facing christmas head on
Cheryl has posted a wonderful prayer as we prepare for Christmas: She writes:
“a prayer for those who, like me, are wondering where they’ll find the spark of inspiration in the preparation for christmas…
i do not have Mary’s faith
in the impossible
though i know i once didi remember when the idea that the divine would be born into this world
was real
(miraculous but eminently possible)
when hope was ready, waiting for my bidding
when cynicism was just a front -
the humorous corrective to the optimism
which inevitably, relentlessly won.i just want to warn you,
source of all life,
that this year -
when i can’t find the faith to face another Christmas
as though it were again the first,
when i will simply be relying on the memory of those that have passed
to pull me through -you have your work cut out for you.”
November 27th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
At the risk of being un-Australian, why not remain sober this pissmas?
November 27th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Why would you want to? Christmas is bad enough without having to be sober through it all.
November 27th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
This sounds as though the person is no longer a christian.
They no longer believe in a virgin birth or Jesus’s deity.
They have confused hope and now have little idea of what Christmas is about at all.
Very sad and a prayer is definitely needed for Cheryl.
Let us hope , biblical speaking, She recognises what Christmas is all about and believes in that
November 27th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Sounds more to me like a call out to God to help her remember what Christmas is all about and how sad this world is compared to how it should have been after Jesus.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:39 am
hey Homer
I am “the person”
I recognise neither myself nor my faith in your comments about me.
i’m honoured you’ve put the prayer here Phil, thanks! and i’ll get you the promo for Pete Rollins very soon…
November 28th, 2006 at 7:22 am
Good to hear it.
Can only call it as it reads however.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:48 am
I think you mean you like to cal it as you read it - as we all do - it’s good to remember that we don’t always get the message as she was intended to be - and that is not teh fault of the message or the giver of the mesage - it is as it is!
November 28th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Great poem, Cheryl. It would resonate with many people I know.
Homer, my church often runs a service that is aimed at creating a “space for grieving” at around Christmas time. Christmas is very hard for a lot of people - for many, it’s not a time of happiness, but a time of immense sadness, of being confronted head-on with what they have lost.
I read that poem exactly as emanrescu did. As Greg notes, we all read things differently. I can’t help but notice that you seem to always assume that people have lost their faith.
November 29th, 2006 at 11:30 am
This was posted by: jimmy | over at http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/2005/11/advent_poems.html
I thought it quite beautiful along with this one from John Betjeman
Advent 1955
The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It’s dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver pale
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound -
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out ‘Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.’
And how, in fact, do we prepare
The great day that waits us there -
For the twenty-fifth day of December,
The birth of Christ? For some it means
An interchange of hunting scenes
On coloured cards, And I remember
Last year I sent out twenty yards,
Laid end to end, of Christmas cards
To people that I scarcely know -
They’d sent a card to me, and so
I had to send one back. Oh dear!
Is this a form of Christmas cheer?
Or is it, which is less surprising,
My pride gone in for advertising?
The only cards that really count
Are that extremely small amount
From real friends who keep in touch
And are not rich but love us much
Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.
We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell’d go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
‘The time draws near the birth of Christ’.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger
December 6th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7932/1177/1600/612069/santachrist.jpg here’s a great picture for all you santa lovers
December 7th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
” my church often runs a service that is aimed at creating a “space for grieving” at around Christmas time”
Can you tell me more about this Bec? I’ve done similar things at Mother’s/Father’s Day, but those who are ‘happy’ then are more than ok with allowing space for this sentiment. Not sure how I could do it at Christmas when everyone is trying soooo hard to be upbeat…
December 11th, 2006 at 9:07 am
from http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/
December 13th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Hi Toddy,
sorry, I only just saw your post.
Umm…well, I guess the “vibe” of the poems above is sort of what we aim for. We try to use the worship services as an opportunity to create a space for people to mourn about broken/lost relationships, people, to be open about the loneliness and grief that characterises Christmas for many people, to acknowledge things like the fact that rates of divorce, separation and suicide skyrocket just before and just after Christmas. I often use Taize songs in services…it’s getting a bit old and passe for many people, but I still find it a very powerful tool for meditation (esp. since most of us in the developed west find it very hard to sit still, let alone be silent for very long!). Liturgies, poetry, prayers that reflect on the varied experiences of Christmas. Things like candle lighting…all the usual ‘reflective’ stuff. So many Christmas services are full of happy, joyful Christmas carols that even doing the most basic things like having a contemplative service with lots of silence, quiet prayers, and candle-lighting can be a good start to creating a space for people to grieve!!
I guess also broadening the theological aspects…sure, Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but we’re also celebrating the birth of a little baby that was born to die, a little baby that we - thousands of years later - was to face a horrific end in many senses. And don’t forget the hundreds or maybe thousands of kids that were (maybe?) slaughtered due to the predicted arrival of the Messiah…
December 13th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Oh…and Toddy…I guess it’s fairly easy for us to have these sorts of services in my community, because it’s one that’s very familiar with issues like homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health/ill health issues. But I also think that you might be surprised by how open even those who are “celebrating” are to creating spaces for those who need to “grieve”. I’m not someone for whom life is very difficult - I’m very fortunate in that sense. I absolutely LOVE Christmas…but that doesn’t mean that I don’t wrestle with questions about justice and fairness at Christmas time…I’m going off to all these corporate functions where there’s insanely expensive booze, and I know that there’s plenty of kids in Australia - let alone elsewhere in the world! - that won’t be getting much to eat, let alone any presents…
December 13th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Good thoughts Bec, ta.