What Your Kids Can Teach You

This article in Slate ponders the mystery of what kids get out of worship. It is fascinating to watch children explore their spirituality and experience God in ways that might challenge us as adults. They ask questions we find hard to answer. They celebrate aspects of religious life in ways that make us uncomfortable ... all you have to do is hear them discussing the size and nature of the communion bread they receive to realize that worship is vitally important to them, and everything they do in worship means something.

Most importantly, when kids enjoy coming to church, to Sunday School, to worship, they prod and provoke us to understand and life our own faith. They look to us to put our money where our mouth is ... in our attention to worship, in our knowledge of the Bible, and in the ways we live as a Christian the other six days of the week.

They are watching us. Do we make it worth their consideration?

+ Kit

On Christmas Eve ... Thinking of Adam

I've been thinking of Adam since yesterday. In our house, we always call December 23 "Christmas Adam" because it comes before Christmas Eve. But Adam and Eve have been part of the Christmas story since the middle ages. They, after all, represent the reason we need a Savior -- human hubris, the desire to be like God, and the conviction that we can decide for ourselves without considering God's input or commands. Without this "fall," we would never have needed Immanuel, Godwithus, Jesus Christ.

An old medieval carol, 'Adam lay ybounden' perfectly captures the fate of the fallen and the delight at our redemption. Listen to it here by the incomparable choir of Kings College-Cambridge:



And this is the text:

Adam lay ybounden,
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
Thought he not too long.
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took,
As clerkës finden written
In their book.
Nor had one apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Then had never Our Lady
A-been heaven's queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was.
Therefore we may singen
Deo gratias!

Thanks be to God, indeed. See you tonight, God willing, either at the 5 p.m. family service, or the splendiferous celebration of Christmas in all its glory at 9 p.m.

+ Kit

When Christmas is Sad -- A Longest Night Service

On this shortest day and longest night, so close to Christmas, it can feel like darkness has swallowed the world. Especially if you have lost someone you love, to death, divorce, depression, this season of joy and merriment can feel hollow and meaningless.

All Saints offers its second annual "Longest Night" service in the chapel today at 5 p.m. This is a chance to pray, to remember, to sit in silence, to light a candle, and to share communion with others who feel the same way.

Join us, whoever you are and however you are. Share your sorrows with God, and remember the true meaning of the season: Christ born for us to heal us and make us whole.

This prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book might help with your sorrows this season.

Lord it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done. Let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In your name we pray. Amen.

+ Kit

Today's Unseen, Unsung Heroes: The Altar Guild!

Do you ever wonder ... maybe you don't ... how everything gets ready for our worship each week? Where do the cups come from? Who puts the wine in that pitcher? Who bakes the bread? Who makes sure the altar is wearing the appropriate color for the season?

It's the altar guild, a group of caring, talented people who do their work quietly and without a lot of fuss. The altar guild makes sure the linens are washed and ironed. They make sure we have enough bread and wine. They set out the dishes, and they quietly clean up afterward.

This is wonderful work done by some truly wonderful people. They also would like to welcome others -- women and men -- to help them in this quiet work. It takes about one Sunday a month, and the altar guild members work together with others.

If you're a quiet sort of person, if you like to do something that is truly useful, but you don't want a lot of fuss made over you, perhaps you are being called to serve on the altar guild. Let me know if this appeals ...

+ Kit

Thinking about Home-going on Homecoming

When I did funerals for African members of my former congregation, they were often referred to as someone's "Home-going" service. The person had finished their exile on earth and was returning home to Jesus. The observances began with a wake on Friday night, with prayers, speeches and lots and lots of singing, as the body lay in repose at the front of the church. The funeral services themselves were filled with full-throated singing, with tears and wailing, with powerful sermons and testimonials to the person's life. They were followed by hearty repasts, where hundreds of people gathered to eat, laugh, drink and enjoy one another's company.

Going home to Jesus was a major and significant event -- not just for the person who had gone home, but for the wide and extended community. It was an occasion for people to demonstrate the depths of their faith, their grief at losing a beloved companion, and their joy that someday they too, would go home to the loving arms of Jesus.

If you ever wondered about the phrase, "faith in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection from the dead," going to an African funeral would eliminate all doubts. We do go home to Jesus. And it is a homegoing worthy of celebration.

+ Kit