Don't Sell the Parsonage

My current mansion

I've lived in parsonages my whole ministry.  Most of them were not kept up well.  The practice was to ignore everything until there was a change of pastor and then spend a fortune making it livable for the next pastor (did they ever consider how unlivable it was for the pastor until then I wonder?)

That isn't actually the case where I am now.  It's a beautiful large, old house that has been kept up very well.  My luck I only get to stay here a couple of years as an interim.   It says in the history that the intention when this was built in 1910 to be "the finest parsonage in the ELC"  Even now they are very proud of their parsonage.  Imagine that, instead of resenting the pastor's house ("humph... I never had a dishwasher"), actually being proud of providing a nice house for your pastor.  This is a three point parish (that's three services every Sunday) in a small town where you have to drive an hour and half to get anywhere.  But this house outweighs all that and make this a much more attractive call. 

But most of the parsonages I have lived in have been sold.  One was actually moved away. And I think that's a BIG mistake. 


Yes I know most pastors want to own their own home.  Yes it would be more advantageous to the pastor tax wise.   That double dip housing allowance exemption AND interest deduction is very nice.  I used to take a clergy tax seminar every year  and he'd always use an example of a pastor owning his own home.  This imaginary guy made twice what I did but paid less taxes than me because of the double dip.  Yes when I retire I will very likely not be able to buy a house.

But I'm talking about the advantage to the CONGREGATION, not the pastor.  Because it's not always about US.  I can't speak for churches in large cities, I'm talking about the little church in podunk USA.  I interviewed in podunk.  They really wanted a pastor in town.  There's a lot of advantages to the pastor living in town, seeing folks at the post office, coffee shop, just walking around.  But they did not have a parsonage and I could not afford to buy a house.  And there were no houses to rent in that small town.  And even if I could afford a house I'd be nuts to buy a house that would likely take a LONG time to sell.  Who can afford TWO house payments?  But they thought it would be a great idea to sell their parsonage a few years back.  Oh and the housing allowance they were offering?  Not likely to cover a house payment and utilities.  


I think the mass selling off of parsonages of small town churches has led to their decline.  And I think maybe pastors insisting on the American dream of owning their own home bear some guilt in this.  Just saying.

Friday Five - Books (Late Edition)

The RevGalBlogPals are talking about books.  I was kind of busy yesterday but I still want to play.  How can I resist talking about books?

Right now I'm readingThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.  by Isabel Wilkerson. There's a reason why the New York Times put this book on the top 10 for 2010.  This is one of those books that makes you stay up too late to keep reading.  It's a history book that reads like a novel.  She takes three different African Americans from three different decades and tells their story of escape from the oppression of the South.  Those of us who did not live through that need to be reminded of just how horrible it was for Blacks in the South in the time of Jim Crow.  Especially if you are too young to remember seeing young people being sprayed with hoses by police on the news.  Or even if you missed watching Roots growing up.  Jim Crow was not just about having to drink out of separate water fountains.  It was about constantly being afraid of saying the wrong thing or looking the wrong way at a white person for fear you'd be tortured and lynched.    

But that's not what the book is about really.  It' an uplifting book about the human spirit and quest for freedom and to a better life.  And how are  this country was changed by this quest.

I've always wanted to have a book reading group at church and I walked into one here in my new parish.  First week they came up to me and begged me if they could keep their book club going.  Well sure.  So we are reading Ann Frank, Diary of a Young Girl again.  I always think it's good to reread classics.

Pictured are other books I want to get to.  

• The Perfect Prince, thanks to Father Anonymous' Review. 
• Good News for Anxious Christians: 10 Practical Things You Don't Have to Do by Phillip Cary.  Professor Cary is my FAVORITE lecturer from The Teaching Company - you really should get his lectures on the History of Christian Theology.  It's on sale now.  (Something is always on sale at the Teaching Company.  So only buy things when they are on sale.)

This book is about grace mostly for evangelicals (who can miss grace, sorry) but I think he addresses anxieties of a lot of Christians, even Lutherans.  Like my favorite one to debunk - the idea that you have to figure out what God's will is for your life.  God's will for your life is that you love God and your neighbor - the rest God is waiting to see what YOU will choose

• Fall to Grace: A Revolution of God, Self & Society by Jay Bakker, son of the infamous Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  I think I will read this as soon as I'm done with the Warmth of Other Suns.  I follow him and a group called "Outlaws" on Twitter.  A group of mostly young, former Evangelicals who have discovered grace and are going crazy with it.  I will definitely review this book here and may recommend it next for our Book club.

