I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

 there are only two candles remaining on the advent wreath whose symbols i have not written about this christmas season.  these candles are those representing joy and the christ child.  in our home, we celebrated christmas with our children just a few days ago, so my wife and i are filled with joy that our children could be with us, that we had happy times eating delicious food together and exchanging gifts, that they are healthy, that their jobs are secure despite the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic, and that they were able to travel safely in their own vehicles rather than having to use commercial transportation to get to our home.

there is a special joy that only comes at christmas.  many days of preparation lead up to that special day.  my wife and i spent hours cleaning and decorating our home and in the planning of, shopping for, and preparing the meals, snacks, and desserts that we only enjoy at christmas.  we loved shopping for the gifts that our children told us they needed or wanted and were filled with joy as they opened their packages and we opened ours.  most of all we were and are joyful that we were able to spend several days with all of us together catching up in person on what's going on in all our lives rather than talking on the phone, emailing, or texting.  we listened to the beautiful music of christmas and sang along with our favorite songs.  we watched our favorite christmas movies.  it was a grand time together, and by the time they left to return to their homes the day after christmas we were exhausted but happy.  what a pleasure it is to be with those we love during the season of hope, peace, love, and joy!

the baby in a manger symbolizes all that is good about being a human being.  the idea that a loving God is present in that humble place in a tiny child born to impoverished peasants as the angels proclaim peace on earth and goodwill to all people makes this time especially magical.  one doesn't have to believe the teachings of orthodox christianity to be caught up in that magic.  we just have to let go of our focus on self and surrender to the spirit of christmas that dickens conveys so well in "a christmas carol."  life is about sharing joy with others and giving of our abundance so that the suffering of others is eased, of letting go of our own neediness so we see the needs of those around us, of "keeping christmas" in our hearts.

may we leave the worries of the world behind for a brief time as we observe this special holiday.  may christmas renew the possibility of peace and love within us.  may this season restore our faith in the goodness inherent in ourselves and those around us.  may our hearts be full of hope, peace, love, and joy.  shalom.

Love Be Yours, and Love Be Mine

 this week i write about love which the third candle of advent symbolizes.  there are many kinds of love--romantic love, love between friends, love that is directed towards possessions or position, love of one's children, parents, or other relations, divine love--the list could go on.  as i've thought about love, jesus' teachings and example regarding love have been my focus.  jesus taught his followers a way to conceive God that was quite different from the traditional concept.  it is natural for humans to think of God as the angry, vengeful deity that is common to many religions.  the history of religion has largely been one of trying to appease a vindictive god or gods ever on the watch for some misstep by individuals or groups.  sacrifices were offered to keep the anger of the gods at bay or to persuade a god who has caused injury as punishment for some offense to change his or her mind.

the God of jesus is very different.  that God is a loving parent who cares for the human race as loving parents would care for their children.  this God provides for God's children, is quick to forgive human frailty and expects us to do the same.  no longer is this the God of "vengance is mine, says the Lord," but rather the God of "as a parent has compassion on his children, so God has compassion on his faithful followers."  this God of mercy and love is one worthy of worship, while the god common to most religions was one to be feared.  jesus and the God about whom he taught are examples to be followed in our relationships with one another.  just as God cares for us, so are we to care for each other.  just as God is quick to forgive our shortcomings, so are we to be quick to forgive others.

the historic battle of good versus evil revolves around the ability to love without condition.  we embrace good or evil, the force or the dark side, a God of love or a god of punishment.  it is our responsibility to choose which path to follow.  despite our desire to follow the path of love, we stumble from time to time, but love means being as quick to forgive ourselves as we are to forgive others.  we cannot love without the ability to forgive.  how many relationships are destroyed because our love is not great enough to include forgiveness.  this is one of the great teachings to jesus.  when asked how many times we are obliged to forgive one who has harmed us, jesus said that we must forgive an infinite number of times.  to love is to forgive.

may we learn to love with our whole hearts.  may we learn to forgive without limit.  may we worship a God of love and mercy rather than one of a tally sheet marking down our wrongs for punishment.  may this magical season awaken our commitment to love unconditionally.  may we love both ourselves and others.  shalom.

