'Tis Also the Season

It was not enough to put a picture frame in the nativity scene. It apparently is en vogue to make the nativity fit what whatever group one wants. If you want the Veggietales cast to portray the nativity scene, you can. If you are the hardcore outdoor type (or live in an uber-rural area such as northern Skaskatchewan), you can procure a set with either moose or bears.

Is the incarnation not enough that it must be replaced with bears, moose, or vegetables? Is creation more interesting than the Creator sending His Word to be flesh? Maybe it’s just marketing and Jesus doesn’t sell without a shtick. . .

Ecumenical Children

According to the news story, a local woman is considered the first female “Catholic” priestess to give birth. She gave birth to a boy on Wednesday. According to the story, she is part of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC), which is not recognized by the pope. I guess there is much Roman Catholic doctrine to which the ECC does not hold.
Incidentally, the priestess’ husband is a pastor at a United Church of Christ congregation, which makes their son truly ecumenical.

They Have the Flag!

I was going through the mail today and found a “Praise Banner” catalog. Browsing through, I found two pages of “Flags for Praise & Worship.” The write-up says the following:

Since Old Testament times, God’s faithful followers used flags to praise Him and proclaim His victories. Recapture that majesty with our NEW Flags for Praise and Worship.

Hm. . .Makes me think of a high school drill team, flag team, whatever you want to call the eye candy which marches with a band and waves the flags. Sure! Let’s bring the spectacle of a football halftime show into worship. Don’t get me wrong: I love halftime shows. (My motto: It’s not football season; it’s marching band season.) I’m just not exactly sure how one fits in the divine service.

It makes me want to say to the company, please don’t mail us these catalogs—we’re Lutheran. Then I realize that there are nominal Lutherans who probably use Flags for Praise and Worship. (Why is that capitalized?) It makes me want to eat Oreos—a whole container of ‘em. As my friend once said, however, “You can’t always run out and buy Oreos.” I sure won’t be running out to buy and Flags for Praise and Worship, that’s certain.

Eight Months Later. . .

Jean-Paul Sarte said in his 1938 novel Nausea that three o’clock is either too early or too late do anything. I agree—mostly. There is one thing that three o’clock (okay, 3:05) is just perfect for.—listening to “Issues, Etc.” live on the internet.
I am glad that I was right and wrong. I was concerned that when “Issues, Etc.” came back on the air it wouldn’t be the same show. It is and it isn’t. The focus (Christ-Centered, Cross-Focused) is still the same. The wit of the host is still the same. The quality guests are still present. The thing that I sense has changed is that the show is the same only more so. There’s a deeper quality to the topics and guests. Maybe I just took it for granted the first time around.

Neihardt Was Ahead of His Time

I once read this clever piece:

“The Life Cycle of an Idea” by David A. Roach

1. The ignorant superstition of naked unwashed savages.

2. Outrageous blasphemy, and an affront to all which is right and holy.

3. Dangerously reckless speculation, but there may be a grain of fact in it somewhere.

4. Well, the obvious truth: so transparently self-evident, even a child could see it!

5. The commonly accepted explanation, true in most situations, but on very close inspection there are some serious loopholes.

6. Traditional and conventional lore, but to be honest about it, we just stick with it because nothing better has been formulated.

7. Obsolete thinking, pretty much discredited in enlightened circles, although a few die-hard supporters of the notion can be found.

8. Hilarious hokum, but the imbecilic delusions of by-gone days teach a broader
lesson: it is unwise to accept anything, no matter how plausible, at face value.

9. The ignorant superstition of naked unwashed savages.

Why does one have to be stupid to believe in something that is not commonly accepted? These days it is our faith. Yet there is much commonly accepted that is less credible to reality than a bush which burns but is not consumed.

John G. Neihardt has a short story entitled “The Last Thunder Song.” I highly recommend reading it. Published in 1904, this story was prophetic inasmuch as the author penned some statements regarding the characters’ views of religion which are parallel to modern times.

The whole premise of the story is that the Omahas are having a rain dance to end a drought. The narrator makes the two following statements to set the reader up: “. . .the old men carried with them long memories and an implicit faith. The young men. . .carried with them curiosity and doubt, which, if properly united, beget derision,” and “The old men went to a shrine; the young men went to a show. When a shrine becomes a show, they say the world advances a step.” At the rain dance a preacher and a newspaper man have the following conversation:
“Lamentable, isn’t it [said the reporter], that such institutions as rain prayers should exist on the very threshold of the twentieth century?”
“I think, returned the minister, “that the twentieth century has no intention of eliminating God!”

