in defense of Christmas carols

long lay the world

in sin

and error

                       pining

until   HE   appeared,

and the soul felt its worth

 

 

in one of the advent readings i read this month the writer encouraged me to make space for worship, and one of his admonishments was to sing regular worship songs rather than Christmas carols.

 

WHAT?! 

 

i wanted to write him and ask if he's ever really paid attention to the carols.  i know that they can be overdone, overlooked, washed-out, used for sentimentality and commercialism, crooned out by grade 6 bands and pop singers in ear-decaying fashion. but.

 

what could be more worship inspiring than the above words?  they have reverberated in me these past weeks - and the soul felt its worth.  long i lay, pining away in my life of sin and error, and then God broke in and offered me worth.  this season, and the whole story of our world, culminates in the Creator God revealing the worth of His creation by becoming a part of it.  fall on your knees!  hear the angel voices!!  o night divine!!!

 

i had the incredible privilege of singing back-up for the worship in our Christmas Eve service last night.  we sang this song, o holy night,  and it was utterly overwhelming - so much so, that i realized i was belting it out a little off key and needed to simmer down :). 

 

chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

and in His name

all oppression shall cease

 

preach it Christmas Carol!!

 

i went to the saskatoon children's choir's Christmas concert and was struck with how at this time of year people of any faith welcome the gospel into their ears.  surely somebody is actually listening.

 

we have had a very silent Christmas, if you don't count the ambulance siren and croupy cough of our son.  no extended family, no friends even (thanks to infectious viruses), just us.  it's been very relaxed and cozy.  naps, tea, snacks, the sound of music, lego, reading.  i haven't stepped outside of the house all day however and i'm feeling that we are going to have to brave the boxing day parking lots tomorrow just to give me a field trip. 

 

i made no turkey.  i did not overachieve.  i haven't swept my floor in days.  aren't you proud of me?

 

the kids are now tucked up in their beds.  i wonder when my five year old will start asking "how many days until Christmas?" again.  could be next week.  i'm off for a peaceful night with my hubby. 

 

i pray for a silent night for you all, heavenly peace-filled sleeps, and the dawn of redeeming grace tomorrow. 

 

 



hope

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion -
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.

Isaiah 61:1-3

this morning a mother did not pack a school lunch.  she did not tell her little one not to forget his mittens.  she is not concerned about school Christmas concerts or the skating field trip. 

my heart is breaking for Connecticut.  i have never cried over a piece of news like i have this past weekend.  i feel stunned, impotent, angry, but mostly, deeply, sad.

how do i proclaim freedom?   how do i bind up?  release? comfort?
ah, but this prophecy is not about janet anderson, it was spoken by an old man (at least i picture Isaiah as always ancient) many years ago, about Jesus.  can He do it?  will He do it?  and can He and will He through me?

last week i was reading this passage in Isaiah 35:

Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees. 

i looked back on the wildernesses and deserts of my life - years of living with fear as a constant companion, my journey of looking for safety in the arms of relationships, miscarriages, depression, anxiety, a season where after a near-death experience my daughter did not sleep for months...
flowers have been planted in these deserts. 
each of these wastelands God has turned into something which can display His glory - miraculously.  and just like the spring crocus, in each of these circumstances i had lost hope, i believed the winter would never end, and then i glimpsed a bit of green.  a truth that began the transformation.  it's not that i'm glad i went through those experiences, not that i would welcome them again, but there is a consistent rhythm in my life of God showing up.  God changing me (and this is usually the healing - not that the circumstances change, but that i change in them).  God using those painful places to bring consolation to others who are hurting, maybe even a nugget of wisdom, a sister in the journey.  God did not and does not rid my life of desert places, but He transforms them into gardens.

i wish i could hand that truth to Connecticut.  i deeply want to hold that grieving mother in my arms and cry with her.  i want to let her hold my children and cry out her pain.  i want to cook her a meal and paint her a picture and offer any kindness.  but i know that this healing will not come from me.  It will come from Christ, and i know, i KNOW dear broken mother - it will come.

homage

today is my mother-in-law's birthday.  she is now, officially (in the eyes of the powers that be) a senior.  but i say NO! 
so, an homage to your youth dear Beverly Anderson.  here are some reasons why my mother-in-law (forthwith referred to as 'mom') is in her prime.

she's still in love with her husband, who affectionately refers to her as "Bezerly" and gets misty-eyed when he gives her presents.

