I feel like a Homer

I dropped the ball again.

Two weeks ago, your Christ the King staff held a Christmas cookie exchange to celebrate the gift of Jesus our Lord.

With the abundance of cookies (and a recent diagnosis of high blood sugar) I decided to give away my plate of cookies to our neighbors in the town home complex where we live.

Our neighbors were so kind to shovel our driveway during a recent snow storm. It was a thoughtful gesture, and we expressed our thanks with a gift of Christmas cookies.

However, I forgot to do one other thing. I forgot to invite our neighbors to Christmas Eve/Christmas Day worship.

Drat! I dropped the ball again.

When I worked at Mt. View Lutheran Church, one of my jobs was to lead chapel for the pre-school students and their parents once a month.

In December 2007 the children held their annual Christmas program for their parents. It was the perfect audience to invite to Christmas Eve/Christmas Day worship. And at Mt. View, we had seven different worship times on Christmas Eve.

In the midst of thanking the children for their program, I forgot to extend an invitation to the parents to join us for worship.

I felt like Homer Simpson. D’oh!

My colleague, Pastor Julie Britsch, was one of the parents in the audience. She came up to me and whispered in my ear, “You might want to invite them to worship on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.”

Only then did I extend the invitation.

So, if you are forgetting to extend an invitation to Friends/Associates/Neighbors/Strangers (FANS) to join us here at Christ the King for worship, join the club.

I forgot, too.

Happy Christmas!

A blessed Feast of the Nativity to you and yours. Remember - we worship together tomorrow (Christmas Day) at 11:00am and have just one service of worship this Sunday, December 28th, at 9:30am. Let the merriment begin!

This is the Christmas message from Mark Hanson, the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA.

Festival of Lights

We Christians aren't the only ones lighting candles this time of year. Hanukkah began yesterday evening at sundown (per the Jewish way of keeping time - the new day starts at sunset...). So today is the first day of Hanukkah.
And if you want to learn more about it, I commend you. I think it's always a good idea to understand the holy days, traditions and celebrations of people who profess faiths other than our own. My friend Rabbi Sarah Mack, who serves a congregation in Providence, RI, recommended this site to me as a beginning place to learn about Hanukkah. Enjoy!

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe. Help us to understand each other, to reach out our hands in welcome and peace. Amen

Let Santa decrease and let Christ increase this Christmas

Last Sunday our high school youth presented a play entitled “The Christmas Competition.” Featured in the production were two inflatable Christmas lawn decorations. One depicted the manger scene, with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.

The second depicted Santa Claus-and it was HUGE. It was placed in front of a cross in our worship space here in Bozeman. I couldn’t help but think “The jolly old elf has replaced Jesus as the reason for the season.

Much to my delight, during the play there was a scene where the giant red dirigible lost power and deflated right in front of us. The cross of Christ became visible once more.

The high school students reminded us during the play “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

In the midst of your Christmas preparations, let Santa decrease and let Christ increase.

Santa Lucia Day

What follows is a post I wrote on another blog LAST year on St. Lucia day - turns out Grant had to go without his saffron buns again this year. And if Santa Lucia Day lands on a Sunday next year, I can almost guarantee there won't be any early morning baking or candles in my hair. Perhaps in 2010...

Have you ever gone to bed at night knowing that you'd be a bit of a disappointment the next day? Not that the next day would be disappointing, but that you would be disappointing? That's what happened to me last night.
My husband Grant is the youngest of three brothers. And he is of Swedish descent. These might seem like really random things, but today they are of significance. The 13th of December is Santa Lucia Day - the day when the oldest daughter in the family brings coffee and saffron St. Lucia buns to her parents in bed, all while wearing a white gown and a wreath with lit candles on her head.
Grant has known about this tradition for a long time, but with only boys in his nuclear family, there were never early-morning-saffron buns carried by very careful young women in their house when he was growing up.
He dropped hints last week, reminding me that St. Lucia day was drawing near. While St. Lucia day is remembered throughout Scandinavia, it is really big in Sweden, and not so much in my family's Norwegian heritage. And so I forgot. Until last night. (Not that I'd have gotten up to make saffron buns this morning, or worn candles on my head, anyway - the whole downstairs of our house is packed up so we can get new flooring put in. And I hate the smell of burning hair in the morning).
So - maybe next year.
And in the meantime - a blessed St. Lucy day.
The light DOES shine in the darkness, and the darkness has not (and never will) understood or overcome it.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Today is the 60th anniversary of the UN's unanimous passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There's a great article about the Declaration in the latest mailing we got from the Heifer Project, though that magazine has unfortunately been buried somewhere in a pile at our house! I'll post it when I find it.
In the meantime, enjoy this music video. And consider reading up on international human rights and doing something about them.

