Santa...a tale of terror

I shared on this blog last year about how our youngest daughter developed a fear of Santa. In reality it was more than just a fear. She was terrified. She was so terrified that simply driving by the mall caused her to be gripped with fear to the point of being petrified. Well another year has gone by and I was preparing for another season of trying to minimize the impact of Santa on our Christmas celebrations. As Santa began to appear in advertising and on T.V. a strange thing was happening. My daughter was not crying or running out of the room. My daughter had made peace with Santa and declared that she "didn't hate Santa anymore" with a face that showed just how proud she was for making this step and maturing into a big girl. Times had changed...that was until we were at an event where Santa made a live appearance. We had warned her that he was coming but she insisted that everything was fine. We noticed, however, that as the time of his visit approached, she became quieter, she edged ever closer to her mother, squeezed her mother's hand ever tighter and began to dawn that petrified demeanor that we were used to seeing. Seeing him on T.V. was one thing, but as it turns out she still has a definite fear of Santa Claus. She approached him to receive a gift (with her mother close to her side) and when he asked if she was going to come and sit on his knee she politely replied "No thank you, I don't like you."
This ongoing saga has caused me to think about Santa a bit differently, to consider our Christmas traditions in a new light and has challenged me to celebrate a bit differently. This year I was thinking about the origins of our Santa Claus. I don't need to get into the whole history, and by simply googling it yourself you can find lots of information. One common feature found in almost all histories is a connection back to the historical person of St. Nicholas. The history of St. Nicholas itself is a bit clouded by myth and legend and hard to figure out but there were a few facts that seem fairly certain and worth mentioning.

1) St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myrna and was present at the Counsel of Nicaea in the year 325 AD. It was at this counsel that leaders in the Christian church worked through intense theological concepts. It was from this counsel that much of how we understand and express some of our theology such as the Trinity derived. The Nicaean creed comes from this counsel. He was deeply concerned and involved in theology.
2) He seems to have had very wealthy parents who died when he was young, leaving him great wealth. He took the word of Jesus to sell everything and give to the poor quite literally and he used his whole inheritance to support the poor and needy.
3) Under the emperor Diocletian persecution against Christians broke out. He was persecuted, exiled and imprisoned for the faith.

I don't know how much our current image of Santa brings to mind such things as theology and Truth, sacrificial giving and persecution for the faith, but I will be thinking about these things this year, and what that may mean for me.

What I Want for Christmas

I have been thinking about sacrificial giving a lot lately mostly from my own discipleship and reading and confirmed by events around me. The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom to many (Matthew 20:28), so the life of someone claiming to follow Him must also reflect this. As I have been thinking about giving I have had a couple of organizations come to my heart that I would love to be giving more financially to support. Realistically, however, after regular giving and tithing (non-negotiable for us) and then everyday needs there isn't much left over. All this means that if I still want to give financially to these organizations I will need to be creative...so this is what I have come up with.
Even though I don't have a lot of extra to give, I know that Christmas is coming up. I know that there will be some people thinking about what to get me. So, I have decided that what I am asking for for Christmas is that a donation be given to two organizations that mean a lot to me. Now I hesitated to even post this blog because I don't want it to seem like I am showing off or making this about me. Really though, anyone reading this blog is probably family (hey mom, hey dad) or friends, so what a better way to let everyone know :)
This year I am asking people to consider either giving to the research of Liam's neurosurgeon Dr. Singh at McMaster Children's Hospital, to the Brain Tumour Foundation or both! They both have been amazing to us over this past year and they continue to do amazing work to support those with brain tumours and help find a cure.

Donations for Dr. Singh can be made to the following:

Support for Dr. Sheila Singh
Fund # 1237

Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation
40 Wellington St. N.
Hamilton, ON
L8N 3M8

or go online to:

Hamilton Health Science Foundation

Information about supporting the Brain Tumour Foundation can be found at their web site:

www.braintumour.ca

Thanks!

Liam's One Year Anniversary

It seems so hard to believe, but this past week marks the one year anniversary of Liam's two surgeries to remove the tumor in his brain. To look at him today you could hardly tell that he had ever been through something so serious. There is so much that I could reflect upon, share and write about but I have decided to share one of the songs that I wrote instead. It shares a bit of what I was reflecting on shortly after our experience. It is called Immanuel and you can get to it by clicking the link below:

