The month of November has flown by! And here, on the last day of the month we find the first day, for Christians, of Advent. As the years have gone by Christmas, which was always my favorite holiday has a child, has grown increasingly special. And Advent, this time of preparation and anticipation, is no doubt a part of that process.
Although this morning is grey and overcast, a week ago I was basking in the sun of Southern California. I was in San Diego, attending the American Academy of Religion's annual conference. The weather was great and the city was wonderful, the convention was also a great experience. I took part in a panel that focused on Disney (astute readers of this blog know that Book 5 is centering on just that topic), and I delivered a paper about Christmas at Disney (and said readers also know this is a topic I've discussed before as well). One of the points I raised was of the Osborne Family light show at Hollywood Studios. In the process of doing so, I talked about the Nativity set that kicks the display off. During the question and answer time, that topic came back up, and one of my co-panelists commented that she believed the Nativity to be something of an "afterthought."
I have thought about that comment quite a bit over the past week. And I have to respectfully disagree. First, for Christians, the Nativity is hardly an afterthought at all, but rather the center of the entire Christmas experience. Having one as part of the display, especially when one considers some of the light displays themselves, certainly makes a good deal of sense. But then there is a second reason: Disney doesn't really do "afterthoughts." Every portion of the parks are thought out, both in terms of design, as well as display and function. The Nativity is there because it is supposed to be there. And on this first Sunday of Advent, that idea should be front and center.
Coming home from the conference, I arrived to a short week which ended in Thanksgiving. Obviously, it was Thanksgiving in the holiday sense--complete with trips to see family and eat a good deal of turkey. But thanksgiving as well because Book 3 (Interpreting the Prohibition Era) is now out and (most importantly for me) my author copies arrived. As a professional historian and writer, it is always gratifying to see the final product and even more so to hold it in your hands. It is my hope that the book will serve its intended purpose.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Christmas Connectionalism
In the United Methodist Church there is a concept called "connectionalism." The idea is that every congregation is connected to each other -- not just as part of the same denomination, or even in a broadly Christian kind of way, but in a deeper way. It harkens back, in some ways to the circuit rider days on the American frontier (when ordained ministers were in short supply, but congregations were springing up in every new community it seemed). It also has deeper, Biblical roots (see I Corinthians 12:12, where St. Paul compares the human body to the church/body of Christ).
I thought about this today because, for a variety of reasons, in the past five years, we as a family have attended Christmas Eve services at five different Methodist churches. For our part, it isn't because we've moved five times in five years, or indulged in something I talk about in The Mainline (church shopping), or had a falling out with minister or congregations, or anything like that. It is just how it worked out. One year was at our current home church, one year it was because we were visiting relatives out of town, one year we went back to the church we were married in, and twice it was because friends or family had invited us to worship with them. All five of those services were fine in their own right, and all added to our family's preparation for celebrating Christmas.
The reason I bring it up on Christmas Eve, is that even within a denomination so devoted (on some level) to this concept of connection, there can be division. At this time of year, we don't want to dwell on such things of course. We should want to focus on those things that bind us together in that connection, not that which divides us (even if those issues aren't likely to go away and are very important ones to discuss). Interestingly enough, one of the other common things that connects my personal Christmas Eves of the recent past (and for several years beyond the last five actually) has been watching the Christmas Mass from St. Peter's Basilica. This year, was Pope Francis's first, and Time magazine's "Person of the Year" did not disappoint.
And maybe there is something to all that. Maybe if Christians listened to the Church's various branches (whether Protestant or Catholic, connected within the same denomination or not), it would act more and more like the Body of Christ. Maybe that would make us more willing to speak out on behalf of our fellow Christians who aren't just seeing some form of secularism or cultural apathetic persecution, but actual life and death persecution. And perhaps, on a night like tonight, if we aren't able to listen to each other, perhaps we'll listen (in good Methodist fashion) to the angels:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
I thought about this today because, for a variety of reasons, in the past five years, we as a family have attended Christmas Eve services at five different Methodist churches. For our part, it isn't because we've moved five times in five years, or indulged in something I talk about in The Mainline (church shopping), or had a falling out with minister or congregations, or anything like that. It is just how it worked out. One year was at our current home church, one year it was because we were visiting relatives out of town, one year we went back to the church we were married in, and twice it was because friends or family had invited us to worship with them. All five of those services were fine in their own right, and all added to our family's preparation for celebrating Christmas.
