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The Twelve Ways of Christmas, Part 3: The Way of Hardship
“This won’t be easy, Erin.”
“I know. It quit being easy three weeks ago,” Erin replied.
“You know I can’t guarantee we will have a scholarship still available if you change your mind.”
“Give it to somebody who can use it. I think it’s gonna be a while,” said Erin in a voice both hollowed by grief and steeled by determination.
Those words still hung in Erin’s heart as the elevator doors closed to mirror her 32-weeks-pregnant frame – and to part company with the destiny she once had been sure lay before her.
For Erin Lucas, life had taken a vicious turn. Always an honors student, a Pre-med Junior majoring in Biochemistry at LSU, Erin had taken up what looked like permanent residence on the President’s List. And she had overcome considerable obstacles to do it.
Raised (if you would call it that) in a dysfunctional home, Erin had last seen her father at age 16. Her mother had done the best she could to provide for Erin and her sister, often working two jobs to make ends meet – not an easy task for a middle-aged woman in south Mississippi with just a high-school education. But it was worth the sacrifice and grief to see to it that Erin and Emily would get a college degree in a high-paying field.
Did I mention that Mama was a bit of a controller?
You can imagine the, “concern” Erin encountered when she brought Donnie Lucas home from Baton Rouge over Christmas break during Erin’s freshman year. [click to continue…]
(The Twelve Ways of Christmas, Part 2: The Way of Worship)
Jason Strong hates Christmas.
Well, at least this part of it.
And on this quiet Monday afternoon, he lies face-up on the stage floor, staring at the blackened ceiling of the church building he calls home, wishing it would all just go away.
Jason’s a twentysomething worship leader at a contemporary church. On his more philosophical, argumentative days he can tell you all the reasons why worship music should reflect today’s culture, not try to recreate the culture of Lawrence Welk. “Dude, nobody drives to work listening to pipe organs on the radio,” he loves to say. And they certainly don’t at Ovation Church, either.
But Christmas is a problem. “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Joy to the World” tend to make lead guitarists feel a bit out of place. And at Ovation, even the youngest of adults starts pining away for the Christmas traditions of their childhood.
Ugh.
In the spirit of the season, Jason and the band try to cooperate. But honestly, he feels like a fool – leading a band of square pegs into jolly-round holes. What the heck is “Excesis Deo” anyway? And don’t even get him started on “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”
(The Twelve Ways of Christmas, Part 1: The Way of Surrender)
Journal entry – December 10 – Today I leave my family and the security of the familiar. I go to have questions answered, knowing that I may only come away with more questions than answers. I go to be healed, knowing that the process will carry me through more pain than perhaps I have ever known. I go to learn how to break the cycle of false intimacy and shame, knowing that the price for this so-called “true intimacy” may mean the disruption of every significant relationship I have. But go I must. I have covered some of my confusion in lies just to get to this point. My defenses have been forced to surrender, even as my addictive personality continues to cry out, “I want to live!” I go to get “well” today. And I’ve never been more frightened in my life.
Darla White stares at a random spot on the wall of her new home-away-from-home – a two-bed, dorm-style room where she is the only resident for now. Past the denial, beyond the multiple fantasies of suicide, the grief of losing her 11-year-old daughter, and the months of memories lost to alcohol and prescription drug addiction, Darla is a shell of the woman she once was.
Nobody’s calling her “Supergirl” now, she thinks sadly, as she catches a glimpse of her hollow expression in the mirror. And it’s just as well. [click to continue…]
Q. – Dad, why do you wait until Christmas Eve to do your Christmas Shopping?
A. – Because the stores are closed on Christmas Day.
Christmas has its own unique mashup of truth and myths, and every year somebody ultimately brings up both. I was asked on one occasion what my favorite Christmas myth was. I’d like to share my reply with you.
My favorite Christmas myth has nothing to do with Nativity scenes, jolly little fat men, or reindeer with nuclear sinus infections.
Christmas is coming
The elves have been away
Now they’re returning from their holiday.
If you haven’t any reindeer
An airline flight will do
If you haven’t got an airline flight,
Then God bless you.
Christmas is coming
Although it’s still July
We’re going shopping, and no asking “Why?”
Hobby Lobby has your ornaments
And artificial pines
If you don’t have one in your town
Then shop online.
Christmas is coming
The elves may call it quits -
Santa’s reducing all their benefits.
If you haven’t got insurance
Obamacare will do
If you haven’t got Obamacare
It’s time to sue.
This is one of the strangest days of the year. The Christmas tree is still up, but there are no presents beneath it. The trips have been made, and people are starting to settle back down to “normal.” All the cooks have declared a holiday, and the Great Gift Exchange has begun. And in our culture, we’re preparing for another phenomenon: the end of one year, and the start of another.
Sort of like they did on the first day after the first Christmas.
