“Keeping the ADVENT-ure in Your Christmas Season”

 (submission for column in Nov.28/13 issue of Blyth-Brussels Newspaper The Citizen)

            This Sunday (December 1) marks the first Sunday of Advent, the roughly four-week period leading up to Christmas. “Advent” derives from a Latin word meaning arrival or coming; each year Christians recall the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, in human form to heal and deliver, to teach us truth from the Heavenly Father, and become our perfect substitutionary sacrifice on the cross at Easter.

            Another similar word that derives from the same Latin root is “Adventure”. According to the dictionary, an ‘adventure’ is a “daring enterprise, unexpected incident, hazardous activity”. Yet it’s easy for Advent not to have much “adventure”! As years pass and family traditions and social commitments accumulate, the month of December can become cluttered with reunions and parties and routines that are definitely ‘activity’ but hardly ‘unexpected’. For example, perhaps we always put up our Christmas lights in the same place (and we always wait until it’s thirty below to put them up, so nearly freeze our fingers off!). We always get together with her side the Sunday before Christmas and his side on Christmas day. We always go to the office party that weekend and always eat (or drink) too much. We always find ourselves in a panic to get the gifts wrapped on Christmas Eve, and always rush through the opening of gifts because we’ve got to be on the road by 10 a.m.

            Does the sight of your calendar when you flip to December make you groan because of all the extra activities leading up to Christmas? Do you arrive at Boxing Day ready to collapse, almost to be laid out in a box yourself, because of the hectic pace of activities this month? Is non-stop busy-ness and getting frazzled really what this season is supposed to be about?

            Perhaps it’s time to re-examine our usual pre-Christmas routines and ask if there are things that can be dropped for the sake of preserving sanity, and reserve some time to genuinely connect with friends, loved ones, and God rather than continually be run off our feet (not to mention crushed in the shopping malls). What could we do differently this year to change what’s become a “rut” into a fresh advent-ure?

            That first Coming (Advent) of Christ was anything but usual: it was a very unique, one-of-a-kind event. Over seven centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah predicted to King Ahaz, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Virgins conceiving and giving birth is certainly not an everyday event! It was so far-fetched that even righteous Joseph figured that young Mary, who had been pledged to him in betrothal for marriage, must have been sleeping around in order to become pregnant – until an angel appeared to him in a dream and assured him that God was responsible. (Matthew 1:19f)

            It was not usual for babies to be born in a stable and laid in a manger. Any of us would want our own newborns to have better treatment than that! Yet God used an emperor to declare a census so that Joseph, a citizen of Galilee far to the north in Israel, would have to relocate to overcrowded Bethlehem so King David’s descendant would be born there in fulfilment of Micah’s prophecy (Micah 5:2). A baby in a manger would be an easy (and appropriate!) sign for shepherds to find, after they’d been clued-in by angels to this one-of-a-kind Messiah. (Luke 2:12) And to be ‘born in a barn’ was strangely fitting for the humility of One who laid aside heavenly glory, humbling Himself to become obedient to the Father’s will that we might be saved – even if that meant going so far as to die on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

            And it was certainly an “unexpected incident” for Magi from the east (probably Persia or southern Arabia) to show up in Jerusalem at the court of murderous, paranoid King Herod, inquiring exactly where the new “king of the Jews” was to be born. (Matthew 2:1f) All Jerusalem was “disturbed” along with Herod, who no doubt feared yet another duplicitous plot against his regency. And what sort of rare astronomical convergence must it have been that prompted their long and dangerous journey? One unique enough for the Magi to unequivocally identify it as “His star”. It was a most exceptional concert of events that brought the Wise Men, allowed them to find the child Jesus who’d been born essentially right under Herod’s nose, then allowed both the Magi and Jesus’ family to escape the chilling fury of Herod who was used to killing in cold blood to preserve his reign.

            But what’s the most unusual, unexpected aspect of Advent? Stranger than a virgin birth? Weirder than a baby laying in a manger? More peculiar than “wise men” doing such a dumb thing as asking a killer-king where his rival’s been born?

            The most unusual thing about Christmas is God’s motivation for the whole thing in the first place. It is unfathomable that a perfectly just, good, holy, almighty deity would sacrifice what was most precious – an eternal, infinitely-intense love relationship bonding Father and Son – for the sake of mere mortal sinners like you and me! The Apostle Paul described just how “rare” and unthinkable this was: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6_8) Amazing! For a world of lost sinners – He would do that?

            Advent was truly a “daring enterprise / hazardous activity” for Jesus. A real adventure, a one-time occurrence that nevertheless procured eternity in heaven for those who trust in Him. Surely our Christmas celebrations, then, should be anything but ho-hum.

