There's You on New Year's Eve

New Year’s Eve has always been more than a night for parties, watching Times Square on TV, or singing “Auld Lang Syne.” The revelry associated with the night has always been secondary to me because it’s been our parent’s wedding anniversary for 59 years. They each grew up about 100 miles from Dallas, but in opposite directions, and met working at the same store in Midland, Texas. Their homes have been as far west as El Paso, as far north and east as New Jersey, and as far south as San Antonio, having moved four more times in-between. There’s a lot to be gained through moves: learning other ways of doing things, finding out there are nice people all over, and family bonding through the remoteness. Over the past 35 years they’ve been able to grow deep roots by staying in the same community which affords its own benefits: a sense of connection, familiarity, and comfort. They have used almost every vacation day to visit relatives, trying never to stay more than three days in one home and always having more homes wishing to welcome them. They’ve raised three children, delighted eight grandchildren, and embraced five (soon to be six) great grandchildren. In retirement they have fuller schedules than before, taking advantage of their health and sharing their talents. Their gifts together are many including baking, fixing things, helping others, gardening (flowers, vegetables and pecan trees) and square dancing. As a couple they set united examples of generosity, wisdom, respect, faithfulness, resourcefulness, accountability, fiscal responsibility, health consciousness, and family devotion. So you can see why the news anchors recalling the headlines of the past year seems rather uninspiring on New Year’s Eve - we’ve always had a marriage to celebrate and rejoice!

"To Each His Own"
What good is a song if the words just don't belong?
And a dream must be a dream for two
No good alone, to each his own
For me there's you

And today as almost every year before, our father gave her a bouquet of pink carnations and she made him a pecan pie.

My prayer for the congregation?

God of Life, You bring forth the great in the simplest of our acts, beliefs, and lives. On our own we are bare and plain. You dreamed the color to the skies, the vibrancy in the flowers, and the flush in our cheeks when love comes near. As loving parents of all those to whom we have promised to watch, let us always remember that they will follow our ways more than our words. Guide our lives to be living examples of the qualities that you wish to uphold. We offer thanksgivings for the many couples who have shown us the resiliency and favor of realizing their golden anniversaries. Your love is greater than gold. Amen.

Advent Anticipation

It’s a restless early morning and I can’t sleep. I woke up several times to look at the clock only to find it an unreasonable hour to be awake, but it became even more irritable to stay in bed. If I was six I might attribute it to Christmas eagerness. If I was rational I might attribute it to a drastic weather change. One day it’s in the 20s and in less than 24 hours it is thirty degrees warmer and climbing. The clothes that you wore to stay warm one night become stifling the next. If I had a teenager living at home I might be fretful wondering if they were home yet – and I can hear enough cars outside to know that some are racing home even now. If I was agitated it could well be explained by the anxiousness of gift giving and tasks left to be done within a finite timeline. If I was a first-time expectant mother I might be unable to sleep wondering when the baby would come, how would it feel to give birth, would I know what to do with a baby and would I be able to give him all that he needed? But I’m not eager, or fretful, or agitated, or a waiting mother. Maybe it is advent anticipation. We are on the eve of change. The verse from the “Canticle of the Turning” that I have practiced over and over the past few weeks has become a base for this advent season.

Though I am small, my God, my all
You work great things through me
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
To the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
And to those who would for you yearn
You will show your might, put the strong to flight
For the world is about to turn.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring
Let the fires of your justice burn
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near
And the world is about to turn

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, We can sense your power and your presence in the day. The winds blow, the day dawns, and nothing is the same as the day before. Even though we feel too minute to make a great revolution, we know that over and over again the small and the powerless are made great though their statements of belief and their actions of faith. Let us wipe away our fears and be prepared to usher the changes in the world and in ourselves. It is not a time for rest. We can’t live as we did one day earlier for we are on the eve of a changing world as we anticipate the messiah. Amen.

(you have to embrace the Celtic undertones)
The Canticle of the Turning

My soul cries out with a joyful shout
That the God of my heart is great
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
That you bring to the one who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight
And my weakness you did not spurn
So from east to west shall my name be blessed.
Could the world be about to turn

My heart shall sing of the day you bring
Let the fires of your justice burn
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near
And the world is about to turn

Though I am small, my God, my all
You work great things through me
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
To the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
And to those who would for you yearn
You will show your might, put the strong to flight
For the world is about to turn.

Chorus

From the halls of power to the fortress tower
Not a stone will be left on stone
Let the king beware for your justice tears
Ev’ry tyrant from his throne
The hungry poor shall weep no more
For the food they can never earn
There are tables spread, ev’ry mouth be fed
For the world is about to turn

Chorus

Though the nations rage from age to age
We remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us
From the conqueror’s crushing grasp
This saying word that our forebears heard
Is the promise which holds us bound
Till the spear and rod can be crushed by God
Who is turning the world around.

