Nativity of the Lord 2005, Proper I

Isaiah 9: 2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

If my father had lived to see tomorrow, he would have celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with my mother. His untimely death in 1980 left my mother a fairly young widow, but tomorrow we will celebrate nonetheless–for love transcends all boundaries of time and space, life and death.

My Mom and Dad attended the same high school and both graduated in 1951, but they were only casual acquaintances at the time. In those days, my father was tagged with the ironic nickname “Bonecrusher,” standing as he did at 4’11″ his senior year (he grew 7 inches his first year out of school). My mom was dating a “college boy” at the time, so I think it’s fair to say that she might have overlooked poor ol’ “Bonecrusher!”

About four years after graduation, Mom was working in the toy department in the basement of the Woolworths department store in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. One day she looked up to see a grinning, young sailor descending the stairs. At first he only smiled and said nothing, feigning interest in the Slinkies, Hula Hoops and other toys which Mom had neatly arranged, all in their proper order.

But day after day, he kept coming back. [...]

Now that I have your attention, I wanted to tell you, in case you haven’t noticed lately, that we have a serious problem with “sex in the city,” and for that matter, in the burbs and backwaters as well. The problem is, we no longer leave anything to the imagination. From peeks under the sheets to prime-time commercials hawking the latest and greatest impotence remedy, it’s all out in the open for curious eyes to see.

The “sexperts” say it’s better to talk about previously taboo topics in cold and clinical terms and to the show sex act in all its technicolor splendor. After all, we wouldn’t want our children to be fumbling around during their “first time” unsure of what to do next. Good grief, the fabric of our society might completely unravel! Our species might even become extinct!

Yet, as with anything powerful and mysterious which is reduced to “mere facts,” human sexuality loses much of it’s innate power when the curtain is pulled back completely and the surprise spoiled. And these days, I believe, we are spoiling the surprise for our children. They know the truth, as spoken by G.K. Chesterton: [...]

Jason over at Already & Not Yet and Scott at Free Thoughts have “tagged” me in what looks like the opening move of some sort of chain blog, phishing scam. Next thing you know they’ll be offering to send me 100 million dollars like Princess Fayad Bolkiah if I’ll just send them my bank account and social security numbers. Yeah right. Listen boys, I wasn’t born in Alabama, ok?

Oh well, against my better judgement, here goes nothing. [...]

Several of us Church of Christ folks snuck over to the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville last night for A Festival Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest churches in Huntsville and has an interesting piece of history attached to it. During the Civil War, the Union Army occupied Huntsville and began commandeering area churches to use as stables for their horses. One Union officer was sent with a detail to Church of the Nativity for that purpose. However, when he saw the words “Reverence My Sanctuary” (still seen today) above the front entrance, he had second thoughts and gave orders to his troops that the church was to remain untouched.

Lessons and Carols is an Anglican service which was originally conducted at Kings College, Cambridge Univeristy on Christmas Eve in 1918 and has since been adapted for use by other churches around the world. The format follows the story of the fall of man, through the Old Testament with its many promises of Messiah and on to the birth of Jesus using nine scripture readings and various hymns and carols. The King’s College service is still broadcast annually on Christmas Eve by BBC Radio and is often carried by local NPR affiliates. [...]

The Lectionary Readings:

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Luke 1:47-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

Romans 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

Ok, I know how it goes. You have the best of intentions of following through on my suggestion from yesterday and watching It’s a Wonderful Life with your family this Christmas, but your busy holiday, er, I mean Christmas schedule just won’t allow it. Maybe you’ve got miles to travel, last-second shopping to do, or perhaps you’ll be picketing down at the local Wal-Mart or Target with a sign that reads, “Merry Christmas…or else!”

Don’t despair. To the rescue in our fast-food, instant gratification world rides this 30-second short film parody of It’s a Wonderful Life starring the cute, adorable little hares of the world famous 30 Second Bunnies Theatre Troupe. So if you’re pressed for time, click here and enjoy the show.

(Hat tip to Jared Cramer)

Our Sunday School class has been watching Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life recently and discussing it in the context of scriptures such as Philippians 2:3 and Psalm 90:17. Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey was indeed a man who “considered others better” than himself and who had the unique opportunity to see what difference the “work of his hands” made in the life and times of the people of the fictional town of Bedford Falls, New York. Like Clarence the Angel, we “like that George Bailey”–how could anyone not, right?

Well, it may surprise you that in 1946 when the movie was first released, the movie was unmercifully panned by critics as “too corny” and promptly flopped at the box office (it was not until PBS began re-broadcasting the movie in the 1970s that it finally got its second wind and became a Christmas classic). To add insult to injury, the FBI placed It’s a Wonderful Life on a list of “subversive” films with Communist overtones. [...]

Mondegreen (noun)–a series of words that result from the mishearing or misinterpretation of a statement or a song lyric, e.g. I led the pigeons to the flag for I pledge allegiance to the flag. –http://dictionary.reference.com/

When I was a child, I sometimes didn’t hear things the way I was supposed to. Of course, this may have been partly due to the heavy ear wax which plagued me back in those days. Like most boys, I had more than my share of the greasy stuff, and every Saturday night my mother would subject me to a weekly ear cleaning. This was performed with a Q-tip moistened with Johnson’s Baby Oil. My mother would plunge the cotton-tipped applicator down the ear canal and swipe away a week’s worth of deposits, or least enough so that none would be visible the next day at church.