Whatever My Lot

 the candle for the second sunday in advent represents peace.  there are many different kinds of peace.  the sort of peace that immediately comes to mind is the peace that is the absence of war, a rare occurrence in a world where there is hardly a day that goes by without some sort of armed conflict between two or more groups of people.  there is the peace that is part of the expression, "peace and quiet," when there are no loud noises or boisterousness of any kind.  "breach of the peace" is a legal term that, in this country, means to disturb the right of citizens to live peaceful lives but has much broader meanings in some other countries where it can mean certain types of offenses against the state.

the peace i want to write about is inner peace, the sort of peace which results in equanimity and the ability to take life as it comes without strong reactions that trouble us and cause others to be troubled.  in this time of covid and political conflict, achieving peace within ourselves is difficult but essential.  worries, illness, and uncertainty threaten us and those we love.  the physical isolation from our friends and family members who live outside our homes threatens our mental health.  being unable to visit those we love who are hospitalized or in nursing homes and assisted living facilities gives us pain.  wearing masks whenever we are out in public increases our separation from others.  we can't hug or shake hands when we see our friends in shops.  if we are exposed to the virus, our isolation is increased further.  all these things can rob us of our sense of well-being and whatever inner peace we had during more normal times.  

our need to take time to explore our inner life becomes all the more important.  those of us who spend time in daily meditation fare better than many, i suspect.  this time away from the constant chatter of our minds helps to recharge and better equip ourselves to deal with the vagaries of life in the age of covid and the waning days of the trump presidency.  even with that, the hardships of this new way of having to live takes its toll, and we long for a return to our old way of living when we could travel freely, unencumbered by masks, and enter restaurants, places of worship, and stores without fear of exposure, when we could embrace those we love and shake hands with our friends, when we could spend more time away from home doing activities that we love.  those days will return before too much longer once many of us have been vaccinated against the virus, and a more normal presidency is in place.  until then, we must remind ourselves that we must find peace within ourselves if we are to deal effectively with what life throws at us and finding such peace takes some effort on our part.

may we each find inner peace in whatever ways work for us.  may we recognize the natural tendency to worry and to curse the circumstances that cause our worries and forgive ourselves for having such thoughts.  may we realize that others sometimes behave in ways that offend us when they are dealing with the strains of our present state.  may we return as often as we can to our breath and the quieting of our minds.  shalom.

God's Gift From Highest Heaven

 the season of advent has begun.  in many churches five special candles are lit over the course of the season.  four of them form a circle around one central candle, the christ candle, which is lit on christmas eve.  the other four are lit on the four sundays of advent, one each sunday, usually with a special ceremony that is built upon the word the candle represents.  the first candle is commonly called the candle of hope.

i want to write about some of my hopes for the coming year.  in the church calendar, the new year began with the first sunday of advent, so it is appropriate that hope is the theme for that sunday.  there are many things to hope for, most of all an end to the scourge of covid-19, which has consumed most of the current calendar year.  in the usa, we have fought about how best to deal with the pandemic.  many have denied its existence, claiming it is a hoax that would disappear after the election.  that hasn't happened.  their denialism has made what was a bad situation one that is much worse than it ought to have been.  we have had a president who encouraged skepticism about the dangers of the virus and discouraged serious efforts to stop its spread.  now we have the hope of several vaccines that claim to be quite effective.  as inoculations begin later this month, we hope to see a gradual end to the death and sickness that this virus continues to cause.

we have elected a new president and vice-president.  many of us hope that this administration will be more effective and competent than the current one and that we will have leadership that is compassionate and has empathy for the plight of ordinary people who struggle from paycheck to paycheck or who are unable to find work.  we hope for an end to the bickering and obstructionism in the national government and for those who disagree to find common ground that benefits the people of the country and the world.  we hope for an end to both the denial of fact and the promotion of wild conspiracy theories from the highest levels of government.