The ironic part, of course is that our culture looks upon Christianity as the newspaper man looked at the Omahas. Many of those who were raised in the church look upon religion as the young Omahas looked at the old Omahas. Not that I am equating true Christianity with a false religion, but let the reader be aware. There is little sacred.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

How we are so good at fabricating and believing lies! In our fallen, sinful state, we do this as we view ourselves more important than God. Adam and Eve set the pattern when they first believed the serpant's lies, then they hid, then they blamed everyone else. David also, he took his neighbor's wife then lied, trying to hide his mistake and eventually committing murder to cover his sin.
Today our world abounds with lies. There is the lie of evolution. All the natural world came together by chance? Yet the complexities on the cellular level show this cannot be so. Still it is taught as truth and fiercely defended.
There are the lies of morality. Some say babies in utero are not people and are to be eliminated, if necessary. Others fight for their right to hook up casually, test marriage without actually getting married, redefining marriage to be something it is not nor cannot be, and each uses their sexuality in whatever manner is best for their own personal desires; never once do they question right or wrong.
There is the lie of right and wrong. If it feels good, do it. As long as you're not hurting anybody it's okay. You're only in trouble if you get caught. Nobody uses such an archaic word as sin unless they're Bible-thumping fanatics. It was just a mistake, error in judgement, or poor choice.
The most problematic lie is truth. Too many people want to redefine truth. Truth is found only in God's Word. This is the lie Satan encouraged our first parents to fall for; it is the lie he still encourages us to fall for today. "You don't need God," he sneers. "There are other ways, other roads, other truths, other, other, other." Yet truth is found only in Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Public Notice of Religious Events

The Saturday Post-Dispatch always has a religion section, and in this religion section is a listing of events for the week. Some highlights:
Today: Lead Now!—a workshop for leading 20 and 30-somethings with “innovative ideas”. Sad to say, this is being sponsored by an LCMS congregation.
Tomorrow: a spiritual growth class which talks about how a cup can be an image of prayer.
If you don’t like cups, try the “Jazz Vespers”. I guess the polka masses are only in Minnesota.
If neither of those sounds interesting enough for you, there’s the seminar on “troublesome Biblical texts”; at which they will discuss how disturbing texts in the Bible (those which deal with violence, gender bias, etc.) can be revelation.
On Tuesday there is a discussion on Biblical and contemporary ideas of violence.
One might want to check out the presentation on “Secret Rosicrucian Symbols of the 16th and 17th centuries on Thursday at the Rosicrucian Lodge.
The “Dances of Universal Peace” sounds like an event not-to-be missed. There is even an opportunity for audience involvement to join in on dances from “many different spiritual traditions. . .”
I suppose some of these are very good, theologically hard-hitting discussions. Then again, some of them seem like bait-and-switch. Maybe I’m just a cynic. Who cares how they come in, as long as they come in, right?
I’m thinking that maybe I’ll just head on down to the Tap Room on Monday for the Aquinas Institute of Theology’s event: Theology on Tap. After reading these notices, I might head on down before Monday. . .

Conference Thoughts

Being at conference makes me feel schizophrenic in the sense that I tend to have divided attention. I am divided between ideology and practicality; theology and reality. Not that any of these are mutually exclusive; it is just that trying to find the middle ground of application, juxtaposition and synthesis is very difficult a task.
Add to the above the experience of rubbing elbows with people you know, people you knew, people you really don’t want to run into, people you really want to run into, people who knew you when, and people who know you way too well.
All this adds up, at least for me, to an experience of reflection, learning, and growth. Some things about myself I don’t want to change, but know I must. Some things I must not change, but outside forces exert pressure on me to change. Then I look at vocation and realize it is not me but Christ. My growing in my skill is so that I can become better in my vocation so as to serve Christ’s people better. It’s making the connection that is the challenge; it is Christ in whom we trust.

