Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and Mother Earth

We had a minor miracle happen during this last week of the year: we actually managed to watch two movies. Normally, M will not let us watch even one (unless it's one that she wants to watch, of course, and even that's tricky).

Brother Sun, Sister Moon is Franco Zeffirelli's tale of the early life of St. Francis of Assissi. While it fared poorly at the hands of movie critics, and is not Zeffirelli's best work, I found it worth watching, especially since I haven't seen any of the other St. Francis movies. Francis is portrayed as a social outcast and a perceived madman for his decision to live a life of simplicity and poverty, rejecting the excesses and corruption of both the church and his family. Although the hippie overtones were distracting at times, the message was compelling, and no less valid today than it was in Francis' time.

An Inconvenient Truth is Al Gore's documentary on global warming. This is a movie that I think everyone should see, regardless of political affiliation. Whether you appreciate the science or just accept Gore's interpretation of it, the facts presented should leave little doubt about the damage we've done to this fragile planet of ours.

Two very different movies, but with a common thread nonetheless: the truth is often not popular, and there are those who stand to gain a lot by suppressing it. I believe that God calls each of us to seek the truth, whether through a life of self-sacrifice and caring for those in need, or standing up to those who would obstruct it.

O holy night

You could have chosen to be born in a palace, attended by a full complement of a king's court, in a manner befitting a prince. You could have been the mighty warrior that your people imagined, one who would overthrow their oppressors and vanquish tyranny forever.

Yet you chose an ordinary family, and a humble stable. Yet your legacy has survived that of the greatest conquerors who ever lived, and will outlast those still to come.

The Magi sought you by following the star, and we seek you today. When we find you, it is not in places adorned with gold, in towering steeples or ornate monuments. For you reside where there is no hope, among the hungry, the oppressed, the desperate, the incarcerated, the dying.

On this day, and every day, may we look for your star there.

Friday Five: Festive foods

The RGBP Friday Five this week is about one of my favorite topics: food!

1. Favorite cookie/candy/baked good without which, it's just not Christmas.
This was a tradition growing up, which I reluctantly abandoned when I moved to the U.S.: Christmas pudding, complete with brandy poured over it and lit.

And yes, I'm also one of the few people on this planet who actually likes fruitcake (the real, home-made kind, not the store-bought junk). We would bake it and then wrap it in a thin sheet of marzipan.


2. Do you do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, both, or neither? (Optional: with whom will you gather around the table this year?)
We typically have a special meal on Christmas Day, just with immediate family. This year, it will be D, M, and myself (and, of course, doggie F). Growing up, another tradition was coming home from midnight Mass and celebrating Christmas morning with the aforementioned fruitcake and a beverage of choice.

3. Evaluate one or more of the holiday beverage trifecta: hot chocolate, wassail, egg nog.
I like egg nog, although my favorite Christmas beverage until recently has been Bailey's Irish cream. After discovering I was allergic to dairy, I've found a good replacement in soy nog.

4. Candy canes: do you like all the new-fangled flavors or are you a peppermint purist?
Never liked them much, then or now.

5. Have you ever actually had figgy pudding? And is it really so good that people will refuse to leave until they are served it?
Not sure about figgy pudding, but if it's anything like Christmas pudding (see #1) I bet I'd like it. And we did have to serve Christmas pudding before anyone would leave.

Brownian motion

If you remember grade-school science, you'll recall that Brownian motion (named for the Scottish botanist Robert Brown) describes the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid medium.

I often feel this is how our lives play out--we spend a lot of time randomly bouncing around off each other, or off the walls of our container. Every once in a while God steps in, takes us out of the box, and gives us a direction to follow. We start moving with a purpose, but then chaos takes over and we're back to Brownian motion again.

Lord, you've given each one of us a purpose that is far greater than the everyday chaotic vibration of our lives. Help us to keep moving forward along the path you've chosen.

Jesus vs. Santa

Sermonspice.com has posted a collection of "Jesus vs. Santa" video clips. They're spoofs of the now-famous Mac vs. PC ads from Apple, one of my favorite ad campaigns. Somehow, I don't think they have quite the punch of the originals, but they're amusing to watch anyway.

So what do you think? Would you use one of these in your sermon?

Friday Five: Yuletide favorites

I don't watch movies that much, so I can only partially participate in this week's Friday Five from RGBP:

1) It's a Wonderful Life--Is it? Do you remember seeing it for the first time?
I've watched it a few times, and still enjoy it in spite of myself. This year, we may convince M to watch it for the first time.