when out for a walk she doesn't just stop to smell the flowers, she refers to their Latin names, and their nutritional (or poisonous properties).  then, she'll notice a bird or the way a vine whimsically wraps around a branch or a new bud and she'll be lost in wonder.  going for a walk with my mom is like going for a walk with a genius and a child at the same time - her heart is continually open to wonder and she inspires this wonder in others.

she's still learning and trying new things.  her newest project is helping A Rosha, a Christian conservation society, monitor bird populations in the parks of south surrey.  her last was learning as much as she could about the history of the Mennonite peoples and their various exodus' (exodii?  exodum?).  making jewelry, designing purses, mastering the gluten-free cookie...her repertoire is always expanding.

she giggles.  and also has a delightful full-bellied-pink-cheeks-can't-breath-raucous laugh.

she takes a wicked photograph.  somewhere along her journeys my mom has mastered how to look in a camera.  she does this thing with her smile and eyes, and pretty much her entire demeanor, and she always comes across beautifully.  sometimes when scott points the camera at me i'll think "what would mom do?".  maybe i should make a WWMD? bracelet for myself, or some sort of dangly thing for the tripod.

she enjoys buying me lingerie, and has great taste (praise the Lord!).  "pastors need sexy wives" she'll say, and i couldn't agree more :)

so, to you mom.  here's to many more years of youth.  i love you.

and, in the spirit or encouragement, can i tell you the best compliment i've received recently?  my friend stopped me a week ago in the church foyer and said "i looked at you across the room and i thought 'janet looks great today.....she looks like she's been turned into a vampire'".   the pale skin's working for me folks!!

advent

i love to get my Christmas shopping finished before december for a few reasons (the biggest being that i love buying presents so i start as early as possible).  the BEST reason is so that once the big month hits, i can snuggle up to advent.  i swing my hips side to side, pushing away the debris, and roost. 

my mother-in-law gave me this creche scene one year.  the shepherds look like they've just stepped out of a dickens novel, and there are no wise men or animals - which some might find essential - but i just love it.  i love the beggarly quality of the shepherds.  i love the serenity and joy of mary, throwing her arms up in response to her baby's chubby hands reaching towards her.  i just know she's about to kiss him.  she'll dig her nose into his neck and smell the baby skin, and wonder how she could love a little child any more - and then he'll grab a fist-full of her hair and try to pull it out of her head.  because he was human, and naive, and unaware - and none of these traits of humanity are sinful.
what an honour to the human race that God chose to incarnate himself through our frail and fallible form.  breathtaking. 

it's been snowing every day for the last while.  shadows are blue, the world is a little brighter any hour of the day, the evergreens look like hallmark cards, my nose is a permanent shade of red and we can no longer get into the backyard through our side gate.  you can see why above.  and although the shovelling is tiring, and finding a parking spot is a nightmare, and i had my first fender-bender yesterday - there's nothing better than watching your little ones frolic in the snow.  i know, you're thinking that a good frolic at the beach is nice....true.  but the rosy cheeks and the mittened hands and the smokey laughs.  i love it!

something else i love about this saskatoon winter is that i can make decorations out of ice.  so, a bundt pan and an old wreath make:

 
can't do that in BC!

I've been working with some fellow artists at our church on an advent prayer guide, and a visual art show called "the empty chair initiative".  i was thinking about advent a few months ago, looking for an image to paint for the church, and i came across a chair in a field of wildflowers.  instantly i was thinking about waiting - who was the chair meant for? how long has it been sitting there? consequently  i began seeing areas of my life as a chair waiting to be filled:  my longings for my neighbours that seem to fall short, my desires for my friends to know the fullness of a life lived for Christ, my yearning for my children to deeply grasp the truth.  i thought of how at some Jewish dinner (is it Passover?) there's an empty chair left for Elijah, the prophet who is to precede the Messiah.  of empty chairs which stand as memorials to people who sat in them (ever see Nanny McPhee?).  and then i pictured a wall covered in images of chairs, communicating where we as a church family long for Jesus to show up in our world, long for the Messiah and his kingdom, places where we wait in eager anticipation for Christ to come again. 

well, i got 5.  not exactly a covered wall, but it's a start!  the little show was hung in the church on Friday and I feel very proud of it.  Four of the images can be seen in the prayer guide, which you can find here. i think i've done the work of preparing for this season well, now i just need to rest in it.  which, truthfully, can be the harder work for some reason.

my prayer for us is that this advent season is one of new awareness:  of our longing, our need, our dependence, our hope; and a fuller understanding of the miracle of a God 'putting skin on and moving into the neighbourhood' - as Eugene Peterson so eloquently puts it.  heaven forbid that Christmas should pass us by, and we remain unchanged.