This is a little silly, but I really wanted a particular brand of Christmas pudding. I couldn't find any anywhere in town and I went to several different shops. Finally today (Friday and the second-last shopping day before Christmas) I went back to one of the shops where I knew they didn't have any left of the brand I wanted, and decided to get something else.
On an impulse, I asked again if they had any of the brand I wanted left and the guy said he would look. Finally, he said that they didn't have any of the normal ones left, but that he could sell me one of the "catering packs" of my favourite brand! No fancy Christmas packaging, but twice as much pudding for half the price! God looks after our "wants" as well as our "needs" and his blessings overflow, now and always! I am once again amazed and humbled at how God helps us to celebrate and enjoy life, even frivolous things like Christmas puddings! Maybe there is some hope for Christmas after all, if God is willing to help us celebrate it!
Friday, December 23, 2005
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
What does Christmas stand for?
Christian
Holy Day
Reminder of the
Incarnation
Suddenly
Turning to a
Materialistic
Atheistic
Sell-ebration (or should that be Cellar-bration?)
Holy Day
Reminder of the
Incarnation
Suddenly
Turning to a
Materialistic
Atheistic
Sell-ebration (or should that be Cellar-bration?)
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Making room for Jesus
On Sunday we were talking about Advent - the season of making room in our lives for Jesus. I couldn't help laughing - I mean, we are a church which is not having a service on Christmas Day! How can we talk about making room for God and making God a priority without even putting aside one day for Him? As Dean pointed out, it is rather like churches closing for everyone to have Easter holidays. I can't help thinking it is a sign of our times that going to the beach is more important than thinking about Jesus' incarnation.
The argument has certainly been made (sometimes by me) that we are not bound by legalism to be there every time the church doors are open, and this is certainly true. It is also true that we are not bound by the law to celebrate Jesus on any particular day, and that we should be grateful to Him every day. Even so, I think not to even have the option of gathering with other Christians on what is usually considered the second-biggest day of the Christian calendar (after Easter), well what is the church for?
If the church is not to gather and worship and encourage one another and re-tell the stories of our faith - why have a church at all? What are we doing if we do not celebrate Christ's coming into our world, which is after all the very day which made Easter possible?
The argument has certainly been made (sometimes by me) that we are not bound by legalism to be there every time the church doors are open, and this is certainly true. It is also true that we are not bound by the law to celebrate Jesus on any particular day, and that we should be grateful to Him every day. Even so, I think not to even have the option of gathering with other Christians on what is usually considered the second-biggest day of the Christian calendar (after Easter), well what is the church for?
If the church is not to gather and worship and encourage one another and re-tell the stories of our faith - why have a church at all? What are we doing if we do not celebrate Christ's coming into our world, which is after all the very day which made Easter possible?
Monday, December 19, 2005
Christmas reflections
I am sorry to have to be so sceptical about Christmas, but it seems to be an ever more meaningless holiday with too much food and too little thought or genuine good-will. The closing of churches on Christmas seems to just be the last straw. This quote from Benjamin Franklin seems to sum it up rather well:
When even Christians don't want to make time to go to church on Christmas Day, what hope is there that God is a real priority for anyone?
How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.Sadly, this is the truth. I was writing some thoughts in church on Sunday and I couldn't help feeling a little bitter and cynical. It seems that no-one really wants presents, and no-one really wants to give them either, but everyone does from a sense of obligation, and accumulates more clutter. Lots of people don't like fruit cake, or ham, or even turkey, but they eat it because it is "the done thing".
When even Christians don't want to make time to go to church on Christmas Day, what hope is there that God is a real priority for anyone?
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Thesis time again!
Oh dear. It is thesis time again, commitment time again. Do I enrol and try to get this wretched thing written, or put it off for another semester? I am still totally uninspired for topics, with only mild interest in three:
- doctors and drug company advertising (conflict of interest)
- conflicts between families and staff in management of children
- doctors obligations to rescue, emergencies, not on duty, etc.
- maybe euthanasia? abortion? these topics are always done to death, so to speak.
Can't say I feel red-hot to write thousands of words on any of the above, and I have to finish because under the new College guidelines a higher degree "progress report" is not long sufficient. In order to meet the requirements you have to finish the thing! I wonder if I just got on a did it, just to get a passing grade, if that would be enough? But I'm a straight HD student so far, and it seems a pity to ruin it - besides, I think it could be really interesting if I could just get inspired!
- doctors and drug company advertising (conflict of interest)
- conflicts between families and staff in management of children
- doctors obligations to rescue, emergencies, not on duty, etc.
- maybe euthanasia? abortion? these topics are always done to death, so to speak.
Can't say I feel red-hot to write thousands of words on any of the above, and I have to finish because under the new College guidelines a higher degree "progress report" is not long sufficient. In order to meet the requirements you have to finish the thing! I wonder if I just got on a did it, just to get a passing grade, if that would be enough? But I'm a straight HD student so far, and it seems a pity to ruin it - besides, I think it could be really interesting if I could just get inspired!
Friday, December 09, 2005
Christmas on a Sunday
Interestingly, I have been involved in lots of discussions around whether or not to have a Christmas service when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. As we are under grace, I would not say that church is ever "compulsory" and while gathering together is important, I would not say that any particular day is mandatory to be in church either. That said, my preference would be to have a Christmas service on Christmas Day; when the Lord's Day falls on His (observed) birthday, surely that is twice the reason to celebrate! I always think that Christmas carols sound so much more meaningful when today really is the day that Christ was born!