My heart shall sing of the day you bring
Let the fires of your justice burn
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near
And the world is about to turn

FourthComing

Four seems like a resolving number: four lines make a square; four walls enclose a room; four seasons in the year; and financial reports are handled quarterly. If you want a complete meal you chose from the four basic food groups. If you want to hear a complete range of voices you select a piece with four sections of the choir. It was always ideal to take four people as a group to Six Flags so that no one had to ride alone on the roller coasters that sat two per seat. It’s the fourth week of advent and the waiting is about to be resolved. There is about to be a completeness to the story and to the waiting. From Isaiah we hear familiar scriptures at advent that collect God’s people from the four corners of the earth.

Isaiah 11 (1-2, 6, 10-12)
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious. On that day the Lord will [extend] His hand a second time to recover … the remnant of His people who survive. He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You raise your banner and gather your people in glory and peace. No where else can we find separated people unite side-by-side, and a little child will lead us. We long for resolution in our lives. We want to know ahead of time how things are going to work out. We rush to the last pages of a book to see if our hunch is right. We want to know the ending. In You, O God, we can find an ending of ourselves and the beginning of a new creation. We are made complete in Your Grace. This advent let us resolve to follow the Christ child. Amen.

Tremendous Three

We wait during this third week of advent. A braid is made of three stands. It takes three legs to make a steady seat or table. It takes at least three points to draw a straight line. Three votes help break a tie. We count to three when we want a child to mind. One of my favorite truisms is from the sage Anonymous, who states: “When you point your finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you.” That’s one way to take the heat out of an argument! One of my customers includes this quote by Henry James in all of his presentations where he makes people aware of Mental Health issues: “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” Which falls in line with a Japanese proverb, “One kind word can warm three winter months.” That’s a global warming that wouldn’t melt icecaps! Tom Bodett may not have had Advent in mind, but it seems quite appropriate: “They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”

My prayer for the congregation?

Triune God, we praise thee three in one. During Advent we focus our attention on the return of the Messiah. We await the star, the shepherds, the manger, and the babe. We await the son who we separate from the father and from the spirit, placing the three in a perfect triangle of holiness, a perfect triad of wisdom. The scriptures point us in the hope of a savior, the zenith of Advent, weighing our thoughts towards the one who is to come. We see one part of the whole. How can we begin to round the angles until it forms a circle where one can’t tell where one begins and another ends? Can we picture a perfect circle of love? Can we see the world beyond our small part? Can we say a kind word to warm a cold soul? Can we avoid placing blame without recognizing our own contributions? Can we steady a shaky relationship? Can we truly be happy? You have loved us lavishly, we have things to do in your name joyfully, and you have given us hope abundantly. Amen.

One Plus One

At work we used to have two liquid supplies that weighed five gallons each and when it was time to replenish stock they needed to be lifted onto a shelf about five-foot high and over a large sink. I could manage to get the box onto a surface about waist level, but for that extra push we always called in someone else to help. Then it became an effort of coordination, logistics and execution. The real victory was when your determination overcame your laughter. No matter what new plan we devised, it seems like the 1.5 square foot box always won the first time and we would have to reconnoiter as we realized our upper body strength was not exactly ideal for this battle of wills. It didn’t help that inside the box was shifting liquid that changed its center of gravity and for some reason it would make us laugh as we struggled. If we started laughing midway, we would have to set down the box until we could compose ourselves. Sometimes we would start laughing even before we lifted it off the counter just in anticipation of laughing! I often try to do things without help, but this was one feat that I did not attempt alone - and this way two people were laughing!

When is two better than one?

• Pulling taffy
• Hugging
• Folding king-size sheets
• Water skiing (one to drive the boat)
• Sawing a tree
• Telling a joke
• Playing tennis
• Debating
• Animals on the ark
• Driving cross-country
• Saying/Hearing “I love you”

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, In your wisdom and love you saw that your people could benefit by living in companionship. When two people work with one goal in mind, the work is lightened and strengthened by additional ideas. This advent week we light two candles and double the light. Two candles light the darkness and we can see more around us, we can see faces with more detail, and we can see what is in need of repair. This advent let us double our efforts to mend relationships, to work in camaraderie, and to appreciate the gift of companionship.Amen.

One Day Closer

At this time of year there are many creative tools used to help little ones count the days until Christmas so that you do not have to constantly answer the question “How many more days?” Some people use an advent calendar so that each day you open a door to find an image that relates to the season, or maybe you open a drawer to find a piece of candy, and some allow you to add an ornament each day. We didn’t have a special calendar but instead used a simple paper chain. First you had to cut the strips of construction paper and then link the chains one by one; counting over and over to make sure the number was correct. You could go back any time of the day to review the length of the chain and be amazed at the brevity when once it had dragged onto the ground. In the sermon yesterday Anne mentioned a phrase that farmers who were experiencing a drought said to each other to help ease the tension of waiting for relief, “Today we are one day closer to rain.” What hope! What assurance! Bringing that reflection into the Advent season she finished “Today we are one day closer to the return of the Messiah.”

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You promise relief and hope for the world, we simply have to wait and remember that liberation is coming. Long ago no one thought to recognize that hope in the shape of something so small. Today, may we consider nothing too small to be made prominent by your hands or anything too large to be restructured by your grasp. We know these things, and yet we restlessly struggle through our day, resisting that assurance, wondering when O God, when? Today, we are one day closer, and we are filled with hope. Amen.