Immanuel

To read more about Liam's journey, or some thoughts about the anniversary you can check out my wife's blog:

zoo-ology

Shine Your Light Event

Well, this past Saturday marked our third annual "Shine Your Light" event. Each year for Halloween, we try to take advantage of the one evening a year where our whole community comes right to our front door. Our worship team sets up in my garaged and out onto the driveway and we play Halloween, television and movie theme songs. While the band plays, other family members and friends hand out hot chocolate to parents, candy bags with scripture to the kids and have lots of conversations with the neighbours who hang around for the festivities. It has been a great chance to meet my community and build some bridges with the neighbours around me.
I have been thinking back to all the great costumes that members of our group came up with, the work they put in to making it happen, the talents they shared from cooking a meal to designing the scripture tag etc. not to mention the night of music. It has got me thinking about just how much I appreciate this group I am a part of. This group is made up of our worship band from church and their families. We get together each week to share a meal, study scripture and share our lives and practice music. We learn together, share with each other, support each other and serve together. I am grateful for a group with whom to share this, and for an introvert like myself that is saying a lot! To me it is a glimpse at what the church is supposed to be, learning, sharing, growing ans serving together. I can look back at my spiritual life and clearly recognize that the most fruitful times of my life have been when I have been a part of such a group. We are not perfect...not by any stretch of the imagination (after all I am a part of the group!) but still, there is something significant about having such an experience.
Often I hear from people that you can be a "Christian" without going to church or without being part of a spiritual community. My response to that is twofold - firstly, in my experience a spiritual community has been extremely important for my spiritual walk. From the experience and wisdom I have gleaned to the support in very difficult times, I can't imagine life without it. Secondly, I think of the words of Jesus himself. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) Jesus was talking with his disciples and so taken in context we can recognize that Jesus was saying that to be a disciple we must be loving other disciples. It was both Jesus' intention and command that we would be in community with other disciples (how else could we live out the command?). To try to be a follower without being in community would be both outside of His intention as well as disobedient, at which point we would have to ask ourselves are we really trying to be disciples? The flip side, however, is that there is an incredible richness to life lived according to Jesus' intentions and in obedience to His commands, which has been my privilege to experience.
So thanks to my spiritual family for all that you do and for sharing your lives with me. We love all that we get to share with you!

Daylight Savings Ends

This weekend marks the end of daylight savings in my neck of the woods. I like the fall because the clocks go back an hour... I love sleep. Another bonus is that sometimes people forget to change their clocks which means that there are a few extra bodies showing up early for church which is always great for set up.
This clock change got me thinking about time. Our whole existence seems tied to and even controlled by time. At the end of the day, however, the way that we experience time is really rather synthetic. With the addition of electricity and lights and now things like daylight savings etc. I realize we can really manipulate time, more often than not for reasons of commerce. We often talk about time as if we were subject to it without any say at all wishing we had more hours in a day to do this and that. The reality, however, is that aside from the sunrise and the sun set, we are really in control of the rest. The question that I have been pondering is how my schedule reflects my spiritual life.
This is my thought this week...if I am totally surrendered to the Lord who has complete authority and control of my life, does my calendar reflect this? Do I fill in my day timer and then try to fit in the spiritual things around everything else or do I give all that I am to God and ask that he would direct how I spend my time? Who is really in control of my life? Is it me, my employer, my family or my Lord? Of course, this may lead to many other aspects of my relationship with God such as trust. Do I really trust enough to give over control? Do I really trust God as provider should there be a decision between what God asks of me and what my employer expects? Do I trust that Jesus is the source of true abundant life when I decide that my child will not engage in every possible activity and opportunity? And there are many other questions that will come up I imagine.
I guess it really comes down to a question of authority. I am reminded of a passage in Daniel regarding one who "looked like a son of man," that I think lies behind Jesus' use of the title Son of Man. I think that Jesus was saying that what we read below applies to him:

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
Daniel 7:13-14

If Jesus has authority over all aspects of my life, does how I spend my time reflect this?