The reason I bring it up on Christmas Eve, is that even within a denomination so devoted (on some level) to this concept of connection, there can be division. At this time of year, we don't want to dwell on such things of course. We should want to focus on those things that bind us together in that connection, not that which divides us (even if those issues aren't likely to go away and are very important ones to discuss). Interestingly enough, one of the other common things that connects my personal Christmas Eves of the recent past (and for several years beyond the last five actually) has been watching the Christmas Mass from St. Peter's Basilica. This year, was Pope Francis's first, and Time magazine's "Person of the Year" did not disappoint.
And maybe there is something to all that. Maybe if Christians listened to the Church's various branches (whether Protestant or Catholic, connected within the same denomination or not), it would act more and more like the Body of Christ. Maybe that would make us more willing to speak out on behalf of our fellow Christians who aren't just seeing some form of secularism or cultural apathetic persecution, but actual life and death persecution. And perhaps, on a night like tonight, if we aren't able to listen to each other, perhaps we'll listen (in good Methodist fashion) to the angels:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Monday, December 23, 2013
This Holy Tide of Christmas
A few years ago I watched "A Christmas Carol" starring Patrick Stewart for the first time. I knew the story of Scrooge of course--thanks to Disney's version with Scrooge McDuck when I was younger and then having read Charles Dickens tale myself when I was older. And as great a job as Stewart did in the role, it wasn't his portrayal that stuck with me. Rather, perhaps for the first time, I was introduced to the hymn, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."
Now, I'd probably heard and sung that hymn before first watching and hearing it on television. But it was the first time I'd really paid attention to what the song was saying. You can read the words for yourself here. What caught my attention that night, and what has stuck with me since are the lines:
To save us all from Satan’s power,
When we were gone astray.
Here, in twelve words or less, was the summation of the Christian message--that God so loved the world, a world He had created, a world that had fallen, that He had devised a means to save us. This is the story of why Christians believe Christmas had to happened, all presented in song form.
To sing those words, to believe them, is to be reminded not only of God's love, but also that sin is a very real part of the world we live in--and in order for us to be reconciled to God, we must be redeemed. Indeed, what else should we expect from a holy God--one who can not abide sin, but loves sinners enough to do something about it? We might debate what constitutes a sin, whether there is a hierarchy of sins, even the role culture plays in helping us determine sins (see all of this, and more -- including politics, television contracts and the like in the recent "Duck Dynasty" controversy). But Christians should be able to agree that sin is real. That it keeps us from God. But that God devised a means to take away its eternal sting. This then, is the story of Christmas. As the hymn relates:
This holy tide of Christmas,
Doth bring redeeming grace.
May that grace, that peace, be with you and yours this holiday season.
Now, I'd probably heard and sung that hymn before first watching and hearing it on television. But it was the first time I'd really paid attention to what the song was saying. You can read the words for yourself here. What caught my attention that night, and what has stuck with me since are the lines:
To save us all from Satan’s power,
When we were gone astray.
Here, in twelve words or less, was the summation of the Christian message--that God so loved the world, a world He had created, a world that had fallen, that He had devised a means to save us. This is the story of why Christians believe Christmas had to happened, all presented in song form.
To sing those words, to believe them, is to be reminded not only of God's love, but also that sin is a very real part of the world we live in--and in order for us to be reconciled to God, we must be redeemed. Indeed, what else should we expect from a holy God--one who can not abide sin, but loves sinners enough to do something about it? We might debate what constitutes a sin, whether there is a hierarchy of sins, even the role culture plays in helping us determine sins (see all of this, and more -- including politics, television contracts and the like in the recent "Duck Dynasty" controversy). But Christians should be able to agree that sin is real. That it keeps us from God. But that God devised a means to take away its eternal sting. This then, is the story of Christmas. As the hymn relates:
This holy tide of Christmas,
Doth bring redeeming grace.
May that grace, that peace, be with you and yours this holiday season.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
From Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus to S-A-T-A-N!?!
On this third Sunday of Advent, I found in my Facebook feed a posting from a friend about the sermon he was listening to at his church. The pastor had just made a reference to "Satan Claus," which my friend thought was funny (which in turn prompted his wife to roll her eyes, per his comments). Now, I don't know what else the pastor in question said, or even what the sermon was about (I'll take a guess that secularization of the holiday may have been a theme), but it did get me thinking a bit about how some Christians have declared a war on Santa (and in the process forgotten about the man who inspired the myth, Saint Nicholas).
If you don't know anything about Saint Nicholas, you should. Though there is some dispute about all the details of his life's work, he is widely acknowledged to have been the Bishop of Myra during the 300s. He was known to give gifts (foreshadowing the eventual Santa Claus of course), but was perhaps known during his own time (and in perhaps the biggest gift to orthodox Christianity) for his staunch opposition to the Arian heresy (which cast doubt on the divinity of Jesus Christ) -- including slapping Arius himself in the face at the Council of Nicea!
For a fairly detailed account, read this or this. For a more humorous take (though with some crude language, so be warned), read this. But by all accounts, he was a no none sense defender of the faith, and very much worthy of being celebrated (and hardly surprising that his real exploits might take on the stuff of legends in their own rights).
So, how did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? As those first two articles point out, one of the most popular saints in both the Eastern and Western churches got transformed by the Reformation. Protestants, starting perhaps, with Martin Luther, who wanted to focus Christians away from venerating saints, cast aside St. Nicholas in favor of having Christian parents talk about the Christ Child. The Christkindl of Protestant Germany found its way to the United States, where it became "translated" (we'll use that term loosely) as "Chris Kringle." The next step to Santa then came with Episcopalian Clement Moore's "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (you can read more about him and the poem here) in 1822, followed by Thomas Nast (himself of German Protestant extraction) creating a visual image in 1863 that can now be found (and copied) virtually anywhere today.
Christians have enough to worry about in this day and age I think, than whether to welcome Santa down their chimney. While I don't believe that Christianity in America is persecuted in the same way that say Christians in Syria are, nor that even this season's round of atheistic actions (see here for more on the "who needs Christ to celebrate Christmas" campaign -- which should prompt, I'd hope, at least some head scratching on the part of those who claim to be so well educated about how that realistically is supposed to work), harken the end of the faith in the United States, I really don't think Santa is to blame, or even a real worry. If you don't want to talk about Santa, fine. But you are going to be hard pressed to shield your eyes (or the eyes and imaginations of your children from it). And no, even with secularization, Santa doesn't mean "S-A-T-A-N", no matter what the Church Lady might tell you! By all means, focus on the Nativity, but maybe also talk a bit about the man who inspired the story to begin with. It couldn't hurt and it is probably better for all of us than devoting more time to real danger to Christmas: the Elf on a Shelf!
If you don't know anything about Saint Nicholas, you should. Though there is some dispute about all the details of his life's work, he is widely acknowledged to have been the Bishop of Myra during the 300s. He was known to give gifts (foreshadowing the eventual Santa Claus of course), but was perhaps known during his own time (and in perhaps the biggest gift to orthodox Christianity) for his staunch opposition to the Arian heresy (which cast doubt on the divinity of Jesus Christ) -- including slapping Arius himself in the face at the Council of Nicea!
For a fairly detailed account, read this or this. For a more humorous take (though with some crude language, so be warned), read this. But by all accounts, he was a no none sense defender of the faith, and very much worthy of being celebrated (and hardly surprising that his real exploits might take on the stuff of legends in their own rights).
