Column on Advent

The Christian season of Advent is upon us. Many older Protestant churches adopted the practice of Advent in the last few generations. Many Christian churches do not acknowledge it. Our culture does not. Christmas stations started before thanksgiving this year.  Then we have some conflict in churches when we should start singing Christmas carols. Basically the culture call off Christmas at December 26, but that is when the season just starts in the church year.

It is ancient, but it does depend on the firm dating of Christmas on December 25^th, so it took a while to be adopted. Its preparation was basically a call to fasting and prayer prior to the great day.  Please recall that Christmas was barely celebrated in this country until the mid 19^th century, with a wave of German immigration. The frosty asceticism had started to wear away from our Puritan culture.

Advent means arrival, especially in the sense of a great person moving in a grand procession.  In current tradition, it points first to the Second Advent of Christ, that time when god’s vision for the world comes to fruition. Given the childish views of most of us on this great promise, reflection on this theme could well mature our faith. On the Third Sunday we shift gears and look toward a consideration of the first Advent, the birth of Jesus Christ. Again, the Incarnation is a pillar of the faith, but we scarcely consider it but merely salute it and move on past.

Some churches have adopted the use of candles to mark each Sunday. Typically, Protestants have made this a free expression of the untethered religious sentimental imagination, so the candles often represent whatever themes the church wishes to present. Unwilling to even consider that Advent could be a call to radical repentance; many churches have chosen royal blue as a color for the candles, to push Lent into the only season of discipline in the church year.

Many of us have adopted  the relatively recent German practice of the Advent calendar. Alton High School students sell the chocolate treats for each day of the season as a fundraiser. One is rewarded with a daily treat and then beneath one could reflect on a bible passage or virtue as one counts the days until Christmas. I was reminded just today of the venerable tradition of the Jesse tree that traces the lineage of Jesus and uses it as a way to give narrative to the Bible.

Let me clear. I hope I do not sound like the Christmas Grinch. I have no issues with the spectacle of Christmas. I do ask for respect for religious traditions. I do hope that we prepare our souls with some of the attention we lavish on Martha Stewart decorations and labor-intensive goodies.

In a time of anger being stoked into simmering rage day after day, we can all use a sense of Christmas inner peace. Possessed of the power of inner peace, we can face down our violent impulses. We can find a center to do work of putting Christ back into being Christian, let alone Christmas.

This year the readings from Isaiah have a decided focus on peace. It is always an appropriate focus.  This year I am praying for an element of the advent of peac3e: the reduction in violence. We have enjoyed a long period of a reduction in violent crime and losses in war time in our country. At the same time, its pall casts gloom on those its cold hand touches. The host of heaven turned into a non-violent choir making the fields an arena for worship in the very teeth of power not far away in Jerusalem.

Advent 1 sermon notes-Is. 2, Ps. 122 Rom. 13, Mt.24

Is 2:1-5, USSR statue in front of the UN. with Micah the great hope for peace-turning guns into art-East Germany slogan as well

We are far from peace of course, but the vision propels us. We are far  from from inner peace. Violence grips our thoughts and emotions. Violence erupts constantly in homes and neighborhoods. Right now, too many people suffer under brutal violence. We had a shootout on 7th and Spring street as I was taking notes.St Louis is riddled with violence, and Alton has more than the national average of violence. While I was gone, someone was murdered across the street.Many days I cross 7th and Spring where we had a morning shoot out.

Rom. 13 live in the armor of light. What a great image. I think of the beam of light in Lord of the rings when the wizard Gandalf appears with some troops.