Freedom

If I were a real writer, I would be able to explain myself better; however, I will do my best to convey my thoughts. Maybe it’s just because I’m on my second Monday this week. . .
I tried to go here yesterday as I pondered the fact that it was Martin Luther’s birthday and the anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald; now I’m back to it today as it is Veterans’ Day and my brother’s birthday. I keep thinking how much we take for granted.
We especially take freedom for granted. Here it is, I live in the United States of America , a country which touts its freedom. I can paraphrase Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis : “How lucky I am to be born in my favorite country!” I don’t know what it is like to live in a land where I need to be fearful of the leaders, lest they kill me for not holding the same ideology. I don’t know what it is like to live in a land of intense poverty. I don’t know what it is like to live under a king, a czar, brutal military rule, communism, or a spittle-ridden fascist dictator.
We live in a country rife with freedom; yet, how little we think of it. We can mock our leaders; believe in one God, no God, multiple gods, or ourselves as god; we can even bear arms and vote.
It seems as though freedom is so commonplace that we have become slaves. We are so free that we have freed ourselves from the responsibility which freedom entails. We are so free that we have freed ourselves from the morality which freedom requires. Once one sheds morality and responsibility, one opens the self up to slavery. If I cannot be responsible for my own actions, I become a slave to others telling me what to do; or worse, I become a slave to irresponsible and irrational behavior. I expect the results of freedom without realizing there is a price. If I am immoral or amoral, I am a slave to chaos. If my mantra is “if it feels good, do it,” then I am a slave to pleasure-seeking. Freedom, responsibility, and morality must work in concert.
I look at yesterday—the birth of the great reformer and the death of 29 hard-working sailors; I look at today—the life of a sibling and the sacrifices of so many men and women: I see the ebb and flow of human existence, which is birth, life, death. We cannot take these for granted. We must not take liberty for granted. For our true liberty in is Christ. He is not some mere moral teacher, nor is He a distant God off in the cosmos. No, He is Jesus, true God and true man. He was born, He lived the life we could not, He sacrificed Himself for us and died our death. All this so that we might be freed from slavery to sin. This we can never take for granted.

'Tis the Season

It's the day I wait for every November: the annual Concordia Publishing House sale, the sale where I can get cheap organ music. I mean, I can buy quality organ music at a discounted price--I suppose they don't make cheap organ music because why write music for cheap organs; likewise, those who wrote organ music that was cheap stopped writing organ music years ago and began writing praise choruses--but I digress.

After I finished in the discount tent, I did what probably every other person who attends the CPH sale does: I went into the store to see what I couldn't find outside. The store had much Advent and Christmas inventory out. Advent wreaths from classic to contemporary were out, along with nativity sets. As I was browsing, one nativity set caught my eye. It was a resin nativity, complete with most of the characters, as well as a picture frame. My first thought was, "Huh, a nativity picture frame, that's kind of cute." My second thought was, "Wait a minute. . . What does this say? Are we trying to upstage Jesus?"

What is the point of a picture frame in a nativity scene? Is it because Christmas today is a time for family and, for the nominally religious, the nostalgic rememberance of Baby Jesus that we have to blend the two concepts; thus shoving Jesus out of the manger and putting ourselves in?

I couldn't find an image of the one I saw in the store, but I found two others for sale, both equally distasteful as the original. The second had a description:

Nativity Scene Picture Frame is an inspirational gift of love. Nativity Scene Picture Frame features a 3-D Christmas tree with a nativity scene in the front and a Christmas scripture on the base. The Christmas scripture reads, "...A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11" The Christmas red picture frame fits snugly into the side of the 3-D Christmas tree with nativity scene and is held firmly by a magnet. Both the picture frame and Christmas tree with nativity scene can be displayed separately, too. This unique Nativity Scene Picture Frame for an inspirational Christmas gift will become a family
keepsake.

I suppose I shouldn't complain: At least they mentioned that Christ is the
Savior.

