A Prayer in the form of Dr. Seuss, or "Save Me, Jesus, from the Christmas Crap"

This is something I posted on my own blog, as light and goofy in style as Bill's and Lois' are deep.  It's my reaction to watching "What Would Jesus Buy?" last night.  Did anyone see Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir at Busboys & Poets yesterday by any chance?  I sadly missed them. Check out the movie if you haven't.  Cary

We wander through the malls and the 'logues

to find the things that will end up as clogs

for houses that are already quite stuffed

with junk and crap and lots of fluff.

Our souls cry out for connection and love

and things that don't come from the push and the shove

of hanging at malls and wishing for more

while digging through piles in a shop or a store.

I sound like the Grinch and to him I relate

but usually my tolerance is rather sedate.

That demeanor is finished; I just can't pretend

when Wal-Mart stampeding caused life to end.

Some days on this planet, I want to cry "uncle"

and end the ridiculous, exhausting debacle

but Jesus has come, and he'll come once again,

and for now we are called to stay and to love

and to bear witness to kingdom on earth as above.

We labor with his strength; we are never alone,

e'en while shopping and striving, we hear ourselves groan

'til we rest and reflect on what God has done

and look upward, not mall-ward, where true peace is won.

God With Us

Posted by Lois Hansen

The following blog thoughts were written for Thanksgiving, but they seem appropriate for Advent as well. After all, without God's presence, what have we got?

A Serving of Ambivalence with My Thanksgiving Turkey

The article below caught my attention. As a middle-aged, single woman, I am learning about the joys of the "improvised family." It's still a little scary, though, as I will soon be living alone for the first time in my life.

Single D.C. women spend holiday with "improvised family"

This Thanksgiving, I will have the pleasure of spending the day with my four young adult children. We also will host my soon-to-be single friend, Nancy, and her elderly mother. Nancy's three children will spend Thanksgiving with their father (it's his turn); and, only five miles away, my children will spend the holiday with Nancy's children's grandmother. It's not that I'm not grateful for this improvised family, but traditional holidays always seem to shine light on thwarted or broken relationships.

I wonder if the Puritans, while thanking God for their community, shelter, and food, simultaneously grieved the loss of loved ones left behind in England and Holland and the death of relatives and friends who had succumbed to starvation and disease during the harsh Massachusetts' winters. Among them were children who would never hug their grandparents and parents who would never hold their children. They had been through innumerable hardships and had learned of God's deep, abiding care in the midst of them. They had much for which to be thankful. But, I have to believe their thankfulness was mixed with mourning. As mine will be.

Acknowledgment of Dependence

The good news is that thankfulness is not an emotion. Thankfulness is an acknowledgment of our dependence--our total lack of control. Life is filled with blessings and loss. Every physical blessing will someday be a loss. Truly, the only thing that remains is "God with us." I'm sure the Puritans knew this. Somehow, with all that stripping of the temporal, they clung to that which was most important--God's presence with them.

So, this Thanksgiving when I sit at the table and look with joy on my semi-improvised family and partake in the communal meal, I will be most grateful that God is there with us. And that is enough.

On Life and Advent from India

Some dear friends of ours, Brent and Melinda Snader, recently started a longer-term assignment with Word Made Flesh in Kolkata, India. Here's what Brent has been thinking about, particularly relevant during Advent....BH



Through the book Life with God, Richard Foster emphasizes the difference between bios (the Greek word for physical life, as I understand it) and zoe, (the Greek word that signifies original, uncreated, divine life that is from God and in God). Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect fellowship with God in Eden initially and following their sin they faced their punishment—death. God had told them that “in the day you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17). Yet on that day they did not cease to breathe or exist, but they were removed from the presence of God and their relationship with Him was broken, and in a real sense full life ended. In spite of our rebellion and persistent sin, God continued to be gracious and allow his chosen people to experience his presence in limited ways until he gave the greatest gift the world has ever received, Jesus. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”” (Matthew 1:23) Jesus came to reverse our curse and separation from God that we might once again “have life and have it to the full.” John says about Jesus that “in him was life and that life was the light of men.” Through him we now look forward with longing to the day foretold in Revelation 21:3 when “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.” What does it mean to be alive? I believe it means to live each moment in the intimacy of God’s loving presence from which place all else becomes secondary. The “life that is truly life,” “life to the full” is about recognizing and opening ourselves up to the One who says to us, “I am with you. Are you willing to be with me?” This is what I seem to hear God saying more clearly to me lately, and I hope and pray that in this season of relatively increased freedom and time I will learn to say, “yes” to his invitation for intimacy.