Several families were visiting at my house for a Christmastime Bible Study. The study was not in English. I took my usual role as child wrangler. The most respected gift, I think, is to give one’s self.

The kids—mostly talkative five-year-olds—ran to the Christmas tree. They were closely inspecting its decorations. “Kan zhi-ge! ”  “Look at these!”

One girl exclaimed, “Uncle Greg, we make these lights! We make these lights!”
 
I asked, “Do you have a Christmas tree at home?”

 She calmed down. “Little tree,” she murmured. “we do not make lights for it. Not our lights.”
 
Crouching down, I pressed, “How did you make these lights on this tree in my house?”
 
She looked at me. She exhaled. She spoke slowly so I could understand. I don't recall the exact words. The explanation went something like this:
 
We make these lights where we live in Taiwan.
We make little lights at my house.
Not here. At my house in Taiwan.
Every day, we make little lights.
We do not keep little lights. We sell them.
 
Then I understood. In Taiwan, her family assembled Christmas light strings in their apartment.

These five-year-olds were concerned about how my lights were spaced. Were bulbs solid color or blotchy? Could light strings join end-to-end? Which is better, blink or not blink? Which is better, blue or white?

The young Quality Assurance team finally approved my tree's workmanship and presentation. 
 
Since then, when I visit local stores—even if not intending to buy—I scrutinize Christmas decorations for sale. From where did they come? Taiwan, People’s Republic of China, Viet Nam, India, Mexico, the Czech Republic…? I wonder, did they come from children's hands or from automation?  What does it profit a kitchen-based factory when I buy fifty of their lights for two dollars?  When I ask adult visitors about Halloween items, they thoroughly dislike the uglies.  But they are intrigued by Christmas stuff. They ask, why do people with so many trees buy a plastic tree? Why buy so much sparkly stuff? What if you do not have snow? What’s with the old man in red clothes? Is he a Buddha? Is the baby his grandson? Do the animals eat the baby? Do Americans really eat bread with every meal?

What do the workers infer about the buyers of their product, whether cute lights or big books?  What things might I buy that would stir the producer’s interest in God’s kingdom?  The answer is above.

The inspectors swarmed off to use the carpeted stairs as a toboggan run. I grabbed big plush animals to stand guard with me at the bottom of the stairs.

When the kids tired, we played with my “Made in China” nativity set. We talked about the star, the people, and the animals. We learned about the best gift: the child, the gift that is too wonderful for words.

It's rare that I get quite so emotional as I did with the attached video. This may have to do with visiting this year so many American civil war battlefields near my northern Virginia location.

The song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" uses an 1863 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Longfellow was a Harvard professor who had toured Europe apparently to learn to translate eight languages. He left academe, becoming a versatile, lyrics-slinging poet/rockstar.

Here was a man who had lost first wife Mary to miscarriage and second wife Frances to a fire that scarred his own face and body.  Here was a dedicated abolitionist and pacifist whose son joined the Union Army. Said son took a bullet to the spine, and now in December 1863 was back home in Massachusetts being nursed to health by his father.  Here was a man who on December 25, 1863 wrote the following verses mixing pain and resolve.

1.  I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

2.  And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

3.  Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

[Verses 4 & 5 are omitted from most recent presentations.]

4. Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

5.  It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

6.  And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

7.  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.

Where I stood was mud the day before. Now that farm road was frozen hard as iron. I pondered:
 
“The TV bosses let a kid quote the Bible for a minute. Maybe there's hope for this world!”

This nostalgic moment is easy for me to pinpoint. I was waiting for the school bus at 7:45 a.m., Friday, December 10, 1965. Many others also were reflecting on the previous evening’s premiere of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Over the background brain jazz of “Christmastime is Here” and “Linus and Lucy”,  I reconsidered the words of Linus and Luke: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields…”. 

Commercials urging “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” and “See the USA in your Chevrolet” had given way to "Glory to God in the highest!" Scary scenes from Selma and Viet Nam were for a while displaced by "Peace on earth, good will to men.” And by a blue blanket.

Most of the Peanuts kids—kids like me—knew well the Christmas biz. As Lucy confided, “We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket! It's run by a big eastern syndicate you know!” She urged, “Get the biggest aluminum tree you can find, Charlie Brown, maybe painted pink!”

For me, the compelling character in Peanuts was not Charlie Brown, though I felt his pain. Snoopy was more flamboyant than anyone I knew.  I was a Linus fan. Later I learned that Linus was not always the brave evangelist who could calmly summon, “Lights, please.”  Linus had been forgetful, anxious, and odd. For example, rewind to December 21, 1958.

A running gag especially in December was that Linus had stage fright. Lucy continued to encourage Linus in her persuasive way.

I appreciate Linus' compassion. The other kids relentlessly dismiss and ridicule Charlie Brown. Linus is to Charlie a merciful, supportive, frank, and insightful friend.

