"The Power of Christmas"

Christmas isn't Christmas for me until I watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"  I watch it, I read it, I wear it! Why?  Because I believe it carries a truth that reflects my faith and has the 'Power of Christmas' wrapped in its story.

The Grinch's heart grows 3 sizes when he hears every Who down in Whoville singing.  The Who stand close together, hand-in-hand, singing, singing, SINGING!  The Grinch realizes he has not stopped Christmas from coming.  Again this year it occurs to me that some folk seem intent on stopping Christmas from coming.

A politician suggests there is nothing wrong with profiling only Muslims.  And just how do we know who is a Muslim and who isn't?  School age children-CHILDREN-justify their beating of a classmate by saying the way he 'acted' made them uncomfortable.  When did we decide how a person speaks, walks, gestures is a threat to us?  A politician suggests poor children need to be required to work so they will learn what work is and not forever be destined to replay their parents poverty.  Poverty is too complex for such simplistic decisions and ignores societies role in the circumstances of poverty.

As a nation we support the efforts of other nations to remove dictators and regimes and have free, democratic elections.  Yet when the 'wrong' parties or groups win more seats than others the validity of the election is questioned and we do not support the results.  You don't want the wrong people being elected!  I am old enough to remember the questioning about a Catholic being elected president of the United States.  Now there have been some murmurings about a Mormon being elected president.  When will all of this division end?

The voices clamor shouting, fear, fear, FEAR!  Christmas is coming-won't you hear?
Talk all you want about the differences and separate yourself from the OTHERS.  Christmas is coming and it's time to be brothers.
Times are hard and challenging and there is much that is wrong.  Yet Christmas is coming-time to once again be strong.
If we really want hearts to change and grow with new insight; then we need to stand close together, hand-in-hand, singing the good news of a Christmas night.
The Power of Christmas, no matter what, is unity in LOVE.  And that Power came long ago from heaven above!  (with apologies to Dr. Seuss for my rhyming skills)

"Keeping Christ in Christmas"

The annual lament has begun-our society/people/being politically correct is trying to keep Christ out of Christmas.  Maybe it is the focus on decorations or the arrival of Santa BEFORE Thanksgiving.  Maybe it the excessive spending on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  Maybe it is those 'Happy Holiday' signs instead of 'Merry Christmas.' Maybe it is your frustration that a nativity display is not being allowed again this year outside the courthouse.  Whatever it is, some of us are reacting.  I have read letters to the editor or posts on face book and overheard comments at the mall all protesting what we see as someone attempting to take Christ out of Christmas.

In response to this lament I would like to offer a modest proposal.  If you really feel that strongly about this then do something to keep 'Christmas in Christ.'  The next time your feelings get stirred up or you are suddenly bothered about the seeming absence of Christ in Christmas do something.  Immediately reach in your wallet and take some dollar bills out and set them aside to drop in the next Salvation Army red kettle you pass.  Go to the grocery store and, as you check out, buy one of those brown paper bags filled with groceries for the needy.  Visit a nursing home and ask to visit someone who has few, if any, visitors.  Donate one of those winter coats you have in your closet.  Start singing a Christmas carol as you fight your way through a sea of shoppers.  Find one of those Christmas Trees decorated with requests for a present for a child and take one.  OR give at least 10 percent of what you spend on Christmas to a church or charity for the hungry and homeless.  You get the idea.

I don't think it is about whether or not there can be a nativity display or the singing of carols or what words are on the sign in the store.  I do think it is about 'Keeping Christmas in Christ!'  AND that means caring for those who need the hope of Christmas the most this year.  No one can keep 'Christ out of Christmas' as long as we 'Keep Christmas in Christ.'

"Imagine That"

On November 10 I was standing on Mars Hill, a rocky pinnacle offering a panoramic view of ancient Athens.  Behind me towered the breath-taking Parthenon, a testament to the building skills of ancient Greeks and one of the Wonders of the Ancient World.  Here was a boy from the small town of Reno, Pennsylvania standing where the Apostle Paul preached--Imagine That!

It took my breath away!   As I stood there in awe another tourist passed by and I heard her say these words: "Been there, done that, what's next?"  Imagine That!  The uneven top of Mars Hill has been polished by millions of feet over the centuries requiring you to pay attention or fall hard.  Standing there you are little more than a speck dwarfed by the towering pillars of antiquity.  AND she has been there, done that, while diminishing the moment with her words-Imagine That!