Somehow I don’t think she got that little tidbit from Dr. Spock. It makes me wonder if moms back in the 1960s would sneak a peek into the ears of their friends’ children come Sunday morning, perhaps rating one another by the amount of visible wax left over after the Saturday night cleaning–good grief, look at little Johnny! Might as well stick a wick in there and light it!

Of course Mom meant it for my good, but despite her best efforts, I still misheard many hymns and passages of scripture as a kid growing up in the Church of Christ. For years, I suffered from the guilt and humiliation of having misheard so often and so much, but recently I was relieved to hear that this is a common experience. In fact, there’s even a name for the syndrome: Mondegreenism. Mondegreens occur when one mishears or misinterprets a statement or the lyrics to a song. For me, that occured with such frequency that I’ve been able to compile an extensive list over the years. So, lest we take ourselves too seriously this holiday season, I give you, dear readers, my list of Top 10 Holy Mondegreens: [...]

It has now been 3 days since I “entered the wardrobe” of Andrew Adamson’s screen adaptation of the C.S. Lewis classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The afterglow lingers, and my right brain is still tingling and my hair a little askew from the wild ride on Aslan’s back. I intentionally waited a while before I attempted any kind of review or analysis–I simply wanted to relish the magic of the moment. Now that my left brain has re-engaged a little, maybe I can finally write down a few of my responses and impressions.

Let me say this up front: my expectations were exceeded. I suppose it’s my habit to temper and lower my hopes on such occasions as a means of avoiding disappointment. That way, I can be pleased when a moderately good effort sails past the mark. But this film is far better than “moderately good.” I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised at its general faithfulness to the book and the retention of most all of Lewis’ core messages. Nothing fatal is lost in this translation.

I have heard this phrase repeated often on various blogs, online reviews and among my circle of friends who have seen the movie: It was exactly how I pictured it in my mind. I would concur with that, and add that the visual impact was the perfect addendum for someone like me who had just finished re-reading the book the night before. The universality of this accolade speaks to Adamson’s adroit screenwork and his solemn respect for Lewis’ work (like many, he read and cherished The Chronicles of Narnia as a child). While there are some changes from the book that will disappoint some, all in all, this is a faithful rendering which delivers on its promise. [...]

The Lectionary readings for the third Sunday
in Advent (Gaudete Sunday):

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Psalm 126 or Luke 1:47-55

I Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Today is the day. T-minus 12 hours and counting. I have my tickets. Do you have yours?

Dr. Bruce Edwards, renowned C.S. Lewis expert, has already weighed in with both his first and second impressions (warning: there is some spoiler material there, so if you are completely unfamilar with the story or want to remain uninfluenced by his impressions, beware). Some of what he has to say may surprise you. A note on Edwards for those interested in such trivia: An evangelical Christian who now attends a local community church near his home, Edwards was raised in the Church of Christ. I have some friends here in Huntsville who knew him during his first two years of undergraduate studies at Florida College.

Dr. Edwards is also quoted in a very balanced piece on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which appeared in last week’s USA Today.

And finally allow me one more personal Lewis recollection to mark the occasion of the movie premiere. As I wrote in an earlier post, [...]

Today is December 7th, the day that FDR so famously said would “live in infamy.” Over the years, I’ve been privileged to meet many who were there that day and been honored by hearing their stories. If you’re interested in getting the point of view of some more Pearl Harbor survivors click here as well as the U.S.S. Arizona site.

I remember my Dad’s Pearl Harbor story too. He was 8-years-old when he heard the news that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Sunday afternoon after the assault, he and his sister were playing outside when a private plane passed overhead. Already a little jumpy from hearing the news over the radio, my father and his sister were fully convinced that the Japanese were now bombing Southwest Virginia as well, and they ran into the house screaming for their lives.

I thought about this story when my family flew into New York City for a vacation earlier this year. [...]

While it may not have the ramifications of Hill to Laettner in 1992, McRoberts to Dockery will still go down in the annals of Duke basketball as a play for the ages.

With 1.6 seconds remaining and down 75-74 in Sunday night’s game with Virginia Tech, freshman Josh McRoberts threw a long inbounds pass and connected with senior guard Sean Dockery. Dockery took one dribble past the midcourt line and launched a last-second prayer. Forty feet later, the Cameron Crazies shouted “Amen!” while the despondent Hokies fell to their knees in disbelief. Having lost the ACC Football Championship game the night before to Florida State, Virginia Tech fans felt the fickle wrath of Lady Luck as she thumbed her nose and turned her back on the noble Fighting Gobblers for the second night in a row.

Back on the ranch, Dockery’s heroics launched our own mini-pandemonium as Number 3 son and I danced in delight as we played the last-second shot over and over with our digital video recorder (DVR). Then we had a great idea. [...]