H2odevos eots 120911 “A Space Reserved for the Monarch”
I was walking down a busy street in Denver when I saw the
sign which read
“Parking for Monarch Only.” A smile immediately came to my
face. I thought about this holy season of Advent as a special time to prepare
for the coming of the Lord.
I remember as a little boy memorizing the following verse FROM
HEAVEN ABOVE
O dearest Jesus, holy child,
prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,
a holy shrine, within my heart,
that you and I need never part.
Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546; tr. Lutheran
Book of Worship, 1978
©
1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, admin. Augsburg Fortress
That lovely
intention is one of the of the “Echoes of the Season that I hear as I make
visits to homebound members of our congregation. Another “echo” I am sure that
you hear comes from
O Little Town
of Bethlehem
O
holy child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
oh, come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Immanuel!
Text:
Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893
Both of these
carols echo the passionate prayer
that there be a space reserved for this monarch
lovingly called the Prince of Peace.
Peter texted me
the other day that one of the songs on the tour this year that is really
getting traction asks the question, “what will Christmas make of you?” I believe that is really the question. Quite
often in the whole discussion about Christmas, while some folks condemn and
others affirm the recognition of various faith and religious traditions, as
some embrace and others eschew tolerance and diversity, some Christians really
play the “victim” card and role. Nate, Noah, Hannah and I are reading a book
which is titled
All Things
Shining –Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age
This past week
in the chapter we were discussing (via of conference call) it seemed that the authors
said many people often get caught either being totally devoted to a notion of
the nostalgic past or a notion of a wonderful future (NOTE:these are my words,
not those of the authors and so I could have misunderstood their point).
However, it does some to make sense that we are tempted to either live in an
idealized past (which for me consisted of Lassie, Bozo, Ozzie and Harriett, of
course the Cleavers and BONANZA!) Or at the other end of the spectrum to be so
focused on a future which is all full of JETSON type appliances and gadgets
coupled with pseudo-enlightened and faux
progressive view of self and the world.
So, I’m
intrigued by the question “what will Christmas make of you?” If you’d like to
take a turn at answering that, send a note to me at h2odevos@gmail.com
Meanwhile, be
sure to reserve a space in your heart for the Monarch.
Deck the Halls,
rtg
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