And finally the Revgals ask about favorite genres or authors.  I have to confess to a guilty pleasure~ I read EVERYTHING written by Philippa Gregory.  I don't recommend some of her earlier work but once she got a hold of the Tudors and surrounding characters like The Other Boleyn Girl I literally wait with baited breath for the next one.  Now she's in the middle of the War of the Roses.  She's done the The Red Queen: A Novel (The Cousins' War) and the The White Queen: A Novel (The Cousins' War) and there's another one in the works.

Also I really loved the Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  I'm sure I've read every single book in that series and then she died.  But I often reread those.  I call it feminist sci-fi fantasy.

Myths about Grief - You DON'T need to "let it all out"

In the wake of the Tucson shootings, TIME magazine has an interesting article "Good News About Grief" that debunks some popular myths espoused since Kubler-Ross's "On Death and Dying" (sorry you can't read the article on line)

Without a doubt Kubler-Ross did wonderful work and helped us at least talk about grief, death and dying.  But it also tended to stuff people in a box and tell people how to grieve.

I was happy to read one of the myths debunked - the idea that you HAVE to express your grief.  In fact studies have showed than expressing negative emotions can actually prolong your distress.  Nor is there any evidence that people who get counseling or go to grief groups are helped any more than those who do not.    

I know people worried about me when my husband died because I did not emote publicly.  Or even privately.  I really did resist crying much because I was afraid once I started crying I would never stop.  And I did believe that I was doing something "wrong" by "repressing" my emotions; I half believed that something terrible would happen, that maybe some day I'd go crazy or something, but I didn't care, to me giving in to the the emotion would take me down a dark hole I feared I would never get out of - a prospect so frightening that I was more than willing to risk the danger of "repression"


Nor did I go to counseling.  Nor did I go to grief groups.  Despite the grief I got from others who thought I should.  I was part of an email grief group for a little while but I found it depressing.  I did not find sitting around talking and thinking about how unhappy I was helpful.  I had young children to raise.  I had a job.  I had other people who needed me.  I got on with life.   

And I didn't go crazy.  I got better.  After a while.

The only thing that helps grief is time.  It's horrible for a while.  Nothing can make it better.  And then time passes and it gets better.  So just let people grieve how they want to grieve.  If they want to emote, let them emote.  If they don't want to emote, don't press them to do it.  Because it doesn't matter.  Grief is horrible.  Nothing makes it better.  Except time.

Here We Stand Confirmation Curriculum

Dennis asks me what confirmation curriculum I use.  I cannot say enough good things about Augsburg Fortress's Here We Stand.  Note I've given the Older version.  I do not like the newer version.  I hope they keep this old page because this has much better power points and videos.  Well the new one has NO videos.  

You need to tell your church to get a computer projector because power point is the way to go with confirmation.  You can whine and moan about how spoiled kids are and how they have to be entertained or you can just shut up, use the new media tools and keep the kids engaged and interested.  That's all there is to it.

Even before this came out I was making my own power points.  These are better.  I do cut and paste and edit and put some of my own stuff.  I use pictures from the Brick Testament for the bible stories.  Note  YOU MUST SCREEN these pictures because this guy is a weirdo and likes to illustrate the sex stories from the bible with Lego people.  They are hilarious but not appropriate for confirmation.

It's very flexible - you can use it with large and small groups. You can teach it all yourself or use helpers.   It is more work than just going through a book but most things that are worthwhile do take more effort.

This Sunday's Text is NOT an Evangelism Text

 Behold the Lamb of God,  Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

It's probably too late for you over achievers who have written your sermons already, but please don't grab unthinkingly on "Come and See" and turn your sermon into a rally to encourage people to "get people to come to church to Come and See"  That is NOT what is going on in the text.

If you are all excited about "Come and See" as an evangelism text then you have to wait until  a few verses later when PHILIP says it to Nathaniel after he wonders what is so special about someone from Nazareth. (John 1:46)

In this Sunday's text "Come and see" is JESUS' answer to the question, "Where are you staying?"

Now I grouse about John a lot because I am a plain speaker and I don't care for all the riddles and double speak and layers of meaning that you must plow through in John.  In other words I'm lazy and John makes me work.  To just jump to "Okay everyone just tell your friends to 'come and see!'"  is REALLY lazy.