Strangely enough, it never occurred to me that this discussion would be anything but theoretical. I never doubted that Solace would celebrate both the Sunday and the Christmas Day. Now, all of sudden, we are not. I was rather shocked and disappointed, and now I feel somewhat at a loose end. I guess it's the old it could never happen to me feeling.
Maybe I'm being selfish. I see that it is certainly a lot of work to put together both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day service, especially when not that many people will come (I presume). But surely the emphasis should not be on how many are there, but the quality of what happens for those who are there? It is not as if we even have a proper sermon which would need writing - I would be happy just to sing (more) carols with a CD if necessary. I guess it is too late now, but I would have been happy to help organize a Christmas Day service - maybe I should have offered.
Some of the comments made on other blogs about this have been very thought provoking, both on Ben Witherington's blog and Jesus Creed in particular. The one which struck me the most was from Ben Witherington:
Strangely enough, it never occurred to me that this discussion would be anything but theoretical. I never doubted that Solace would celebrate both the Sunday and the Christmas Day. Now, all of sudden, we are not. I was rather shocked and disappointed, and now I feel somewhat at a loose end. I guess it's the old it could never happen to me feeling.
Maybe I'm being selfish. I see that it is certainly a lot of work to put together both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day service, especially when not that many people will come (I presume). But surely the emphasis should not be on how many are there, but the quality of what happens for those who are there? It is not as if we even have a proper sermon which would need writing - I would be happy just to sing (more) carols with a CD if necessary. I guess it is too late now, but I would have been happy to help organize a Christmas Day service - maybe I should have offered.
Some of the comments made on other blogs about this have been very thought provoking, both on Ben Witherington's blog and Jesus Creed in particular. The one which struck me the most was from Ben Witherington:
Can you imagine these same churches announcing they were closing on Easter so people could spend time with their families? Would you willingly miss your own child's birthday? Why would you miss the birthday celebration of the birth of God' only begotten Son?All good points, and though I don't want to be legalistic about it, I feel like I am grieving a missed opportunity to celebrate and rejoice in Jesus' presence in our world. Still, there's always next year!
"Irreconcilable Differences" takes 2nd prize!
I went to the opening night of my play last night! It was so strange and somewhat amazing to think that those eight people worked on what I wrote for weeks, and then produced it - more or less the way I imagined it. Some of it was a little different, some better, some not so good, but the main thoughts were there. It was a little weird to hear my thoughts coming out of other people's mouths!
Most of the actors did well, especially Helen and Amber in the roles of the two main girls and Paul and Bill as the two main guys. I was glad that they played that characters like "real people". It was important to me that everyone was represented as taking a reasonable position, and no-one turned into a Bible-thumping caricature. (I wa a bit concerned about what a non-Christian director and non-Christian actors might turn it all into.) The girl who played Tanya did even better than I imagined - she turned a bit part into a real comedy piece! Unfortunately, the final speeches by Vivian and Brett let the side down a bit - if I had realized how the actors would play it, I might have cut the last scene. Still, on the whole I was reasonably pleased with the overall effect - though I notice that they did edit me a bit as they went along.
In the final wash-up, I won $150 for 2nd prize! I was pretty pleased with that - first attempt and everything! They play which won first prize was a better script (though I still think I had better substance) but the acting unfortunately sabotaged the performance. The actors had to read the script, since it all happened at such short notice, but one of them looked like she had never even read the script before! Her stumbling and stuttering really ruined what would otherwise have been a very witty dialogue. The others were OK, but reading always lacks spark and movement. It was a real shame, because it would have been great to see it as the author intended. I felt sorry for him to be sitting there watching his script get butchered like that.
Afterwards, someone suggested that I give the script to Christian university students to perform as a piece to stimulate thought and discussion on the topic of homosexuality in the church. I might at that, but the script needs some re-drafting first. Seeing it actually performed on stage made me realize why play scripts need to be workshopped! So many parts I would change around and tweak into better shape now that I have seen it in glorious living colour! It was a great night though, no denying it - I might even do it again next year!
Most of the actors did well, especially Helen and Amber in the roles of the two main girls and Paul and Bill as the two main guys. I was glad that they played that characters like "real people". It was important to me that everyone was represented as taking a reasonable position, and no-one turned into a Bible-thumping caricature. (I wa a bit concerned about what a non-Christian director and non-Christian actors might turn it all into.) The girl who played Tanya did even better than I imagined - she turned a bit part into a real comedy piece! Unfortunately, the final speeches by Vivian and Brett let the side down a bit - if I had realized how the actors would play it, I might have cut the last scene. Still, on the whole I was reasonably pleased with the overall effect - though I notice that they did edit me a bit as they went along.
In the final wash-up, I won $150 for 2nd prize! I was pretty pleased with that - first attempt and everything! They play which won first prize was a better script (though I still think I had better substance) but the acting unfortunately sabotaged the performance. The actors had to read the script, since it all happened at such short notice, but one of them looked like she had never even read the script before! Her stumbling and stuttering really ruined what would otherwise have been a very witty dialogue. The others were OK, but reading always lacks spark and movement. It was a real shame, because it would have been great to see it as the author intended. I felt sorry for him to be sitting there watching his script get butchered like that.
Afterwards, someone suggested that I give the script to Christian university students to perform as a piece to stimulate thought and discussion on the topic of homosexuality in the church. I might at that, but the script needs some re-drafting first. Seeing it actually performed on stage made me realize why play scripts need to be workshopped! So many parts I would change around and tweak into better shape now that I have seen it in glorious living colour! It was a great night though, no denying it - I might even do it again next year!
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