Lent and forward to Easter

With this mild weather I wonder if spring is here to stay. Will there be more snow?

Birds chirp, including the returning robins. Trees break into bloom and the daffodil stems rise from the earth. Today I counted at least 8 narcissus blooms open in my flowerbed. What else will spring from the garden unannounced in the next few days?

At the end of a winter that was not so harsh, and even if it were, I am ready for spring. For things to grow. A yard coming back to life, perennials coming up and showing their early stages of growth.

This life arising from the ground, springing from nature, reminds me of Easter that approaches. We’ve been in the binding days of Lent, the remorse of confession, and the walk toward Easter and the death of Jesus.  God’s supreme act of grace— for us.

It’s almost as though spring is a step ahead of Easter this year. Even if we get more snow, it’s not likely to last long. The promise of growing plants and blossoms on trees often arrives with Easter, bringing two life-giving times at once.

Only  a few weeks away. We can get through this Lent, remembering, acting, and maybe even sacrificing something. Thus far, I have managed to keep my fast of books and magazines, though I have been tempted. Nothing at all like Christ’s temptation to be free of the cross. Not even close. It’s so hard to take in sometimes. So hard that so many find it foolishness, but we know better, or strive to know.

We may cry, wishing to be free of certain hardships, some looking for jobs to feed their families; women in crisis, escaping abuse, and taking their children to a place of safety. Things we can help with. Is this a place we can come to recognize the sorrow, to offer some relief like a glass of water for someone who is thirsty, or a bag of groceries for someone down on their luck?

It could be me, Lord—hungry or thirsty. You’ve blessed me so that I can go and offer that food and drink, in as far as I am able.

Help us through Lent, Lord, and bring us to Easter and resurrection.

Lenten Fast– Give up What?

Only a couple of weeks ago, Lent began. The Wednesday of ashes being sprinkled on my head. On the heads of others who would have them.There was a time when I didn’t think I wanted the ashes, didn’t want another reminder that our days are counted by someone else. And no reminder of pain and suffering. Maybe it was that I had all I could bear at that time and couldn’t conceive of adding any more.

It’s not that we’re so far removed from our human frailty, the need to turn our troubles over to God, to pray without ceasing, or to be reminded that someone else has the world in his hands. That someone loves us so much that he’s willing to give up his son for us. That’s a hard thing to understand for anyone, let alone parents who love their children.

Do we ever really understand the meaning of Lent? Oh, we try. We go through the motions easily enough. Go to church on Sunday, Wednesdays in Lent. Watch the calendar and count down the days until Lent is over. And we know that without Lent, there can be no Easter. Sometimes it’s more in the head than the heart.

I hear others talk about fasting, or giving up something for Lent. Even in our own church body, the bigger church. An article in Canada Lutheran about fasting. What should I give up? What would cost me some pain to do without? A luxury? What is a luxury for me? We have to eat. We have to nourish our bodies somehow. My craving, sweet tooth, give up something for Lent? I struggled with “the what” for more than a week.

Maybe that is what the gnawing struggle of a Lent fast is all about — the growing pains of grace.

That’s what Ann Voskamp wrote in her blog today. She’s struggling too. I think she had already named her fast while I was still thinking about it.

I was in the grocery store when it came to me. While I wait, I sometimes pick up a magazine to read, though not as often as I’d like to. I love to read, whether it’s magazines or books; it’s like a hunger sometimes, about as intense as … shall I name it? Chocolate.

One young man at church yesterday said he was giving up beer for Lent. Perhaps for him, having a beer with his friends will be a sacrifice. It wouldn’t be a hardship for me since I don’t drink beer.

I decided to give up buying magazines and books for myself during Lent. Goodness knows I have enough of them at home waiting to be read. I could purchase one as a gift for another person, for a baby gift I plan to buy, just not for me, at least not until after Easter. That’s going to be tough when I’m at the bookstore, signing, on the weekend, not to bring home a new book for myself. It will be hard to resist the temptation. Maybe I’ll regret the choice. But here, it’s out in the open.

One other suggested expression was to help someone else who needs support, to purchase items for the food bank or things the Working Centre can use to help their patrons. That’s an offering of ourselves, going out and shopping for some items they can use.

I suppose a fast will be different from one individual to another. This sacrifice will be mine for this Lent. Will it be hard? You bet!

Just a small reminder though, that it cannot compare with what Christ gave up for us.

