Imagine Christmas without Carols

Imagine Christmas without carols. Imagine Christmas without packages wrapped with care (and torn open with glee). Imagine Christmas without commercialization. Imagine December was merely a count down from one calendar year to the next. No Advent. No holiday parties and no sugar cookies (I know…sugar cookies are yum). No “Wonderful Life” reruns and no ghosts of Christmas past for Scrooge or anyone else. No shepherds sporting bathrobes or angels cardboard wings. No hustle and bustle and running crazy to get the latest card sent off.

Instead, imagine a country occupied by a foreign power. Instead, imagine a local scandal involving a teenage girl who isn’t old enough to drive (a camel maybe, but not a car) and her respectable, righteous even, fiancée. Imagine, the shame. Imagine the surprise when she is not dismissed quietly, but aforementioned boyfriend stays the course, solid as the timber he plies for a trade. Imagine the panic as labor pains increase along with doors slammed shut, refusing welcome. Imagine the relief at entry, barn animals or not. Imagine the water breaking.

Imagine the mystery of all things, the creator of all that is, nurtured, nestled, in that young womb for nine months, submitting to the same story of every human come before. Imagine the emergence of beautiful new life: blood, fluid, and labored breaths; the young mother exercising a form of workmanship ancient and fresh, producing art which lives and loves. Imagine the impossibility made possible, of the creature caressing the creator to her breast. Imagine the cry of Life itself, Divinity itself, joining with baby’s breathe, hastening the redemption of all.

Imagine this tiny breath expanding from that straw stable to enveloping all that was and will be. A breath that we inhale by faith. A breath we inhale by virtue of having lungs and breathing air. A life we partake in by virtue of every cell in our body and every spiritual molecule in our soul. Imagine this and you will have come close to the Kingdom. Imagine this and you will tremble with the audacity of it all. You will slam your Christmas dinner table with fists of epiphany. You will have seen through the mirror dim, the true message of Christmas, given in a single name:

Emmanuel.

Don't Miss Out on Lent

Missing out, Lent? Yes. Lent is the forty day season before Easter (it starts next week on March 5). Lent is a heavy-weight season of the Christian year full of richness, potential for encounter with God, and life impact. Unfortunately, Lent is usually taken – if at all – as a light-weight season for giving up chocolate, going to an extra worship service or two and collecting loose change for some good cause. These are all fine things, but taken by themselves they miss the flight on what Lent is intended to be all about.

Life is a journey; cliché, but undeniably true. Likewise, Christianity is meant to be journey. Christianity is not meant to be an event, but a life. We’re all human; we all bleed; we all laugh; we all cry; and we all dream. Christianity is a way of becoming more authentically human; tapping into all the wonders of life, from Sunday symphonies to Wednesday blues and Saturday rock and roll. The seasons of the Church Year are designed to help us become better at being human; better at savoring ordinary joys, like a good cup of tea; weathering the horrible sorrows, like the loss of a loved one. How? By helping us to live more intentionally and to give more attention not only to our ever-present to-do lists, but to the spaces in our lives we ignore, where strangely and scarily, God is often to be found.  

Lent is designed to do this by challenging us to take our spiritual lives more seriously. To set aside forty days to ponder our relationship with God and God’s universe, God and God’s people, and God and our innermost selves. The classic Biblical image for Lent is Jesus’ forty days and nights of temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11); while in the desert, Jesus had plenty of time to ponder life’s mysteries; to pray, to fast, and to be tested. During Lent, the Church invites us to take on the spiritual practices of silence, Scripture reading, and fasting in order to grow into more authentic human beings.

If we miss out on Lent, we might miss out on being our very selves as God intended us to be. If we miss out on Lent, we may become less human, not more. I encourage you to take advantage of Lent this year. Make it a heavy-weight season, not a light-weight season. Don’t miss the flight that is Lent; if you do, you’ll miss out on going to some transforming places.  

Archbishop Rowan Williams On Lent
Two Minute Crash Course on Lent
Observing Lent as a Family

Happy New Year!

Advent, which marks the beginning of the Christian year, begins this Sunday, December 1. Advent is one of the more important seasons of the Christian year (also called the liturgical year), for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it is the first. In popular imagination, the Christian year is often reduced to a color coding device for determining what colors are used on the altar and worn by the priests. This reduction is a tragic one. The Christian year with its flow of feasts and fasts, seasons and observances, is primarily meant to be celebrated at home, within the ordinary fabric of our lives. I dare to say that a renewal of the Christian year in our homes would result in a renewal of Christianity in North America. We are rapidly moving further and further into a post-Christian world. Fewer and fewer people are exposed to the Church and those that are (especially young people) tend not to return after leaving home. Instead of making Christianity a one-hour sport on Sundays, the observance of the Christian year takes the faith and weaves it within the regular ups and downs of family life. Instead of “Church” and “God” being something outside of the family on Sundays, spirituality becomes woven into the very fabric of family life and day to day living. The Christian year can and should be celebrated not just by families, but by single people in their homes and in their workplaces. If you want your faith to be more meaningful; if you want greater spiritual richness and depth in your daily living; then I encourage you to start observing the Christian year at home. Advent starts Sunday, make your plans now!

