FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH Morehead (Disciples of Christ)
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Ghosts of Christmas Present

12/23/2014

 
There is a special sort of gift that comes with working in a church. And though, as a rule, I mean 'the people of God' when I say church, today I mean a building.


I am one of the first to say that brick and mortar do not make a sanctuary; I well understand that God can be worshipped in a gym, a library, a forest clearing, or a theatre.  Still........at this time of year, there is something particular about a churchhouse.


It's quiet right now, which is not the norm.  Over the last few weeks it has been filled with light and noise and Scripture and music and outreach and food  and costumes and communion and poinsettias.  And tomorrow evening it will be filled with candlelight and music and the Grinch and scared shepherds and Francis X Cross and pondering mothers and Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Prince of Peace.


But now - right now - at the present moment:  there is light streaming through the stained glass windows.  There are figures of the Holy Family which , if you sort of squint, look lifelike.  There is homemade fudge from a church member.  There is handbell music on the tables.  


There is peace.  


Because tomorrow we will celebrate something that already is.  We will welcome someone who already lives with us.  We will be surprised by a story we've heard all our lives.


Little Ones:Don't let the Little Red Hens of this world tell you there is a War that threatens to take Christmas from you.  He is already here.  And if you can't see Him, look: he is in the face of someone you already know.  He is in the face of someone you don't like.  He is in the face of someone who needs food.  Or clothes.  Or a hug.  


He brings peace - not as the world gives.  And if the world didn't give it to us, the world can't take it away.


He Is Already Here.  And Always Will Be.  World Without End.  Amen.  In the past, the present, and the future.  


 

Ghosts of Christmas Past

12/10/2014

 
Two weeks ago I received a package here at church.  It was addressed to me, but I wasn't immediately familiar with the name on the return address.  When I opened the package, I found two cards in envelopes -- and a stuffed animal I hadn't seen since I was probably 4 or 5.  I was so surprised I had to sit down; though I hadn't thought about that handsewn Lovey in many years, I recognized it immediately.  From somewhere in my past, from some part of my brain that remembers things that are important but not essential -- there it was!


The stuffed animal is an elephant ( a source of great amusement to the rest of my father's family, since Dad was a yellow-dog Democrat) and made from old dress material.  I expect that my Mamaw made it, though I'm not sure that was ever said in so many words.  And nestled with the elephant were cards from a cousin that was near and dear to me in my growing up years; she was a few years older but was always so kind and patient with a younger cousin who worshipped and adored her.  Lynn had somehow ended up with my elephant - through the sort of time and tide thing that happens with families - and remembered that my birthday is in December and was generous enough to track me down here in Morehead and sent the Lovey back to me.


Reconnecting with Lynn is the real gift right now, of course.  But along with that are the gifts of memories of Christmases at my grandmother's house.  I can't be the only one who remembers the scent of pies, the (truly ugly) wallpaper in the dining room, being seated at the card table in our grandmother's bedroom instead of at the 'grown up' table.  In reality, of course, there are not so wonderful memories as well: arguments, and folks showing up not quite sober, and wondering from year to year who was speaking to whom.  


That being said:  We all have choices.  And we can choose what we let define us, and what we are willing to jettison for our own well being.  This time of year we are surrounded by the Ghosts of Christmas Past. Some of us white wash our present by choosing to remember a past that is perfect, and Hallmark, and Norman Rockwell, and ideal.  I'd venture to guess that no one's past is that pristine.  We run the risk, though, of putting our energy and time in repeating the phrase, "It's not like it USED to be......." in a querilous tone; that robs us of experiencing the here and now.


Some of us stay marked by our past: we remember the hurts, or the fights, or the poverty of what was.  And again - we are robbed of the here and now.


Don't let the Ghosts of Christmas Past steal your joy in this very year.  Be awake to surprise ( like elephants coming in the mail), and if you can, make sure someone's day is merry and bright.  Lots of folks grumble about how 'they' are stealing Christmas and 'they' aren't honouring the season.  It can't happen: not as long as we listen for angels' wings, share joy and love and hope and peace, and remember that Christmas time is in our grasp, as long as we have hands to clasp.

How Taylor Swift Ruined My Christmas

12/5/2014

 
Okay - maybe that's a TAD overstated.  But would you have clicked on a blog that was called "I spent part of the day smelling like something I didn't want to smell like?"

Things have gone a bit pear shaped around our house in the last week or so; folks who attend services know why, but it's probably not something I need to put in writing.  Suffice to say..........it's been a long week.  Folks around church have been sick, and had surgeries, and dealt with personal and professional issues.  It's Advent, and there is much going on around the church with regard to music, youth, outreach etc etc.  It's been raining, so the farm is filled with mud and muck.  Yada, yada, yada.

And then I went into a store.  Trying to get some shopping accomplished for the outreach here at church.  I wandered by a counter that had a bottle of Taylor Swift's perfume.  I was not really thinking, but on a whim I leaned over to look at the bottle (it's a pretty bottle) and in doing so I grasped the spritzer.  

I received a full face of Taylor Swift's perfume.  It was a quick spritzer.  

Not what I wanted.  At all.  This is no comment on her scent; just that it was not what I wanted.  And there was a lot of it. This felt like the last straw.  I was frayed, and frazzled, and now I smelt to high heaven.

I gasped, and backed up.  All I could smell was this perfume.  I moved away, and tried to rub it off.  No luck.  I manuevered my cart down the next aisle.  I noticed folks were crinkling their noses at me; one woman (not so subtlly) coughed.  The woman at the register smiled in a fake way and said "LOVE your perfume!"  I knew what she really meant:  "gee, lady, don't be so heavy handed with your scent!"

Word to the wise: Sometimes things are shiny and call you to get close to them.  But beware.  They mark you....................


    Picture

    Reverend Donald Chase, Minister

          We welcome back to First Christian Church the Rev. Don   Chase, who was installed as FCC Minister on November 4, 2018. Reverend Chase is the director of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and Clinical Chaplain at the Lexington VA Medical Center, where he has served   for the past 12 years.  He is an ACPE Certified Educator with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), Board Certified Chaplain (BCC) with the National Association of VA Chaplains (NAVAC), and an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  

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