The neighbor is always an unexpected appearance in our midst, in the midst of our lives.The neighbor, understood in this way, represents  Christ. And what are we waiting for? Where lies our hope? Christ's advent  perhaps the one whose return comes unexpectedly is precisely the neighbor who encounters us in the street. Perhaps Christ's second coming is this continual return of Christ in and through the neighbor. (WP)

Our enemies are "not flesh and blood." we are to fight against the destructive powers that enslave. That might be a history of mistrust and injustice, addictions, thirst for revenge, prejudice and fear, greed. Paul calls these "the works of darkness," . It is often the petty manifestations of these powers that erode our relationships. Violence  exists against flesh and blood. Peace has to  struggle against the  mind set of war.While we work toward peace and look for a more peaceful time,MT. 24:36-44-being alert and on guard-both do the same things but one gets it and one does not-working for a world of peace (see Parker Palmer on soul change for social change) We work toward God’s vision. We make the world a fit place for God to dwell. Soul change of course is just another version of the the notion that personal repentance  is sufficient to  create social change. Change of collective hearts and minds, a change in mindset in culture is needed as we for peace to occur at long last

Miroslav Volf writes, "Christians have believed that the day is coming on which our past, marred by wrong doing, will be bathed in the warm light of God's truthful grace. ...

-Ps 122 ends with words of peace- I love this vision of the nations, including enemies, being drawn like a magnet to jerusalem. Israel will fulfill the ancient hope of being a blessing to all nations. That is its ancient purpose. Approaching Jerusalem was a march of conquest, now it becomes a peace march of pilgrimage. Wisdom language permeates this passage. The temple stands for justice.Let us walk in the light of the Lord.(Steve Earle song on Jerusalem Well maybe I'm only dreamin' and maybe I'm just a fool/But I don't remember learnin' how to hate in Sunday school/But somewhere along the way I strayed and I never looked back again

But I still find some comfort now and then/Then the storm comes rumblin' in/And I can't lay me down

But I believe there'll come a day when the lion and the lamb/Will lie down in peace together in Jerusalem/And there'll be no barricades then/There'll be no wire or walls/And we can wash all this blood from our hands/And all this hatred from our souls//And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham/Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem

Pts for Week of Nov. 27

Sunday-Ps,. 72 is a great prayer for the king, so we should have little trouble transferring it to political leaders.  Notice how peace, prosperity, and security are linked. Look carefully at what makes a good king in this prayer.May we pray for all of our political leaders.

Monday-Gratitude is a practice that can begin with the smallest acknowledgement and be expanded out to every facet of our existence. A simple way to nurture this awareness in our lives is to end each day with a gratitude list. You might write 5-10 things for which you feel grateful each day, lifting up both the large and small moments of grace, rather than dwelling on where life came up short for us. Consider saving these grateful noticings together somewhere, and after a season of time reading back over the things that made your heart expand and notice what patterns you find there.

Tuesday-There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world. There is not an act of kindness or generosity, not an act of sacrifice done, or a word of peace and gentleness spoken . . . that does not sing hymns to God." ~ Thomas Merton

Wednesday- Kierkegaard-Jesus Christ remains our exact contemporary still meeting us directly. From a theological perspective, we know that the Spirit of God makes the words of the text come alive in our hearing, so that through the power of the Spirit the Word of God, Christ himself, speaks directly to us, claiming us, calling us to follow. In some ways, the original disciples actually experienced a disadvantage of historical proximity from which we do not suffer.

Thursday-All the blessings we enjoy are committed to our trust that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors." John Calvin (1509-1564)

Friday-

" the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,

William Shakespeare

Saturday-"Advent invites us into the holy practice of waiting and attending the birth that is coming. Christmas calls us to celebrate that birth with wonder and awe. Our culture tells us the season should be filled with shopping and rushing. The wisdom of ancient monastic practices tells us that this is a time for pausing, savoring, and soaking in joy and gratitude. There are rich treasures within the stillness when we slow down long enough to let them be revealed.

Sermon Notes for Christ the King Sunday

Nov. 20 Lk.1:68. Col. 1:11-20 Lk. 23:33-43

2 different views of Christ the king in Luke-I like the long prayer of Zechariah after he has been mute for so long when he questioned the birth of his son in old age. When he speaks he speaks words of blessing tender mercy peace-Mute Zechariah regains his power of speech, and he uses it as a blessing on the future and the realization of hopes so old that they had been forgotten or dismissed. When Zechariah envisions god’s reign it is one of light and peace and that great old phrase tender mercy/tender compassion.

