Emerging Women

So what are EW blogging about this week?

First off – Congrats to Lydia who is now a permanent resident of Canada.

Check out Jan’s thoughts on our postmodern world.

Nadia has posted 5 things you may not know about her.

My thoughts for the second Sunday of Advent.

Read about poverty and choice over at Still Emerging.

And thanks to Cary for pointing out Dumb Laws. Check out what silly laws exist in your state.

Kate has some good thoughts on forgiveness.

And this past Monday our local emergent cohort – up/rooted – got to meet with Scot McKnight to talk about his new book The Real Mary. He brought up a lot of stuff that got me thinking and I hope to blog about it soon. Helen from Conversation at the Edge posted her summary and thoughts about the evening here.

I’m not sure if everyone is aware, but blogger will, at some point, require every blog to switch over to beta. Just fyi

I also wanted to give a heads up that I am shutting down in his courts (long story, maybe I’ll share some day) and so I’d like to pick up my blogging here. I’ll probably connect my user name with thethinplaces.blogspot.com since I’ll be blogging poetry and such there.

thanks

Given the sudden drop off in posting here, I’m assuming that most of you are at least as busy as I am. The expectations of the season always seem to take over no matter how hard we try to simplify. When it reaches midnight and one is still dipping peanut butter balls in chocolate the whole sanity thing comes into question. So I wish everyone blessings in the busyness and pose some fun and easy topics for discussion.

What are you making for Christmas? Share those recipes for those dozens and dozens of cookies you are creating. Share the memories of the food. Share your mishaps and funny stories (click here for my chocolate crap adventure from last year…). I wish I could sit down with all of you over spiced wine and appetizers and chat, but we’ll have to settle for a virtual EW holiday party. So let’s be foodal and get to know each other better over food.

And as a reminder – the book discussion for God’s Politics by Jim Wallis starts on Friday. Even if you haven’t finished it yet, you are welcome to join the conversation.

This message is timeless- enjoy!

(From http://www.carols.org.uk/ring-out-loud-bells-tennyson.htm)

Ring out, wild bells – Christmas Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Miniature Biography_Alfred, Lord Tennyson _Nationality – English _Lifespan – 1809 – 1892_Father – Reverand George Clayton Tennyson, Clergyman_Educated – Trinity College , Cambridge_Career – Poet and dramatist

copied from this website:http://www.carols.org.uk/ring-out-loud-bells-tennyson.htm

As December moves on and life gets busy, I wanted to point out some EW blog posts of interest from this week. As always if you find a post you think should be highlighted, let me know!

Some great Advent reflections at –
Quirky Grace
onehandclapping
In His Courts
Remembering the Alabaster Jar
Sarcastic Lutheran

Makeesha has a fun post about the church and the Jedi council (as a huge Star Wars nerd fan I had to point this out…)

Jan has some good posts on church numbers and addictions

And if you’re interested check out Desert Pastor’s live blogging from the Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future Conference over at Paradoxology

I thought that everyone here at EW would be interested in this video about a charitable organization called AHOPE. In 2004 AHOPE founded a group home/orphanage in Ethopia for 60 HIV-positive children. The video is about 12 minutes long.

I’ve heard so many tragic stories about what can happen to orphans (especially if their parents’ deaths were AIDS-related) in countries like Ethopia. It’s refreshing to see a ray of hope for them.

As a companion(ish) post to Jemila’s below – I wanted to bring up the issue of the so-called Christmas wars.

I know there are Christians out there who insist that Christmas can only be about the birth of Christ. They wear “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” buttons, get upset when they hear “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” lament the commercialism, and often deny the existence of the historical pagan roots of the holiday.

In response to that sort of person, there are those who make it their calling to inform everyone of those said pagan roots for Christmas. As in – Jesus is not the reason for the season, some other god of light is. The season is about the solstice and the mass of christ was placed in that season. Many of the solstice celebrations were then apprpriated as Christmas celebrations.

Other Christians refuse to even celebrate Christmas because of those pagan roots. In rejection of all things non-christian they choose not to be conformed to the world of christmas.

And of course all of those are very broad stereotypes I just painted. What are your thoughts? Where do you stand on these issues/ideas? Have your opinions changed over time?

Here is a paragraph I wrote in a recent blog post on decorating our tree -

So for a cultural tradition, we go all the way. The tree, the ornaments, the music, the TV shows (the Sesame Street Gift of the Magi with Bert, Ernie, and Mr. Hooper was on today – I had the record of that – fun memories) … Are we a product of our culture, sure. Do I think it cheapen or takes the meaning out of Christmas? Not at all. I embrace Christmas with all its cultural, pagan, and religious roots. It just adds to the richness of the celebration. To celebrate the return of the light, to give gifts, to tell cultural folk tales, to get to decorate with my favorite colors, to listen to happy music, to see family, to remember the birth of Jesus – it is all meaningful in its own way. So Merry Christmas all.

I have come to apply Augustine’s Egyptian gold principle to most of culture – I like to take what is good, and fun, and meaningful and appropiate and redeem it. There are of course issues with that, but to me it is the most joy affirming. So that’s why I’d like to hear what others think on this whole issue.