Am I really so different?  I take some pictures, glance around, remind myself I have seen it all before, and wait for the last person in my group to head down.  Her words were a shout to my soul to wake me again to an incredible moment in my life.  I was standing where Paul had a good old-fashioned, no-holds-barred discussion with philosophers and the curious!  How could I not be moved by the wonder of it all?

The daily temptation is to lose sight of just how incredibly wondrous this life is.  Wonder gets lost in routine and repetition.  You do not have to go to Athens, Greece to experience the incredible gift of wonder.  The moments surround us: the deep, from-the-belly laughter of a happy baby in a restaurant...the gentle snore of a life partner laying beside you in the darkness of the night...a white rose still blooming on November 22...the memory of my Grandpa Boyles making cranberry relish for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  Life is full of such moments but many are missed because we have 'been there, done that.'  I invite you to be soul shocked again this week by how awesome life is.  Imagine That this Thanksgiving!

"Focus"

I was eating my breakfast on the cruise ship while taking in the view of Istanbul, Turkey-a good beginning to the day.  A man walking by my table noticed my Penn State shirt.  He said: "Takes courage to wear that today.  Aren't you ashamed?"  The night before the news had reached me about the tragic story of reported abuse of young boys by a former Penn State coach.

Arriving home I found a face book message waiting for me that was anything but funny.  It said: "If an older woman who likes younger men is called a cougar, is an older man who likes young boys called a Nittany Lion." Yesterday's newspaper featured a story about the steep decline in the sale of Penn State clothing since the news broke about this scandal.

FOCUS! The real story is that innocence for too many young boys was taken away from them.  The real story is that their lives are not and will never be the same again.  They live with wounds and memories that affect emotions and actions long after this story is back page news.  What does it matter that sales are off?  What does it matter if someone uses the opportunity to 'dig me' about my college team? What does it matter if anyone thinks I should be ashamed to wear Penn State apparel?  What matters is what happened to these young boys and what impact all of this will have on their lives!  It is reported one boy has had to leave his high school because of other students reactions to him coming forward to report the abuse.

FOCUS!  In the handful of days I have been back home there has been at least one news story every day about a teacher, a neighbor, a family member, a coach, a politician who has been charged with sexual abuse of a child.  What is wrong with us that so many cannot/will not control their impulses or keep themselves from places of opportunity to betray the trust our children give to adults?  What does it say about us that so many young boys and girls are victims without voice-fearful they will not be believed?

My heart is with the victims, identified by a number that is exponentially multiplied each and every day across our country.  I am not concerned what anyone thinks when they see me in my Penn State sweatshirt.  I am not concerned by the insensitive remarks I receive.  I am not concerned about the reputation of PSU.  I am not concerned how much clothing is sold.  I am concerned that too many lives were violated at PSU and across our country.  Lets FOCUS on doing all we can to address the real tragedy of lost innocence and wounded lives that is repeated day after day.

"A Personal Question"

While we were enjoying lunch together my good friend, Al, wondered if he could ask me a personal question.  I replied, "Well, you can ask."  So he did.  "I was wondering if your support and involvement with the gay community was because of your children."  The answer was "No."

I think I was born to care about discrimination and respect for everyone.  I grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania.  At the time no African American lived in our town.  There was an unwritten but well understood rule that no blacks were to live in the community.  Racial discrimination is wrong.  An Hispanic Catholic family moved to town and found few friends.  Religious discrimination is wrong.  As a young boy I was often the victim of Bruce the Bully.  Bigger and meaner than most of us we learned to be very creative in not being in the wrong place with Bruce.  Bullying is wrong.  Bill was cruelly called "CQ" by most of the youth.  'County Queer' is not a nickname you want to have!  Sexual orientation discrimination is wrong.  My cousin Ralph was a child we now refer to as "Challenged" or "Special Needs".  Back then, in the cruel moments on the school playground he was called 'Retard.'  Discrimination of individuals who do not fit our definition of 'being like us' is wrong.

In our life as a married couple, Cheryl and I ended up with quite a family.  We have a gay son.  We have a daughter who is Bipolar.  We have adopted, racially mixed children.  One time I was asked which ones were our real children.  Really?  We love and cherish each of our children.  Each child is special and wonderful and just ask me about our grandchildren!

My ministry was built on the grace of God (no one needs it more than me), loving and accepting each person as they are, and standing with them whenever discrimination raises its ugly head.  Not everyone in my churches understood or supported me but that is okay.  If I am going to err in this life, as a pastor and as a person, I will always err on the side of grace-love without strings.  Our failure to see the inherent worth in others comes with painful costs for all of us.  Respect and care for each person is personal to me.  Thanks Al for asking and helping me revisit why I do what I do.