What is going on here?  Who cares where Jesus is staying?  The people in the pews care.  They want to know where Jesus is.  

Where is Jesus in a world where a mentally tortured man gets out of a taxi and shoots up a bunch of people in front of a safeway.  

Where is Jesus in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti where women are still being raped every day in the refugee camps and police have given up trying to stop it?

Where is Jesus  in the home of the single mother who is trying to decide to pay the mortgage or pay the heating bill?  Where is Jesus for the parents who see their son going through a divorce and don't know how to comfort him?  

"Come and See"  JESUS answers OUR question.  And the answer is he's right here, in the midst of the pain and suffering.  And we are invited to stay with him where he is.  Here.

Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.


Preach THAT.

Confirmation Tonight

Tonight was my second class at the new parish.  Last week there were like five parents sitting in (about 15 kids).  Apparently they've had some rowdy kids and the parents were brought in for reinforcement.  I could not get the kids to talk.  I suspect the parents were inhibiting them.   Personally I prefer rowdy to silent.  

So after last week's class a couple of parents said they felt like I had it under control and would I mind if they stayed home.  Not at all.  

Tonight only one parent and it was a different story.  Lots of talking.  Giggling.  One kid who would only give me smart ass answers.  I told him he had used up his quota of funny answers and had to give me a serious one.  At the end of the class I make them all tell me one thing they learned and lo and behold he had a serious answer.  

Also at the end of class they all have to pray outloud.  Very simple--just finish these two sentences "God I ask you ..." and "God I thank you".  Last week Mr. Smarty Pants prayed that some teacher he didn't like would retire.  This week he prayed "Dear God, please let there be no more crazy people shooting up people"  I think I'm gonna like this kid.

I LOVE CONFIRMATION!

The Tucscon Shooting was NOT Sarah Palin's Fault

Of course it is bad taste and bad judgment to put up posters with people as shooting targets crosshairs.  And yes I'd like to see more civility in the the political arena (and at church council meetings for that matter)

But the shooter was mentally ill.  He thought government was trying to take over his thoughts and that is a common symptom of mental illness --not listening to talk radio.  

And frankly I'd like to see some outrage and concern about the  ABYSMAL mental health resources in this country.  But there's no political points in that.

Christina Taylor Green

Christina Taylor Green was born on September 11, 2001.   She was featured in a book "Faces of Hope", a book  about those born on that day.    She loved baseball.  She was the only girl on her Little League team.  She had just been elected to her student council.  She  was at that Safeway in Tucson, Arizona yesterday morning to meet her congresswoman and learn more about politics. 

Her mother says:

"She always thought about how she was born on 9/11, and she saw the positive in it," Green said. "She thought of it as a day of hope and change, a chance for the country to come together to be united."  (ABC News)

She died on the scene with a single bullet wound to the chest.

As I said in my sermon on the Second Sunday after Christmas, sometimes the light that shines in the darkness is only the promise of light.  Sometimes all we can do is cling to that promise even as all we can see around us is darkness.  Sometimes all we can do is pray.  Today I pray that Christina's hope for the country would not be vain.

This gives me hope

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields" - Ahram Online

"We either live together or we die together"  Amen.

The Death of a Church

No I don't mean the Lutheran Church of Small Town killed by their own cliques and refusal to change.  I don't lose sleep over those deaths.

I'm almost done reading The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died  by John Philip Jenkins and this is a hard read because it is SO depressing.  And disturbing.  It's disturbing not just for the loss of  the rich  diversity  of ancient Christian traditions but also because IT IS STILL GOING ON TODAY with Christians in the Middle East.  There is a very good analysis of the situation by Robert Hunt in A New Year of Violence against Christians.

We were all raised on stories of the Western church growing despite persecution.  You know, the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" kind of stuff.  But the truth is,  a church can be killed through persecution.  And it seems that the Roman church really only survived because it had stronger armies and more political clout.  That's really enough to shake your faith.  

In "Lost History" Jenkins does a very good job of  breaking the "Oh Islam was a peaceful tolerant religion in the middle ages" myth while also recognizing this was a time when WHOMEVER was in power thought it was perfectly acceptable to annihilate anyone who did not conform.  It's not that Islam is particularly violent.  Or that Christianity is violent.  It's that PEOPLE are violent and power hungry and if they can use religion to further their goals, they will.  

It's very  dark and depressing and  I don't know what else to say other than 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,^* and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.²³⁴⁵

And pray for the churches of the middle east.  