Christian revelation sees Christ at the center of the world.Colossians is the astonishing entry of a cosmic christ for a small group.Sally Brown :the cosmic, creation-centered Christology of the first set of claims (verses 15-17). t all created derive from him their coherence. Notably, we find here no mention of a "fall" or of creation corrupted; there is only the allusion to powers of darkness from which humanity is liberated. All the emphasis falls on the claim that creation makes sense because of the Son; and this has been true from before the beginning of time. This must shape our attitude toward creation as well as persons of other faiths. Their fulfillment, like ours, flows from the firstborn of creation. Christ as glue as coherence hold the world together The parallel structures of verses 15 and 18 imply that the resurrection initiates a new creation. The Church, the Son's body, is the agent of reconciliation, declaring to the whole created order its emancipation from the powers of darkness. image/icon of god-fullness is a word easily missed in this cascade of titles and powers

If God is in control, God needs a new map and plan. God and control and in charge-see recent posting see PODs No matter what good or bad decisions leaders or nations make, the Church believes that Christ will not stop working until all creation has been redeemed. it is in this sense that we can say "God is in control." God will not quit until he has brought all things to his glorious conclusion. But that is different than saying, "God is controlling all things." God does not seem to be a divine dictator. God will use events and respond to them. see God’s Power certain things cannot be done-square circle- in control is kicking tyranny upstairs-look Jesus went to trial-the judge of all went to capital punishment at the hands of an oppressive regime Does God dominate or does God care for God empowers God shares power -power of divine love power in divine different in degree and kind from our view of power god’s power and loving purposes enacted If we call it god’s plan or God is in control, we are in the same place God works through mediating people and organizations.

Instead God is free to act as God may desire in the steadfast love that defines the divine. God seems to love surprises. For Christians this would mean that Jesus of nazareth carried the hopes and fears of all the years in his life. Instead of elevating him on earth, he lived a humble life. Elevation is made clear only after the vindication of resurrection and ascension.

Communion and different royal feast small gifts contain a world, they are shared-they are doubly transformed-god’s power is through more than over. God’s power is less coercive than an invitation to join in.Animating power, life giving power energizing power, power of the Spirit that does indeed pervade all of creation. Jesus is the image of the invisible god, and in this service that love is physical as we participate in communion.

Thoughts for week of Nov. 20

Sunday-Lk. 1:68-79 The great prayer of Zechariah at the birth of his son replaces the Psalter reading today. I love some of its words at the end: tender mercy. Those who dwell in darkness, guide our feet in the way of peace. What circumstances would lead you to pray in this fashion?

Monday-Chief Seattle: "Teach your children that... all things are connected, like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves." Often I sign my emails: "Holding you in the web of my prayers"--meaning not just mine but those of the ancestors, the communion of saints.

-Kent Ira Groff

Tuesday-John Philip Newell-For everything that emerges from the earth-thanks be to you, O God, Holy Root of being,-Sacred Sap that rises/ Full-bodied Fragrance of earth’s unfolding form.

May we know that we are of You may we know that we are in You -may we know that we are one with You-together one.- Guide us as nations to what is deepest/open us as peoples to what is first-lead us as a world to what is dearest/ that we may know the holiness of wholeness that we may learn the strength of humility/that together we may live close to the earth and grow in grounded glory.

Wednesday-“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained in sudden flight but, they while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Good Poems for Hard Times

Thursday-Martin Buber , said that our role in life was to help move the world just one inch in the right direction.