The Advent Call–Preparing Our Hearts

It’s easy enough to get caught up in the Christmas season—the need to fulfill others’ expectations— and spend more energy and money than we have. It’s easy to be swept up into the commercials, the music playing in malls from late October to get us into the mood to purchase yet another gift. Making a list, checking it twice is not just for Santa—we do it too.

Whether our desire is to buy a special gift for a loved one, or those we don’t know, let it be from the love we are given by God, who loved us before we loved him.

God saw a world full of sin, people hurting each other and people enslaved. He gave his greatest gift that we might know salvation. The gift—a Saviour—came in the form of a baby entrusted to a couple God had chosen, knowing that one day, that son would freely give up his life for us.

The gospel of Luke predicts the birth of one named Jesus to Mary, already betrothed to Joseph, and a  prophet son, John, for the aged and previously barren Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah. Not even a powerful king’s wrath could change God’s plan for his son to arrive and for shepherds to learn the news, and for wise men coming from the east to find the secret of a new star. Not even Herod could foil plans for the birth of this baby.

Many people of the time, Mary and Joseph included, lived a hard life weighed down by a powerful government, not of their choosing. Those people waited for the Saviour written about in the biblical scrolls. They waited for someone to free them from Roman rule that they might more easily live and worship the God of Abraham and Issac, the God of King David, their ancestor. They hoped for a mighty king to take their cause and fight for them; what they got was something quite different. They got a Saviour alright, one born as a small dependent baby, promised by God to save the people from their sins.

In this season of  Advent, please join me in the  preparation of our hearts for the coming of the child Jesus. Listen to Chris Tomlin sing, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus here:

 

Amazing Grace—the hymn and its composer

The hymn, Amazing Grace, is a well known and loved hymn written by John Newton. Newton, born in 1725, was trained in the Christian faith by his mother, who died when he was young. John went to sea with his father after only a few years of formal education.

As a young man, Newton spent time first in the navy. From navy deserter to  work on a slave ship, he lived a wreckless life so that even the sailors were loathe to rescue him when he fell overboard. One day in 1748, he came face-to-face with his wretchedness during a storm at sea and turned back to God.

Newton wrote this hymn and went on to become a minister and writer of many more hymns. To learn more about Newton, read here.

For a beautiful rendition of the hymn, sung by Charlotte Church, listen here.

Canadian nurse who died in Haiti

January 21, 2010.

On the front page of our local  paper, The Record of Waterloo Region, today is a photo  of Yvonne Martin, the area nurse who died in Haiti’s earthquake last week. In the photo she holds two Haitian babies. One baby sleeps, cradled in one arm, and the other lies awake in the other, gazing into Yvonne’s face. Yvonne wears a smile as she looks into that small dark face. Her arms must be very strong, for she holds them like she’s used to doing so.

Martin took the latest trip to Haiti, arriving just a short time before the earthquake hit last Tuesday.  She apparently was the only one of the seven-member team inside the Port-au-Prince guest house when the building collapsed.  Her body was recovered the following day. While her family awaits her body’s return, they gather,accompanied by many in the community, to celebrate her life and mourn their loss.

Brent Davis, Record reporter, wrote of the pastor’s eulogy that Yvonne had a heart for the poor, for the needy, and for the oppressed. “That’s what took her to Haiti, to be the hands and the feet of Jesus.”

According to the paper, she’s worked as a nurse for 36 years at the Elmira Medical Clinic, prior to her retirement, so many people knew her.  She’s also a grandmother of 10. Seeing her in the photo smiling and holding those babies makes me believe that she showed the same warmth and love to her patients and her family as she did to those babies in Haiti.

Son Terry said, “My mom’s desire was to be a faithful servant of God.”  His words were affirmed by their pastor Karen West, who said, “She not only died doing what she believed in, she actually lived them too.”

As we pray for the people of Haiti and send them aid, let’s also remember Martin’s family who have lost their loved one.

Read more here .

Trouble in Haiti– watch where you send your dollars

January 17, 2010.

Imagine, if you can, waking up in Haiti any day this week since the massive earthquake, if indeed you could find a safe place to sleep, to see destruction all around you. Imagine that you are a child and your sibling is dead, or a mother and your family is buried in the rubble of broken buildings.

No water, no food, no one to help. Imagine the desperation. In a country already under great duress, the  aftermath of the earthquake would certainly  bring on additional fear and anxiety.

