Better Off Without Such Headlines

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

International sporting competitions further the goal of peace, until nations get in the way.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One, Mary’s Child,

We have a mixed message in the stories of your birth. A simple birth in a simple place to a simple woman who is not yet married. Simple shepherds who get the first announcement of your arrival. So it seems the story should be a tale of the poor boy who rises to prominence – like Joseph or Moses.

But then we have these uncommon, extraordinary and miraculous elements that highlight how unique, special and divine you are. A virgin mother, a descendant of King David, parents who are visited by angels and dreams, a choir of angels to announce your birth, a star that marks your birth, wise men from afar who bring gifts to the one they recognize as the newborn king of the Jews.

We leave the realm of the simple, natural and universal experience of your presence and make it so out of the ordinary that we can no longer relate to you on a personal level. No longer one with and for us, you are “lord”, “master”, supreme ruler of all. No longer the Christ within us, but Christ above humanity. Divinity no longer residing in our midst with the meek and lowly, but the ideal, the celebrity far beyond us.

Perhaps you (and we) should create some real stories of your birth in our midst today.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“Matthew, I really like the scene with the wise men. It shows how much greater I am than Moses or David. Way to go!”

[No. Jesus did not get the chance to edit.]

D. Blog: Something We Can Live Without

Have you noticed how news headlines and stories attribute emotions to countries?
“China angered by interference…”
[Maybe China need an anger management class?]

Or, a country takes an action?
“Iran warns…”
[The supreme ruler or his spokesman maybe, but the whole country? Really? It reminds of a place called Oz and its wizard, who wasn’t so great as the pretense of embodying a country.]

And this one always gets me:
“US wins gazillion Olympic medals…”
[Athletes do all the hard work, country gets credit. Athletes -- mostly nameless, get token rewards; country “wins” and we are all so proud of ourselves...]

Could we please get real?