The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Is it the lights?  Is it the caroling?  Is it the Christmas tree?  Is it the parties? Maybe it is being around family and friends!  What is it that is so special about this time of year?  Christmas isn’t just a day; it is a season.  In the church, the season is called Advent, a season of waiting for the coming of Christ.  For some, Christmas season starts the moment Thanksgiving is over.  Moreover, for many retailers, the Christmas season started as soon as Halloween was over.  So what makes Christmas Christmas?

If we took away the lights and the trees, would it still be Christmas?  It can’t simply be our friends and family that make it special because they are around us all year long.  I think we can all agree that there is something different about this time of year as if there is something in the air.  People seem to be a little nicer and happier.  Most people are more giving and selfless this time of year. The same homeless shelters and soup kitchens that are begging for volunteers all year long are suddenly packed with volunteers this time of year.  As I was thinking about the Christmas season, I can’t point my finger to any one thing that I do that makes Christmas so special, yet it is. 

As we enter this Christmas season, it made me think, what if Christmas wasn’t just a season, like summer, fall, winter, and spring that lasts a month and then we move on, but rather a way of life?  What if we didn’t just buy gifts for people this time of year, but randomly throughout the year? What if being “nicer” wasn’t just attached to the Christmas season but part of our daily lives as being a Christian? 

If we boil away all of the fluff that surrounds Christmas and we are left with its core, we are left with Christ, the anticipation of his coming, and the hope that we know in Christ as our Savior.  That is something that, as Christians, we shouldn’t just celebrate once a year, but every day of every year. Christ tells us that he came so that we might have life, and have it abundantly. Not just for a season, but every moment of every day. Every time we celebrate communion we are to be reminded of the abundant life that Christ calls us to. 

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, I encourage you to spend time tapping into the abundant life that Christ promises us. Once you find it, live it, not just for a season, or while it is easy, but every moment of every day, even when others aren't, because that is what Jesus calls all those who bear his name to do.

I would like to share with you my favorite Thanksgiving blessing.  It has been recited inside prison walls, in hospital rooms, at hospice bedsides, in treatment centers, and in homes throughout America and Canada.  I can close my eyes and hear voices uttering the gracious words giving thanksgiving to God.  It is a wonderful prayer to use as a table grace.  We can never be too grateful.  I wish you all a blessed and grateful Thanksgiving.

Bless the meadows,
Bless the deer,
Bless our loved ones,
far and near.

Bless the apple-
scented air,
Bless the food
that we prepare.

Bless the beaches,
Bless the birds.
Bless the tender
shapes of words.

Bless the cities,
Bless the geese,
Bless the fragile
wings of peace.

Bless the mountains,
Bless the streams,
Bless our starry,
borrowed dreams.

Bless the moon
And bless the sheep
And bless the stranger
sound asleep.

                     -Eileen Spinelli

For the last few weeks members of the choir and other Pinnacle family members have been preparing to go on a pilgrimage. Now, this pilgrimage may not look like others; we are not walking from London to Canterbury to see the blessed saint Thomas Beckett, and ask for miraculous healing after a journey of 55 miles on foot…as the ‘sundry folk’ of Chaucer’s tale did seven centuries ago. We are going to New York City…by plane. Now, New York’s not the first place one thinks of going to on a spiritual pilgrimage, and yet as a part of the family of faith we are going there to sing, fellowship and learn…learn about how ‘sundry folk’ in the big city live their lives of faith.

How does one prepare for such a pilgrimage? Well, to tell you the truth, I haven’t done much mental, emotional, or spiritual preparation. Basically, I spend all my time getting done all those things that allow me to be away for a week. This pilgrimage’s preparation has required of staff and participants a lot of practical preparation…and we’ve had little time to ready our souls for genuine encounter with God who in Christ “plays in 10,000 places.” Perhaps all of us will “prepare the way for the Lord” as we are sitting on the plane Thursday morning…very early.

Isn’t that how one gets ready for a pilgrimage? Look busy. Take care of business. Make sure someone will feed the cat while we’re gone?

Well, yes and no.  The most important thing to say is: every day is a pilgrimage of faith.  So, whether we are going across the country, or across the world, or across the street, each and every day gives us opportunities that pilgrims face out there in the wide world on their wild and unpredictable peregrinations. So, how do we prepare for the daily pilgrimage faith we all make?

I found these wise words to help us out: “The first moment of the pilgrimage experience is the decision to depart, a true inspiration of the heart, but also a vocation, a calling, an invitation to become a part of the pilgrim humanity, which has always set off on the path towards the chosen encounters with the Divine.  Along with the decision comes waiting and expectations: every pilgrim, who has decided to depart, cannot wait to set off on the road, to reach the destination, to contemplate, to listen, to physically and spiritually rest.  In a certain sense, the items a pilgrim packs reveals the kind of experience that he/she wishes to have! The luggage of a pilgrim should contain the essentials of travel, but also those that help to learn and pray.  