The news brings this disaster into our homes by radio, television and newspaper. We cannot pretend it away; the devastation is real and people are hurting and desperate, and in great need. The Waterloo Region Record reported yesterday:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Drumbeats called the faithful to a Sunday Mass praising God amid a scene resembling the Apocalypse – a collapsed cathedral in a city cloaked with the smell of death and rattled by gunfire, where rescue crews battle to pry an ever-smaller number of the living from the ruins.

Our pastor talked today about the actions such catastrophes bring about: the good, when people offer their help financially, and physically by being there, but also the bad, when people are angry, upset and so desperate that some people search for whatever they can find, whether it belongs to them or not, or they storm supply vehicles that are there to bring food and water. Not only that trouble, but also Internet sites set up supposedly to collect money for earthquake victims—people looking to make a buck at others` expense and goodwill.

It would be easy to say that there are others who can help, or that people bring such trouble on themselves. I knew before I even set foot in my church today that I would send a donation. I sent  it through Canadian Lutheran World Relief that I know is working there already beside the Canadian troops and other aid organizations.  My dollars are not a great amount, but when they are matched, the whole sum of many such dollars  mutiply the aid available. I hope that by this evening, a few more poor souls have some food and water, and a shelter too.

I cannot imagine living through such an ordeal. I knew that even as I sat on the church bench that our prayers for the people of Haiti will be answered, perhaps not in a hurry, but that there is help coming.  Jesus comes to the poor and desperate; he is there with them in Haiti, he who died for us to show his Father`s love is there with them too.

Some may wonder if God has abandoned them; they may think God does not care. Jesus came to help those who need it most. He comes to bring comfort. People act in his name, through thankfulness of what God gave them.

The nurse from our area, who went to help on a mission trip, died with the people of Haiti. She had no idea, nor did her family, that she would be in the middle of such a massive upheaval. She went because there was a need and she could help. She`d been there before and probably felt the calling to go back. So soon after her arrival, the earthquake hit and she was another one of its victims.  Now her family mourns with the thousands who survived but lost everything including their loved ones.

If you`re going to send aid, do it through recognized charities like the Red Cross, Canadian Lutheran World Relief or whatever agency your church works through, to make sure your dollars count, and to make sure they get there. Meanwhile pray for the people that the help can reach them in time.

What Christians celebrate on Christmas Day

December 27, 2009.

Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, tired from travel, and with Mary in early stages of labour. Joseph would have  knocked on doors of inns, only to be turned away because the inns were already full. Joseph, desperate for lodging, pleaded. One innkeeper offered a back stable or shelter where they could rest.

In Mexico this part of the story has its own tradition, known as Posadas, in which Mary and Joseph look for a place to stay.

Each family in a neighborhood, will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home, starting on the 16th of December and finishing on the 24th on Noche Buena.

Read more about this tradition at http://www.nacnet.org/assunta/nacimnto.htm.

We know, from the biblical account in Luke, that Jesus was born that night. We are also told that an angel came to some shepherds  who were tending their sheep near Bethlehem and told them the good news about this special baby. The shepherds were afraid, for visits from angels were unusual occurences, and they were sometimes, but not always, the bearers of unwelcome new. The angel prefaces the news with the words from Luke, chapter 2:

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Excited about this news, the shepherds hurry into Bethlehem to find the baby. They find the place with a special bright star overhead and they ask to see the baby. We can speculate, if they brought gifts, what those gifts might be, but we don`t know since the  biblical writer does not say.  Maybe a lamb or a blanket made from lamb`s wool. I`ll leave that to your imagination.

¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Jesus` parents must have been amazed at all this attention, even as they knew this child was special, that he had a heavenly father as well as an earthly one.  It may be that they had no real comprehension about how their son`s life would be revealed. After all, this was a most unusual calling to be the parents of God`s son, come as a baby, a situation that had already put them in unfavourable light in their families and community.

 ¹⁹  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

 It would be two years later before the wise men would make their appearance, and that my friends, is a story for another day.

Josh Groban sings “O Holy Night”

A gift of music for all my readers

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and comfort for those going through difficult times. God sent Jesus because he knows about our troubles and because he loves us.

Almost Christmas

December 23rd, 2009.

 For those who are not familiar with the Christian celebration of Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ— we celebrate Christmas on December the 25th. Each year at our church, we retrace the steps of Mary and Joseph and other major players in the historic event.

