Dinner With the Family

Many churches celebrate the feast of The Holy Family on the Sunday after Christmas.  This morning, I found a beautiful picture of the Holy Family on a blog that I frequent, A Concord Pastor Comments.  I find it very interesting in many ways. 

The first thing that strikes me is the age of Jesus.  He looks like a young man about eighteen or so.  We know very little of Jesus’ life with his family.  We think of Jesus, especially at Christmas, as a cute little baby.  We then hear about his presentation in the Temple which according to the Law of Moses takes place forty days after his birth to complete his mother’s ritual of purification after childbirth.  This event was recorded by Luke and then there is silence, until once again Luke relates a family story that takes place when Jesus is twelve.  Mary and Joseph and a large group of their relatives and friends travel to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage following the custom that is part of the Passover celebration.  After several days they begin their return home and only notice that evening when they sit down for dinner that Jesus was not with them.  I often wonder about what Mary and Joseph said to each other when they realize that their young son has been left behind in the city of Jerusalem.  They rush back and after a lengthy search they find him in the Temple in a discussion with the elders who were amazed at his learning, especially given his young age.  He was rightly admonished by Mary, and his only response is a reminder to her that he must be about his Father’s business. 

So, here we have this icon of the Holy Family, by Aidan Hart, showing Jesus as a young man at the dinner table with his family.  I try to picture families today sitting together having dinner with their eighteen year old children and wonder if there are any similarities.    I wonder if Jesus could be asking to be excused to go watch a football game.  Or, head over to a friend’s house to play video games.  Or, run off to the Mall with friends to hang out.  Somehow I doubt it.  I also don’t see a television in the background or any electronics like cell phones or I-pads sitting around the table.  That’s different.   Last week my wife and I went out to dinner and as we waited for our meal to be served, I looked at the couple sitting next to us.  Each was deeply engrossed on their cell phones in whatever it is that can be more satisfying than sitting with someone engaged in a meaningful conversation.  I thought that they might be an anomaly until I looked around and saw several tables where someone was engaged with their phone.  I find this sad.  I find this just another example of the breakdown in our human interaction on a familial level. 

So often when a child is accused of doing something wrong their parents will immediately defend them and say my child would never do that.  I wonder how well some parents know their children.  They don’t talk to one another.  The children lock themselves away in their rooms with televisions, and computers, and smart phones, and the parents are happy that they are quiet and out of their hair.  Out of sight, out of mind.  But when do they talk?  When do they connect?  When do they discuss issues that might be troubling them?  Do they think that it is the teacher’s job, or the school counselor’s job to help their children cope with life's  problems?

One of God’s greatest gifts is the gift of family, where we are placed in an environment of peace, and love, and care for one another.  This is certainly not always the case but it is what God intended families to be like.  Every family has issues and problems of their own.  There are none that are perfect.  I know this on a personal level.  But God calls each family to at least strive toward peace and fulfillment.  To work through their problems whatever they are.  God does not judge a family by its brokenness.  Rather he seeks to find families working together, seeking to heal and reconcile their brokenness.  This is what God calls families to do.

It can start at the dinner table tonight.  Will someone please pass the forgiveness? 

Advent Musings: Conditor Alme Siderum

CREATOR OF THE STARS OF NIGHT

I grew up in the country far beyond city lights.  At night, it was very dark outside.  I can remember on warm summer evenings lying in the grass on our front lawn to gaze up at the stars.  I had not thought of this for a many years.  But a couple of weeks ago, I took our dog for a walk late at night just before going to bed; and as I arrived back home and turned up into the driveway I noticed the moon and one solitary planet rising above the trees behind our house.  With my eyes heavenward, I tried to see other stars but there were too many neighborhood lights to see anything else in the sky.  I missed the stars.  As I lay in bed that evening my mind wandered back to those many evenings in the front lawn where I could gaze up and see entire constellations, and see for myself that the earth was just one of many bodies of matter floating on the rim of the Milkyway.  It made me feel small but at the same time I felt connected to something far greater, far more awesome.  It was humbling.

All of this hit home when I opened my Advent devotional the next morning and read a prayer that I used to chant at evening prayer during Advent while in the Novitiate. 

Conditor alme siderum,

Aeterna lux credentium,

Christe Redemptor omnium,

Exaudi preces supplicum.

Creator of the stars of night,

Your people’s everlasting light,

O Christ, Redeemer of us all,

We pray you hear us when we call.

I knew that the Latin word ‘siderum’ meant more than ‘star.’  Far more.  It included stars but also the sun and moon and planets and all the heavenly constellations and comets and meteors.  The very next stanza speaks to this:

In sorrow that the ancient curse

Should doom to death a universe,

You came, O Savior, to set free

 Your own in glorious liberty.

The ancients thought of these heavenly bodies as living beings.  They could see them move about the heavens.  They knew their cycles of waxing and waning.  They knew that their affects could change the course of human destiny, especially the lives of mariners who confronted the tidal changes of the vast oceans.

Remembering these lines made me think of all those other eschatological texts of scripture where the whole of the created universe responds to the presence of its God; so many of which offered images far more sinister than a star studded evening sky.  The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. [Matthew 24.29].  Suddenly this Advent hymn reminded me more of the ‘Dies irae’ sung at every requiem service.

So then, just as the world seems at the verge of extinction the hymn turns to a beseeching prayer.

Come, Sun and Savior, to embrace

Our gloomy world, its weary race,

As groom to bride, as bride to groom:

the wedding chamber, Mary’s womb.

At your great Name, O Jesus, now

All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;

All things on earth with one accord

Like those in heav’n, shall call you Lord.