So, how did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? As those first two articles point out, one of the most popular saints in both the Eastern and Western churches got transformed by the Reformation. Protestants, starting perhaps, with Martin Luther, who wanted to focus Christians away from venerating saints, cast aside St. Nicholas in favor of having Christian parents talk about the Christ Child. The Christkindl of Protestant Germany found its way to the United States, where it became "translated" (we'll use that term loosely) as "Chris Kringle." The next step to Santa then came with Episcopalian Clement Moore's "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (you can read more about him and the poem here) in 1822, followed by Thomas Nast (himself of German Protestant extraction) creating a visual image in 1863 that can now be found (and copied) virtually anywhere today.
Christians have enough to worry about in this day and age I think, than whether to welcome Santa down their chimney. While I don't believe that Christianity in America is persecuted in the same way that say Christians in Syria are, nor that even this season's round of atheistic actions (see here for more on the "who needs Christ to celebrate Christmas" campaign -- which should prompt, I'd hope, at least some head scratching on the part of those who claim to be so well educated about how that realistically is supposed to work), harken the end of the faith in the United States, I really don't think Santa is to blame, or even a real worry. If you don't want to talk about Santa, fine. But you are going to be hard pressed to shield your eyes (or the eyes and imaginations of your children from it). And no, even with secularization, Santa doesn't mean "S-A-T-A-N", no matter what the Church Lady might tell you! By all means, focus on the Nativity, but maybe also talk a bit about the man who inspired the story to begin with. It couldn't hurt and it is probably better for all of us than devoting more time to real danger to Christmas: the Elf on a Shelf!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Christmas at Disney World
This year for Christmas, my wife and I gave our kids the gift of a nearly week long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. Considering the turn the weather took the day after Christmas at home in Indiana, and how nice it turned out to be in Florida, it also ended up being a gift to us as well!
Now, for those of you who have read this blog before, you know this isn't a travel blog. This is supposed to be about my book about Mainline Christianity -- stick with me, and I'll get there, I promise. For those of you who are stumbling upon this blog because you are looking for a review of the new Fantasy Land, let me just say now it is awesome, and you should start your day with Belle!
Now, how did I come to post about Disney World on this book blog? I surely didn't intend to do so, but one of the nice things about a vacation that includes waiting in line (unless you can Fast Pass -- which you should) is that you get some time to think. And for me, this post started when we visited EPCOT and my son, while we were in Norway said "let's go into that church." For those of you who are rusty on your EPCOT Norwegian lay of the land, the pavilion includes a stave church building (which houses an exhibit on the Vikings). My son's request got me thinking about where God was at Disney World (which very could, as I thought some more about it, be a whole article in and of itself). But this is not that article, rather, this is about Disney World at Christmas time, and what American Mainline Christianity (whether of the old or new variety) might learn from the House of Mouse.
Before anyone assumes this is going to be some new angle on the whole "church as business model" let me lay those hopes/fears aside for you. It is not (remember, this is not that article). While I think there are some valid arguments/examples one could make (as well as a warnings, including that "one size does not fit all") along those lines, this post is about Disney at Christmastime. You see, one of the main reasons my wife and I had decided to do this trip (besides that we have a wonderful time here in Florida, along with the aforementioned weather issue) was that we wanted to see what Disney did for Christmas. Not for any academic reasons (this post aside) but just to see it. We knew we weren't going to make the journey AT Christmas, but after a quick check, discovered that the parks stayed decorated into the New Year. And that sealed the deal!
What Disney does to their parks at Christmas is pretty special. The lights are awesome. The displays are cute. The merchandise is everywhere. One could visit Disney World at Christmas and see nothing but commercialization and consumerism and even secularization run amok. Indeed, a trip here at Christmastime might fire some members of American Mainline Christianity into bemoaning what the Magic Kingdom has done or at least is a symptom of to culture, including Christian culture, for all those reasons. Before you know it, we'd see calls for boycotts, petitions asking Disney to support "traditional values," and maybe even op-eds about Disney's image as "family friendly" while making money off of movie divisions that "glorify violence" or some such. If that seems far fetched, it shouldn't -- all those things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years (usually from some corner of the Religious Right, or from evangelical circles, and all with precious little to show for it).