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Ok, surely the Dead Sea Scrolls have little to do with Pop Culture, but they have been on exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum and have been making quite a splash in Toronto. We managed to take the kids on a field trip (an advantage of homeschooling) to see them. It was quite an amazing experience. The scrolls, as well as all the history, artifacts and information to set the context, were truly amazing and I feel blessed to have been able to experience it. One of my favourite moments was seeing a stone water jar that would have been used in Jewish purification rituals. Having just read John 2, where Jesus turns the water to wine, the jar caught my attention. I rushed to the plaque to read about the jar discovering it was used for ceremonial washing, then opened my bible to check out the dimensions on the jars in the story. I estimated that the jar was approximately the same size, and realized that this would have been very similar to the kind of jar that Jesus had filled with water and performed his first miracle. It was like the story jumped off the page and came to life in my mind, more clearly and more realistic than ever before. It was when I rounded the corner, however, that the most profound moment came for me.
Just around the corner they had two stones that were a part of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The first was a cornerstone with a Hebrew inscription, indicating is was probably the place from where a priest would blow the trumpet announcing the start of Sabbath. It was cool to think that Jesus may have walked under that stone!
The second stone bore an inscription in Greek. Why a Greek inscription on a stone from the Jewish Temple? This inscription indicated that no non-Jew (hence the Greek for non-Jewish readers) was to venture past this place, into the the Holy part of the Temple, an offense punishable by death. It was while standing in front of this stone, that I was profoundly affected.
For the first time in my life, I felt (albeit in a very limited way) what it was like to be excluded because of my race. This is an inscription that would have kept me, a Gentile, out and kept me away from the place God had chosen to dwell among and meet with his people. I was not welcome. I was profoundly saddened. It lead me to think about two things. Firstly, I celebrated the fact that this was not God's final intention. Whether it be the fact that God has created all people in his image, or His promise to Abraham that his descendants (the Jews) were to be a blessing to all nations, God loves all of humanity. I take comfort from the words spoken through Isaiah,

"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
Isaiah 49:6

and Jesus himself who said,

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
John 10:16

I am thankful that Jesus would give His followers the task to be witnesses to "the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

I am especially encouraged by the visions of worship in the heavenly realms given to the apostle John who heard this new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Revelation 5:9

and who saw,

a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Revelation 7:9

Secondly, I found myself asking if there are things that we still do that would cause people to feel excluded. What parts of our culture and context do we so mingle with faith that someone on the outside might have a hard time differentiating. What things might lead someone to conclude they are unwelcome. I am not talking about overlooking sin in the name of inclusiveness. There are some things that we would dishonour God by overlooking. But I think that there are probably many things that we could overemphasize to the point of excluding others. Are there things that have made people feel unwelcome and unwanted or like they don't fit in and thus impeded there hearing the Gospel or participating in the Kingdom community? Of the top of my head I am thinking of race, gender, language, culture, leaning style, personality types and I am sure the list could go on. I imagine that there are other things that I would never see from my vantage point. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them.
Well those were some of my reflections from the exhibit and all of this happened before I even saw the first scroll!

Thanksgiving

Well, another Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was a great reminder of all that I have to be thankful for. We had a great service at church on Sunday morning before heading to the cottage for an amazing family dinner (there were bout 26 of us and there were actually five families missing!) Sunday night, followed by a relaxing day on Monday.
Saturday was a great day for me as well, really setting the stage for Thanksgiving. A good friend, her daughter and her grandson, invited us to go pick apples. We loaded up in the car, and after hitting a few of the expensive, incredibly crowded tourist driven farms, we finally happened upon William's Orchard. It was a little family run operation were there was no admission fees, no crowds, no rented animals for a petting zoo and where the picking of the apples was the actual attraction. For anyone who knows me, this was far more my speed! Getting out into the orchard truly helped my frame of mind and my heart and the Thanksgiving part of the weekend began for me. I remembered all the years that we had gone apple picking for my brother's birthday as I was growing up and was thankful for family. My own family and friends were there with me in the orchard and I was thankful for time them as well. I was also reminded of the year that I spent working at an orchard giving school tours. It was a few years ago now, at a time when the church I work for could not yet support a full salary for me. I took the part time day job to make a bit of extra money. My wife and I often look back to those years when we followed a call to come to Milton, where there was no salary, right after my wife had just lost her job (the salary we were counting on!) as some of the most formative and important years in our faith development. It is where we learned to truly trust in God, that He would keep his promise to always take care of our needs and that we could trust His provision. We often fall back on the lessons learned during that time when we followed obediently (crazily by the world's standards) and had no other choice but to trust and rely fully.
Well, as I was out in the orchard, another thought about God's provision struck me. I was thinking back to the spiel I would run the tour groups through, about the Bud turning to a Blossom, pollinated by the Bees which would become the apples we were picking (done with hand motions for added emphasis!). It really is an amazing process to think about and I was once again amazed at the care, attention and detail that God has gone to to ensure provision for the people He loves.
There is a song that my family learned at camp that speaks to this. We often sing it as a blessing before meals . I think that it actually came from a Disney film way back. It is simple, childlike, and yet is profound in its simplicity:

The Lord is good to me,
and so I thank the Lord,
For giving me the things I need,
The sun and the rain and the apple seed,
The Lord is good to me.
For every seed I sow,
An apple tree will grow,
And there will be an apple tree,
For everyone in the world to see
The Lord is good to me.

Many blessings and Happy Thanksgiving!
I'd love to hear some of the things you are thankful for...leave a comment.