2) Miracle on 34th Street--old version or new?
Haven't watched either, so I can't say.

3) Do you have a favorite incarnation of Mr. Scrooge?
Michael Caine in the Muppet Christmas Carol--one of my favorite actors.

4) Why should it be a problem for an elf to be a dentist? I've been watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for years now, and I still don't get it.
Nor do I, but I suppose he represents the nonconformist in us. I've been the "dentist" in various situations, too!

5) Who's the scariest character in Christmas specials/movies?
I haven't watched that many, so I'll offer this article instead.

The egalitarian worldview

I don't routinely post links to other blogs without an extended discussion, but Henry Neufeld has described my position so eloquently that I have nothing left to add!

(In case you're wondering, this topic was prompted by the results of the quiz in my previous post; one more issue that's out of whack with the predicted results.)

The denominational divide

While commenting on a blog, I mentioned various "denominational quizzes" that attempt to classify you based on answers to questions about faith, beliefs, and church tradition. Of course, such quizzes are only as good as the methods used by their creator, but it's still an interesting exercise. I've taken a few of these before and generally been amused by them, but the one that both D and I took yesterday was the Christian Traditions Selector. I'm not exactly sure what the percentages mean, but here are my results:



Given my church history, this is probably not surprising. While I don't pay a lot of attention to denominational differences in day-to-day interaction with other Christians, it was interesting that D and I had significant differences. Now that D is beginning her own journey on the path to ministry, we've both been thinking about this issue more seriously.

I know that God has distinct plans for each of us that we've barely begun to realize, and I wonder how these denominational differences will determine our future direction. Meanwhile, the journey proceeds, one baby step at a time.

Friday Five

My very first RGBP Friday Five. This week, the topic is Christmas music.

1. A favorite 'secular' Christmas song.
That's an easy one: Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (the original version, sadly not available on iTunes). Hmmm...maybe not so easy. I also really like Jay Belton's rendition of The Little Drummer Boy (does that qualify as marginally secular?).

2. Christmas song that chokes you up (maybe even in spite of yourself--the cheesier the better).
I hate to say this (see #3 below): Christmas Shoes

3. Christmas song that makes you want to stuff your ears with chestnuts roasted on an open fire.
Also Christmas Shoes.

4. The Twelve Days of Christmas: is there *any* redeeming value to that song? Discuss.
Well, it does provide questions for the Trvia Quiz (and I recall getting them wrong!).

5. A favorite Christmas album.
I don't have one, but if Mark Knopfler ever produced one, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Breaking bread with atheists

Okay, so it was tortillas, and we didn't really break them...

I'm a member of a local computer users' group, and we have a monthly board meeting at various restaurants. The board is a small but diverse and fun group of people, with one thing in common: they're atheists or agnostics (non-theists?). I'm the only Christian in the bunch.

We seem to have reached a comfortable equilibrium where they don't question my faith and I don't challenge theirs. (Yes, I do believe it takes a lot of faith to be an atheist.) The only topic that touches on religion is an occasional discussion of intelligent design, and I tend to agree with most of their positions on that, anyway.

The problem: is "comfortable" good enough? Given an opportunity to discuss my faith, I'm more than happy to oblige, but are atheists a waste of time? (For the record, I was an agnostic for the better part of my adult life.) Does the Great Commission direct us to deliver the good news only to those who are predisposed to listen?

As we work through a series on Contagious Christianity at our church's discipleship service, and as I prepare a message on "clear communication" for next week, I hope to find some answers.

World AIDS Day

Shoveling snow today while listening to my classic rock playlist (thank God for iPods!), it's easy to forget or dismiss what's happening halfway across the globe--and within this country. While World Vision promotes AIDS awareness, many churches are turning their backs on the serious issues involved. I won't comment on the hue and cry raised by Rick Warren's invitation to Barack Obama (to speak at the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church), as others have done so far more eloquently.

Closer to home, I'm glad that Russ Feingold is moving into a position where he may be more effective in tackling the AIDS problem than he ever could as a presidential candidate.

I'm fortunate in that I don't have any family members or even friends who have been affected by this devastating disease. The down side is that it seems like a distant crisis, one that doesn't touch me directly, even though the country of my birth is now host to over 5 million AIDS victims.

If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to read these steps on how you can help. It will open your eyes and hearts. If you feel called to act at the church level, you can check into building caregiver kits for children affected by AIDS.

But please don't turn your back and walk away.