Friday-I think one reason many churches have become so anxious is that they have become utterly preoccupied with trying to become appealing to the ever-shifting tastes of popular culture,.. We are in real danger of trivializing ourselves into extinction in a relentless quest to be cool, or cute, or attractive to the lowest common denominator. Our freedom to be a people of God, our joy and our confidence rest in the good news of Jesus Christ, the power of his grace, forgiveness, mercy, goodness, justice and love. Christians have, as the old hymn says, "A Story to Tell to the Nations." That story isn't reducible to a bumper sticker. Despite the fact that it is the good news of the gospel, it will not be heard and accepted as good news by everyone who hears it. For some, it will sound like bad news, especially if they just can't let go of hatred or vengeance, self-righteousness or self-loathing. Nor will the gospel attract everyone, especially if we preach it intelligently and thoughtfully.Michael Jinkins

Saturday- With Thanksgiving, the homecoming cycle starts again. “Longing for home is more than a desire for a place or a pleasant memory or a dreamed-of future. Home is a state of being, of belonging, of becoming. The longing for home is the deep need to be anchored in a secure, restored past and pulled toward a transformed, fulfilled future.”  Duke’s Faith and Leadershipweek of Nov. 20

Thanksgiving thoughts

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. Gilbert K. Chesterton 

When I was a boy, the first ecumenical service I ever attended was a community Thanksgiving service in our village, one filled with churches and bars. On November 20 afternoon at St Ambrose, at 4PM, a number of churches will join in a Community Thanksgiving Service.  I am grateful that people even think to have such a service. I am grateful to those who make this happen and even more for those who choose to attend. It helps us to become Psalm 100 people. I am grateful that we let differences between different religious traditions slide away on a Sabbath afternoon. It is a gift to see churches open doors to others. The Reformed Tradition has grace and gratitude as core values in its theology and ethics. It derives from life itself being a gift. It realizes that grace itself is a gift.

Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep. 
Felix Frankfurter

Gratitude does not come easily.  When times are hard, resentment flows much more easily. We cannot force gratitude. At present, a culture of complaint has run amok. On the other hand, thankfulness is response to a gift. For those who work so hard, it may be difficult to receive a sense of gratitude when it comes. Gratitude pushes us to see how intertwined our lives are. Receiving a gift induces a desire to reciprocate. It then spreads a sense of gratitude.

Thanksgiving celebrations are more tenuous than usual this year. This Thanksgiving, people cannot face the fights around partisan bickering and are cancelling the grand tradition. Some are already plotting to upset people. At my mother’s funeral supper, one of our unstable relatives launched into a conspiracy-laden talk, so it is not limited to this holiday. It becomes difficult to nourish gratitude when surrounded by ungracious winners and losers around a table. One day we will have empty places around that table. I hate to make a table a politics-free zone, but if that is what it takes so be it. Maybe we can listen to understand a position more than trying to debate it.

In the face of this fear, Schnuck’s still has a poster in Upper Alton: nourishing gratitude. We nourish gratitude by practicing it. When we notice gratitude, or when we practice it, even when we don’t feel it, our hearts expand. One of my spiritual goals is to be able to see the ordinary as extraordinary, as astonishing, as seeing them with new fresh eyes. It is learning Thanksgiving is about celebrating what we have, not grieving what we have lost, or agonizing about what we do not have. Being thankful requires letting go of the things we can’t control.

While Facebook continues to be a forum for vulgarity, incivility, and whining, at times, it provides awareness of different ideas. I’ve noticed a posting on practicing 30 days of gratitude. Such a practice has the possibility of changing perspective. One way I have taken up this cause is to look at the history of my lifetime and be grateful for some of the advances made during it. For instance, immunizations have saved countless lives. Seat belts and air bags have lessened the constant carnage on our highways. Fewer than 1 in 5 adults in this country smoke. I am grateful at the drastic decline in violence in our country since the 80s.

When we move toward making an offering in our worship service, we use the great phrase, with glad and generous hearts. As an aspiration, Thanksgiving may open clenched hearts and fists. Thanksgiving opens a door to finding the best in ourselves.