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr; 1170

 

When Thomas Becket was a young man he was an unlikely candidate for Martyrdom.  

Chancellor of England and good friend of King Henry the II, he lived the good life (for medieval times anyway) He enjoyed the wealth and power that came with his high position.

Then Henry II decided to make him archbishop.  At this time there was a power struggle going on between the King and the church and Henry no doubt thought putting his good buddy in such a position would strengthen his position.  He thought Becket would take his side.

The King was in for a surprise.  

Perhaps Thomas Becket surprised himself.  He rose to the occasion.   As he described it he changed from being “a patron of play actors and a follower of hounds to a shepherd of souls”.  He led a much more austere life, looked after the interests of the church and did not take Henry’s side in his quarrels with the church.
 

Becket became such a throne in Henry’s side that in a rage he is said to have demanded “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”  There is always someone to indulge the king and on December 29, 1170, four knights murdered the archbishop in front of the altar in his cathedral.

The people were shocked by this brazen murder of their Archbishop. Beckett was soon declared a saint and King Henry subjected himself to a public whipping by monks of the abbey as penance.

You just never know what you are capable of until you are called.  

And if God puts you in a position, God must figure you can handle it. 

Almighty God, you granted your martyr Thomas the grace to give his life for the cause of justice: Keep your household from all evil and raise up among us faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ the shepherd of our souls, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.
 

Michael Vick the Poster Child for Employing Rehabilitated Convicts?

Pardon me while I gag!

I started a post on Vick a while back when I heard he wanted a dog.  As a condition of his probation he is not allowed to have a dog.  But he wants a dog "So the public can see that I really love animals"  That statement alone tells me he should not have a dog.  

I'm all for forgiveness.  But I don't send wives back to live with abusive husbands and NO DOGS for Micheal Vick.

That's what I was going to say about that.  But I think I had to go work or something annoying like that.  

Now I'm all for forgiveness. 

I'm not like a lot of animal lovers who want to tie Vick up in chains and treat him the way he treated his dogs.  

Back then he didn't know it was wrong to slam a dog's head against the wall.  Now he knows it's wrong so he won't do it anymore.  Good for him!  I don't even begrudge him his job back with the Eagles.

But seriously President Obama calling Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie and CONGRATULATING him for giving Vick his job back because convicts have such a hard time getting jobs? 

SERIOUSLY? 

 I want to smack our president up side the head for that, not Vick.  

Micheal Vick had the job he dreamed of, a lot of money, everything and he chose to entertain himself by abusing animals.  Now he has the job he has dreamed of, is going to make a lot of money again and will probably talk a judge into letting him use another animal to rehabilitate his public image.  

WHAT THE HELL DOES HE HAVE IN COMMON with your average convict who cannot get a job?  

I could just spit.  

In the words of Mr. Knightley to Emma, "Badly done, Mr. President.  BADLY DONE!"

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Massacre of the Innocents Léon Cognie

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. ~ Matthew 2:16

You know, I don't really care if this particular act of oppression actually happened.

 It symbolizes the reality of the evil that occurs when human beings put their lust for power above all else.   This is the world God entered.  A world where the weak and vulnerable are sacrificed for the sake of the powerful.

Why did God allow this to happen? 

 Why didn't God save the babies of Bethlehem?  Why doesn't God save the children who are stolen and sold into sex slavery today?  For that matter why doesn't God just snap his fingers and make everything all better?  

Why do we have to even bother with a baby born in a stable, with wisemen and stars and a crucifixion for that matter?

Who knows?  But here's a clue.  

The world where babies are killed on the whim of a power hungry king is the world that we humans create.  So what makes us think we have a better idea than God how to save it?

This I know.  

The world where innocents are sacrificed for the powerful is coming to an end.   

Perhaps the purpose of throwing this dark story at us at this time is to keep us from turning Christmas into our own private little family time.    

What does it mean for us today to worship one who came “throw down the mighty from their thrones”?  While we wait for Jesus to return and establish his Kingdom of justice, love and compassion, what can we do today for those who suffer from oppression, loneliness and unkindness? 

Joyeux Noel

Sleeping Virgin with Infant~Deborah Sorrentino

To me there is no greater consolation given to mankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breasts of his most gracious mother. Who is there whom this sight would not comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.

~Martin Luther's Christmas Sermon

Oven Barbecued Country Ribs

It took me a long time to come up with a barbecue sauce I liked.  I like it sweet and smokey. With a little spice.  

