Jesus was not a rockstar.
hello, postmoderns.
you can keep your abstract church.
your non-christmas pagents.
your technologically-difficult church.
your metaphoric church.
i do not appreciate going to church to be told that my life lacks imagination, lacks excitement, lacks inspiration.
Christmas is not about the manger, you're right. but Christmas is not about a rock concert either. It is not about cirque du soleil.
Christmas is about Jesus. a humble man, who never met expectations, only prophecies. He never followed trends. Christmas is a time for reflection, for anticipation of being saved, cleansed. Not saved from a vague conception of unimagination, but from our sins as people. How can it be that church has become so watered down that even the "Christmas special" at the local church doesn't talk about the saving power of its savoir? Christmas is no time to back away from Jesus, it is time to step up to the alter.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
the holidays
long ago there was the "keep christ in christmas" campaign.
retailers were found guilty of placing signs in their store windows which read, "merry xmas." as is usually the case, someone with a dry sense of humor created a sign admonishing, "keep christ in xmas."
in recent years there has surfaced the "anti-happy holidays" campaign, again aimed at evil retailers who instructed their employees to bless shoppers with the words, "happy holidays" rather than "merry christmas."
does jesus need our help with this?
no.
but i think it is good for people to get upset. it is evidence they believe something and possess convictions.
i'm not an issues person.
i am not electrified by proclaiming, promoting, announcing, arguing about or otherwise calling attention to issues. but i admire people who are. they keep the rest of us honest. they keep us reflective. they cause us to evaluate and re-evaluate what, why and wherefore we are doing things.
was it bad to proclaim "merry xmas?" no. anyone with five minutes of greek experience will tell you that xmas is the same as christmas because "x" is the first letter of xristos, the greek work ofr christ and "x," for centuries, has been used as short hand for christ. much like elvis' close friends called him "e," some of jesus' theological buddys, a.k.a. theologians, shortened his name to "x." so exclaiming "merry xmas" is the same as "merry christmas."
what about "happy holidays?" in my opinion there is nothing wrong with blessing people with "happy holy days" because christmas is a holy day, a set apart day, a special day, plus i like including st. nicholas day, hanukkah, new years eve, new years day and epiphany in my celebrations so i don't mind the plural blessing.
but, it was the campaigners who stimulated my reflection and that is a good thing for me.
plus, i firmly believe, "the lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."
read habakkuk lately? it's a good one.
retailers were found guilty of placing signs in their store windows which read, "merry xmas." as is usually the case, someone with a dry sense of humor created a sign admonishing, "keep christ in xmas."
in recent years there has surfaced the "anti-happy holidays" campaign, again aimed at evil retailers who instructed their employees to bless shoppers with the words, "happy holidays" rather than "merry christmas."
does jesus need our help with this?
no.
but i think it is good for people to get upset. it is evidence they believe something and possess convictions.
i'm not an issues person.
i am not electrified by proclaiming, promoting, announcing, arguing about or otherwise calling attention to issues. but i admire people who are. they keep the rest of us honest. they keep us reflective. they cause us to evaluate and re-evaluate what, why and wherefore we are doing things.
was it bad to proclaim "merry xmas?" no. anyone with five minutes of greek experience will tell you that xmas is the same as christmas because "x" is the first letter of xristos, the greek work ofr christ and "x," for centuries, has been used as short hand for christ. much like elvis' close friends called him "e," some of jesus' theological buddys, a.k.a. theologians, shortened his name to "x." so exclaiming "merry xmas" is the same as "merry christmas."
what about "happy holidays?" in my opinion there is nothing wrong with blessing people with "happy holy days" because christmas is a holy day, a set apart day, a special day, plus i like including st. nicholas day, hanukkah, new years eve, new years day and epiphany in my celebrations so i don't mind the plural blessing.
but, it was the campaigners who stimulated my reflection and that is a good thing for me.
plus, i firmly believe, "the lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."
read habakkuk lately? it's a good one.
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