Linus is unembarrassed about his security blanket.  In A Charley Brown Christmas, this versatile blanket serves as tow rope, slingshot, head covering, hiding place, and potentially a sport coat. Concerning Linus' attachment to his blanket, in 2015 Jason Soroski published a profound observation now echoed at over fifty websites:

There is a second blanket drop! Linus selflessly gives his prized blanket to restore the little limp Christmas tree. What do you think becomes of the blanket?

Walk with me in the starry night with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and all others who would go. We will purpose our security for kindness.  We will trade cold tinsel for warm treasure. 

Footnote 1:  Linus steps up.

   1952 ... 1953 ... 1954 ... 1955 ... 1956 ... 1957 ... 1958
    ... 1959 ... 1960 ... 1961 ... 1962 ... 1963 ... 1964 ... 1965
       ... “Every now and then I say the right thing”

Footnote 2:  Linus steps back.
   Other Peanuts characters took much of Linus' role as sage and poet, even slinging a T.S. Eliot reference in one of the following Christmas strips.

  "Begat" ... "House of Bread" ... "Abiding" ...  "Attention" ... "I hate shopping" ...
     "Warned in a Dream" ... "Calling Bird" ...
         "Hark, Harold Angel" ... "Hockey Stick!" ...
            "Joe Handel" ... "Gabriel" ...
               "Sheep" ... "Moo! Whatever!"

Footnote 3: More Peanuts.

   Peanuts for Christ ...
       Peanuts Wiki on A Charlie Brown Christmas ...
            Charles Schulz' Spiritual Walk

Christmas is almost here!

The hustle, bustle, and general good cheer of the season can leave me empty of the reason that I celebrate Christmas in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the glitz, glitter, gifts, and all things Christmas, but I can easily forget that this winter holiday is bigger than red, green, and gold. It’s about the coming of Jesus to earth as a baby. The Messiah. The bringer of hope and good news.

This is why I embraced the season of Advent years ago. Advent allows me to focus on what is important during the Christmas season. I like the way BibleProject.com put the big idea of Advent, it’s a time when “communities remember and celebrate the arrival of Jesus and join together in the hope of his ultimate return.”

Hope  Peace  Joy  Love

Each week of Advent has a theme. I haven’t traditionally been good about following the theme. I’ve let life get in the way. But this year, I am looking forward to exploring the theme together with you. In the first two weeks, our focus is remembrance and anticipation of Christ's return.

The first week of Advent focuses on Hope. I’ll post some scriptures for us to reflect on. Link a video or two. And maybe even a worship song to round out the week. At home during meals, I will light the first candle of my Advent wreath which has a place of honor on my table.

The second week is Peace. I will again post some supporting items and Bible readings that will support the theme of peace. I will light the first and second candles on the advent wreath.

Week three we shift our focus to remembering Christ’s first coming. The Joy that comes with a new beginning. The joy of the shepherds. The joy we have in knowing Christ and accepting His gift of salvation. I will be lighting the first, second, and third candles of the Advent wreath.

In the last week of Advent leading up to Christmas day, the theme is Love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave…” This week I want to focus on God’s love for us through Scripture, song, and reflection. I will be lighting all four candles on the Advent Wreath.
I will light the Christ candle on Christmas Day in the middle of my Advent wreath. I usually have a big pillar candle there and can let it burn most of the day reminding me that the light of the world was born this day.

Merry Christmas friend. I look forward to sharing this journey through Advent with you.

P.S.
​
I love how the Advent candles end up at different heights in a spiral. The Fibonacci spiral wrapping around the center Christ candle in my advent wreath on my dining room table brings me joy! The perfection of a spiral points to the perfection of Christ’s birth and life, perfectly balanced and eternal.

In the aftermath of the election I’ve seen a series of posts, videos and other content actively displaying a sense of despair and deeply felt emotional response. In response to this, I’ve seen a fair amount of mocking snark, and condescension.

It seems like a lot of this engagement is only separating people further in a landscape that is already deeply divided.

My goal here isn’t to preach or fix, nor is it to chide or correct, but only to offer thoughts on possible paths forward. The reality is we all experience disappointment in big ways and small, and if that isn’t you this week, it will be you soon enough. So here we go, use if useful!

How to Find Hope in Disappointment:

1) Focus on What You Can Control

I love the band Switchfoot, not just for their incredible talent and sonic, but for the way they turn the problems of their songs back to local responsibility. They almost always frame an issue we all would agree is an issue, then they hold up a mirror and address themselves as the real problem and changing themselves as the way to move forward. It’s an interesting, surprising and for my money, healthy approach.

Are you in control of elections? Political parties? Swing vote on any big issue of the day? Yeah, me either. But just because you don’t hold levers of power doesn’t mean you can’t do something deeply meaningful. If you have the means, adjust your budget to be generous for the cause(s) you care about. If you don’t, look to give in other ways. Your favorite organization would likely benefit greatly from your expertise or simple hours as a volunteer.