But before that happens here, let me ask you, dear reader, to step back -- either from launching such a drive or from shaking your head at those who would -- and join me for a second at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Click on that highlighted hyperlink and behold the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. You'll be beholding for awhile, as there are some 5 million lights involved. And let me tell you what I saw, and heard, just the other night, when I beheld them for the first time: the very spirit of Christmas.
We were directed by the park staff (those "cast members" in Disney speak) down and around the byways of park's streets to begin in front of a Nativity light display. We'd seen it earlier in the day of course, and I'd thought it odd that it seemed tucked away near the back of the (then unlit) display area. But now I understood why. You start there, away from the bulk of the display, so that those lights stand out more. They draw you in. Soon enough, you are pulled away (if only by the strength of the crowd) to other displays. Some are religious in nature (the wise men, angels, peace on earth) some are not. But even when you aren't focused visually on the Nativity, you are never far from it, thanks to the music that is playing -- sounds of the season, some secular, some holy, but all Christmas.
And that trip through the lights got me thinking. I have heard Christmas music virtually everyday since late November. At Disney World it was playing still. "Light" seemed to be the buzzword this year at the Advent and Christmas services I either attended or watched. Here were 5 million lights in just one section of one Disney park. The people I had attended services with -- friends, family, neighbors -- had all likely heard those messages before. Here at Disney World, I was hearing (and singing) some of the same hymns, "seeing" the same message, with thousands of people I didn't know, literally from every corner of the globe (and not just at EPCOT -- we saw groups from various Central and South American nations, and encountered visitors from across Europe, as well as from Asia and Australia, amongst other places). Can any American denomination, inside or outside, the Mainline say their message (while no doubt more deeply seeded with theology and doctrine) was heard by so many? Did any have such an "evangelizing moment" to reach out to those outside of the Christian faith and tradition (those whom many American evangelicals would have once called "the lost," or "unreached") with the Good News of Christ's birth?
Now, I'm not saying that Disney World was attempting to spread the Christmas message of the Church in an evangelizing way. If it gets cold and snowy enough in Indiana later this winter, you might even get me to say (as my favorite of Snow White's dwarfs, Grumpy, might do) that even if they were, it wouldn't make up for all the commercialization and secular message that comes with it. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a lesson to be had in all of this about the Mainline of American Christianity either. If a secular corporation can do this, (or this) what more can (and should) the Church be doing? As one of my favorite sermons from this past Advent season pointed out, Christmas started with Christianity and the Church -- and Christians should not be afraid to say so! Perhaps scholars need to look a bit more deeply into issues of culture (something that gets a few pages in the Mainline book, but no doubt needs more attention). Maybe there is more for the church planners (as well as those who study such movements) to learn about/from the whole "corporation model" of Church growth. With less than a year until the start of the next Advent and Christmas season, there is still time to think about such things before they are upon us again. And there is also time to reflect that sometimes such epiphanies can come to us at the most unexpected times and places -- not unlike that very first Christmas itself.
Now, for those of you who have read this blog before, you know this isn't a travel blog. This is supposed to be about my book about Mainline Christianity -- stick with me, and I'll get there, I promise. For those of you who are stumbling upon this blog because you are looking for a review of the new Fantasy Land, let me just say now it is awesome, and you should start your day with Belle!
Now, how did I come to post about Disney World on this book blog? I surely didn't intend to do so, but one of the nice things about a vacation that includes waiting in line (unless you can Fast Pass -- which you should) is that you get some time to think. And for me, this post started when we visited EPCOT and my son, while we were in Norway said "let's go into that church." For those of you who are rusty on your EPCOT Norwegian lay of the land, the pavilion includes a stave church building (which houses an exhibit on the Vikings). My son's request got me thinking about where God was at Disney World (which very could, as I thought some more about it, be a whole article in and of itself). But this is not that article, rather, this is about Disney World at Christmas time, and what American Mainline Christianity (whether of the old or new variety) might learn from the House of Mouse.
