Sarcastic Lutheran

"So, are you ready for Christmas?"

People keep asking me this question: "So, are you ready for Christmas?".  What does this mean exactly?  It could mean

"So, have you exchanged bits of paper and metal and plastic for other bits of paper and metal and plastic and then wrapped the new paper and metal and plastic in colored paper, marked them with the names of your family members and put them under a tree which has been cut down from where it grows  but now stands in your home (or is also comprised of metal and plastic and lives the rest of the year in  a box in a room under which it now stands)? And have you also combined food stuffs so that they have no nutritional value but make those who eat them magically become bigger each day that they are 'getting ready for Christmas'?". 

Or does the question "So, are you ready for Christmas?" mean,

"So, are you fully prepared to receive the one who brings God to humans and humans to God by being both human and God?"

The answer to the first is "No. I haven't had time" the answer to the second is "I'm not sure I really can be"

Am I prepared for the coming of the Christ into the world? no.  Am I ready? Absolutley.
Some things we are never prepared for.  They happen anyway.
Am I ready to start a new worshipping community? yep.  Am I prepared? Not at all.  Oh yeah, I've read all the books and have completed my course work and have spent endless hours in emerging church communities, I have an amazing group of people who are committed to do this thing together etc, but I'm not prepared because I think prepared implies that I am aware of what will happen and know how to deal with it all.  Seriously, I have no idea what will happen, which is as exciting as it is terrifying.

I'm ready for Christmas because after this season of Advent I really need to hear the story of Christ's birth again.  I need to hear about how God enters fully into the muck of our existence and brings new life.  I'm ready for that because I know that I need it.

Am I prepared for Christmas?  No.  There is no way for me to know how God will bring new life into this existence - here in this place, in this life, at this time.  One thing I know is that, like the birth of Christ, it's won't be what I expect or what I think I'm prepared for.

Merry Christmas.

Little Drummer Boy

Out of all the potential candidates for "least-favorite-Christmas-song", mine is The Little Drummer Boy. Why? you may ask. Well, I reject the premise. The Virgin Birth is infinitely more believable than the idea that, after giving birth in a barn, Mary would request that a little boy with a drum come and play for her. I've given birth twice and cannot imagine wanting a drummer there...even if he was "playing his best". In fact if a little drummer boy showed up after I'd gone thorugh hours of labor and unspeakable pain I'm sure what would have been overheard would not be "pa rum pa pum pum", but "get that fucking thing out of here."
Merry 5th day of Christmas