Take a look, and maybe we can catch an insight into how we can extend the wonder of the season past all the gifts and food. And I think we can gain some principles that will also help us prosper in the coming year. [click to continue…]
Ever since there was something called “The Christmas Story,” the birth of Jesus has been a two-sided event. In the familiar stories found in Luke’s and Matthew’s gospels, you read of shepherds and prophets, wise men and kings, Mary and Joseph. It’s written from man’s perspective. When the angels announced to the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,” that gives us Christmas from the human side.
Left there (which we usually do), Christmas is all about us. But there is a different story – one that’s told from the counsel of Heaven itself. You find it in the gospel of John.
“In the beginning was the Word… And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
That’s an eternal picture. That’s God’s picture. And perhaps the best description of Christmas from God’s perspective is the most familiar verse in the Bible:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….”
This Christmas, celebrate Christmas in stereo. Take the time to recognize the full picture. In the words of Charlie Brown and millions before and after him, “Linus, what is Christmas all about?” [click to continue…]
Sorry to be the latest to assault your traditional Nativity scene. But this isn’t just an exercise in historical trivia. Something happened near Bethlehem that, in my 50 years, has gone unnoticed or ignored.
Have you ever had times when, for a split second, it seems that God has “parted the curtain” between the seen and unseen world, and given you a glimpse of the Larger Story? You can find one of those in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus.
Setting the Scene
Joseph and Mary, both descendants of King David, had returned to their ancestral home town for census and taxing purposes. This shuffling of the population of Israel was a massive undertaking, and caused some serious housing shortages for months. But somebody in Bethlehem (possibly a distant cousin, who knows?) offered them shelter in the place where they kept their animals. This was probably a cave. We don’t know how long they were there before Jesus was born, but it was probably a little time. It doesn’t seem as though ol’ Joe was banging on doors at midnight, hollering, “My wife’s in labor!”
On the day (yes, day) Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph were still in the cave. The animals’ feeding trough became the infant’s first bed.
It was only a matter of time before something as festive and holy as Christmas brought out the fun side in all of us. And every year has its own version. Here’s a little Monday Christmas fun, Hanukkah Ham style:
Our friend Tim Hawkins, of Cletus Take the Reel fame, sends this Christmas Greeting. Click here then click on “The Christmas Puppy.”
Jacked-up Christmas Lyrics
A couple of weeks ago I was researching for a Christmas message titled “Jacked Up” about the crazy ideas and expectations people have around the holidays (you can hear it here: here).
I came across several web sites and blogs that talk about jacked-up lines in Christmas songs. Here are some of my favorites:
1. In 1964 the Beach Boys released a song called, “Christmas Comes This Time of Year.” That’s helpful! Deep, too. Sort of like saying, “Monday comes this time of week.”
2. Andy Williams, among others, is famous for the song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” A line in that song says,
“There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories….”
Whoa, there, AW. How many people do you know that tuck their little kids in bed on Christmas Eve and tell them tales of bleeding holly, haunted sleighs, or demon-possessed reindeer? Now go on to sleep kids! [click to continue…]
(The Further Adventures of Eugene Davis, Sophomore Christian)
“Have you seen this?” asked an angry voice one Sunday morning.
Yep, it was Eugene Davis, sophomore Christian and resident expert on what everybody else should and shouldn’t be doing.
“Seen what?” I asked politely as Eugene shoved a Sunday bulletin in my hand.
“All these parties!” he said.
In the midst of the activities list, Eugene had highlighted three youth fellowships in one week: the Jr. High, the Sr. High, and the All-Youth Pizza Pig-Out and Christmas Party that night after church.
“Well, there’s never a bad time to eat pizza,” I joked. “Don’t you know the wise men caught up with King Herod at Pizza Hut?”
But Eugene was in no joking mood.
“That’s not the point,” he fumed. “It seems like all we ever do with these kids is feed ‘em pizza and take ‘em on trips. When I was a teenager, we learned to give and do for others.”
“When you were a teenager, you were lost,” I replied. “Furthermore, when you were a teenager, Chicago was a cow pasture.” [click to continue…]
“When Chinese officials starting preparing for the Beijing Olympics, they began encouraging restaurant owners to change the way certain foods are listed in menus. Some phrases just didn’t translate well. You may read “steamed pullet.” But in Chinese, the phrase, is “Chicken without sexual life.”” source: Exude Coolness by Dropping One of These New Words
“This won’t be easy, Erin.”
Jason Strong hates Christmas.
Journal entry – December 10 – Today I leave my family and the security of the familiar. I go to have questions answered, knowing that I may only come away with more questions than answers. I go to be healed, knowing that the process will carry me through more pain than perhaps I have ever known. I go to learn how to break the cycle of false intimacy and shame, knowing that the price for this so-called “true intimacy” may mean the disruption of every significant relationship I have. But go I must. I have covered some of my confusion in lies just to get to this point. My defenses have been forced to surrender, even as my addictive personality continues to cry out, “I want to live!” I go to get “well” today. And I’ve never been more frightened in my life.
Q. – Dad, why do you wait until Christmas Eve to do your Christmas Shopping?