"Thank God for Small Churches"

Last Sunday Cheryl and I went to church with my family back in Reno, Pennsylvania.  Reno is a tiny community of maybe 200 souls and it is a one church town-Reno United Methodist Church.  Over the years membership and attendance have dropped and they are now part of a 4-point charge served by two pastors.  Most Sundays there are more pews than people.

I found God's call on my life in that congregation.  During my youth there was a nice sized youth group and our Sunday School class met in the choir loft.  I 'outgrew' that small church as I 'grew' into larger churches.  As the size of the churches I was appointed to grew so did the distance grow between me and the small church.  I must confess that too many times driving Indiana back roads I would pass a small church, smile to myself, and be glad I was no longer being appointed there.

So we got up and we went to church, mostly as a kindness to my sister and mother, still part of that small church.  I went not expecting much and found a worship service that was filled with the presence of God.  It began with the pastor hurrying in from her service at one of the other churches.  Two men were working to have the new sound system ready for her-it wasn't.  She was unprepared and had no pocket or place for the wireless receiver.  So she tucked in in her waist band.  It would fall down her leg and she commented she was glad it did not fall down inside her dress.  It did later!  She called us to worship by blowing numerous times on a shofar-a ram's horn she had brought back from Israel.

They did not have a pianist so she jumped down and played the piano for the opening hymn.  The singing was not pretty.  Then came the special music-a bluegrass group of 4, a curious mix of blue jeans, white hair, and an over-the-top bass player/soloist.  When they sang "I Saw the Light" and "Will the Circle be Unbroken" smiles spread out on the people's faces, voices aged and cracked sang along with the chorus, and applause greeted each song.  Then, for the first time for this group, the younger woman sang "Let This Be My Prayer" in English and Italian-a bluegrass trio backed her opera trained voice.  They ended with "Smokey Mountain Memories" sung by John, a father who has raised 4 sons by himself.  It was great!

This was followed by a children's message with a hot dog tucked inside a banana peel, a prayer time during which individuals made announcements of upcoming events, and the pastor throwing aside the bulletin and her sermon notes.  She strolled and cajoled us, meandering in the front of the sanctuary and in the recesses of her mind.  It was great!

Forget the bells and whistles.  Forget the large choir and larger sanctuary.  Forget lots of liturgy and polished sermon.  Not needed that day!  I felt the joy in the room and I saw the friendliness and peace in the faces of those around me.  I can't really explain why it was such a good service for me-don't have to.  All I know is-thank God for small churches and the faith they hold for us.

Who Speaks for God?

One of the candidates seeking to become our next president recently was quoted as saying "The outcome of the 2012 presidential election is up to God."  Religion often gets mixed in with politics.  I think it is a good thing if we hear our leaders speak about their faith perspective.  Where I have a problem is when someone speaks for God.

Who speaks for God?  Assuming for a moment that the above statement is true I pose some questions.  Was the outcome of the 2008 presidential election up to God?  Does God only decide the big ones?  What about races for senator or representative or governor or town council?  Do all political groups have 'the ear of God'?  If so, does God pick and choose?  If not, how do I know who has 'the ear of God?'

I am left wondering if this is a peculiar American issue influenced by our notion that we are a people especially chosen and blessed by God.  Politicians, 'talking heads', and pastors speak of our unique relationship with the God of all peoples.  Some go so far as to suggest we are a 'chosen people/nation.'  How often have we heard someone warning us that we have strayed from God's will for America and there are terrible consequences awaiting us if we do not get back to rightness with God?  I am wondering if that is a conversation common to other countries.

Would you say that when a political change occurs in other countries it has been because God chose the change?  I hear little, if anything, about God's hand being upon political change and turmoil in England, the upcoming election in France, or the turmoil of the 'Arab Spring.'  Are their outcomes also up to God?

Who is going to speak for God in the upcoming election?  It won't be me!  I believe in God's will for us individually, as a nation, and all the peoples of the world.  I believe what God wills is that we live every day, as best we can, reflecting the very nature of the one who calls us.  That reflection is about compassion, truth speaking, justice seeking, and loving unconditionally.

I can't speak for God about the outcome of a presidential contest.  I can ask all those running for this office, for any office, to refrain from implying God may be on their side.  I can ask them to be gracious, accepting of differences, and to focus on the great challenges of our time.  And I can ask all of us to be involved in the process and do it in a way that brings honor to the name of God.