Hark the Herald Angels Sing

in the usa, thanksgiving day has just passed.  christmas is around the corner.  for christians, the season of advent has begun.  in our home, images of that bearded gift-giver we call santa claus abound, along with several manger scenes with the baby jesus at their center.  there are lighted ceramic trees and a four-foot-tall tabletop christmas tree, as yet undecorated.  there are snowmen and various figures that are celebrating christmas, such as our set of carolers from the peanuts cartoon series.  there are angels and gnomes.  it is a feast of color and light.

each morning i walk through the house while it is still and dark outside, turning on the celebratory lights that are not automatically turned on by timers.  when night falls, lighted trees, garlands, wreaths, and a santa claus come on outside in the front and rear of our house, as their timers do their jobs.  it is the season i love most each year, that time before all the family gathers, and the traditional christmas dinner is eaten, and gifts are exchanged.  it is a time of anticipation of the festivities that are to come, of rehearsing the familiar tunes and words associated with christmas, of watching movies that capture the magic of the season.

i remember the magic of anticipation from my childhood:  looking forward to seeing what santa brought me and my siblings on christmas morning, going with my dad out to the forest to find a tree, thinking about the fun i'll have with my cousins when we go to my grandparents' house for dinner on christmas afternoon.  the smells of that delicious food and the taste of my mother's special cookies and candies that only appeared during the season leading up to christmas day are still fresh in my memory.  we have continued the tradition of my mother's tea cake recipe in our household.  those short bread cookies take most of a day to make, as the thick dough is mixed, then rolled out and cut into festive shapes, and carefully baked so that they are just the right combination of tenderness and crispness, not too doughy but not too hard.  at the end of the day, about seven dozen of these wonderful treats are stored in cookie jars, even after our sampling of the first batch after it's cooled on wire racks.

i love everything about christmas and the days that precede it.  the hard work of dragging all the decorations out, unpacking them, and arranging them in our home is worth all the effort.  our home never looks more beautiful than it does at christmas time.  we've even talked about finding a larger tree to decorate this year, and i'm excited about that prospect.  now most of the gifts are wrapped, except a few that are on order but that haven't arrived, and we can begin to relax and enjoy the prospect of spending happy times with our children and their partners.

may we carry the spirit of christmas with us throughout the year.  may we recall the magic of christmas that surrounded and filled us as children.  may christmas be a time of good will, peace, tolerance, patience, and joy, even for those who don't subscribe to the "jesus is the reason for the season" philosophy.  may we remember that christmas is the time for giving and gratefully receiving, not for condemning those who don't agree with us.  shalom. 

God Reveal Your Presence

this past week, i was reminded of how covid continues to cause problems.  three close relatives--a father, his wife, and their middle-aged son who lives with them--were all infected.  the two parents are in their late seventies, and both suffer from breathing problems.  fortunately, all three began taking oral anti-virals that their doctors prescribed for them immediately after testing positive.  the mother, who was the first to exhibit symptoms, was better by the day after she began taking the medication.  

what struck me was the difference in the reactions my wife and i had to the effects of the medicine compared to the reaction of our relative's daughter.  the daughter attributed her mother's quick improvement to the prayers she had been offering on her mother's behalf.  for her, God's intervention in her mother's illness was responsible.  for my wife and i, the credit belonged to the medication and those who developed it and prescribed it, as well as our relative's wisdom in seeking medical help immediately.  as i thought about the daughter's response to her mother's improvement, i wondered why she thought her mother caught the virus in the first place.  if the improvement in her mother's condition was an answer to prayer, why didn't the god who caused the improvement simply prevent her from catching covid in the first place?  why were her prayers effective, while the prayers of some others whose loved ones died from covid despite their earnest prayers were not?  better yet, why did that god allow covid to come into existence and cause so much suffering?

i was disturbed that a college-educated young woman would attribute the difficult work of understanding this virus, developing vaccines against it, and treatments for it to a supernatural being rather than giving credit to the scientists and physicians who have worked so diligently to alleviate the suffering covid causes.  this same woman refused to take the vaccines, nor did she encourage her minor children to get vaccinated, even after her husband had a serious covid infection early in the pandemic.  surprisingly, the husband took the vaccine after he recovered, though none of the rest of his family was ever vaccinated.

such refusal to recognize the value of human beings in combating the ills that arise in the natural world while placing one's complete faith in the supernatural is a great puzzle to me.  i cannot place my faith in a god who allows such suffering nor give that god credit when the suffering is alleviated.  we must take responsibility for our own lives and work to make the world a better place.  this is what the God i believe in created us to do.  there may be an element of faith in God and gratitude to God when new discoveries are made or when illnesses are healed, but that faith and gratitude arise because we do the necessary work ourselves, not because God does it for us.

may we be grateful to those who labor on our behalf.  may we use our minds to make life better for ourselves and others.  may we not place our faith in prayers but rather in the scientists and healthcare providers who treat our ills.  may we believe in a God who is present for us all the time--before, during, and after our travails--if we believe in a God at all.  shalom.

