CHRISTMAS

Passage: Luke 2: 1-20
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Merry Christmas ... and Happy Birthday, Jesus!

God bless each and every one of you today~ May the peace of God find you

~Godspede

Ahem

So, the last two posts are what happens when I let myself post whilst I am half asleep: some humorous wording, an anecdote that has nothing to do with anything and, uh. . . yeah, Dr. Seuss for all! Now, let me actually make a real statement about How the Grinch Stole Christmas, for those of us so unfortunate as to not have seen it.
The movie is basically about a grumpy green... thing that hated Christmas about all the singing and cheeriness, so he decided to stop it. He looked at everything that Christmas seemed to represent and came up with the perfect way of stealing Christmas from the Whos of Whoville: steal all of the presents and all of the decorations. After all, I imagine he must have been thinking, they're all celebrating getting their presents so if he were to take away their decorations and those presents they're celebrating, there'd be no Merry Christmas to All!
However, this doesn't deter the Whos. When they woke up Christmas morning, they must have been disappointed to find their house so barren of Christmas-y-ness but they still gathered in town square, joining hands around the city tree and singing a Christmas song. This leads to the Grinch's revelation, which I quoted last Sunday: "Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store./Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!" (in the movie, the narrator continues, "And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say/that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day.")

We should know that Christmas is about more than gifts and decorations and good food. We should, and we really do, but we all too often forget. After, Jesus was born on Christmas day. So, I think we should take a page out of my little nephew's book, who started his letter to Santa Clause as follows:

"Dear Santa,
Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus! Happy Birthday me!"

Indeed.

~Godspede

Advent 4

Passage: lyrics to the Christmas song You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch
(yes, you read that correctly. Go ahead and giggle... I'm looking at you, Sola Fide)
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus;
You're as charming as an eel,
Mr. Grinch.

You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.

You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders;
You've got garlic in your soul,
Mr. Grinch.

I wouldn't touch you with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile,
Mr. Grinch.

Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crocodile.

You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks;
Your soul is full of gunk,
Mr. Grinch.

The three words that best describe you
are as follows, and I quote:
"Stink."
"Stank.
"Stunk!"

You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splotch
With mouldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.

Your soul is an appalling dump heap
overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of
deplorable rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled-up knots.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch,
With a nauseas super naus.
You're a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse,
Mr. Grinch.

You're a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce!

Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. -How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss

Heh. Bet'ya never expected Dr. Seuss to show up here. Well, BOO! Be surprised. I am an unexpected blogger. Hah.

I love the words to this song and I sing them year round. Yup, you're never too old for Seuss, and I'm happy about that. My favourite line is "Your heart is full of gunk!" because it is so plain after all the elaborate descriptions that were given already. My friend's favourite line is the "Stink. Stank. Stunk!" which can only be described by going "see, 'cause that's [insert her name here]".

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is my sermon today. So, if you've never seen it... well, you're deprived. So go find a copy of it and watch!! And reflect on the messages, please, and think of the application.

Enjoy!

~Godspede

Advent 3

Passage: Lyrics to the hymn The Angel Gabriel
(As they appear in my hymnal
The angel Gabriel from Heaven came,/With wings as drifted snow, with eyes as flame:/"All hail to thee, O lowly maiden Mary,/Most highly favoured lady."/Gloria!
"For know a blessed mother thou shalt be,/All generations laud and honour thee;/Thy son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,/Most highly favoured lady."/Gloria!
Then gentle Mart meekly bowed her head;/"To me be as it pleaseth God," she said./"My soul shall laud and magnify God's holy name."/Most highly favoured lady,/Gloria!
Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born./In Bethlehem all on a Christmas morn,/And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:/"Most highly favoured lady."/Gloria!

Words: Basque, circa 18th century; paraphrased Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1924

My hymnal also says the following below the song: "Mary was uniquely favoured among women--chosen by God to give birth to His Son! She responded with firm faith in God's word of promise carried to her by the angel Gabriel."

I can't look at this song without remembering my best friend's slip-up on the lyrics. We were practising it in choir and she sang, "Most highly fLavoured lady..." She realized and looked at me with a grin as she sang the word Lady, which breaks in the middle for a new note: "La-dy". Deciding to go along with that, she finished the verse, holding the first vowel with us as we contorted our voices around the notes: "Glo-o-o-o-o. . . . ri-os"
That is all.

