Away from the manger

Our Sunday School classes gifted us with a performance of the Christmas pageant "Away from the Manger"; a telling of the story that included union shepherds, ivory-tower wisemen, shy stars & a multi-tasking inn-keepers wife. The story showed us how easily we can get distracted from the important things in life because we're taking care of what we perceive to be the important things in life.

We do that all the time--not just at Christmas and not just about our faith journeys--we get side-tracked in so many ways over so many things. If I had just one wish for the Christmas Season it would be for time and space to discern what truly is important in our lives and then the permission to follow those dreams.

I hope in the midst of the hustle and bustle of this time of year--you will rediscover what centers your life and that you will follow that dream!

Quiet moments

The holiday rush is in full swing. Stores are full of shoppers looking for that special gift for the ones they love. Salvation army ringers are outside the doors reminding us that there are many among us who don't have the resources they need to even make ends meet much less provide an abundance of gifts under the Christmas tree. Parties are happening--family and friends are making plans to get together--it's rush--rush--rush.

But in the midst of all this activity--there is one who wants us to stop and spend some quiet moments preparing our hearts and settling our lives so that we might be faithful followers of the Christ. God has a hard time getting through to us even in the less-busy seasons of our lives--it gets even harder when there is so much to do and we get caught up in the frenzied consumption-driven holiday that Christmas has become.

I encourage you to really comtemplate this year getting your Christmas back into balance. Buy less gifts--spend more time with your kids making gifts for special people. Give gifts of your time. Spend some quiet moments giving thanks for all that your already have--and vow to live more simply if you can. Let your Christmas be a blessing to you and all those you love.

Hometowns

We will be lighting the Bethelem candle this coming Sunday for the second Sunday of Advent. While Bethlehem was his birthplace, Nazareth was his hometown and like all of us--we are shaped by the ethos of our hometowns. No matter where I live--I will always be "Harvey's little girl who grew up in New Richland, Minnesota."

I spent two weeks in Nazareth six years ago when I led a group of college students on a five-week mission experience throughout Israel & Egypt. We spent those two weeks in Nazareth teaching ESL classes to Palestinian youth--the theme of the camp was "English-your passport to the world." That says a great deal about the hopes (and the reality) of those persons who put together that camp--gathering not only the Palestinian students but also hosting 15 U.S. students who partnered with local teachers. My teaching partner was a man who taught high school in a Palestinian Arab school. He shared with me that there is a two-tier public education system in Israel--as well as a two-tier municipal funding system. If your hometown is Jewish (as is Nazareth Elit)--you get more state funding both for public works and public education. The streets of Nazareth are mostly unkept--the streets of Nazareth Elit are paved and flower/tree lined. The stores of Nazareth are small and family-run--the mall is in Nazareth Elit. My teaching partner also shared with me that he often teaches without textbooks--without supplies of any kind--and gets paid far less than his counterparts teaching in the first-tier schools. His life--as well as the lives of the young people he teaches--is shaped by where he lives and who he is.

I'm grateful for the small town experience of my hometown--and for knowing that whenever I go back there--I'm still welcomed and known. But I also pray and work for the day when all hometowns--and the people who live within them--are equal.