May Truth and Freedom Come to Every Nation

i've spent much of the last few days watching the election results from the midterm elections.  it appears that, for the most part, voters voted responsibly.  many of the candidates who repeated lies about the past presidential election and who advocated for laws to make it more difficult for americans to cast their ballots in the future were defeated.  the predicted "red wave" of republican victories did not materialize, and an almost equally divided house and senate appear to be in the making when the new congress begins to meet in january 2023.  republicans may ultimately have a small majority in the house of representatives, but it will be difficult for them to accomplish anything without some democratic support because their majority will be so small.  if the democrats prevail, which is still a possibility, they will be in the same position, needing some republican support to enact legislation.  perhaps this is a good thing, because it will force representatives to work across the aisle to secure some support from the opposing party, and bills enacted will result from compromises between the two parties.  this willingness to compromise has been lacking for many years.  often the best policies are those resulting from the democrats and republicans meeting in the middle.

one unfortunate outcome of the election was the success of ron johnson of wisconsin being re-elected to the senate.  johnson is an acolyte of donald trump who tried to assist in trump's phony elector scheme on january 6 and who has consistently spouted lies about the election and other matters, such as how to best address the covid pandemic.  the country would be better off had he been defeated by his democratic opponent, but a majority of voters in wisconsin felt otherwise.  his victory was offset by the republican loss in neighboring pennsylvania, where the liberal democrat, john fetterman, was victorious in defeating a trump-endorsed candidate, mehmet oz.  now there will be a small democratic majority in the senate, owing to mr. fetterman's success in pennsylvania and the victory of mrs. cortez masto in nevada.  if senator warnock prevails in the georgia senate runoff, democrats will have a majority, even without the tie-breaking vote of vice-president harris.

the mid-term elections were not favorable to trump's candidates, and many in his own party are now blaming him for their poor showing in the election.  as the retiring senator from pennsylvania, pat toomey, said after the election, leaders of the republican party should have foreseen the dangers of their continued loyalty to trump and fielded better candidates who focused on policy issues that are of concern to the electorate rather than repeating the election lies of a failed presidential candidate.  larry hogan, the outgoing republican governor of maryland, echoed mr. toomey and called trump a three-time loser in national elections.  perhaps the results of this election will finally turn the page on trump's influence in the republican party and in the nation.

may we give thanks for the wisdom of voters who refused to be taken in by the lies of a failed presidential candidate.  may we work together to find solutions to the problems we face as a nation, rather than wasting energy in futile partisan battles.  may those we elect look to the ideals on which the country was founded and abandon the desire to cling to power at all costs.  may we find strength in our diversity, and may we have compassion for one another.  shalom.

The Country Where My Heart Is

as we head into the midterm elections, most of the prognosticators are predicting defeat for the democrats, citing voter concerns about inflation as the primary reason republicans are favored to win majorities in the house and senate.  there are many like me who are more fearful of the threats to our democracy than of short-term harm to our pocketbooks.  we hear most republican candidates repeat the former president's lies about voter fraud and stolen elections.  many of the republicans running for state offices will be in control of the electoral apparatus in their states and can do grave harm to fair elections if they are victorious.  for instance, one of the local candidates in my state house district is advocating doing away with voting machines and returning to hand counts of ballots, a process that has been proven to be much more inaccurate than machine tallies.

the constant repetition of lies about the last election seems to have inured many voters to the dangers that such lies pose.  the thought of electing those who spout these untruths into office is repugnant, and i hope that voters will realize that the preservation of democracy and reliance on fact, not oft-repeated lies, is more important than a temporary rise in the cost of groceries.  electing responsible candidates who are more interested in the well-being of the country than in gaining power is our only hope.  we must not place those who are minions of donald trump in elected positions when we go to vote.

may we vote with our minds, not our emotions.  may we carefully consider what is best for the country as a whole.  may we not seek to punish the members of the party in power for an economic situation over which they have little control.  may those we elect seek to work together for the betterment of the nation, rather than for the preservation of their own power, regardless of party affiliation.  may we vote to preserve democracy and to counter those who are willing to destroy it for their own short-term gain.  shalom.

A New Dimension in the World of Sound

a few days ago, i started a classical music youtube video on the tv system in our living room.  my wife was resting in her recliner after completing a series of exercises for her knee, as i left the room to do a few chores around the house.  when i returned, i found her weeping.  i thought that she was in pain and asked if she needed some medication.  she replied through her tears that the music was so beautiful and reminded her of our frequent access to wonderful music in the town we had moved from.  there we had a symphony orchestra, a college that offered frequent free musical programs, and a church that supported lovely music in its services.  in our new home, there is little interest in good music.  only one of the churches in town consistently employs good music in its services, and it has a tiny choir that cannot sing the great choral music that we love.  in most years, the only classical musical presentation is our community chorus's annual performance of the christmas portion of messiah, though last year we did add a spring concert of good choral music.

the school district here has an excellent music program, with fine choirs at the high school level.  the leaders of the music program do not seem interested in providing leadership in the town outside their teaching responsibilities.  it doesn't appear that they encourage their students to sing in the community or church choirs, nor are they active in bringing good music to the local churches, where so-called "praise music" is the mainstay of what congregations hear and sing.  i wonder why there is this disconnect between what students sing at school and music in the "real world" of community life.  like my wife, i long to hear music that nourishes both my heart and mind, music that challenges me to pay attention and listen carefully, but it seems the only way to access such music is through listening to recordings, which, though wonderful, are no substitute for live performances by fine musicians or by traveling seventy miles to a larger city that supports good civic musical organizations.

for both my wife and i, listening to good music is as important as eating and breathing.  without it, life is not worth the living.  it puzzles us that others don't have this same yearning for music that nourishes the heart and mind.  hearing second-rate music is painful to us.  we cannot abide listening to it and cannot support institutions that promote its performance.  great music is as essential to a free society as great literature, drama, and visual arts.  the glorification of mindless commercial music is part of the overall "dumbing down" of our culture that results in a populace that is willing to believe and support the lies that are foisted on us by donald trump and his ilk.  

may we do what we can to promote those things that are noble and intelligent.  may we use our minds to discern good from bad, excellent from mediocre, mindfulness from mindlessness.  may we nourish our souls with beauty.  may we love and care for that which makes us better people.  shalom.