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The meaning of the candles.
I have always wondered about their specific meaning, namely the fact that there is this one random pink one which, I discovered today, is lit on the third Sunday. Oops... I had to make a little change in the picture I had saved on file. This is why the pink candle is on the end and is lit before the next logical one.
I decided to do research.
I also like dramatically hitting the enter button.
Ta-da.
Okay, so anyway I already knew that each of the candles has a name, because the names are written on a sheet of paper in the back room of my church for the ushers to read and use. The names vary between churches and denominations, representing different aspects of the church Christmas. The two things that are consistent in names are 1) the Christ Candle, the white candle in the middle of the advent wreath which, as its name indicates, represents Christ Himself and is lit on Christmas morning and the subsequent Sundays in the Christmas season, and 2) the pink/"rose" Joy candle which symbolizes the shift from sombre preparation to eager anticipation. Thus, the pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent because it marks the turning point.
I hope that shed some light; it sure did for me :)

~Godspede

Advent 2

Passage: lyrics to hymn The King Shall Come
(As they appear in my hymnal)
The King shall come when morning dawns/And light triumphant breaks,/When beauty gilds the eastern hills/And life to joy awakes.
Not as of old a little child,/To bear and fight and die,/But crowned with glory like the sun/That lights the morning sky.
Oh, brighter than the rising morn/When Christ, victorious, rose/And left the lonesome place of death/Despite the rage of foes.
Oh, brighter than that glorious morn/Shall dawn upon our race/The day when Christ in splendour comes/And we shall see His face.
The Kind shall come when morning dawns/And light and beauty brings./Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray:/Come quickly, King of kings!

Words: John Bronlie, 1859-1925, alt.

self-giv·ing (sělf'gĭv'ĭng): adj. Characterized by self-sacrificing behavior; unselfish.

***

The Skit Guys are a comedy duo that I have discovered and love to watch. This particular video warmed my heart, so please watch it before reading any further.


Below the video on Youtube was this comment by "skitguyt" (Thomas, one of the members of the skit guys and the one in this video):
"Those are my real kids & wife. It is also a true story. The greatest morning of my life! I love my family! "

I think the video itself is enough of a story, but I still feel obliged to make more of one. As Sola Fide can testify, that is the way I am.
I have said before on this blog how the simplest things can mean so insanely much, and lately I have been blessed by quite a few of them. Here's two.

At my church, we have this thing called "Secret Prayer Pals". It's really neat, involving someone praying for someone else without the other's knowledge. Sometimes that person will give their prayer pal a card on their birthday, Christmas, and Easter.
To explain my situation: I'm so much better than how I was a couple of months ago, but I still have periods where I feel tired and sad and just generally 'not good'. For most of those times, I feel like I really need a hug or a wink or something from someone I care about-- but not if I ask for it. I need one just offered up for no reason in particular.
I was having one of those days today, and after Church my mom came up to me and handed me a card that was in her mail slot. It had the handwriting I recognize as my secret prayer pal's on it ---they spelt my name wrong. For those who know me: they left out the H. Just to tease me. They spelt it right on the inside...--- and I opened it curiously. There was no occasion to be celebrated, it's the Second Sunday of Advent after all not the first or last, yet they were sending me a card.
I pulled it out. It's pink and green with a cute little pattern on it. In a small script in the middle of the front, it says "You are fabulous . . ." I looked at my best friend curiously then opened it up. The inside has white polka dots on a pink fill as the background, and on top of a white slip it reads: "If you ever forget that, please read this again." They include a Tim's card for ten dollars.
Just cause.
They have no idea how much that meant to me at that moment, and they couldn't have seen the tears that sprung to my eyes as I blinked them back before even my mom could see them.
The second special occasion occurred on another of my bad days, though this one was worse. I had been home alone all day and just felt miserable, there was no one I could talk to, and I opened up my laptop and pulled up MSN. No one was online and I sighed. I saw that I had received instant messages while I was offline and I clicked the link almost reluctantly (I hate having to pick through six different "Goodnights!" that I missed). Up sprang a conversation with my friend way over in Calgary. She addressed me with my pet name and gave me this message: "i gotta bounce but jes wanted to send a lil note of love and a big HUGE hug yer way :) blessings my friend. i miss you " Below that, she had sent, "God bless you. much love."
I hadn't gone online at all the night before (too tired), so she had just sent this message randomly as she is apt to do. How ... touching that I saw it at that moment.

I like the notion that Thomas applies in his video. If a little touch like that feels so good to us, why don't we give God some? I'm sure he would appreciate it.
Here's the link to the video if, for some reason, you can't watch in on the site:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Pju_bjlWo

~Godspede