Some Initial Musings on the Way Forward

Look for the good-In Illinois, the only candidate to whom I contributed money who won is our new Sen. Baldwin. Most of my life, I have wanted a new  program to put people to work to rebuild America. It is possible that President  Trump will get such  a bill passed, one that could dwarf Sec. clinton’s proposals.

Watch creating catastrophe where none exists-Sec. Clinton did win the popular vote. She came up short in states she required to win the electoral college. Donald Trump may well be sui generis.

Drill into data Here we will need to rely on political science models and statistical skills, but  my point is to use data to assess different questions-did Sec. Clinton lose potential votes due to her gender? If so, why, among what groups? Are we able to disentangle  sheer prejudice from other concerns, especially economic among the electorate? To what degree did hints of isolationism in Trump’s record attract folks? (After all, we have not had a declared war in my lifetime, but we have poured blood and treasure ito half commitments. With a volunteer army, we send the children of the working class into those conflicts that have had such poor  results.

How could 30% of Latinos vote for Mr Trump?

What are the policy and candidate issues that had so many women desert Sec. Clinton?

How to present facts-social psychology-Look at the new Carville book for a guide to argument. -Social psychology experiments provide a gold mine of ways to see how we are prone to error in decisions due to a variety of factors. Some of the work even speaks to persuasion and the advantage of personal experience to move the issue from abstraction.Its terror management theory goes a way to explain the appeal of “tough” candidates.

On the other hand, it is clear that we have moved from the tyranny of the merely factual. Interpretive schema seem to  override factual presentations. Lawyers have known this for a long time. That is why they labor so on opening and closing trial statements. Frank Luntz has developed the focus group into a linguistic gold mine. Democrats can do the same. We need to seek ways and test them of framing a convincing and cohesive story that helps to frame issues and candidates.

Interest group activity I just contributed to Sierra Club and the ACLU again.Small acts like this not only have cumulative significance, but they help stem the onrush of political despair and passivity.

Candidate recruitment-One of the reasons  democrats choose lousy candidates. Yes, i know that the primaries select to keep the selection out of the hands of the party insiders. Political parties exist to recruit candidates for nomination. Keeping an eye out for potential candidates contributes to the process.

Look to states in 2020-republicans are in control of at least 33 states. In part this is due to Republicans doing the hard work of selecting candidates and supporting them in local and state races. Democrats need to  help with the drawing of the new legislative districts after the census.

Arrogance and condescension-In discussion much of the liberal left is insufferable.Dogmatism afflicts us. Language White privilege v. community. Trump struck on nerve on political correctness, in part, because it is a language preserve of the liberal left. I do not think that critical race studies are a good tool in political debate and discussion.  The privilege argument often turns stereotypical, ignores cross cutting privileges and obstacles and  creates defensiveness and denial more than dialogue. I do wonder if particularism is a tactic for elections as opposed to integration. I fear the ethical colonialism of trying to shield groups from agency and criticism.

Painting extremism in the Republican Party. Some data analysis would point us to Americans being moderates.  The republican Party is unrecognizable to me from what I grew up with.  It is most difficult to find  moderates in the party at all. We call those few people who would consider compromise on occasion to be moderates. How? When  was a child the the John Birch Society was laughed into becoming an isolated  fringe group.  2) The Khan family’s moment wa effective in painting the  bigotry of Trumpism by demonstrating commitment to values. 3) Pick battles, already the leadership is planning to go after Medicare and maybe social Security. This will not succeed if opposed well. It could be a cudgel in the 2018 elections.

Working class-Since I was a kid in 1968, I have seen the erosion of support for Democrats for the party of their natural constituency. Some of it is cultural. I recall sitting in a bar u (udnerage of course) back in PA when one of the miners saw McGovern on TV-and I will clean up the language but it went:L I ain't voting for anybody who sounds like Liberace.Environmental movements have turned to job creation, but the history has been willingness to close down jobs  for the sake of the public health.In some ways, the liberal left is a beacon of the future of white collar workers, but it ignores pink collar and blue collar labor to its peril.