Before anyone assumes this is going to be some new angle on the whole "church as business model" let me lay those hopes/fears aside for you. It is not (remember, this is not that article). While I think there are some valid arguments/examples one could make (as well as a warnings, including that "one size does not fit all") along those lines, this post is about Disney at Christmastime. You see, one of the main reasons my wife and I had decided to do this trip (besides that we have a wonderful time here in Florida, along with the aforementioned weather issue) was that we wanted to see what Disney did for Christmas. Not for any academic reasons (this post aside) but just to see it. We knew we weren't going to make the journey AT Christmas, but after a quick check, discovered that the parks stayed decorated into the New Year. And that sealed the deal!
What Disney does to their parks at Christmas is pretty special. The lights are awesome. The displays are cute. The merchandise is everywhere. One could visit Disney World at Christmas and see nothing but commercialization and consumerism and even secularization run amok. Indeed, a trip here at Christmastime might fire some members of American Mainline Christianity into bemoaning what the Magic Kingdom has done or at least is a symptom of to culture, including Christian culture, for all those reasons. Before you know it, we'd see calls for boycotts, petitions asking Disney to support "traditional values," and maybe even op-eds about Disney's image as "family friendly" while making money off of movie divisions that "glorify violence" or some such. If that seems far fetched, it shouldn't -- all those things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years (usually from some corner of the Religious Right, or from evangelical circles, and all with precious little to show for it).
But before that happens here, let me ask you, dear reader, to step back -- either from launching such a drive or from shaking your head at those who would -- and join me for a second at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Click on that highlighted hyperlink and behold the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. You'll be beholding for awhile, as there are some 5 million lights involved. And let me tell you what I saw, and heard, just the other night, when I beheld them for the first time: the very spirit of Christmas.
We were directed by the park staff (those "cast members" in Disney speak) down and around the byways of park's streets to begin in front of a Nativity light display. We'd seen it earlier in the day of course, and I'd thought it odd that it seemed tucked away near the back of the (then unlit) display area. But now I understood why. You start there, away from the bulk of the display, so that those lights stand out more. They draw you in. Soon enough, you are pulled away (if only by the strength of the crowd) to other displays. Some are religious in nature (the wise men, angels, peace on earth) some are not. But even when you aren't focused visually on the Nativity, you are never far from it, thanks to the music that is playing -- sounds of the season, some secular, some holy, but all Christmas.
And that trip through the lights got me thinking. I have heard Christmas music virtually everyday since late November. At Disney World it was playing still. "Light" seemed to be the buzzword this year at the Advent and Christmas services I either attended or watched. Here were 5 million lights in just one section of one Disney park. The people I had attended services with -- friends, family, neighbors -- had all likely heard those messages before. Here at Disney World, I was hearing (and singing) some of the same hymns, "seeing" the same message, with thousands of people I didn't know, literally from every corner of the globe (and not just at EPCOT -- we saw groups from various Central and South American nations, and encountered visitors from across Europe, as well as from Asia and Australia, amongst other places). Can any American denomination, inside or outside, the Mainline say their message (while no doubt more deeply seeded with theology and doctrine) was heard by so many? Did any have such an "evangelizing moment" to reach out to those outside of the Christian faith and tradition (those whom many American evangelicals would have once called "the lost," or "unreached") with the Good News of Christ's birth?
Now, I'm not saying that Disney World was attempting to spread the Christmas message of the Church in an evangelizing way. If it gets cold and snowy enough in Indiana later this winter, you might even get me to say (as my favorite of Snow White's dwarfs, Grumpy, might do) that even if they were, it wouldn't make up for all the commercialization and secular message that comes with it. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a lesson to be had in all of this about the Mainline of American Christianity either. If a secular corporation can do this, (or this) what more can (and should) the Church be doing? As one of my favorite sermons from this past Advent season pointed out, Christmas started with Christianity and the Church -- and Christians should not be afraid to say so! Perhaps scholars need to look a bit more deeply into issues of culture (something that gets a few pages in the Mainline book, but no doubt needs more attention). Maybe there is more for the church planners (as well as those who study such movements) to learn about/from the whole "corporation model" of Church growth. With less than a year until the start of the next Advent and Christmas season, there is still time to think about such things before they are upon us again. And there is also time to reflect that sometimes such epiphanies can come to us at the most unexpected times and places -- not unlike that very first Christmas itself.
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