Wednesday December 2, 2009
When beginnings are endings
By Jim Taylor
The Christmas cactus on our kitchen counter has burst into bloom again. Its vivid pink blossoms defy the murky skies outside.
I wonder how it knows to bloom at Christmas and Easter. I know it has something to do with amount of light. Except as the hours of outdoor sunlight lessen, the hours of indoor artificial light increase.
Here in the northern hemisphere, that little Christmas cactus seems out of sync with the rest of nature. Everything else – including me –is in retreat. The hummingbirds have flown south. Trees and garden plants would do the same if they weren’t rooted so deeply into the soil; instead, they withdraw their vitality and hunker down to wait out the winter.
And we humans insulate ourselves from the inhospitable world outside with padded coats and mittens, with heated homes and extra blankets…
And when, I wonder idly, does a Christmas cactus bloom in Australia? Does it still mirror the Christian festivals? If it blooms in June and September, can it still be called a Christmas cactus?
Actually, June might be just accurate for Jesus’ birthday as December. The Bible doesn’t specify dates. No birth certificate has come down through the ages. Even the Romans –meticulous record keepers otherwise – made no mention of a Jewish census that might pinpoint the time of Jesus’ birth.
But the Nativity stories have come to be associated with the turn of the year — winter equinox in the northern hemisphere, when the slow slide towards darkness reverses itself, when the days start getting longer and warmer again.
British poet T.S. Eliot, a devout Catholic himself, took a midwinter Christmas for granted in his poem, the Journey of the Magi.
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey…
After presenting a variety of images from the Magi’s travels, Eliot asks:
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
But as every parent knows, a birth is also a kind of death. Familiar patterns of life come to an abrupt end as the newborn infant takes control of sleep, leisure time, and even bank accounts.
Eliot was right. Christmas also calls for a kind of death – a giving up of old selfish ways, turning away from worn-out assumptions, starting life over in a different mind space.
Are you ready for that?
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Copyright © 2009 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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Your Turn
Last week’s column suggested that some of our familiar church rituals feel like “gibberish” to newcomers and strangers. (I wasn’t suggesting we should drop them – merely that we should recognize how strange they must seem to some people.)
Heidi Koschzeck, in Victoria, sent this alternate viewpoint: “I don’t disagree about church being a ‘foreign culture’; yet many of us quite enjoy exploring new cultures, new languages, new customs. Those of us who have that kind of orientation don’t expect to visit another part of the world and expect it to be exactly the same as our own. Neither do we expect to walk into a gym for the first time and know how to use every piece of equipment. We don’t start a new sport and expect to know all the moves. Why would beginning life in a church community be any different?
“An aspect to this discussion that is rarely mentioned is that many people somehow, perhaps subconsciously, still expect to know the language and culture of church — that may be why they find not knowing it so difficult. This is born out for me by how upset people get who haven’t been in church in years when they come to church and find that things have changed. ‘What do you mean, there’s a drama instead of a sermon? That’s not dignified!’ (That’s a comment from a thirty-something cousin of mine who only went to church occasionally as a child and never as an adult, but expected church to be exactly the same, and was quite indignant when it wasn’t!)
“It is true that folks coming into church have much to learn, and that we as congregations and congregational leaders can do a much better job of making our culture both understandable and open to the influence of newcomers. But I question the value of jettisoning years of communal practice simply because someone who walks in the door for the first time doesn’t understand it. Explain it, yes; get rid of it, no — not unless it is a real barrier to the participation of many in the life of the church, and not simply a matter of a lack of patience, interest or commitment.”
Freda McCormick wrote, “I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and I belong to the United Church of Canada. This is a church that has moved on and I am happy for it. Granted, there are those in the church that don’t agree with everything that we have done. But the United Church at its top has accepted Gay and Lesbian and has agreed to do marriages for these people. However, it is up to each congregation to accept this and permit it to happen in their congregation. I feel this is good. The orders are not all at the top.
“By the way, I am not Gay and Lesbian but I accept them as people. I know some personally and to me they are just that — people.
“I also have a lot of other ideas since I have started this journey… I do not see God as that ‘old man in the sky’. Actually, I am not sure just what or who God is but I like to think of God as a Spirit and/or energy that in within all of us — humans, animals, plants, waters, rocks, etc. etc. A lot of things that happen are the results of our choices and not an action of God.”
Bruce and Ruby Wahl wrote about the previous week’s column, on “the sound of a breaking heart.”
“My wife and I were deeply touched, and near tears, when we read this marvellous piece of writing. Ruby is a healthy 84, and I am a less healthy 88, we were married 64 years ago, and we’ve had six children. Thanks for this article.”
And my thanks to those who wrote to wish Joan well. So far, she’s handled the chemotherapy remarkably well. We hope that can continue.
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About My Books
Over the years, I think I have written (or ghostwritten) about 17 books. Several of them (mercifully) are no longer available from any source. But here’s a listing of those that are still available. The ones marked “WLB”, you can order from Wood Lake Books, either on-line at http://www.woodlakebooks.com, or call Wood Lake Books directly at 1-800-663-2775 in Canada, 1-800-654-5129 (Pilgrim Press) in the U.S. The ones marked “JT only” are now available only directly from me — as collector’s items, I price them all at $25 Cdn.
- Everyday God: Insights from the Ordinary
- Worlds in One
- Chance
- Seeing the Mystery: Exploring Christian Faith through the Eyes of Artists,
- Surviving Death
- Everyday Psalms
- Everyday Parables
- Letters to Stephen
- A New Understanding of Virtue and Vice
- Precious Days and Practical Love: Caring for an Aging Parent
- John for Beginners
- Spirituality of Pets
(1981 and 2005, WLB, $19.95)
(1985, JT only)
(1989, JT only)
(1990, with William S. Taylor, JT only)
(1993, JT only)
(1994 and 2005, WLB, $19.95)
(1995 and 2005, WLB, $19.95)
(1996, WLB, $17.95)
(1997, WLB, $19.95)
(1999, WLB, $19.95)
(2001, WLB, $11.95)
(2006, WLB, $39)
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TECHNICAL STUFF
To comment on something, in these columns, send a message directly to me, at [email protected].
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You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.
I write a second column each Sunday, called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justic issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a note to [email protected]
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PROMOTION STUFF…
If you know someone else who might like to receive this column regularly via e-mail, send a request to [email protected]. Or, if you wish, forward them a copy of this column. But please put your name on it, so they don’t think I’m sending out spam.
For a lighter look at life, faith, and the lectionary, I recommend my friend Ralph Milton’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it by sending a note to [email protected].
For other web links worth pursuing, try
- Charlene Fairchild’s United Online site,
- David Keating’s “SeemslikeGod” page
- The Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity home page
- Dan Strizek’s Gathering Place for Creation Spirituality
- Alva Wood’s satiric stories about small town attitudes and bumbling bureaucrats are not particularly religious, but good fun anyway; write [email protected] to get onto her mailing list.
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