Scratching my Noggin'

Eggnog. 

Made from milk, eggs and various types of liquor over the centuries, 

it was traditionally drunk from a wooden cup called a noggin.

There is much chatter on the internet about why it is around only at Christmas:

 - It's a warming drink for the winter 

(except Caribbean countries excel at their versions of the drink - 

and not to take the chill off in the winter months).

- Originally a drink for the masses, its ingredients became scarce and expensive, 

prompting it to became a special occasion drink - think Christmas.

Christ centered, it is not.

So how to make the connection...

Reach with me here as I make the attempt.

The child, too, had a humble beginning:

wooden manger - wooden cup.

Jesus warms my heart, thaws my indifference,

radiates warmth and refreshment.

Speaking of scarce and expensive, He is the one and only.

The most costly gift of the Father.

And here the connection breaks down completely:

He gave his life freely, not just for the holidays,

but also for other random dates February 3rd or August 20th

and every other one listed on the calendar -

any calendar, every calendar, even after

calendars cease to provide meaningful information.

Raise your cup of nog to the One worth celebrating!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Elves, That's Right, ELVES

OK, so the premiss of this series

of blogs is to find the 

Christ

in Christmas symbols, etc.

 Not a lotta Christ there.

Shepherds. 

I'm thinking shepherds.

They were very low on the class totem pole.

They did hard work.

People would go out of their way to not notice them.

Elves are definitely Santa's flunkies.

They work hard.

They are short, easily overlooked.

There you have it!

See an elf, think of shepherds!

I love the way the shepherds play into the 

Christmas story.

I love that God chose the lowest of the low

to make His big announcement to

and then use those same overlooked people

to spread the good news, 

Our Savior is Born!

If God can use Shepherds, 

it gives me hope that He can use me as well. 

Christ is our Savior!

Holly Jolly

A Holly, Jolly Christmas...

Besides the obvious rhyming factor in the above phrase, there are other reasons to associate holly with Christmas.  The color, of course, shouts Christmas, as does everything red and green.  In fact, Christmas may owe it's color association to the holly plant.  Green is for the promise of new life in the spring and red for the blood of Christ crucified.

One Christmas tale tells that when the Christ child was born, holly berries were white.  Three decades later, the thorn of crowns that were pressed into Jesus' brow in His last hours on earth were from a holly tree.  

As His blood touched the berries, they were stained red.

The story itself makes about as much sense to me as flying reindeer and talking snowmen.  But then, reindeer and snowmen also speak to me of Christmas. I'll never look at holly again without remembering the Christ - not just the child, but the man, the Savior He was sent to be - 

the ultimate gift to the world.

The Light Of The World

Candles.

They are one of the no-brainer ones to me.

The single candles people light in their windows.

What started out as an Irish custom,

born in the time when it was against
the law for catholics to

practice their faith,

as a sign to any traveling priests 

that they had found a safe home.

It has become a sign of welcome.
Christ is welcome.

The candles in the Advent Wreath representing

Hope

Preparation

Joy

Love 

Christ.

Jesus is the light of the world.

From that glorious star Lory wrote about to 

this humble little flame.

Star Light, Star Bright

Let's start with an obvious sign of Christmas - the Star of Bethlehem.  The story is well known and depicted.  Three wise men see a star in the East and follow it.  They actually did get lost and ask for directions, which I find kind of funny considering all the jokes along those lines.  They stopped in Jerusalem to ask Herod for his opinion, which he gave for a very self-serving and diabolical reason of his own - but that's part of another story, so we will leave that for now.

When I get past the Sunday school picture of a star over a stable, I start to wonder.  Just how do you follow a star?  The sun is a star, right?  If I rise each morning and follow it to the East, I won't actually get that far before it's overhead and then behind me.  To actually follow that star, I will walk endlessly back and forth.  The rest of the heavenly stars "move" the same way though their relative distance makes it far less apparent to a casual observer.

The Bible makes it sound pretty matter of fact:  they saw the star, packed their bags, remembered to bring a gift and there they are.  Was star-following so common in those days that explanation wasn't even necessary?  Was it something that wise men did routinely - rich wise men, that is.  When was the last time you brought gold to a baby shower?

Back in the day, astronomy and astrology were one in the same.  Their study of the stars was a scientific calling- serious business not destined for an obscure column on the comics page of the daily paper.  Those famous, though unnamed kings, made a rigorous study of the movement of the night jewels using the zodiac as signpost and way of explanation. The heavens, then and now, for all their overwhelming vastness and solitude perform a well ordered dance.  Almost like Someone orchestrated it.  Hmmmm  And when you can direct a dance on that scale, why not show off a bit and use your handiwork as a birth announcement for your only Son?

There are several theories about what the actual star was:  a comet, super nova, conjunction of planets, or a mysterious fireball planted above a stable.  Of all those possibilities, the last seems the least compelling.  After all, if there was a "stable" light hovering over an outbuilding in Bethlehem, I think it would have attracted more than three travelers.  (The shepherds having received an entirely different invitation.)  Certainly the neighbors would have noticed as well, as would the un-neighborly, like Herod.  That king, for all his paranoia, seemed pretty unaware until the celestial event was pointed out to him by the visiting royalty.

I can't explain the star - not in this blog or through any lifetime writings or efforts, though I did find some interesting theories at http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/star-of-bethlehem.shtml.  What I can do, though, it wonder at the stars.  How beautiful, how peaceful, how steady and reliable, yet so fluid and ever changing.  The One who created the heavens and the earth, the One who brought His son to earth heralded His gift with His heavenly handiwork.  I don't need to figure out how to follow a star.  I'll follow the Babe instead.

A Little Red, White And Jesus

Ha! 

Done and done!

But just to expound a bit,

turned on it's end, it becomes a shepherd's hook. 

Shepherds in the field, 

and the Good Shepherd.

The white can represent Christ's purity

and the red, His blood.

That's where I want to sit a moment.

I really appreciate a moment when I can stop
and remember, truly appreciate,
that that little Christ babe
came to do big work.

There was a moment like that at church last week.
We sang a new-to-me song.

Wish that I was there
 on that silent night
when your tiny heart
started beating for mine.*

The red of Jesus' blood.
Coursing through that tiny heart.
Beating for me.
The blood that would be shed to set me free.

Jesus is the reason for so much more than the season.

*Jesus Is Alive, by Josh Wilson

Advent 2015!

Here we go, another year!

This year Lory and I have decided to spend
Advent looking for
The Christ
in the symbols, traditions and
sometimes trappings of what can so easily
become a Christ-less time of year.

Somethings will be no-brainers,
angels,
mangers,
candles.

Others will take a bit of creativity,
yule logs,
eggnog,
and a certain red-nosed reindeer.

Lory and I are up to the challenge.
Kind of.
Sort of.
Maybe....

Really? Rudolph?