Come in your holy might, we pray,

Redeem us for eternal day;

Defend us while we dwell below,

From all assaults of our dread foe.

 Just as the world seems doomed to certain extinction, the Sun comes forth in a blaze of light and begins its paschal journey across the whole of human life and experience. 

Since Friday, a week ago, the world does seems doomed to extinction.  As twenty six beautiful lights were extinguished in Newtown, the world seems a darker place.  Twenty of them were children, sweet, innocent children, children with wonder in their eyes, children with lilting voices and infectious laughs, children who were loved, children who had no reason to fear evil.  Until evil came for them. Until the dread foe arrived.  How can the world go on?  How can we survive yet another assault.  If ever we need to hear about the God of Hope, the God who comes, it is now.

I give thanks that this God who we are awaiting this Advent season is a God who is not removed from our sufferings.  The blessing of the incarnation is that we now have a God who has lived a human life.   Our God weeps with us in our pain.  When Jesus went to the tomb of his good friend Lazarus, whom Jesus would soon raise from the dead, he wept. Why? Because he loved Lazarus, as he loved Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha.  He understands our loss and our suffering and stands with us.  But this God who weeps also promises us eternal life.  And that is the only comfort that holds us together as we weep with all those families in Newtown.  For our part, we can work to end violence, to console those who remain and to build a more loving society.  Let that be our mission for the new year. 

Let us love in deed and in truth ...

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings.  (Deuteronomy 24:19).

Many years ago Helen Williams related a story to me about a time when her children were young, their whole family took part in an annual gleaning project, the North Carolina "Yam Jam."  She said it was a wonderful experience especially for her children.  Since that time I have looked forward to a period in my life when I too would have the  time to glean crops.  One of the first things I did after retirement was to contact the local coordinator of the Society of St. Andrew, which is an ecumenical, non-profit, charitable organization  dedicated to leading others into lives of Christian community and service. 

The scriptures make it abundantly clear that God intends that those who have been blessed with plenty should share their abundance with those who do not have enough.  In the United States, 27 percent of all the food produced each year is lost at the retail, consumer, and food service levels.  That figures out to be nearly 1.5 tons of food per year for every man, woman and child in the United States who face hunger.  Every single day, 263 million pounds of food is thrown away.  Food that is perfectly edible.  And to top it all off, this does not even count the food left in the fields.

What breaks my heart is that while all that food is being wasted, there are more than 40 million Americans who struggle daily to get enough to eat.  Nearly half of these people are children.  A large number are elderly.  But no matter who  they are, or where they live, or why they are impoverished, there is no excuse for any Child of God to go hungry in America.
Hunger is a complex tragedy that holds a large part of the world's family in bondage.  It is hard for an individual to feel that there is anything that they can do to be effective.  I found that the Society of St. Andrew through it's great organization makes it possible for individuals, families, and church groups to make an incredible impact.  All I had to do was to sign up and give them my e-mail address.  Every week I am told about opportunities around eastern North Carolina where I could glean fresh produce that will be lost if not harvested.   I

So, on a beautiful Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, I drove to a farm down below Garner and pulled into a large meadow to park my car.  Next door was a 35 acre field that a farmer had recently harvested of sweet potatoes.  By 9:00 AM the field was covered with gleaners.  Some had brought tools to dig the left over potatoes out of the dirt, but it was obvious that we could make a huge impact on hunger if we just harvested what was laying on top of the ground.  There were potatoes everywhere.  Within two hours I had picked about thirty bags.  It was actually fun listening to the families interact with each other.  For the little kids it was like a treasure hunt.  Whenever one of them would find a big potatoe they would scream with delight and shove it in their bag.  By one o'clock most everyone had gone.  450 people had gleaned 35,000 lbs of sweet potatoes from one field in four hours.  I have just received my weekly e-mail, and there is another field ready to be gleaned on Wednesday morning.  Since I am now blessed with the gift of time, I'll be out in the fields once again, helping to put food on someone's table. 

If anyone wants to learn more go to www.endhunger.org.  There you can read about the Society of St. Andrew's mission to end hunger in America.
                                                  (Data Source: Society of St. Andrew, www.endhunger.org.)

My New Office

Yesterday was my first day of retirement.  After years in private industry and the last fourteen as a called Lutheran Pastor to Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, I have retired to the front porch - at least for now.  For months people asked me what I was going to do, where I was going to go, and my most common answer was - HOME.  For years my wife and I have talked about what retirement was going to be like for us, and mostly we looked forward to just staying home and over-dosing on our many hobbies.  When my wife and I moved to North Carolina from Maine so that I could attend Duke Divinity School, I put a lot of my life on hold.  One of my passions had been drawing and painting; but I have not touched a brush for twenty years.  Now I know pastors who can do all sorts of things and still do the work of God, but I never seemed to have the time.  There always seemed to be something to plan or do.  Personal quality time was put on the back burner.  Now I plan on digging out my brushes, paints and color pencils and recording the beauty of God's creation on paper and canvas.

I also plan on doing volunteer work in the community.  I have signed up with the Society of Saint Andrew, one of America's premier food rescue and distribution ministries.  I will be getting  back to my farming roots, because I have signed on to help glean the farms in the neighboring communities.  Last year they gleaned more than 5 million pounds of food in North Carolina.  Their big event is the annual North Carolina Yam Jam on October 20th.  Our weather is so fair here in the south that they glean all year round.  There is always something that can be harvested.  With monetary donations drying up to food banks, the need is even greater this year.  It just seems such a waste of God's bountiful blessings of food to let this gift rot in the fields while people starve.

I also plan to write some at least on this blog.  It will  track my new journey that God has set before me.