This is a picture of tonight's ribs which are boneless but that's only because they didn't have the bone-in ribs.  It is SO MUCH BETTER with the bone.  Much more taste and gets more tender with the marrow.

I use Penzeys Barbecue of Americas spice which is a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and ginger.  I shake that on the ribs, a little granulated garlic, salt and pepper and about a half cup of Chardonnay.  Stick that in the crock pot and cook it for  a few hours.  My crock pot cooks too fast - only 4 hours - You should be able to put this in the morning and have it ready when you come home from work.

Then melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan.  That's REAL butter.  NOT margarine.  Add a cup of your favorite barbecue sauce and a cup of ketchup.  Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar,  a few shakes of liquid smoke, a few tablespoons balsamic vinegar.  If you have some peach or apricot jam, put a couple of tablespoons in too, plus bout 1/4 cup white wine.  A few shakes the Penzeys's spice or a little cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  A few shakes cayenne pepper.  Simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

Take the ribs out.  If they are on the bone, it will just fall off the bone at this point.  Put the ribs in a pan.  Smother them with the barbecue sauce.  Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.  We always have this with baked potatoes.  You know you can nuke your potatoes in the microwave for 4 minutes, then stick them in the oven for only about a half an hour and they will taste baked.  This is a family favorite.

A Christmas Tradition I was Unaware of

Until last night I was unaware that Isaac would always point his storm trooper toward one of Sarah's skaters or Barbies on the tree...

Friday Five - Christmas Past

Pretty simple task from the RevGalBlogPals-  Tell us about five Christmas memories you have.

1,  My parents were divorced.  We didn't have a big family so we didn't have those big crazy get togethers.  One of my first memories that I have is telling my mother I wanted a certain doll and telling my father I wanted a different doll and I got both dolls.  Now they made a big thing of that like that was something sneaky I did to get two dolls.  But it never occurred to me they would get me the same present.  They didn't do anything else together why the hell should they get together to give me one present?  

2.  One more childhood Christmas story.  Because most of them were just not that memorable.  One year my mom decided instead of us staying home and feeling bad that we were alone on Christmas we should go to Disneyland.  On Christmas Day.  That was fun.

3.  Fast forward to my first Christmas in Wisconsin with my soon to be husband, Loren.  1985 I believe. I bought a little tree.  A real one.  I just bought some gold thread covered balls, gold lights and tied gold ribbons on it.  Loren gave me diamond earrings.  I don't remember what I gave him.    I did go to his family's house and had Ludefisk which I didn't think was so bad.  That night I threw up all night.  After midnight service we (well I) went ice skating on a pond in 17 below weather.   Loren watched from his truck.  He said it was the best Christmas he ever spent.

4.  Fast forward to several years later and Loren and I were married.  You had to hide presents from him because he would peak.  He would shake and guess.  I could never surprise him with a gift.  Then one year we were at a toy show and he saw a Ertl toy version of an Allis Chalmers tractor he actually had when he was younger.   We were dirt poor those days.  It was $30.  He could not justify paying $30 for a toy tractor.  

I took the guys card, called him the next day, had him mail me the tractor and told him it was a surprise.  When it came I put it in doll box and put that in another box and wrapped it.   THIS was the year I was going to surprise him for Christmas!

Well the box threw him but it just so happened he had called the guy later about the tractor and the guy who was usually very talkative said "It's sold" and hung up on him.  Based on that alone, Loren guess I bought for him.  But the box threw him off.  After that I gave up trying to surprise him.

5.  Our first Christmas after Loren died.  It was five months after he died.  I don't remember much about it other than it was not sad.  I think I spent a little too much on gifts and decorations trying to make up for it but mostly I decided I was going to be joyful about what I did have and I did.  I got the church youth group - mostly football players to get up on my roof and hang LOTS of lights around the house.  It was late in morning and my daughter Sarah remembers being scared to death looking outside her window and seeing a kid with a ski mask on her roof.  But what I remember is how much difference making up my mind to think about all the things I DID have and not what I'd lost made.  It was a lovely Christmas.

Rita Nakashima Brock on "The Importance of Mary's Virginity"

There is an interesting piece in the Huffington Post on how Mary's virginity is more about resistence to the Roman Empire than Mary's "purity:"

Rita Nakashima Brock writes:

We might describe the story of Mary as a powerful rejection of patriarchal family systems and imperial powers that oppress everyone subject to them. By blessing her and trusting her with the Spirit in human flesh, God challenges the rich, proud, and haughty, which means those who love her story and follow Jesus ought to be doing the same. 

