Friday Epistle - December 1, 2017

December 1st, 2017 by Christopher Caudle

Have you ever double-booked during the holidays?
"American Airlines Group Inc. is rushing to resolve a scheduling fault that gave time off to too many pilots in December -- a flaw that has left more than 15,000 flights without enough crew during the holiday rush, according to a union for the carrier's pilots." Bloomberg News 29 November 2017
Oops.
         Think about your own upcoming holiday commitments for a moment. (If your plans include a flight on American Airlines, you may have a bit of anxiety just now.) As you imagine the next six weeks for your family, you may feel a bit of sympathy or commiseration with the folks tasked with the immediate rescheduling of all the pilots, crews, and staff who now will themselves have to reschedule the plans they've made inthe meantime.
         Our schedules are one big window through which we may peer at our values and priorities. As your calendar for December fills, how have you prioritized your precious time and attention? Maybe you have maximized opportunities to consume eggnog in the company of St. Nick-hatted neighbors and coworkers. Or perhaps you rsvp mainly to make other people happy, even if eggnog always gives you a rather queasy feeling.
         This season offers us a wealth of family traditions, office outings, giftwrap-wrangling, community gatherings, attic-boxed decorating, favorite holiday movies, candle-lit silent night, slowly consuming an entire gingerbread village, twinkling lights, nativity scenes, hot-cocoa with the air-conditioner on, and singing along to the music in the mall.
All these, as you know, are just the tip of the tree.
          Each allocates a portion of our precious time, attention, and focus. As they should. We are, after all, both souls and bodies. And bodies have strong and valuable opinions about eggnog.
         We move through time (Advent calendars can really help) as people entwined within expectations, memory, uncertainty, and anticipation. We move through our December days toward a grand and greater end, to which Christmas morning in our homes serves as an interim sacrament-ed sign. The great kingdom celebration at world's end to which the Feast of Christmas aligns raises a key question. How do the days before Christmas connect to Christmas itself?
The message of Advent, this faith-shaped countdown to Christmas, is not to abstain but to prepare.
          Prepare with intention so as to make the most of these holiday moments. Embrace the wonder of the Incarnation, the embodiment of God, who is Spirit, into the inspired craftsmanship of flesh and blood. Jesus was born and raised so that fruitcake (as part of the whole creation) could be and would be redeemed for the glory of God the Father.
         To do that, we re-center on the stereo-ed message of the prophets and apostles: rejoice in the fulfilled first coming of the Christ as the baby of Bethlehem and prepare for the guaranteed return of the Risen Christ as the King of Kings at the world's grand end.
         To find that center again and to hold onto that center in the midst of the many scheduled and rescheduled events and opportunities ahead of you, we invite you to join us and others in this season for times of worship and connection.
        We know we won't see you at everything. We don't want you to double-book like the faulty scheduling system at American Airlines did.
        We would love to see you when we can hear together the booming words of Isaiah, watch the children gather around the crèche, greet new friends at Christmas on the Lawn, share a coke at Elf, take Steps to the Stable each Wednesday, and listen for the hush just before the Christmas story is read aloud on Christmas Eve.
        Welcoming the miracle of Christmas invites our best focus and intention, because we are turning our focus and intention to God's own best gift to us. We will jump in  this Sunday with the essential task of shipping out the ghosts of Christmas past and looking forward to the promise of the Christmas just ahead of us.
Prayer for the First Sunday in Advent
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
See you  Sunday,
Christopher+

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About this author:

Christopher Caudle

Christopher Caudle

Fr. Christopher has an authentic sense of humor and is a man after the Lord's own heart. He pastors the members of New Covenant Church while keeping his family as a keen priority. Fr. Christopher holds BA in History from the University of North Carolina and a MA in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theology Seminary.

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