Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christ is Born! Come, let us Adore Him!

As I write this, my family has just finished its Christmas Eve gathering where we exchange gifts and share a meal together. There was a lot of laughter, great big smiles and much love. Gifts were exchanged and shown off for all to appreciate and the adults had a good time enjoying (and being amazed at) the antics of the kids. As I think about it I realize how I have been truly blessed by God through my family.

I realize that for many, Christmas is not this way. For some this a time where family is missed or regretted. For others who have lost loved ones it is a time of grief and sorrow. Still others suffer the sharp pangs of hunger and deprivation and want even though they may live in the richest country in the world. Then there are those who bear the burden of anxiety over bills and money and there are those who wrestle with envy and jealously over what they didn't receive because they count what they have lost.

I pray that your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are like mine and filled with joy and hope and love. I ask you this night and this next day to pray for those who are less fortunate.

Most of all, pray that you remember what this day represents: God has become man on this day so that maybe we might become God. Recently I was introduced to a story first told by the early church father Athanasius through Brian McLaren's book, "a Generous Orthodoxy." While I usually try to leave the stories of the early church fathers to Gary because he tells them so much better than I do, I hope that you and he won't mind if I share this one as told by Dr. McLaren.

"Once upon a time there was a good and kind King who had a very great kingdom with many cities. In one distant city, some people took advantage of the freedom the King gave them and started doing evil. They profited from their evil and began to fear that the King would interfere and throw them in jail. Eventually these rebels seethed with hatred for the King. They convinced the city that everyone would be better off without the King, and the city declared its independance from the kingdom.

But soon, with everyone doing whatever they wanted, disorder reigned in the city. There was violence, hatred, lying, oppression, murder, rape, slavery and fear. The King thought, 'What do I do? If I take my army and conquer the city by force, the people will fight against me, and I'll have to kill many of them, and the rest will only submit through fear or intimidation and hate me and all I stand for even more. How does that really help them--to either be dead or imprisoned or secretly seething with rage? But if I leave them alone, they'll destroy each other, and it breaks my heart to think of the pain they're causing or experiencing.'

So the King did something very surprising. He took off His robes and dressed in the rags of a homeless wanderer. Incognito, He entered the city and began living in a vacant lot near a garbage dump. He took up a trade--fixing broken pottery and futrniture. Whenever people came to Him, His kindness and goodness and fairness and respect were so striking that they would linger just to be in His presence. They would tell Him their fears and questions and ask His advice. He told them that the rebels had fooled them, and that the true King had a better way to live, which he exemplified and taught. One by one, then two by two, and then by the hundreds, people began to have confidence in Him and live in His way.

Their influence spread to others, and the movement grew and grew until the whole city regretted its rebellion and wanted to return to the kingdom again. But, ashamed of their horrible mistake, they were afraid to approach the King, believing that He would destroy them for their rebellion. But the King-in-disguise told them the Good News: He Himself was the King, and He loved them. He held nothing against them, and He welcomed them back into His kingdom, having accomplished by a gentle, subtle presence what never could have been accomplished through brute force." (a Generous Othrodoxy, pp. 64-65)

Tonight we celebrate the coming of the King dressed as a homeless wanderer. Tonight we celebrate God's coming into this world as Jesus so that He might bring a fallen and rebellious world back into Himself. If there was ever to be a night for hope and joy, I can think of no better one than this.

Peace on Earth and Good Will to All Humankind!

In Him,

Chad

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Over the last sixteen weeks I've been leadign this study though John's account of the Gospel. A big part of the narrative are Christ's seven "I am" statements (I am the Bread of Life, I am the Light of the World, I am the Door, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Life and the Resurrection, I am the True Vine and I am the Way, the Truth and the Life). The other day I was thinking about these ways that Christ identifies Himself to His disciples as a way to help them understand who He was. It occurred to me that while some of these statements are pretty culturally invariant (I am the Light of the World), there are several that are pretty culturally specific. An example would be "I am the Good Shepherd." This statement makes a lot of sense in a culture where there are lots of herd animals but it's not so accessible to those of us who grew up in a urban setting where the only herd animals we might see are the 9-5er's getting into there cars to stream into the city's business core.

So I began to wonder what sorts of I am statements Jesus might have made today. Not really cliche stuff or trivial stuff but things that truly allow us to see some deep part of His being in ways that are relevant to our culture today. I thought that one might have to do with the creative arts; maybe something like, "I am the Patient Sculptor." In the time of Christ in Palestine two thousand years ago I don't think that society was affluent enough to support much in the way of the arts. In the period of the monarchy 800 years earlier though it was and we see God identified with creative expression frequently in the lives of David and Solomon. I wonder if that would be true again today. I wonder what other metaphors He might use?

If you can think of something, let me know by leaving a comment. I'd really like to hear what others have to think.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Well, my semester finally wrapped up at the end of last week and there was good, there was bad and there was, unfortunately, ugly. In the final evaluation, this semester was better than last fall in that I had two classes that had enough students who wanted to learn that they were a lot of fun to teach. To me that's the key thing: do the students want to learn or is school something they endure with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. One of the difficulties at a open access two year college is that far too many of our students are of the second variety. I understand that you'll have unmotivated students at every institution but we seem to have a surprisingly large number of them here. What's more surprising is the number of them that get into their sophomore year in math and science before they hit material hard enough to expose their laziness. Still, it was a better semester and I'm looking forward to having two classes where I continue with some of the same students in the spring.

For the next couple of weeks I'll be trying to unwind and relax some. I've got a number of reading projects I'm undertaking which will be nice. I really like the thought of doing some reading on several different topics each day. I've got a couple of books on chaos theory/non-linear dynamics I'll be reading as part of one project, I have two books on the calendar and measuring time I'll be reading while I travel and I have a couple of theologically oriented projects I'm going to try and get through. Lots of different inputs that I'm really looking forward to. I think the one I'm most curious about is the calendar/time one as I'm looking at creating a colloquium about mankind's quest to measure time. Maybe I can partner with a colleague in the humanities department to examine time from both a scientific and a literary perspective. I wonder who might be interested in partnering with me on a project like that?

The weather here is going to be warm again after an extended cold snap so I'll be doing a lot of riding. With the break giving me more free time, I have a lot more leeway to explore and try new things. Hopefully I can take advantage of that some before I have to go back to work in January. I'll be doing some prep work for the Spring semester as well so that I don't get crushed with too much. The big thing I need to do is rework the online enhancements to my courses.

Anyways, I hope this finds all three fo my readers in good spirits. Here's to warm tailwinds!

The Physicist   Link Me    |