I have  set up my creche on our coffee table, about the only space where it can be central.  Only some of the characters are shown since  Jesus has not yet been born.

Joseph and Mary are not yet in Bethlehem, but they are travelling in for the census. The stable, or shelter for animals, may be already occupied by donkeys or cattle or even doves who come to roost there. We don’t really know what animals are there as the Bible only mentions shepherds with their sheep on the hillside.  The star will not be out yet, but mine is affixed to the stable so I cannot take it off.

The shepherd is off to one side with his two little sheep [ since that's all that came with this set]. There will be more than one shepherd, and they will be out  in the hills tending their flocks of sheep, away from the place where the baby will be born.

The story continues when Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem and look for a place to stay.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever– on stage

December 16, 2009

Late last Friday afternoon, my husband and I drove to Woodstock to see the perfomance. I’d been looking forward to seeing this play on stage and to see my friend and her daughters in their first-ever theatre production.

Theatre Woodstock makes its home in the Market Centre on Peel Street in Woodstock, Ontario.  The program quotes Kath Oliver, ” Community theatre is an act of love; there is no pay, no promotion, no glamour and no red carpet.” She also says that people do it for a variety of reasons, and that the common one reflects on the feeling of community. The director, I’m told by my friend, has amazing patience for working with children, organizing and adding special creative touches. No mean feat when the production encompasses so many parts, including small animals.

  The community showed up; every seat was filled. We had all come to see the actors from age 5 to nearly 90, to support the producer and manager, and also to enjoy the experience.  We waited expectantly for the show to begin.

Jessica Phelps, who played Charlie’s sister Beth, was also the trustworthy narrator. It was as though this was her real life, she played her part so well, sometimes serious and often tongue-in-cheek about what was going to happen or what had already been decided.

Kate Innes played the part of Grace, the director of the Christmas pageant, with aplomb. Tension was palpable as the woman who usually took this part directed and insisted from her hospital bed how things should be done,  and as the Herdman children pushed others out of the way,  and asked incessant questions. When the Reverend Hopkins tried to persuade Grace to cancel the Christmas pageant that year, she determined that this would be the best pageant ever, and it was.

The Herdman children, Imogene, Ralph, Claude, Leroy and Gladys pushed their way into scenes, often defiant, and questioning. The assumption that all children know the story about Jesus’ birth is shattered by their questions, and so the director begins to read the story, to ever more questions and outrage of the Herdman children, who have also known rejection and poverty.

The regulars at Sunday school refused to take a part because of threats by the Herdmans if they should volunteer. Ellen [Nina DeSouza], answered, “What if I get sick?”  Alice [RaineyRogozynski] , who usually played Mary, refused to put up her hand to be Mary. Later she reported what Imogene would do to her if she volunteered. Charlie, who’d rather not be a shepherd, is one anyway.

 There’s whispering back and forth, pointing out what those children were doing wrong in church, but also the ladies in the kitchen, including Mrs. McCarthy [Audrianna DeSouza] and Mrs. Slocum, who are curious about what’s going on during practice and neglect their baking.

By the last scene, Imogene [Megan Grist] has taken off her big hoop earrings and holds the doll, Jesus, in a reverent and loving manner— a transition that we don’t expect her to make. Indeed the Herdmans learn about  the story in the best way possible, by acting it out themselves: Olivia DeSouza, an exuberant Angel of the Lord, pushing the shepherds, including a small dog dressed as a sheep, hurrying them to the stable, using far more words than her biblical counterpart; also the shepherds, who bring a small dog dressed as a sheep, and the wise men who give what they have— a Christmas ham instead of a make-believe urn of expensive oil. 

Charlie [Zack Wall], knowing that the Herdman children have brought the ham from their Christmas hamper, wants to give it back to them. His father says that a gift once given should not be returned.  Charlie notes that this is the first time a Herdman child has ever given something away. That as a result of engaging with the Christmas story.

 I’m sure that Barbara Robinson has at least once directed a Christmas pageant, for she wrote in so many details of how they come about, how unpredictable a process it can be.

  An amazing story, well done by all actors with enthusiasm and appropriate seriousness. Kudos to Director Kath Oliver, Sue Robinson, Producer, and Jennea Smith, costume designer, and all backstage help for supporting the actors in this exciting and lively production.

Read the book, or see the play if you get the chance. It will warm your heart, make you laugh, and renew the meaning of Christmas.