GroshLink

has become a rich conversation in our house as Ellen and Hayley have naturally sought to share their lives and faith with other first graders at Donegal Spring Elementary. The past couple days we have talked about why public schools do not recognize a Christ-centered Christmas. Pray for courage, insight, and openness as they allow the Spirit, by the direction of the Father, to spill the love of Christ onto their classmates through them.

Pray for us Theresa and myself as we address the questions and tensions which arise from reproducing the likeness of Christ in the world. By-the-way, we've found Christianity Today's holiday resource page particularly helpful as we discuss the various traditions of Christmas. And we are looking forward joining the Real St Nicholas in the celebration of a Christ-centered Christmas now and through eternity.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

Welcomed me into Charles Wesley is hard to forget. Soon we'll all be joining in

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in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among the nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then we will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory... (Luke 21:25-36).

"There is a part of me that wants to avoid the uncomfortable realities represented here -- especially during this blessed season that falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But the truth is, the scenario described in Luke 21 is much closer to real life than the dreamy images of beautiful angels, lowing cattle and a gentle mother nursing the Christ-child that we often associate with the Christmas season. At the global level, our days and nights are filled with images of the very dynamics described here: the unresolved tensions of clashing nations, violent interpersonal conflict, the roaring of sea and tsunami waves and hurricane flooding. At a more personal level, we are plagued by our own confusion and distress about conflicts we can't resolve, questions we can't answer, failures among ourselves and others that cause us to question the very Gospel message that we proclaim." -- excerpted from Ruth Hayley Barton's Light for our Darkness.

Light of lights! All gloom dispelling,
Thou didst come to make thy dwelling
Here within our world of sight.
Lord, in pity and power,
Thou didst in our darkest hour
Rend the clouds and show thy light.

Praise to thee in earth and heaven
Now and evermore be given,
Christ, who art our sun and shield.
Lord, for us thy life thou gavest,
Those who trust in thee thou savest,
All thy mercy stands revealed.

--St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274)
Medieval theologian and philosopher

I came across this in Recovering the Holy of the Christmas Holiday. Set aside some time today to begin your Advent reflections.

We'd encourage you to download Sufjan Stevens' streaming Christmas music. Our family's been listening to Songs For Christmas almost non-stop since we received our order from Hearts and Minds Bookstore, where it is in stock :-) Come on! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance! (Volume 3, Song 2) is Tom's favorite. Let's sing-a-long during the Advent season.

FYI: Pitchfork's review.

Hayley and Ellen are watching The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe as I type [Hope you've marked your calendar for Prince Caspian on May 16, 2008]. Theresa and I are having quite the conversation regarding the book (it's not in the book . . . any scenes come to your mind, hurry!), World War II (look at those planes, that really happened), and evil (she doesn't look that bad). Where is Aslan? I thought there was no Christmas in Narnia? Winter is almost over. Long live Aslan and Merry Christmas!

We'll let you know more on our thoughts later. As you live in the reality of Jesus the Christ, enter the Sabbath (and each day) with the image of the Lion and the Lamb:

The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South, another piece by Philip Jenkins, referenced just the other day on groshlink comes out in October. Place it on your Christmas list. Here's a quote:

the experience of the emerging churches must make us rethink the role of the Old Testament . . . Southern readings can help us exorcize the stubborn ghost of Marcion, a task that Christian churches need to repeat with some regularity.

Amen. Looking forward to more from the prolific Penn State History Scholar!

Did you know that Christmas was one of the most searched for words in 2005? Check this Urbana resource link out if you're looking for a brief piece summarizing What is Christmas? The article includes links to Luke 1-2 in several languages and a brief description of the origin of Christmas. . . . Note:  I too return to John 1:1-5, 14 as a reminder of where Christmas fits to the bigger story of God's work in the creation

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Although Some fans exhausted by manic 'Kong' and The footprint of 'Kong' looms smaller, King Kong came out about double that of this weekend's Narnia's take, aided by the turnout of several of my friends who seemed, for the most part, to enjoy their experience. But The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe's opening was stronger than Kong's by about 15 million. So is this important?

My enthusiasm for Narnia at our recent GCF Christmas party, led one student to ask if Disney paid me while another was ready to go to theatre. Our conversation at GCF focused on Father Christmas' gift giving (which by the way was very vocationally driven) AND Peter, Susan, and Lucy's receiving (which by the way was applied by faith in a difficult context). But as I commented earlier, I find myself drawn to the true myth glimpsed in and through Lewis' work and not the film itself. The more I reflect upon it, the books provide much more opportunity for the imagination to wander at leisure and wrestle with the material presented, eg., the purpose of gift-giving and the how to embrace gifts given to us by God/others. This is in a large part to the difference in the form of communication, but the film does provide a window for the story to come alive (for some) and invite others into it for the first time . . . maybe even a baptism (or re-direction) of the imagination at an early age.

Came across A Christmas Sunday forces churches to alter schedules with notables including James Bibza, Rock Dillaman, and Stan Ott. In the same Sunday paper, there was a forum regarding The season and its reasons. The titles speak for themselves Merry Christmas, however you celebrate and O, come, all ye faithless

Looking for the time to blog a reaction but at present I'm too immersed in being Christ with the family/people of God. None-the-less the incarnation is not only about being the Light, but also being the Word directed by the Spirit of God every day, in every way . . . so Lord willing, commentary coming later.