A Happy New Year. Burton and I spent New Year's Day together in 1961 when I was in my first call as a deaconess in St. Louis and Burton was in his second year of seminary. On occasion we have been apart on each other's birthday or Christmas, but we have spent every New Year's Day together ever since. May you be blessed this coming year with health and joy.
We are in God's hands. Christ is everywhere with us. We give thanks for the faith and service of Jimmy Carter.
Banana Fibre Grass Dolls. We feel connected to the world with our various Nativity sets. We ARE connected to the world and need to care for people of all nations and to the planet itself.
We are on our way to Epiphany, so I will need to post two nativity sets at a time. The light of the Christ Child continues to be with us.
Life is a puzzle. However, thankfully, in Christ, we are freed, guided and empowered to discern our calling each new day. This nativity set comes as a puzzle. After we set it up for Christmas, we needed to refer to a picture to know how to put it all back together again.
Christmas Day! To all of you: Blessings of the Christ Child. Whether we see each other regularly or haven't been together in person for years, we are united with Christians around the world. "Jesus, Jesus, oh what a wonderful child. . . new life, new hope the child will bring. Glory, glory let the heavens ring!"
A blessed Christmas Eve to all. It is fitting that the Nativity set you see today is from Haiti. I offer it in memory of the over 300,000 people who died in the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Three Wartburg Seminary students were there on that January 12. Ben Larson died in the earthquake while singing, "O Lamb of God, you bear the sin of all the world away. Eternal peace with God you made. God's peace to us we pray." Renee Splichal Larson writes about death and resurrection, about the suffering and faith of the Haitian people. Today we know that in Christ new life comes forth.
Happy Christmas Adam! When living in Connecticut, our children concocted this holiday for Dec. 23. According to Kirk they reasoned that because there was a Christmas Eve on Dec. 24, there needed to be a Christmas Adam, too. He tells the story now that there is even a theological basis since Adam and Eve were the ancestors of all. Actually the purpose was to convince their parents that they should be able to open one gift on Dec. 23 (We already had the practice of opening one gift on Christmas Eve--there was no Santa in our house.) That, combined with the Twelve Days of Christmas made the season last a long time.
Some people will be alone this Christmas Eve. I remember when living in Dubuque, that Burton was doing an Interim in the NE corner of Iowa. He needed to stay overnight to lead Christmas Day services, but he had no place to stay. No places were open to eat. He crossed over into Wisconsin to find something to eat and a motel. Meanwhile I was alone in Dubuque. There was too much snow in our driveway for me to get out. I probably could have called someone but "didn't want to bother anyone." Even when we are alone, we are loved.
The incoming administration plans to allow ICE to enter schools and houses of worship to arrest people and deport them. What about Sanctuary? What about the safety of immigrants and refugees? The Christ child was a refugee. "An angel appeared to Joseph saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt." (Mt. 2:13)
With the Light of Christ, we are invited to celebrate. May the Christ Child bless you.
Some years ago when we were living in New Haven, Ct., a young couple knocked on our door on Christmas Eve. She was pregnant, but the hospital, two blocks away, did not admit her--too soon they thought. The couple, members of our congregation, lived miles away. So they stayed the night in our parsonage with us. No she didn't give birth that night, but listen to who might be at your door on a snowy night far from home.
I love this nativity set. It's from Africa. (All the pieces fit inside the stable when we put them away for another year.)
Are any of the new administration's appointments for leadership wise? I mean, Kari Lake for director of Voice of America? Think how the world sees us. Think what these choices are going to mean for our self-identity, our safety and for the safety of the world.
Son Kirk made this manger set in an after school church program when he was young. We teach children not only to want toys, but to participate in anticipating Christmas and making things to give to others.
Damascus: Syria is now free of its 50-60 year old oppression. We pray for its future. We pray for its people. We pray for those helping Syria secure a stable future, such as the United Nations.
Son Kirk beginning his two-day drive back to Texas. It is a parent's calling to love, guide and support their adult children's journey through life.
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