The Importance of Mary's Virginity

I wish she had fleshed this out more and spent less time on a history lesson.  However, this is a blog post in the Huffington Post, not a religious journal.  

But the idea intrigues me as it goes along with my theory that at the heart of many of the stories and legends the virginity and chastity of the early women saints and martyrs are a protest against a culture that gives women no say over who has control over their bodies.  I said more about this when I wrote about Santa Lucia last year.

In another life I'd write a doctoral thesis on this subject.  Someday someone will or write a book and I will bemoan the fact that I thought of it first but then remind myself I did nothing about it and be glad someone else fleshed it out.  Hopefully.  Or maybe I will write that dissertation.  I'm not dead yet, as my late husband used to say when I nagged him about things he hadn't done.

It's a Wonderful Life (As Long as you are not an Old Maid)

 Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE "It's a Wonderful Life".  I watch it every year.  I know it by heart.  I just love the message of how every single person impacts their world.  As we get more and more into a culture that encourages people to just follow their dream, whatever the consequences, I like the message of learning to appreciate and love the life you are "stuck with" even if you never fulfill your dream of traveling the world.

But even when I was a kid, there was one scene that bugged me.  It's when, after discovering all the terrible things that happen in a world without George Bailey, Clarence has to break the news to George about the worst thing that happened to poor Mary.  And he can barely choke the words out..."She's....an OLD MAID" 

An OLD MAID? OH NO!  Worse than the town being ruined by Potter.  Worse than poor old Mr. Gower accidentally poisoning a child in his grief and going to prison.  Worse even than his own brother drowning because he wasn't there to save him.   Poor Mary has turned from a vibrant, happy, clever woman into a fearful, dried up old maid.  Who needs glasses now!

To be fair, perhaps it's just a way of making it clear to George, who always thought Mary could do better than him, that no, he was the one she loved and wanted.  But I see a more sinister message.

This is 1946.  Right after WW2  women dropped their children into daycare and went about the business of holding the country together without the menfolk just fine thank you very much.  Perhaps the women needed a not-so subtle message that they really did need the menfolk?

Or maybe I've just seen this movie too many times and am overthinking it.

Kelly Fryer's Note to the Church "STOP HOGGING CHRISTMAS!"

STOP HOGGING CHRISTMAS!

Okay that's not her exact words, that's my take on it. Kelly Fryer is always trying to get the church to stop hogging the Gospel to itself. Now she's taking on the Advent Conspiracy in A Renewable Holiday Season And I agree with everything she says.

I've been thinking along these lines for awhile now.  I even had a throw away line in my sermon about how we need to stop being so judgmental about the shopping malls at Christmas as those shopping malls give people jobs so that they can fix a nice Christmas dinner for their families.  A lady in the congregation who owns a store thanked me.  

Just think how she feels with all the scolding about shopping that goes on for Christmas?   

To quote Fryer:

Here's a message that would make more sense this year: SPEND MORE...wisely.

If you've got it, by all means friends, use it to do what matters. Give it away to help the poor. But, also, go spend it at your local florist, bookstore, or clothing shop. Invest it somewhere that will give life and make a difference.

The truth is I've given lip service to this "advent conspiracy" - don't spend money, make your own gifts, be simple gospel, but I never lived it or believed it. 

I LOVE Christmas decorations and lights and SHOPPING for presents.

I've had light up reindeer in my yard. 

Our first Christmas, we were pregnant and poor and my husband and I saw this SILLY USELESS "Santa's band" - where Santa and his elves played 50 Christmas songs on bells.  

It was $50.  $50 was a LOT of money in 1987.  No self-respecting advent conspirator would buy that.  It had nothing to do with Jesus.  But it made my husband and I smile.  And that was our Christmas present to each other.   

Today Santa's band is hopelessly tangled up, it takes up way too much space, the bells are broken so the carols sound pretty weird but the kids insist I get it out every year.


Fryer also challenges us to stop with the "them vs. us" thinking and this "take Christmas back" mentality.   

She's got the nerve to suggest that we stop insisting people can only have Christmas if they come to church.  

She suggests we get out there and celebrate THEIR Christmas with them.... 

And, in whatever way you can think of, be more Ho-Ho-Ho and a lot less Holier-Than-Thou.

Amen sister!  Now I need to go out and BUY MORE LIGHTS!