Self-Denial? Really?

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Within the Episcopal Ash Wednesday liturgy the congregation is addressed with the following words, “I invite you…to the observance of a Holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word” (emphasis added, Book of Common Prayer, 265). Self-denial’s importance is found not only in the historic observance of Lent, but throughout the history of Christianity itself. If this wasn’t enough to convince the self-denial skeptic we only need to quote the words of Jesus, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).

It has become fashionable in recent years for people to say, “Oh, I don’t take something away during Lent. I add something.” As if self-denial was a repressive practice with no meaning or purpose; a hold-over from a darker time, when kill-joys ruled the Church delighting in removing all pleasure from human existence. Self-denial – as is made clear by Jesus’ words – is an integral part of the Christian life. Lent is a season where we are invited to work our spiritual muscles more intensely.

A foundational part of this spiritual work-out is self-denial. The purpose of self-denial is to train the human will to cooperate with the will of God. If I can learn, with God’s grace, to deny myself chocolate during Lent, for example, then hopefully I will also be able with God’s grace to deny myself those things which are harmful to my life. If I can say no to meat on Fridays during Lent, then  hopefully I've strengthened my ability to say no to the temptation, whether to gossip about a co-worker or to say no to the desire for revenge and so on.

Self-denial trains us to say yes to God; yes to all that is good, and no to those forces which oppose God. Self-denial helps say no to our sinful tendency to make life all about us and our wants. So this Lent make sure to practice self-denial. It’s perfectly ok to also add a spiritual practice. I recommend you do that, but don’t forget self-denial. You might deny yourself meat, or Face Book, or texting, or any number of things which have taken control of your life. Lent starts next Wednesday, how are you going to practice self-denial?

Preparing for Lent

Lent is a forty day period leading up to Holy Week and the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday and the fifty-day period called Eastertide. This year it begins on Wednesday, February 13, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday, and concludes during Holy Week prior to Easter Sunday, on March 31. Lent is a season of repentance, spiritual exercise, and self-denial. Lent is a preparation for Easter. That’s true. However, Lent is more than just a warm-up to the big day. Historically, Lent has been a period of spiritual growth and development for Christians.

 

There are many customs and traditions associated with Lent that can be observed by individuals, couples, and families. There is a tendency by many Christians to limit Lent to “giving something up” or “taking something on.” Self-denial is an important part of Lent so you should give something up. Taking on new spiritual practices is also an important part of Lent and something you do too. However, Lent is about more than just cutting back on bad things and adding more good things to your life.

 

Lent is a period of time where we more intentionally focus on God. It’s a time to push away other concerns and focus more intentionally on our spirituality and our relationship to Jesus Christ. Think of Lent as a spiritual marathon. During Lent we raise the intensity of our spiritual practice. The hope is that by God’s grace (because you will never do all you want to do for Lent without grace) you will become a more dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ or to say it different, you will become more fully human as God intended.  

 

Today, and certainly no later than this week, take time out by yourself, with a friend, or with your family to plan for Lent. Think of planning now as a deposit on an investment, an investment that will profit in transformed lives as you and yours observe this ancient and powerful season of the Christian year. In order for this to happen we have to prepare ourselves for Lent.

Here are some resources to help you get started.

 

Feel free in the comments section to share your own resources, ideas, and plans for Lent this year.

 

Why Bother with Lent?
Archbishop’s Video Lenten Reflections

What is Lent? A Brief Introduction

Lenten Customs

More Customs and History about Lent

Lots more Lenten resourcesfrom the Anglican Tradition

Preparing for Advent

Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year. This year it begins on Sunday, December 2, and concludes on Monday, December 24. Advent is a season of preparation. Not only is Advent about preparing to celebrate the first coming of Christ as a baby, but it’s also about preparing for Christ’s second coming as judge. In Advent we are reminded that the Christmas story began thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, with the people of Israel. In Advent we are reminded that the Christmas story is not over; Jesus will return. On that day we will sing the old carol “Joy to the World! the Lord is come; let earth receive her King” in a whole new way.

Advent is a rich season with many ancient customs for individuals, couples, and families to observe. Sadly, many Christians fail to celebrate Advent meaningful. This is because observing Advent is counter-cultural. Advent challenges us to wait, to hold off on celebrating Christmas until we’ve prepared ourselves rightly. I believe that a real observance of Advent by individuals, couples, and families would transform our faith, making it a part of our daily lives. In order for this to happen we have to prepare ourselves for Advent. If we don’t plan for Advent our lives will be shaped by the frenzy of the holiday season.   

Today, and certainly no later than this week, take time out by yourself, with a friend, or with your family to plan for Advent. Think of planning now as a deposit on an investment, an investment that will profit in transformed lives as you and yours observe this ancient and wondrous season of the Christian year.

Here are some resources to help you get started.

Feel free in the comments section to share your own resources and ideas.

The Advent Conspiracy

The Spirituality of Advent by the Archbishop of Canterbury

How to Make and Use an Advent Wreath

What is Advent? An Introduction

Advent Customs

Lots more Advent Resources from the Anglican tradition