Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas

And here's to eking out some meaning today.

I sang this last night and felt bad about it -

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him —
Give my heart.

Sure you can guess why - I ain't poor and 'just' my heart/personal piety seems like a convenient cop out.

Yet Christina Rossetti who wrote it, although famous in her day, grew up poor, with a refugee father and her own deteriorating mental health. So I need to be careful with my bah humbugs.

So then, lets enjoy a Christmas of exploring the story, chewing on it like a turkey dinner and savouring the many flavours, views and voices. Lets explore it unabashedly with our hearts as God is incarnate now in us*. And lets continue to be dissatisfied by all the chintz and clutter as we explore what our gift to the world may be.

*Free Christmas Tidbit- Luke uses the same phrase 'come upon' about the Spirit and Mary Lk 1:35 and in describing the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost

Sneak a peek at a couple of gifts

My gift to Pete Rollins this year seems to be a boost on technorati but at the risk of over exposure I thought you would enjoy a great little pod from Icon re a political reading of the Xmas story and also referring to the creation story - hence the image (hmmm... you want to listen now don't you). There is also another short one on here from Pete's new book for next year re Parables (Orthodox Heretic: And Other Impossible Tales) - Mark - think you will like this one on the rapture.

Click here for both

Wrong Channel

Took me a little while....lol!
Work's in so many ways.
Good on you NP and Happy Christmas to you and family

Naked Pastors, 12c Carols, Gauntanamo - just another advent...

Our friend Naked Pastor posting close to our hearts -

Weird but this is a clip is from a (12 century!) carol has come up again and again for me this advent. It seems to tie into so many themes I have been chewing recently - around the Hebrew hope/(humanities hope?) for a new exodus, about 1 John's dawning of something new, the powerful/powerless grace,goodness & peace of God, the nature of atonement, wrestling with God, our hope for and role in the future. Its not a perfect carol but it seems to ring some seriously significant bells and I presume it would be hard to sing this Christmas in Guantanamo. Check it here- what does it stir in you?

I reckon it was written by a 12c 'emergent'! (Shock news - the idea of the Gospel being about everything/now is not new!)

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind In one the hearts of all mankind; Oh, bid our sad divisions cease, And be yourself our King of Peace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel!

No one wants our guilt for Christmas

Reading some great liberation theology stuff this morning and came out with overwhelming message -

'The poor do not want our guilt they want our power to become their power'



Sounds like an important theme for our guilty reflections on our consumer Christmas and our considerations of the incarnation - the power the poor Christ child brought into the world and the way he used it.

Christmas & Poverty

Christmas can be and often is a very difficult time not only for the poor but for those that by the standards of the majority of the world are rich indeed. It is not the meaning of Christmas or the bible story of Christmas that makes it so, but rather piles of dubious expectations that have been placed upon it, especially by western culture. The cultural lore that has made Santa Claus or his equivalent into a representative of materialism makes it hard for those who cannot attain the levels of giving and getting that are promoted by the commercial world. The deep and growing divisions between the haves and have nots are abundantly clear at Christmas in many places of the world. The reality is, however, that the commercialism in the West that undermines the true celebration of the birth of God’s gift of hope to the world also deadens our sense of connection to the majority of God’s children who live each day in poverty. Christmas calls us to reflect upon our relationship to poverty at many levels. Failure to do so distorts our souls and weakens our spirits.

The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem is remembered because of who Jesus was, what he taught, how he lived, died, and was raised. Jesus himself probably did not grow up in abject poverty, but he certainly heard the cry of the poor throughout his ministry. He saw the results of the Roman occupation and the ways injustice and unabated power create conditions of poverty and its resulting suffering, humiliation, and hopelessness. His mission to the impoverished proclaimed by both word and deed that God stands with the poor and the oppressed against the evils of tyranny, inequity, oppression and greed. Christian, Hebrew, and Muslim scriptures convey the same message. If we neglect the poor and oppressed, if we do not share our wealth, if we turn away from the lost, the least, and the last, we have not truly heard the word of God. It is not just the condition of the poor that is at issue. It is also the condition of our own souls.

The celebration of Christmas at its best is the celebration of hope. There is hope for the poor. There is hope for justice. There is hope for peace. There is hope because Jesus was born as the Word: “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us.” God reached down into human history and declared that nothing, not angels or powers or things past or things to come, nor any creature can separate us from the love of God that was born in Bethlehem as the
embodiment of hope. So let us sort through the piles of crass materialism that contemporary Christmas too often offers, through the piles of meaningless gestures of the holidays, through the piles of denial of the dismal poverty that infects our planet, seeking once again the birth of hope. May our gift giving always include those who live in want. But even more may we give the gift of ourselves to those institutions and structures that seek to address the poverty of Gaza and the West Bank, the poverty of the vast majority of humanity, not with handouts but with political and economic action. Let us hold up the reality of life for our impoverished sisters and brothers to those whose policies create their misery. Let us hold fast to the message of the birth of Jesus which always points to the realm of God in which there are no poor, where justice reigns, and where peace is not a dream but a reality. And on Christmas Eve and whenever
we give and receive gifts, let us give thanks for the ever-present Christmas.

by Robert W. Tobin

Coming - Advent Reflection

Really getting into 'Advent' this year - over and above the cheesy/chocolaty advent calender thing. Even with my CofE background the church I went to was so low we missed out on lots of the wonderful church calender stuff that i am now appreciating much more.

Anyway simple thoughts on 'Advent'

• Advent is from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming"
• Adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia ("coming, arrival, personal presence")
• Its a period of expectant waiting and preparation
• Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians today as they await the second coming of Christ
• These days I see the expectant waiting and preparation as less passive and more proactive
• In fact the bible story invites us to be part of the 'coming'
• The coming of the kingdom of God, a totally different empire than the one that the Xmas stories set themselves up to subvert (Herod 'king of the Jews', Emperor Caeser)
• The coming of Peace, 'Goodwill to all men', grace, love, justice, healing, the transforming power of powerlessness
• God becoming incarnate in humanity in order to save, rescue and redeem humanity
• Advent then seems now to also be about our part in that becoming incarnate / coming of God and his presence and in the reconciling of all things in him
• In Christ God came, in helpless babe
• For those who are now 'In Christ' we are also the helpless babes of his coming who will grow in grace and good deeds as apprentices of Jesus and followers of his way, as instruments of peace, as God's own gift to the world.

Perhaps everyday is an advent calender day when we open the door to the surprise possibilities of Gods coming in and through us.

JD Crossan on the Xmas Story - Peace, another King/Saviour - what you talk'in 'bout fool?

V thought provoking podcast from the Homebrewed crew (they are on the podcast bar on the right)

This is JD Crossan talking about the Xmas stories - might be good prep for the 'Christmas form the underside' F2F on Monday.

Perhaps most people would have said - 'What do you mean 'peace on earth', a king/saviour - we all ready got it (Caesar)' So what is the story saying?

Muse on through Advent.

1st Sunday in Advent Liturgy

The Lectionary Liturgies are in our Links (bottom right) but this is a great kick off Advent liturgy.

Maybe we could do this (or some of it) or similar at our Xmas session 8/12, or maybe someone wants to write one for us?

The old 'morning bell' is doing a great series in advent so make sure you are hooked up here

Advent Conspiracy

Christmas under occupation!

This was going to be a comment on Schof's blog, but it got a bit long, so I've made it a post:

I really like this picture by Banksy because Jesus is placed in solidarity with the Palestinians. A security guard asking the 'holy family'for their ID cards means that Jesus is an outsider - marginalised along with the Palestinians - whose movement is closely controlled by an occupying force - just like the Palestinians.

It also chimes in with something I read today from a Palestinian Christian group:

"Some of our people ask how can we celebrate Christmas
with all the closures and checkpoints,
with all the injustice and oppression,
with all the violations of human rights,
with the presence of a wall that separates families and friends,
and a multitude of hardships that the occupation imposes to make people’s lives miserable,
how can we speak of love, peace and joy when most of our people and millions of others around the world do not experience liberty and peace?

The Christmas story is a story of a liberating God who comes to join an oppressed people in the work of liberation. God’s message through the angels is a message of defiance. In spite of the presence of empire, human arrogance, and oppression, God is announcing peace and goodwill. This is God’s agenda. Glory belongs to God and not to the emperor nor to the powers. Once that is genuinely acknowledged, peace is not far away.

It is in the midst of the Roman occupation that the Incarnation took place;
it is in spite of the occupation that Mary and Joseph found joy and love in the birth of Jesus;
it is in spite of the occupation and in the midst of economic hardships that the shepherds came to visit a family of modest means and discovered great joy and peace;
it is in spite of the occupation that the Magi came to offer their gifts to the child.

We celebrate in the midst of the occupation and in spite of it.
Through our celebration we defy the occupation;
we defy the injustice;
we defy the oppressors;
we defy the powers.

They do not possess the last word, they can build high walls, but they cannot take away our hope, they can put us in jail, but they cannot take away our joy, they can prevent us from visiting family, but they cannot take away our love, they can stop us at checkpoints and impose all kinds of restrictions, but they cannot take away our pursuit of freedom and liberation, they can prevent us from going to Bethlehem, but they cannot prevent the spirit of Bethlehem from reaching us, they can treat us as nonhumans, but they cannot crush our spirit nor can they take away our God-given human worth and dignity, they can act with hate and disgust but, by the grace of God, we can always refuse to stoop to the level of hate and maintain our love of God and neighbour that includes them.

Therefore Christmas makes us defiant. We defy the evildoers because we believe in the goodness which they are capable of doing, we defy hate because we believe in the power of love and forgiveness, we defy despair because we believe in life and hope, we defy violence and terror - both state and individual - because we believe in the power of peace and nonviolence, we defy war and the occupation of other people’s lands because we believe in the power of peaceful methods based on international law and legitimacy, we defy and challenge those who humiliate and degrade others because we believe in the dignity of every human being. The Incarnation took place when God took on our humanity, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This happened in Palestine under Roman occupation. Then as now and in spite of all the hardships, we celebrate Christ’s birth, Emmanuel, God with us, giving us hope, joy, peace, and love. We are defiant. We are full of hope. We will continue to work for peace through justice."

Thinking about doing your Xmas Shoppng?

How about a tin of worms? (most of the other stuff I buy will end up getting eaten by them in a landfill within a few years anyway - if its degradable which it prob isn't)

Checkout the excellent present aid site

Xmas F2F is coming + Warm your insides

Really looking forward to Xmas Engage F2F taking in the perspective of the marginalised and oppressed (who pretty much dominate the Xmas story - a change from our good looking romantic respectable images). I want to suggest this great Banksy image, from a series he painted in Bethlehem, as a useful motif among others - humble encounters empire.

If you are looking in for the first time - yes there is lots of talk on this whole sight about 'social issues' but hey only a first world christian sitting at laptop (like me) could possibly read the Gospel from a purely spiritual perspective - I imagine it ain't that easy to do it that way dressed in orange, in the Congo, on a sinking Pacific island, under house arrest in Burma, whilst being trafficked for sex, etc etc etc. Bit in your face that last bit but hey, most of the world lives on under $2 a day - and they ain't even white!

Some say that you can only really grasp the depth of meaning and hope of the good news story from the margins, from the place where ''Justice' is truly good news not a threat to comfort status and self interest.

If you want to unwrap Christmas with that in mind then come along on 8/12 and lets explore it together and see if there might be more hope in powerlessness than in power?

Also a few quick links to keep you warm inside -

Great interview with a virtual friend of ours Naked Pastor here

V Funny lampoon of the 'emergent' thing here (few in jokes but if you know the US scene you'll get them)

Hopefully a bit more posting for the run in to Xmas - Peace

Liberating Christmas!

I guess for me Christmas brings to a head many of the issues which face Christians who want to work out their faith in our culture. Christmas is a heightening of the two forces competing for my allegiance - on the one side is the celebration of consumption - gorging on trinkets while the world starves. On the other hand, it is a celebration of the nuclear family and moral middle-class religious values and the words 'Christ' and 'Jesus' banded about for good measure. The world, of course, still starves as we get het up about whether we say 'Xmas' or 'Christmas'.

Bizarrely, these two celebtrations are merged in my experience into an orgy of consumption and religiousity. These two value systems are the bane of my life - a materialistic world, and a religiousity that is not engaged with it.

But I must confess to having had a decidely negative response to these alternatives in the past. I have been keen to say what Christmas is not, but what is it?

To ask this question slightly differently, isn't Christmas really about 'peace on earth'? I mean, no war, a radical non-violence. Isn't that what the non-violent 'armies of heaven' (Luke 2:13) were singing about?

Isn't Christmas about the birth of an alternative - Jesus, Son of God, not Augustus, Son of God? Isn't it the start of a life of the cross, rather than the sword?

Isn't Christmas about a turning upside down of values (and surely these values today are consumerist, militaristic and religious)? Isn't it about the coming of one who will level the mountains and raise up the valleys? (Isa. 40:30-35) Or, to use Mary's words during her pregnancy, isn't it about the one who "has brought down rulers from their thrones... filled the hungry, but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:51-52)

Nothing could stand in more contrast to modern-day Christmas than filling the hungry, whilst sending the rich away empty. Dare we do that this Christmas?

So, my suggestion is that in our first regular monthly meet-up (1st Monday in December) we think about what we can do to liberate Christmas from religiousity or consumerism and enable it to be truly liberating and becomes a celebration of the values we reallly do cherish. What rituals, actions would most embody our values? My suggestion is that people bring with them resources, ideas, stories (from the Bible or not), suggestions (however emryonic), opinions as a basis for discussion. Or, failing that, just bring themselves.

Christmas Offer - Direct Action Anyone?

OK, you remember Clarion events and their purchase of a number or Arms fairs, well they are doing a wonderful show in London called......wait for it......'The Spirit of Christmas'! Hence the image.

If you fancy a bit of Direct Action then why not e-mail these folks with a polite call to remember the real spirit of Christmas.

http://www.spiritofchristmasfair.com/contact-us.asp

Here is some background to help you do your e-mail.