Set the stage: What will I find? Who will travel with me? What is God preparing me for? For the pilgrim, leaving is sorrow, yet also life, joy, waiting, expectation, and hope.  The duration of the journey, whether short or long, is not lost or wasted time. Instead it is in itself a time of grace, a precious occasion, and little by little as the minutes and miles pass, the desire for the destination grows.

Before departing, we can dedicate time to reading texts, such as the Bible or spiritual writings. We can gather in prayer and open our hearts to the Word of God allowing our docile, vigil spirit to welcome God’s splendor. We can participate in the worshipping community and begin to ask what it means to “come back to ourselves” and reenter the plan of Creation.”*

These words help us each enter the pilgrimage of every day. Set the stage for encounter and to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

* http://www.kairospilgrimages.com/stages-of-pilgrimage.html

The thirteenth century Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart, is part of that long procession of men and women who have encouraged their generations to take time to be still and to wait upon the Lord. “There is a spark of God,” wrote Eckhart, “in the soul of man, and that is what is truly real. Look inward quietly so that God may be born into your soul.”

I wish I could report that the message of Meister Eckhart is alive and well in my life. Unfortunately, the flurry of activity which accompanies the beginning of a new season (both in work and in life) has left little time for stillness and looking quietly inward.  Perhaps that’s true for many of us.

The legendary Winston Churchill, so the story goes, was once presented a plaque by the women’s temperance union.  As the chairwoman placed it in his hands, she pointed to an imaginary line on a nearby wall and said rather caustically, “Sir Winston, do you realize that if we poured into this room all the brandy you have consumed in your lifetime, the mark would reach about here?”  Slowly, Churchill first looked at the imaginary line on the wall and then at the ceiling above and replied, “So much to be done and so little time to do it.”

Since the fall is in full swing, I have had reason to think about Sir Winston. Alas, there seems “so much to do and so little time to do it.” In fact, I am writing lists at my desk these days, and that is always a bad sign that life is getting too complicated for my own good and the good of those around me.

What’s the answer? I’m not sure exactly, but I suspect it has something to do with making sure that one’s priorities are sorted out and in proper order.  After all, it doesn’t make much sense to help lead a choir through this wonderful season and lose sight of the God for whom you are doing it, or to work so hard for a family that there is no quality time left to spend with them, or to weed a garden and not see the flowers, or to labor so hard at relaxing that it is no longer relaxing, or to worry about preparing a meal that there’s no joy left in sharing it, or____________________________________.

Well, you fill in the blank. If you’re at all like me, you will know exactly what needs to go there.

My first response was lament.  As a former resident of Pittsburgh I know the Squirrel Hill area well. Saturday morning was a sad day and I was glued to the news reports of a community I knew and loved.   

I joined the thousands of people across the country and around the world who mourn the murder of eleven Jews who were worshiping. Individuals have responded with outrage that someone would even consider aiming a gun at another living person and the challenge of confronting the hate that still lives among us. Others respond with overwhelming grief for the loss of life that is paralyzing. And then there are those standing together with signs saying “Stronger than Hate.”

I went to Pittsburgh for seminary and I learned to love the city that thrives on sporting events (the mood of the day after a Penguin, Steeler or Pirate game changes based on the win or loss). A community that holds onto their identities through neighborhoods while still being welcoming to their neighbors.

But this isn’t always easy.  They have fought hard to live in equality. Are challenged as they move through seasons of racism. And the financial gap grows between neighborhoods causing disagreements.

Like many, I have asked what Mr. Rogers might say as a neighbor to this Jewish community and good Presbyterian.  I am sure he would be saddened by this event and he might suggest to “look for the helpers.” A well-known line that Mr. Rogers often said during tragedy. The rescue workers and police officers who put themselves in harm’s way to help. A sign that something good is happening in the midst of the tragedy.

Jesus said the “Greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. The second is to Love your neighbor as Yourself.” 

In the midst of this tragedy we are reminded that we are called to live differently—to live with love.  To love our God who loves us all equally. Who doesn’t see Jew or Greek, Slave or Free, who doesn’t see black or white.  God invites us to love.

We are invited to show our love to our Jewish brothers and sisters. To love our literal neighbors, the neighbors we like and the ones we don’t, and the ones in Pittsburgh grieving for their loved ones and the ones here.  We do it with love.  This is our opportunity to share with the world what it means to truly love. 

To love beyond the fear.
To love beyond ourselves or the safety of our own home.
To love with grace and forgiveness.
To love with the call to peace.
To love with hope that things will be different.
To love each other no matter the differences we have.