Thinning Christmas

It might be a thin Christmas. Besides the economic talk, or diet talk, I’m thinking of decorations. This year we have a single outdoor sign instead of lights lining the driveway, and I decided against setting up our battalion of nutcrackers, and left a good portion of ornaments in the box. Maybe it’s because we won’t be hosting any parties, maybe it is the need to conserve, or maybe it’s because (dunh-dunh-dunh) we’re getting a tad older. Last Sunday as we started Advent at early service we thinned out some of the steps of bringing in the colors and symbols of the season. We usually have a nice procession of bringing in wreaths, poinsettias, colors, and other elements all the while having a running narration explaining their significance as an aide in worship. It’s helpful, it’s rich in tradition, and it’s a way to let more people participate in the announcement of the season. But at early service we started the service with the colors already in place, and we all entered into the Sanctuary at one time singing “Maranatha” and each one lighting a small candle from the Advent candle. We watched stars and planets bring the text to life. It was a lot of changes, but for me it felt like the beginning of Advent instead of the beginning of Christmas. Some people stayed for the beginning of the second service so that they could still experience our traditional entry into Advent. It was a full day of getting our hearts and minds prepared for Advent.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You are prepared to wait for the world to join you in anticipation of the Messiah. This is the time of year that we try to remember the call for patience and reflection when everything else around us encourages us to rush and think later. Let us fall into step with you, pausing as you pause, slowing down our heart beats to match your calm. You are full of assurance and determination, and yet you wait. There is a beauty in the suspension of activity. Let us reflect the single flame of this Advent day in everything we do. Amen.

Turkey Soup

I do not claim to be a cook, and I don’t particularly like to cook. It seems like a lot of work for something that is over in ten minutes. When does the fun start? I have pretty low expectations for what I call a successful meal – one in which no one has to go to the hospital. (After I have cooked for guests, I’m convinced someone will come down with food poisoning.) But for some strange reason I like to make turkey soup from scratch, which takes time, makes a mess, and generates a ton of leftovers, all of the factors which would normally make me run the other direction. This Thanksgiving my niece’s husband carved the turkey as well as anyone I have ever seen, getting almost all of the meat away from the bones. I took the remainder of the bird home to make soup, even though it might have to be vegetarian. I couldn’t believe how much meat was still available! Perhaps that’s what I like: salvaging what was trash, looking at it from a different perspective, and finishing with a one-of-a-kind soup filled with wild rice and barley, carrots for color, and any spice that seems half-way applicable, including jalapenos.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You are the great creator! Where others see discarded and spent people, you see a chance to salvage a life and restore them to their own beauty. It takes imagination and work to rebuild, and often it’s easier to start from nothing than to break down, clean, refinish, and polish a dirty, worn, damaged item. You never turn away from hard work nor a long rehabilitation. We are all able to give more than we imagined and you have a way of bringing that out in us: we can feed more, clothe more, and love more, from what we already have. As we reach to find the unused portions, let us sing more, laugh more, and praise more to your glory. Amen.

Ado Annie and Me

I usually find connection with the second-tier characters, the ones who are slightly unusual. One of my first realizations of my affection (or connection) for the imperfect, was Ringo. Everyone was busy collecting all things Paul, John or George, but I decided Ringo was the one for whom my eyes would sparkle. I wasn’t even in first grade yet, but I knew there was something special about the one with the big nose who could still laugh and joke. Another sixties spectacular was the musical “Oklahoma.” Sure, the main characters were beautiful and sang show-stoppers like “People Will Say We’re in Love” or “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” but give me Ado Annie singing “I Can’t Say No” or “All Er Nuthin” and those are the moments of the musical that I replay, and quote even today. Ado Annie has a hard time limiting her choices and has so many interests that it keeps her from focusing. My role model!!

I'm jist a girl who cain't say no,
I'm in a turrible fix
I always say "come on, le's go"
Jist when I orta say nix!

I caught some kind of cold that zapped my energy over the Thanksgiving weekend, and on Friday I didn’t have enough energy to smile. I just went from one nap to the next. On Monday I went to bed at 8:30 and slept through the night - a big cut in the hours I usually spend on the home computer. So at a time when I had tried to get back in the saddle and re-focus my efforts, I had a legitimate reason to fall back, but then as I gained more hours and energy, I seemed to reclaim my old entrenched procrastination techniques, even though, or especially because, the season calls for more projects and more commitments. Once again, Ado Annie sings my life:

“I only did the kind of things I orta - sorta,
To you I was as faithful as c'n be - fer me.”

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You know our imperfections, and love us still. You know we are capable of so much more and reveal our possibilities again and again. Help us to see and be what you dream for us, and what you need of us. Develop our faithfulness so that it grows beyond what is comfortable to a faithfulness that is challenged and attested. Take away our standards and replace them with yours. During Advent let us learn to say no to practices that distract our focus away from preparing our hearts and homes. As the life of our community ensues, you need some of us to take on the role of the charismatic champion, the prodding instigator, the loyal defender, the tender caregiver, or even the trivial jester. All are welcome to follow, and lead others, to the star. Amen.