Meeting John the Baptizer: Truth Teller

A seminary classmate of mine, Jennie English, is pastor of a congregation in Chicago. She writes a great blog, and has a thought provoking post about the second week of Advent and its encounter with John the Baptizer. I commend it to you.

Jan Richardson's Advent Door

I am thoroughly enjoying another blog this Advent. Hope you enjoy it, too.
Here is the link to an entry on Psalm 85, which was the lectionary Psalm for the Second Sunday of Advent (those of you at CtK - what do you think of reading the psalm each week?).
Again, I hope you enjoy it!

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

How are your preparations going?

Is it a mad frenzy as you try to get ready for Christmas? Which part is the most crazy-making? Is there any of it you can just let go?

There's still no Christmas tree up at our house. And to be completely honest, I'm not sure there will be this year - at least not the 9 foot pre-lit artificial tree that made so much sense in Phoenix (real trees are EXPENSIVE fire hazards in the desert, so we invested in a lovely fake tree a couple of years ago). We do have a little two-or-three-footer-in-a-box, which would make a lot more sense for us this year. And we bought a pine-scented candle, so at least it smells like we're getting ready for Christmas.

For me, the more important part of the preparations is taking the time to be still, to ponder, to pray. If you're looking for help with that, start small - even 5 or 10 minutes of quiet each day can make a big difference, and we're much more likely to follow through with something do-able like that.

One resource is the devotions from the "Western Mission Cluster" - Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA. Check it out!

Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c. 342

In addition to being the day of the annual Bozeman Christmas Stroll (three cheers and many thanks to those who organized, set up and cleaned up the CtK booth and to all the singers who joined in the caroling), today (December 6th) is the feast day of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra. He's one of the church's most beloved saints, though relatively little is known about his life. In the fourth century he was a bishop in what is now Turkey.
There are lots of legends that tell of his love for God and neighbor. And there are lots of web sites that can help us understand how the "Saint Nicholas" remembered by Christians for centuries, became the "Santa Claus" that gets plastered all over everything this time of year.
I suggest a visit to The St. Nicholas Center and some anonymous gift-giving to remember his life of faith and service.

Random thoughts on a snowy evening

What to get Papa for Christmas?

I am faced with a challenge every 25th of December. What gift should I give to my father? Does he want or need another neck tie? Would he appreciate a box of peanut brittle from Harry and David? I know, he loves to read and listen to music. I’ll buy him a book and a Carrie Underwood CD! He loves coffee. How about giving him a Starbucks gift card?
The good news is my father has requested that for his birthday (December 5th ) and for Christmas he desires no gifts. He has encouraged his family and friends to give to the local charity of our choice, or to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America “Good Gifts” campaign, which helps feed hungry people across the globe.
My father Robert is a faithful volunteer in his own parish, Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church in San Luis Obispo, CA. His special emphasis is ministry to the homeless.
With that thought in mind, I will make a gift in honor of my father Robert’s birthday to “Family Promise of the Gallatin Valley.”www.familypromisegv.org It is a ministry that helps shelter families by using a network of churches and places of worship all throughout southwest Montana.
I became acquainted with Family Promise when I served a parish in the greater Phoenix, AZ area. It is a worthy cause.
So here’s to you, Papa. No neck ties. No peanut brittle to rot your teeth or make you fat. No books, CDs, or coffee. Here’s to you, for helping homeless families find hope in the midst of hard times.

Time to sit down and be quiet

Happy Advent!

Advent is one of my favorite times of the year - the preparations, the blue paraments and evergreens adorning our spaces of worship, the lights shining in the midst of the darkness (and let me tell you - last night, driving the rest of the way home from California, it was DARK!), and the opportunity to slow down and be still in the midst of our culture's rush and frenzy.

Advent is easy enough to miss. Our "consumer" culture doesn't have a lot of time for the prayer and reflection the season offers as we prepare our hearts and lives for Christ to be born in us. It takes an intentional pace and disciplined space-making, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Even if you aren't usually one for sitting still or contemplation, during these next days and weeks, give it a try. Light a candle (or the appropriate number of candles on an Advent wreath), set a timer if you have to - start at even just 3 to 5 minutes, sit comfortably, breathe deeply, and join Mary in "pondering these things" in your heart, or think about the words to one of your favorite Advent or Christmas carols.

Tomorrow evening we begin our Advent mid-week services here at CtK. We'll have a soup and bread supper at 6:15pm (kids activities start at 5:30pm) and then Evening Prayer at 7:00pm. We will be using the Holden Evening Prayer liturgy, which is a favorite for many. Come sing, pray, reflect, read Scripture, and have a chance to slow down for an evening. Following worship, those who are interested are invited to stay for a conversation about "Whose Birthday is it, Anyway?" a magazine of reflections, activites, how-to's and more, all ideas for a Christ-centered holiday. Free copies of the magazine will be available.

May this Advent be filled with blessings.