The Friendly Beasts

You won't find it in a hymnal (at least not the ELW), you'll hardly hear it on the radio, and it's not one that most children learn and repeat at home anymore. But it's my favorite carol. And for some reason, it makes me teary. I'm not sure why the thought of animals giving whatever they may have as a gift for the Christ Child makes me feel all mushy inside, but that just happens to be the case.

Jesus, our Brother, strong and good,
Was humbly born in a stable rude,
And the friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus, our Brother, strong and good.

I'd have to ask my mom to find out if this memory is really real or if I've made it up, but I recall her singing this song to me and claiming as her favorite carol too. Whether that's the case or not, it's how I remember it, so along with other false memories and stories I've made up about photographs I've seen, it's a part of my story.

“I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
“I carried His mother uphill and down,
I carried His mother to Bethlehem town;
I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

A part of my story, my story of Christmas. Along with heading to church in the super cold, wearing those tights and my new Christmas dress, even though I happen to be losing feeling in my toes. Singing out loud, and using "la la" when I don't know the words, since we only sing some of these songs once a year, but they're beautiful anyway. Coming home and begging to open "just one" present. Piling into the car wearing pajamas, driving across town to Grandma's, eating meatballs and cheeseballs and pickles and such. Playing with cousins, and getting oh so tired, and then going to bed...but not to sleep. Because something special is happening tonight. And I don't want to miss it.

“I,” said the cow, all white and red,
“I gave Him my manger for His bed,
I gave Him hay to pillow His head;
I,” said the cow, all white and red.

And it does happen. Not only does Santa sneak in and leave us gifts and fill our stockings to bulging, and not only does Dad have "one more surprise" when we think the gifts have all been opened. Not only do we eat until we're bulging and bask in the company of the ones we love. But also, even as Grandma gathers up the wrapping paper oh so quickly, something infinitely more special has happened. And as kids we know it. And as grown ups we try to remember. Christmas has come once again. With the mystery and the silence, with the star and the angels and the plain old shepherds standing by.

“I,” said the sheep with curly horn,
“I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn;
I,” said the sheep with curly horn.

And if I'm my eyes are somehow still dry, this verse always gets me. How sweetly the dove coos. How gently the baby sleeps. How quietly we stand by and watch. How deeply we know, although we can't quite understand. How strangely God works, works to redeem this world. A babe in a manger. God with us. Emmanuel.

“I,” said the dove, from the rafters high,
“I cooed Him to sleep that He should not cry,
We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I;
I,” said the dove, from the rafters high.

For those who are counting, the night is almost over, the day is drawing near. And soon, all that remains uncrossed on our list of holiday to do, won't matter. And all that we have done to prepare will seem unimportant. Soon, God will enter yet again into our human story, proving a love that is beyond compare.

Thus all the beasts, by some good spell,
In the stable dark were glad to tell
Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel,
The gifts they gave Emmanuel.

Shhhh...don't wake the baby.

Listen to The Friendly Beasts preformed by Sufjan Stevens

Cookies, Carols and Christmas Cheer

A report on the especially Christmas-y events of the last 72 hours...

1. Out for a holiday dinner courtesy of two members of Trey's church

2. Christmas episode of the Office

3. Baking cookies in the shape of red and white twisted candy canes

4. Grown up hot chocolate with

gingerbread man marshmallows

5. Elf

6. Working tirelessly on my Shutterfly Christmas gifts

7. A Community production of Godspell starring our friend Lori

8. Advent 3--Worship, Worship, and the Sunday School Children's Program: "Camel Lot"

9. Searching for (and finding) just the right presents at Target

10. Sipping Orange Spice tea in Trey's office waiting for Holy Love Lutheran Church's "Lessons and Carols" to begin...

Let the Christmas Cheer ensue!

Could be the best December yet.

And our six-month anniversary is today. For now, life is good.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

As I wait upon the Lord, in the season of Advent, I find myself surrounded by joyful distractions. Advent is a season of cookie baking, tree decorating, movie watching, cocoa drinking, gift shopping, package mailing, letter writing, envelope addressing, event attending, worship leading (at least in my case). And while I intensely enjoy pretty much all of these preparation-related activities, I find it hard to engage in the waiting, watching, wondering spirit of a season of preparing our hearts, and not just our homes.

