Christmas is over. Crumpled gift wrap has gone into recycle bins. Santa has settled down for a long winter’s nap, or at least into an easy chair by the hearth, sipping a well-deserved eggnog; Rudolph has been put out to pasture.

            And 2018 stands on our doorsteps, finger poised at the doorbell.

            What now?

            Hymnwriter Jim Strathdee answered that question:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and the shepherds have found their way home,

The work of Christmas is begun!

            The work of Christmas? Work? Surely you jest! Christmas is about fun, and family, and feasting -- not about work.

            Strathdee goes on to define the work of Christmas. Although his verses are copyright (http://www.strathdeemusic.com), I don’t think he’ll object to a summary:

·      To find the lost and lonely…

·      To feed the hungry children…

·      To free the prisoners from their chains…

·      To rebuild the nations with strength and goodwill…

·      To dance at a baby's new birth…

·      To make music in an old person’s heart

·      To sing to the colours of the earth!

Modern prophets

            In the old days, prophets thundered from the mountaintops, harangued on the street corners, argued in market squares. “Thus saith the Lord!” they bellowed.

            I suspect that most of us still expect to hear the word of the Lord trumpeted by powerful voices. Coming, perhaps, from politicians and preachers behind influential pulpits. Or behind microphones, commanding the airwaves. Or the financial markets. Or the military.

            They speak, and millions hear them. Obey them. Even fear them.

            But that’s not the only way to hear the word of the Lord.

            Elijah, one of those ancient prophets, expected to hear God in a mighty storm, an earthquake, a flaming hillside. But the message came in a still small voice, a whisper in the silence.

            I suggest that the true prophets of our time may be our songwriters and poets -- still small voices often drowned out by the clamour of daily life. Patiently, they craft their words and their notes, hoping that a turn of phrase, a twist of metaphor, will slip past our preoccupations and strike a chord.

            A few, like Leonard Cohen, achieve fame and fortune. Most barely scrape by. Many have to hold other jobs.

            But they persist. Encouraging us “to sing to the colours of the earth.” Reminding us that there is more to life than getting rich, or getting laid. Getting ahead, or just getting.

            A number of modern-day prophets -- from Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson Mandela -- have asserted that the true test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. Are they disposable, like used Kleenex? Inconvenient? Embarrassing, like acne pimples?

            Or just invisible?

            Prophets are, perhaps, the irritant that reminds us we are not perfect. The pebble in a shoe. The grain of sand in an oyster -- which could become a pearl, if nurtured.

            The work of Christmas doesn’t end when the plastic trees come down and the tinsel gets tucked away for another 11 months.

            The work of Christmas may involve that shadowy shape of the New Year, waiting to ring our doorbells this weekend.

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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Last week’s retelling of the Nativity story in a modern setting brought a flood of responses, mostly favourable. Many were only a single line. I acknowledge letters from Robert Caughell, Tom Watson, Lyle Phillips, Isabel Gibson, Kerry Brewer, Bob Blakely, and James Russell.

            Former United Church (of Canada) moderator Bill Phipps and his apouse Carolyn Pogue both sent appreciation. Carolyn wrote, “Thank you for this most extraordinary and beautiful Christmas gift.” Bill wrote, “As always, you nudge us into new understandings of ancient stories for our own times.”

            Powerful story,” commented Allan Baker. “I was in tears while reading to my partner.”

            Jim Henderschedt added, “What is most striking is that your story acknowledges a blessing for all people...all races...all languages...and, yes, all faiths. Thank you for the witness to the Cosmic Christ.”

Some writers expanded their thoughts.

Ken DeLisle: “Loved your Luke story.  Each child born is new hope and a witness of God’s growing love to include all. When I was reading and got to the part where the patrollers were afraid the child’s cries would alert enemies, I flashed back to the final episode of M*A*S*H. Stopped in a bus with a crying baby, Hawkeye and others were afraid the baby would alert the enemies searching the area. In that story, someone smothered the baby to keep everyone else safe. I was afraid you were going to do the same.  I was pleased you didn’t but then I thought of the Bible stories when Herod ordered all male babies killed, hoping to kill the Messiah.  And Rachel wept and would not be comforted. How many mothers will weep this Christmas because of the death of their child due to illness, lack of water and medication? Your story provokes so many thoughts. Thanks and blessings.”

Krista Markstrom: “Thank you for using the words that would have more closely belonged to the region where Jesus was born and lived. In the Western church we have glorified our own ideals of Christ's birth so much so that we think only in terms of English -- or Spanish, German and French. Just as the Western church tends to appropriate the Ten Commandments as if given to Christians and not originally to the Jewish people.”

Dawne Taylor: “Delightfully creative take on the nativity. Took me back to the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, where Palestinians have been crowded together since the creation of Israel -- a place where little hope is found, where generations have grown up and died, where children are shot for demonstrating, and where the conditions make a mockery of the nativity message of joy, peace and love. May the Christ be born and borne in our hearts as we remember the sad circumstances of so many in the world.”

            For more info about the Aida Refugee Camp, Dawne recommends Googling it.

Art Hildebrand noted that when I referred to emperors, I failed “to mention Moscow and all the others out there.”

Deborah Lawson connected my story to similar efforts by others: “Thank you, Jim, for posting this modern take on the Nativity we celebrate at this time of year.

            “Are you familiar with the British band Elbow? I heard one of their songs on CBC Radio 2's program The Signal, hosted by Laurie Brown. 

            “Elbow's album, The Take Off and Landing of Everything (2014) includes a song called ‘The Blanket of Night.’ The lyrics speak powerfully to the parable in your column. I would have copied the words into this email, but the experience of listening to the song is enhanced (for me, at least) by hearing the lyrics and the music in combination.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1dVWaaUNSA

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PSALM PARAPHRASES

The winter solstice is behind us. Days grow longer, if imperceptibly. Psalm 148 seems appropriate.

1          Come and join the joyful dance of life!
Celebrate each moment of increasing light!

2          When the sun comes out after the snow,
when the south wind blows the blizzards away,
all of creation creeps out of its caves
to soak up the welcome warmth.

3          All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,

4          All things wise and wonderful...

5          The Lord God made them all.

6          God created their characteristics and personalities;

8          The rain falls, the wind blows,
the frost forms its delicate traceries,
just as they should.
Rain does not rise, nor frost burst into flames--
they know their form and function;
The Lord God made them all.

7          So join the joyful dance of life.
The fish of the sea can shimmy;

9          Peaks and ridges march in royal ranks;
trees wave and grasses weave;

10        Cattle can stomp and marmots can whistle,
Chickens can cheep and porcupines bristle;

11, 12  The whole earth throbs with the pulse of life;
The drums of life pound their passionate rhythm.
Princes and popes, outlaws and outcasts,
all races, all colors, all ages, all species,
swirl together like galaxies glowing in a summer night.

13        In God's great dance of life, there are no wallflowers;
Every piece of creation has a part to play.

14        We humans live and die;
our communities come and go, our empires rise and fall;
But God's great dance of life goes on.
Thank God!

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

            To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to jimt@quixotic.ca. Or you can subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message or subject line) to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at softedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.

            I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

            I’m leaving out some of the links to other blogs and pages, to see if those links have caused the recent blockages, preventing some of your from receiving the columns at all, and preventing others from sending responses. We’ll see.

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PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols.

            Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca

            Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://wwwDOThymnsightDOTca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)

            Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>

            I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom

            Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.

            Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet