provide such needed assistance.
Our modern day practices at Christmas, sacred and secular alike, seem to have drifted so far from the original intent as to appear in many ways strikingly similar to those of one suffering from an addiction. Weight loss or weight gain, changes in mood, behavior or sleep patterns, financial difficulties caused by the addiction, inability to fulfill ones obligations...those symptoms could just as easily be applied to someone suffering from a misuse of the holidays.
My revisions of these 12 steps is merely my attempt at tilting at windmills.

Christmas Contemplation

Perhaps you've seen the discussions and polls on the social bulletin board sites about whether our president should continue to call it the national "Christmas" tree or change the name to "Holiday" tree instead. While I haven't participated in those polls, I have done a great deal of thinking about this subject. Here are some of my conclusions*:

• I don't give a hoot what the president does. His life and actions as well as the actions of a large percentage of our nation do not revolve around bringing honor and glory to God. What he chooses to call the tree won't change that.
• The argument that calling it a holiday tree is just taking one more thing away from the Christians is only valid if the government is the source of the Christians' faith. If recognition or approval from the government is necessary to authenticate one's beliefs, then I would encourage a reexamination of those beliefs. Following God has never been the popular thing to do and Christians are never promised support from the leadership of our world. In fact, the opposite is true. (Ps. 20:7, 8; Gal. 1:10; Acts 4:26; I Pt. 3:14-16)
• Christians belong to a kingdom other than those represented on our globe. We are strangers and pilgrims here. Temporary exiles. If we get too comfortable with secular contemporary customs and society and we risk being like Lot's wife.
• I call into question the possibility of the Gospel being spread merely through the name of an object. The heavens declare the glory of God, but I don't think that includes an electrified evergreen on the White House lawn.
• Religious freedom...oh, I am not even going to open that can of worms.
  

*These comments are not aimed at any specific person or persons, et cetera. And by all means, feel free to disagree with me.

Missing Person

This last Sunday, DH and J stayed home sick from Church. Not a big deal, but it gave M and I a chance to have a really good conversation in the car on the way home. Pastor David's message had been about the different people in Matthew's narrative of the Birth of Christ. The one that stood out to my 7 yo was King Herod. He is such a key figure in the story, but he is often overlooked. And yet, his presence does need to be keenly felt. King Herod brought about a terrible tragedy for the nation of Israel of that day (Matt 2:18). He represents everything that Christ came to defeat with his birth, perfect life and sacrificial death. And he brought about the fulfillment of prophecy.
However, it's uncomfortable to talk about the role he played and so we tend to skip over him. After all, he butchered babies in a jealous rage. Who wants that in a play set? Come to think of it, have you ever seen him portrayed in any Nativity scene?

Oh, wait. There he is...over there on the right side. Take a closer look...

In the car M decided that we needed a figure of King Herod for their Nativity set. So with a little Model Magic, Marvy markers, paint, embossing powder and a sword that I just happened to have lying around (!!?!), we are now the proud owners of what may be the very first King Herod action figure in history. At least, I'd like to think so.

But, of course, he dies in the story, and so we had to make him reversible. On the front side he wears an evil scowl and on the back...well...he's dead.

See, that's the great thing about having a conniving, wicked liar as part of your Nativity set. He gets defeated. Our Savior, through His Father's almighty power, escapes Herod's murderous hand and grows up to fulfill God's perfect plan for our salvation.
It's not a carefully edited touchy, feely Baby story on the Discovery channel. It's a true story about a universal power struggle and the ultimate victory over Sin and Death by Christ on our behalf. How can you adequately tell that story if the antagonist isn't even represented?

Flipping the Easter Bunny

Here is a fun and simple thing to do to help teach the true meaning of Easter. First, you talk about the Easter Bunny and the colored eggs and all of the things that the world associates with Easter while you draw this on a piece of paper or posterboard:





















Then you flip the bunny on his side and add the crosses and the open door (these can be made ahead and attached with tape) and talk about what Jesus did for us on the cross and why!










I remember when my Dad taught this in the 3&4 year old SS class over 20 years ago (I was probably about 12)! It is amazing how a simple visual can stick with you for such a long time. It is for certain that I have never looked at the Easter Bunny the same way!

I pray for all of you and your families during this Resurrection celebration: that your holiday and traditions will be truly God-honoring and blameless before Him. May ours be the same.

*originally posted 4/9/06

An offering for Good Friday

This coming Friday is the day that many Christians worldwide will ponder the death of our Savior and look to Easter when we will celebrate His resurrection. I have no great words to commemorate this occasion. But I can point to the words of others that have both inspired me and left me dumbstruck.

• The Passion of Jesus Christ, by John Piper-50 reasons why Christ died. I will never look at Calvary the same.
• On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ-this is an article published in the March 21, 1986 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA-vol. 255, no.11) that gives a very descriptive account of the physical aspect of crucifixion. Not for the faint of heart. (I had to go to the university and get a copy from the microfiche, but it was worth it. It is long or I would post it here. If you want a copy, email me your address and I will send you a .pdf file.)
• Lots of hymns-"'Man of Sorrows,' What a Name!", "What Wondrous Love Is This?" (all the verses), "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded", "Why?" and others.
• The Dream of the Rood-medieval English poem
• Our daughter J, who periodically asks, "Why does God love us?". It is such a simple question, and there are answers that can be given, but the truth is that there is no reason why He should and yet He does.
• Finally, here is an entry from the Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions:

The Grace Of The Cross
O My Saviour,
I thank thee from the depths of my being
for thy wondrous grace and love
in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree.
May they cross be to me
as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs,
as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,
as the brazen serpent that calls forth
the look of faith.
By thy cross crucify my every sin;
Use it to increase my intimacy with thyself;
Make it the ground of all my comfort,
the liveliness of all my duties,
the sum of all thy gospel promises,
the comfort of all my afflictions,
the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces,
the very essence of my religion;
And by it give me that rest without rest,
the rest of ceaseless praise.

O My Lord and Saviour,
Thou hast also appointed a cross for me
to take up and carry,
a cross before thou givest me a crown.
Thou hast appointed it to be my portion,
but self-love hates it,
carnal reason is unreconciled to it;
without the grace of patience I cannot bear it,
walk with it, profit by it.
O blessed cross, what mercies dost thou bring
with thee!
Thou art only esteemed hateful by my rebel will,
heavy because I shirk thy load.
Teach me, gracious Lord and Saviour,
that with my cross thou sendest promised grace
so that I may bear it patiently,
that my cross is thy yoke which is easy,
and thy burden which is light.

*originally posted 4/14/06

My Contribution for St. Pat's Day

My children are still at the Shamrock and Leprechan stage for St. Patrick's Day, but I do plan on sharing some of the history (I have a unit from SchoolExpress.com) and the following poetry, which I love, next week. We'll probably watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People too :).

A Gaelic Blessing
(Adapted from an old Gaelic rune)

Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the gentle night to you,
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you,
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you.

A Prayer of Saint Patrick
(From Saint Patrick's Breastplate, 5th cent., tr. Mrs. C.F. Alexander)

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ above me, Christ beneath me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I have both of these in music form composed by John Rutter (on his album Gloria, available from Collegium Records), and sung by the Cambridge Singers. This was my first and still is my favorite CD! I copied the text from inside the CD insert.

*originally posted 3/7/06