Election Day

In another few hours, Election Day will be behind us. As of this writing, some polls are closed. Returns are coming in, and my husband has taken up his chair to settle in with Brit Hume and Fox News for the duration. I am in the other room, hoping that the candidate for whom I voted wins.
There are many things about this election I have not liked. I have not liked the duration. When did these guys announce that they were running for president? Was it 2004? I have not liked the rancor and insinuations. I have not liked the way age/gender/race played into how people viewed the candidates. May the most qualified be elected--I don't care if you're a purple female or a green male--the constitution does state you have to be over 35, but I can live with that age issue.
The economy became a huge issue as of late. I still don't see that trumping things like national security and right to life. I've said it before; a government that does not care about life does not honestly care about its people.
This is where it is difficult to have dual citizenship. I know that no matter what happens today, God knows what will happen to His people, and He will work all things together for our good, as St. Paul says in Romans 8. It is still human to be concerned with what happens in America with a presidential change. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a Christian in America. No, we don't have to worship underground or risk imprisonment for praying; yet, it is becoming harder to stand for truth, justice, and mercy in a society which creates its own truth, defines justice as finding the right loophole, and mercy is for those who want it, not those who need it. (Since when did pity trump empathy?)
Well, until they haul us all off to jail or the looney bin (because they've re-defined lunacy as someone who disagrees with them), I guess what we have to do is live our vocation and be salt and light and stand for the truth and pray for our leaders. They've got a tough job ahead of them, no matter who they are. And Christ died for them too--that we dare not forget. . .

I see it every time I drive past; I even look for it. There is a decrepit brick building on the side of I-70 when one is heading into downtown St. Louis. Graffittied on the uppermost point is a notice in an original font which reads "Red Fox 4gives you." I find this sign most mysterious.
First, who is Red Fox? Why is he--I'm making an assumption here--so magnanimous? What has the unspecified "you" done to wrong Red Fox? Is Red Fox speaking to a specific or general, singular or plural "you"? If the ubiqutious Red Fox is spreading around 4giveness to the general public, what makes him think the general public is in need of his 4giveness?
I suppose it's a purely human trait to rebel against forgiveness. For to assume forgiveness is to also assume wrongdoing. If Red Fox thinks we are in need of his 4giveness, he also believes we have transgressed him in some manner. That makes almost anyone bristle. "Who is this guy who thinks we did something against him? We don't even know what we did; who is he to 4give us? What makes him think he has the right to judge us? I don't need his stinking 4giveness."
Forgiveness (or, for that matter, 4giveness) is worth nothing when one does not know for what one is being forgiven. That forgiveness is also worth nothing when one does not know the party doing the forgiving. Law and Gospel must work together: for without the Gospel, the Law brings despair; without the Law, the Gospel either induces more Law [rebellion] or carries no meaning [I'm forgiven, so what?].
Red Fox may 4give me. . .I wonder why.

For All the Saints

I used to brag about not not crying at movies and such silliness. Then it happened. . .in high school literature class that we watched the Masterpiece Theater production of A Tale of Two Cities. At the end when Sydney Carton is walking to the guillotine saying, "It is a far, far better thing that I do. . ." and quoting John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life." Just picture a flock of high school girls walking the halls betweeen classes sobbing. I believe this was my transformation into an emotional person who cries at movies, weddings, ordinations (really), and such.

I get emotional, especially at funerals. That is not too unusual, but I cry even if I don't know the person. Merely mention "Abide with Me" and I'm prematurely weeping. On All Saints' Day, it's even worse. There are a few hymns which always make me shed a tear or two. "Behold a Host" is one. "Jerusalem the Golden" is another. The last verse of my favorite hymn also makes me a little weepy. One of my favorite All Saints' Day hymns is "For All the Saints," and it always makes me cry. Let me state that my [in]ability to play it has nothing to do with the fact.

I've started to notice a pattern in this, however. When there is a hymn which talks about the church triumphant and being in God's eternal presence, I start to cry. Maybe as I get older I become more burdened by the weight of the struggle in the church militant and await eagerly the church triumphant.

As more people I know transfer their membership from the church militant to the church triumphant, it reminds me too of that cloud of witnesses which surrounds us. Those who have left earthly life and rejoice in God's presence. I think of their lives, and the influence they had on so many in this world. I think of their struggles and how they triumphed. Most importantly, I think of how it was not their life, but rather Christ's life, death, and resurrection which rescued their life and our lives from sin, death, and Satan.

On this All Saints' Day, I will get a little weepy, but ever hold fast to Christ's words: "I am the resurrection and the life."

[If you're wondering about the picture, this is the cemetary where many of my biological and church family members are buried. I think it is one of the best places a body could rest and await the last day.]