Anyone got any thoughts on the real non violent / peace loving / empire subverting / healing saving message of Christmas? A nice slogan would be good as well so we can mail it to these guys a 'few' times!

Jesus, are you going to hurt me?

I found this video amusing, but thought it also resonated with me about the aggressive, judgemental approaches Christians can be guilty of in the way they relate to those who aren't Christians.




Lets not be killjoys this Christmas!

Christmas!

I love this cartoon of the Christmas story. It has inspired a competition to retell the Christmas story in 30 seconds for radio. See here. Anyone got any 30 second versions?

We Three Kings

Huge, but slightly disingenuous, apologies to those who say I have ruined their Christmas, by my grumpiness about Christmas cards and Meadowhall... well, here I go again...

The three kings ...the wise men... I hate to break this to you, but the magi were not kings or wise. According to Neil Elliott they were menial servants of Persian kings and oppressed ones at that. Not kings or even royal dignitaries. They do not visit the royal palace, but are summoned by Herod and they do as they are told, as one would expect menial underlings to do. Gold, frankinscence and myrrh were actually quite mundane, cheap gifts. Gold was quite a typical possession for common people. (Matthew 10:9) What's more, they were not wise. They were astrologers and Jewish readers would have had as much admiration for them as Christians today have for those who read star signs. They were constantly duped by the king and the plan is averted only through a dream - not from any wisdom.

So I apologise to those sentimental types who love the Christmas cards with the three kings on their camels (no camels in the story either), but I find the story of these menial servants so much more exciting. It is a story about an oppressive king who taxed his people heavily in order to fund his grandiose building projects. According to Horsely he insititued what today would be called a police state, complete with loyalty oaths, surveilance, informers, secret police, imprisonment, torture and brutal retaliation against any serious dissenter. The account we have in Matthew 2 exactly typifies the kind of society he created. The magi act as informers, whilst this brutal king murders freely in order to keep his position secure.

The account reminds us of Pharoah and his edict to kill all the male children in Exodus. And in both stories there is a absurd mismatch - emperor against child. And both plans fail because their accomplices (Hebrew midwives, magi) deceive their superiors. We never again hear of Hebrew midwives or magi, but through their decision to resist, the entire course of history is altered - Moses is able to lead the people to freedom and Jesus is able to lead the new people of God.

Maybe we also need to explode the myth that we are kings. We live in a world in which we are told we have power - consumer power, political power - but in reality we feel impotent to change anything. Like Canute we cannot hold back the waves - whether it is Christmas consumerism or the war in Iraq - whether it is our addiction to possessions or the crisis in Darfur. Maybe we need to explode the myth of our power and acknowledge that humanly speaking we are not likely to make much difference.

Yet, because of God, maybe we can make a difference. Dare we assume that our tiny acts of resistence against the violence of the imperial system of our day, minor players though we be, might have consequences more than we could ever imagine? As our imperial empire acts for war in Iraq, supports the poverty of millions by its policies, refuses to act on genocide in Darfur - might we imagine that some small thing we do, might make some difference, because God is at work?

So, go for it, write that letter to your MP, refuse to buy products that are made under slave labour - maybe... just maybe, God will use it more than we imagine.

Beep Beep - A Christmas Message

In response to Marks Grumpy Old Man post :)

I offer a simple prayer...

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Canute had the right idea.

Well, its Christmas season again and the whole world is running around in a spin for… (sorry, what was it for again?)

And Canute-like, I feel completely incapable of holding back wave after wave of turkeys, santas grottos, Christmas cards and hysterical children ...

and then there's all the things I HAVE to do because...(why does no one tell me why?) like forcing my way through hoards of people in hot, poorly-vented shopping malls to buy pointless tat the other person doesn't even appreciate.

And then there's the Christmas cards. Why exactly do we spend evening after evening writing cards, either to people we have no intention of ever seeing again, or to people we see everyday? And how many of those people could even recall we'd even sent them a card?

And why. why, why must I be actively involved in turning my children into such selfish, materialistic brats for the entire holiday season? I love my kids very much – I think their great, but do they really need to start spending their leisure hours staring, eyes glazed, at Argos catalogues and TV commercials from early October?

Why?

And why, when I complain, am I Mr. Scrouge?

Well, we are barely into December and I for one am beginning to drown under it all - Maybe its time to stop ranting at the waves and just accept defeat - the Christmas ocean is coming in whether I rant at it or not, so I might as well enjoy it - so roll on Meadowhall and Brussell Sprouts!! Let the Gluttony Begin!

But for those who want a more serious attempt at working through some of the issues around Christmas, engage are going to the pub to talk about them. Keep 18th December in your diaries and I'll keep you posted about which pub.

Baa hum bug!