Do something good! It’s an incredible strategy for re-directing focus on how bad “they” are to acting in a healthy and helpful spirit. Even if “they” are quite bad, we’re not in control of “them” - but we are in control of us upgrading our personal impact in a good way. My mirror agrees that I can do better.

2) Turn Disappointment into Opportunity
​
I remember my high school baseball team with incredible fondness. What a great group of talented guys. They taught me lessons that will shape me forever.

One thing in particular was our beautiful response to striking out. I don’t remember who started this, but instead of cursing and throwing a helmet in disappointment, we started running back to the dugout and giving a detailed description of the pitch that got us. 

The team would crowd around for a detailed scouting report in real time. 

The result? 

Around the 4th inning or so, our collective intel allowed us to clobber the poor guy on the mound. Even the strike outs became a handy tool that helped us win.

So let your disappointments take you to school. Learn. What can you do better? The things that hit us badly, can improve us, and propel us in positive directions if we engage in a certain way.

A while ago, I reported how after knee surgery I had trouble walking down stairs. My physical therapy consisted mostly of stretches performed several times  per day. I realized from these that I could improve a skill not just by repeating the process (like walking down stairs a lot), but also by preparation (like quadriceps stretches and leg lifts while on my back or leaning on a tree).  I picked prayer as a discipline to improve. A prayer stretch would be something that is not prayer that improves prayer.

Humility was my first choice for a prayer stretch. Why? That's the best way to pray for the first time: “God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Subsequently: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” (Rick Warren). “If you meet a really humble man, ... probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.... He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.” (C.S. Lewis)  That kind of humility helped my frequency of prayer and emotional transparency before God. It continues to be a preparation for prayer. That kind of humility certainly helps relationships!

Likewise, stretches of Forgiveness and Thankfulness have become part of my prelude to prayer.

A little thought will convince you that no virtue stands alone. Virtues support other virtues.

Recently I have been reviewing the Lord's Prayer. The line "your will be done" is a commitment first to learn what God wants; and then to make it so, ideally with other people. 

Though narrower in scope, I find the line, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" to be the most challenging in the Lord's Prayer.  Isn't this a contract? Immediately after the Lord's Prayer Jesus underscores the logical penalty: "If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  This same ominous warning is repeated to close the story of the unjust servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

Something to consider:  How does the Lord's Prayer differ from my prayers? What do my prayers add? And especially, what in the Lord's Prayer do my prayers omit?

1. The first half of the Lord's Prayer is about what God wants. Is mine?
2. Are these pronouns in the Lord's Prayer?  I, my, me. As was and remains the custom of formal Jewish prayers it is "Our Father", "Give us", "Forgive us", "As we forgive", "Lead us", "Deliver us". Even when you are in your closet, the Lord's prayer is about community.
3. Does the Lord's Prayer mention the sick, family, friends, enemies, leaders, the unsaved, or other groups?
4. Does the Lord's prayer consider life beyond today?
5. Does the Lord's prayer end, "In Jesus' Name, amen" ??
6. Does my prayer commit me to anything, like doing God's will, forwarding his kingdom, forgiving people, or following his lead?

Don't panic. Probably all points in your prayer are modeled by other outstanding Biblical prayers and principles. Here is a list. I suspect what Jesus selected to include in this model prayer are God's priorities that his followers tend then and his followers now tend to omit, and should add to daily prayers.

My knee is better, my prayers are better. I need to work on, among other things, forgiveness.  Ha, forgiveness is easy, except when it involves people. Forgiving a Christian brother or sister can involve confrontation and an escalation procedure, per Matthew 18. The hope in confrontation is to stimulate repentance. But what if the offender is not known? How do I handle a hit-and-run? Do I mutter, "I forgive whoever it was scratched my car--the scabiferous rat." Do I stew forever?  How about when I'm afflicted by a group of disagreeable people, a greedy corporation, a whole other nation that has missiles pointed at me? 

Forgiveness takes both humility and confidence. The strength to forgive doesn't come easy. Here I offer a batch of "forgiveness stretches". Some of these simply broaden my perspective and get above the fog of resentment.

Five Stretches for Better Forgiveness

Forgiveness means “canceling a debt”.

Forgiveness does not mean:

• that the offense was insignificant;
• that confrontation is unnecessary;
• that the offender need not: apologize, repent, turn around, and do better;
• that all consequences are erased even if everyone desires that.

Stretch #1: Love!

• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
• “Without love… I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13
• “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.” 1 John 4
• “Love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4

Love: Have compassion. Do kindness.
Inasmuch as I practice unconditional compassion and kindness, then decisions about forgiveness are not complicated. Forgiveness can be reflexive rather than calculated.

 Stretch #2: Discern!

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment…” Philippians 1:9-11

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…” James 1

Stretch #3: Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians chapter 4

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew chapter 5

“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison,
and then waiting around for the rat to die.”
- author Anne Lamott

“While physical training has some value,
training in holy living
is useful for everything.

It has promise for this life now
and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4


What are your Spiritual Stretches?