Things I didn’t know about Christmas

(that I Iearned from hanging out with kids at church and working on this year’s Christmas pageant)

-Baby Jesus’ visitors included “Santa”, “my uncle”, and—my favorite—“Jesus”.

-Angels make ghost noises when they fly—“oooooo”—and attack Joseph in his sleep.

-When Mary tells Joseph she’s pregnant, he looks at her and exclaims “WHAT?!?”

Do you see what I see?

My favorite Christmas song has always been “Do you hear what I hear?”, especially the part where we sing, “Pray for peace, people everywhere”. Because if everyeone in the world (and I mean everyone) were to drop what they are doing right now—working, fighting, worrying, watching TV—to pray for peace, it would actually work; it’s hard to inflict harm on someone when you’re praying. The mental image of that happening, even just for a moment, always gives me goosebumps. Makes me think of swords being beaten into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4).

My favorite version of this song is by Todd Agnew, who adds a short but insightful interlude:

A star, a star, shining in the night:
How does this look from so high?

A shepherd boy, shivering with fright:
How does this look to your eyes?

A king to come, so far and oh so wise:
Are you ready for your surprise?

And God on high, paying such a price:
Giving your Son for His bride!

I especially love the line about the king: following a mysterious star, expecting great splendor and circumstance; I can imagine his surprise when he finds a dirty manger with a humble baby.

Agnew actually has an entire Christmas album called “Do you see what I see?”, which attempts to open up the story of Jesus’ birth by imagining what it might have looked like from the perspectives of other people who were there. He even wrote a song about the inn-keeper, who’s stressed from being overworked, and doesn’t have time for this poor, pregnant couple and their baby. She has no idea that, in turning a blind eye to their suffering, she is actually ‘blowing off’ the son of God. How many times do we do the same?

More feasting--this time Greek

Argentine food is delicious, but it's also very plain, and I often find myself craving something that's not pizza, empanadas, or mountains of grilled meat. So it was with great joy and thanksgiving that I found a Greek food store on my home this week. I grabbed a few items from the counter, which turned out to be spiced meat on a pita, chicken with vegetables wrapped in flat bread, and two little desserts with feta cheese and brown sugar. It definitely satisfied my mounting craving for something 'outside of the box.' And even though I ate it fast because I was hungry, I nevertheless enjoyed it and 'feasted' on it as a gift from God.

It cost fifteen pesos. I didn't have to do that. I could have bought something cheaper and used the extra money to help the poor. And I had the whole train ride home to think about it. This my inner monologue: was it wrong for me to 'waste' money on that food, which brought me so much joy? Which I experienced, gratefully, as a gift from God? Three months ago, the question wouldn't even have occurred to me. Now I find myself asking how much is enough of myself to give, and how much am I willing to sacrifice?

God asks for nothing short of everything. And I want to give it. But how do I do that? What does that mean? If I'm going to eat, I need money in my pocket. On the other hand, if I cling to everything I have, even if I proclaim it as God's blessings, I lack love.

Where is the line, therefore, between being blessed and being a blessing?

Gratefulness - and Great Fullness

Last week we gathered in Uruguay for our first retreat, which was great opportunity to gather, share, and reflect together on our experiences so far. An important part of the week was to celebrate Thanksgiving, which takes on new meaning when we are—in many senses—so far from home. We all contributed something special to our time together, from music to devotionals to a hands-on comparison of our lives to the making of bread—which has communal and spiritual, as well as nutritional, importance. In light of the Thanksgiving feast, we also shared in an ongoing conversation about celebrating abundance in the midst of scarce resources. We all have been challenged by coming from situations of abundance to find ourselves in situations where resources are very scarce. Why is it that some people have too much food, and others don’t have enough—or none at all? How does our global economic system perpetuate and widen inequalities, and what can we do about it (as individuals? as citizens? as Christians?) And how do we relate earthly abundance with the ‘abundant life’ triumphantly proclaimed by Jesus? How can we be partake in that life, and how can we share it with others?

With all of that baggage in tow, the culmination of our week was the Thanksgiving Meal—somewhat improvised, but delicious nonetheless. We were staying on an organic farm, so most of our ingredients were fresh and pure. We had to settle for chicken instead of turkey, but the stuffing and green bean casserole had never been better. We even had fruity Jello, as well as apple crisp for dessert.

The cherry on top was singing Holden Evening Prayer after dinner. A very special evening indeed as we humbly celebrated our many blessings and offered simple songs to each other and to our awesome God. I know we all missed being with our families, but this Thanksgiving was certainly one we will not forget.