And so, in the midst of it all, I have to literally force myself to slow down...even for a minute or two everyday. To try to rest in God's presence. To recognize the loving embrace that enfolds me even in the midst of my busy-ness. To just be.

I know God created me as a person who loves to do. I love to do so many different things, and want to do so many things, and plan to do so many things, that at the end of each day, I can't help but lament and stress out over all the things that remain undone. And if reading the last sentence made you downright tired, welcome to my world!

And so it is, that I am called to remember, that God made me to be a person who is. (See the story of "Martha and Mary" Luke 10:38-42) Since I feel more comfortable when I'm about the task of getting things done, it's a stretch for me to enter into the be-ing-ness of prayer, but I'm always glad at the way it stretches me when I give in and give it a try.

Tomorrow is yoga day.

And once a week, for a blissful 10 minutes, I relax. I've come to look forward to the words, "it's now time for relaxation." I find a comfortable place on my mat, chase the thoughts of 'what's for dinner?' out of my mind, and slip into 10 full minutes of undercover prayer. No one around me may know it, but I connect with God in that moment. Not by listing my wants and needs and concerns or joys, but by listening...listening for the heartbeat that tells me my life is in God's hands, listening for the breath that comes to me as gift, listening for the still, small voice that I so often drown out with my own chatter.

May you find a moment to rest in God's presence, today, tomorrow, every day.

Watch, Wait, Wonder. Experience Advent.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Bring peace and comfort for my busy soul.
Show me the way to rest in you,
That all my tasks may finally be through.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Shall come to you, O Israel.

My First Newsletter Article

So it may be a little hokey or Old Lutheran-esque, but I decided to go the hotdish and Jell-o route in recruiting students for my Foundations of Lutheranism adult ed course coming up this January. If you're a member of Bethany, or you live in the Denver area and want to check it out, please come and join us as we explore the dynamics of being a Lutheran. If not, go ahead and have a laugh at this, my first Beacon (newsletter) article. I'll have to see if a pot luck might be a possibility for our last session or something similarly spectacularly Lutheran.

How Lutheran Are You?

I love being Lutheran! Now, I don’t just mean that I love Jell-o, hot dishes, Swedish meatballs, and Norwegian sweaters, but I love even more the way that we, as Lutherans, think about God, ourselves, and the world around us. Our particular expression of the Christian faith has so much to offer as we look for meaning and purpose in our lives and as we strive to answer the call to live as faith-filled people.

But how much do you really know about being Lutheran? You may be familiar with the standing and sitting, and sitting and standing as our liturgical workout, and you may know how to respond when someone says, “The Lord be with you” (and also with you). But still, you may wonder…

Why do we baptize babies when other denominations don’t?

How is it that the bread and the wine are Christ’s body and blood?

Can I really be both a saint and a sinner…at the same time?

What exactly am I supposed to get out of sermon?

And what’s with this whole ‘saved by grace’ thing anyway?

If you want to know more about our particular history, theology, and practice so that you can love being a Lutheran too, or fall in love all over again…

Join me, Intern Jess, Sundays in January as we overview the Foundations of Lutheranism.

We’ll meet in room 210 at 9:00am Sundays January 9, 16, 23, and 30.

And of course, there will be coffee.

Christ the King?

The recent engagement of Prince William and burgers aside, I really don't care much about royalty.

I may pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America (though not much since 6th grade), but I don't think very often of any governmental power over my life, let alone being subject to someone's reign. I have a feeling most 21st century Americans are in my proverbial boat.

So, it's with an aura of oddness that we celebrate Christ the King Sunday.

Wouldn't it be better to celebrate Jesus is God or Christ Our Savior, or even Jesus Rules! Sunday? I'm thinking Buddy Christ could be our mascot that day, smiling down from the altar.

I mean, most of our thoughts connected with kingship are negative: the king getting fat while the subjects starve, or brutal: the king in the midst of a bloody battle, or just plain out-dated: a scene ala Monty Python--armor and horses and castles and all. It just doesn't seem fitting in our day of political-correctness, modernity, independence, and democracy to talk anymore about Jesus as Christ the King.

Or is it just entirely perfect?

In a time when we look to no one but ourselves as our greatest authority;
In a time when kingship has become an absurdity;
In a time when the world seems subject to anything other than God...

It is the perfect time for a king whose authority in love compels us to look outside ourselves, who rules in the backward absurdity of the way of the cross, who promises that all of Creation--in spite of how it may appear to our eyes--is under the reign of a God who calls Creation "good" and is working to restore it in its very goodness.

One of my favorite seminary professors and WorkingPreacher guru, Dr. David Lose, had helpful words about the concept of Christ the King, and I looked to his wisdom in preparation to preach this most awkward, yet most beautiful of Sundays. He says,

"The kingdom of God (or of heaven, in Matthew) is not simply about supplanting an earthly ruler with a heavenly one. In heralding the coming kingdom of God, Jesus was not advocating regime change. Rather, Jesus was announcing the advent of an entirely different way of being in relationship with each other and with God. It's not the ruler that changes, but the realm in which we live."

Now is the time of Christ the King.
Thy Kingdom come.


Want to hear more?
Listen to my sermon from this past Sunday: Kingdom Vision

Tradition, tradition...

"...And who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix,
Preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?

The daughter, the daughter! Tradition!
The daughter, the daughter! Tradition!"

The congregation I’m serving on internship this year has been doing a lot of work around Faith Formation using the resources provided by The Youth and Family Institute and their Vibrant Faith Ministries, including some coaching by Paul Hill. Their language has been super helpful in giving the congregation a common vocabulary around Faith Formation and the way we support families as they form faith in their homes.

Their Vibrant Faith Frame includes “Four Keys for Practicing Faith.” Our staff and members have been busy taking steps to incorporate the “four keys” in all sorts of ways in the ministry of our congregation. In fact, the Youth Room has recently had an Extreme Makeover to become the “Four Key Soul Schopp.” Check it out in this video if you’re curious. It's awesome.

One of the keys is “rituals and traditions.”

In the world of Faith Formation, rituals are viewed primarily in a positive light. It’s assumed that the things families or faith communities do in an intentionally repetitive way are seen as fodder for building faith. However, conversation in my Education I online course this week (yes, I'm taking online classes while on internship...I'm a crazy person) has also opened my eyes to something that I already knew, but had not quite formulated in this way: rituals can be negative. They can lose their meaning, or become harmful if we aren’t careful.

Rituals, with their potential power, must be handled with care. And reassessed often.

How can we balance the potential positive power of ritual in faith communities with the possibility of those same rituals having a negative impact? When is a ritual helpful? When is it harmful? And when has it simply faded into the background so as to become scenery? And then, finally, even if a ritual has faded into the background, how can it still continue to have an impact even when we may not name it or claim it?

Consider, as my classmate suggested, Fiddler on the Roof. What a great example of ritual functioning in every possible way: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I played a villager in Red River High School's performance of Fiddler my freshman year, so of course it holds a special place in my heart. But good thing some traditions are not universal or eternal. Heaven only knows how my life would look if I were to depend on my ability to mend and tend and fix. Let's not even consider if I had been condemned to marry whoever my Papa picked!

Snow no!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

It's way too early to be singing Christmas carols. In fact it's against my strictly enforced rule of "nothing Christmassy until after Thanksgiving." But the (very large) softly falling snowflakes outside the church windows are putting me in a roasty toasty winter snuggle up mood.

And then on the other hand, that same blanket of fresh white stuff is also putting me into winter panic mode. You see, I come from a land Up North. Where the first snow fall signals the onset of six or seven months of frozen tundra survival. In fact, I grew up learning how to drive on ice (a handy skill actually), since the streets were never really plowed down to the concrete from December through March.

But my friends in the church office assure me: winter in Denver is different. I ask them over and over, unable to hide my anxiety, "So, you're sure this stuff won't stick around?" And they laugh and say I could probably be swimming outdoors next week. I'll believe it when it happens. Although it is reassuring that no one else around here seems to be fretting about the fact that that white stuff is accumulating out there.

So I guess I'll do my best to sink into the snuggle up-ness of this first wintry night, and avoid ordering a UV lamp and signing up for the Seasonal Affect Disorder support group just yet. A tv dinner, cozy pajamas, a mug of Tension Tamer tea, and season 3 of Mad Men on dvd are on tap for me tonight. As for that snow, I'll enjoy it while it lasts...and I won't be sad to watch it melt...hopefully sooner than later!