we hope that new leadership in washington means a more compassionate immigration policy that recognizes the desperation of many of those who seek refuge in this country.  we hope that we return to the ideals that enabled this nation of immigrants to flourish, a nation that from its beginnings was one that allowed a people of many languages and cultures to be united by love of freedom and democracy.  our founders refused to adopt an official language, recognizing the value of diversity.  nor did they adopt a state religion but insisted that government and state be kept separate and independent of one another.  here is another ideal that we hope will return to official acceptance and recognition.

we hope that we once again embrace our allies and work together to make the world a better place rather than coddling and befriending dictators.  we hope that we work with the nations of the world both through diplomatic contacts with various governments and through the united nations and the organizations, like the world health organization, that are a part of it.  we hope that we are no longer a nation of "america first," but rather a nation of the people of the world first.

may we hope that the tiny babe born in a stable in a small village in palestine will bring us together and fill us with lovingkindness and compassion.  may hope be restored, replacing selfishness and greed.  may hope come into the world so that "me" is replaced by "us."  may we hope that peace on earth and goodwill towards all is more than a slogan we hear during this season but rather a way of thinking, feeling, and living.  shalom.

Through All the Circling Years

 as we age, we have more aches and pains.  we tire more easily.  we often have digestive problems.  our sleep patterns are sometimes disrupted.  our bodies are wearing out, and we have difficulty accepting that.  what is amazing is that, for most of us, these bodies have served us well for so many years.  now that i'm in my mid-seventies, i am astonished that my body still functions so well.  i have many of the complaints of old age but my health is still pretty good.  i can do most of the things i did in my youth.  some of them take longer.  i have to stop and rest more often.  occasionally i have to take a pill to ease the aches and pains.  despite those pains, i still can accomplish a great deal.  i have to remind myself that i am as old as i am.

there are times when those aches make me think of my dad.  he was in his late twenties when i was born, so that by the time i was in my mid-forties, he was in his seventies.  i thought then that he would be around of a lot longer and that he was still the active man i remembered from my childhood.  now i realize that he was feeling those signs of aging that i now feel.  i could have done a lot to help him with his chores around the house and yard, but it never occurred to me that he might need or appreciate my help.  after all, he was my dad and had always had the stamina and strength to manage on his own.  i wish i had known then how keeping up with everything must have seemed overwhelming to him and that he could have used my help.

i'm in the same position now, and my son doesn't realize that i could use some help around the house and yard.  our age relationship is about the same as my dad's and mine were.  sometimes my wife complains that our son ought to recognize that we could use his help, and i remind her that we never thought that my dad needed help when he was our age.  we think of our parents as their younger selves, even though they've aged by decades since we were children.  we tell ourselves that they'll be around for a lot longer.  we can't imagine a time when they won't be here, but death comes to all.  one day our children will look back and think that they should have been there for us more often, that they should have helped us more.

the old adage, what goes around comes around, is true.  i understand my father so much better now than i am his age, and i understand his relationship with me as i see it play out in many ways with my own son.  another old truism comes to mind: i wish i knew then what i know now.  hindsight may give us a better perspective, but we can't alter the past.  it does, though, help me to be more understanding and forgiving towards my own son.  he doesn't envision a time when his mom and dad won't be around,  nor can he imagine that we're that much different from they way we were when he was growing up.  one day he'll look back and know what life felt like to his aging parents and wish, as i do now, that he had done more for us.  i hope that he'll know that we understand and hold no animosity towards him because of his lack of perception.

may each of us do what we can to ameliorate the effects of aging, but may we accept them with grace.  may we be forgiving or ourselves and others.  may we understand the cycle of life and our part in it.  as our body ages, may our minds remain young and agile, always ready to learn, to grow, and to explore.  shalom.