            So, as you review your calendar, what “routines” have cluttered your schedule that could be eliminated in order to carve out some time to focus more on the real meaning of the season? Are there functions that have little to actually do with Christmas, and even less redeeming value (perhaps even posing a safety threat on account of substances consumed)? Are you absolutely sure those long distances travelled to shopping malls are necessary – perhaps gifts might be found closer to home? Are some of your relatives so well-off already that they would understand if, instead of buying a gift of questionable usefulness, you made a donation in their honour for disaster relief in the Philippines, or to help some third-world entrepreneur receive a microfinance startup loan in order that their family might have enough to eat? Instead of yet again watching Mr. Bean drive away with a huge Christmas tree or get his head stuck in a turkey (funny as that is), what about treating some elderly neighbours to a carol and some cookies? What decorations could be left unplugged this year so you can find some quiet moments to reflect before God on your own current purpose in life, and how that relates to the purpose for which Jesus came in the first place?

            Now, you’re starting to put the advent-ure back in Advent! When your wheels stop churning, you just might hear the whir of angels’ wings.

‘Earth to Earth’: Planting the Remains of a Steward of the Soil

In Loving Memory of Dennis Dow, Oct.22/52 - Oct.28/13

    The traditional burial service contains words such as these: “Unto Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead...” (1928 Book of Common Prayer) Our bodies are irrevocably connected to this “stuff” we call earth, ground, dust. But do we ever stop to consider whether what we’re standing on is more than just inanimate material?
    My brother Dennis, whose remains we are ‘planting’ in the earth following his lengthy struggle with leukemia, was a true advocate of the soil. A quiet evangelist for the earth – not the planet Earth per se, but the thin and delicate skin that covers a tiny fraction of its surface and sustains plant life that humans depend on for existence. An ‘evangelist’ in that as I look back he has essentially ‘converted’ me, at least in how I view soil.
    I say “soil” and “earth”, not “dirt”: there’s a subtle distinction in the labels we apply. “Dirt” sounds like something lifeless, devoid of value, to be trodden upon. But Dennis viewed that precious top 6 or 8 inches of farmland as something much different – a fragile, responsive, vulnerable living ecosystem to be protected, nurtured, and valued. “Soil” is not to be “treated like dirt”!
    Yes, I too went to “soil science” classes at University of Guelph and learned the various mineral elements that went into making up the land farmers cultivate – combinations of sand, silt, and clay formed over centuries from underlying bedrock. But it was Dennis that helped me appreciate most the quasi-living quality of soil. He almost cringed to think of how heavy equipment (taken for granted in conventional ever-larger factory-farm methods) would press massively upon and compact the soil, squeezing the tilth out of it, battering it into passive submission. Over three decades he patiently managed his farms so the organic matter would be built up incrementally year after year until the fields became almost sponge-like, capable of soaking up even heavy rains that would cause other fields to flood and run off in torrents, eroding precious layers of soil. It irked him to think how traditional tillage methods relentlessly ripped up, dissected, and exposed the subterranean microcosm so organic matter was needlessly burnt off. It grieved him to see other farmers’ cropping practices “mine” the soil in such a way that, after many decades, it had lost much of its original growing potential, relying upon massive injections of commercial inputs each spring like some junkie dependent upon their next ‘fix’ merely to keep on going.
    As his own death drew near, one of things that grieved Dennis most (besides leaving his dear family, of course) was that the soil he had toiled carefully to steward for over 35 years, building it up to maximum health, might be left to be ravaged by those ignorant of the benefits of minimum-tillage ethos, under whose carelessness the fields would quickly be undermined.
    Dennis’ passion as a soil advocate ‘converted’ me to the point that, when I read the Bible now, I start to see how this might be how God views the land – not as something inert or lifeless, but precious, to be protected and nurtured, a quasi-living symbiosis not to be taken for granted. Maybe God wants us to share His view of it? Something we abuse at our peril. When it suffers, we suffer.
    Our origins and fate are inextricably linked to it. Genesis 2(7,15): “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life...The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Not ‘exploit’ it or ‘mine’ it: ‘take care of’ implies careful attention to and supportive investment.)  Ecclesiastes 3(19f): “Man’s fate is like that of the animals...All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.” The Apostle Paul talks about burial as a type of “sowing”: “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed...So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable...” (1Corinthians 15:37,42) The Biblical view is that the earth will one day “give up the dead” in it (Revelation 20:13).
    As you read through the Bible, God does seem to come across as an advocate for the soil. The Israelites are cautioned before they enter the Promised Land that if they mistreat it and exploit it, depriving it of its Sabbaths and Jubilee years, God Himself will remove them and deport them until the land once again enjoys the relief it needs. Leviticus 25(4), “But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD.” After the fall of Jerusalem and exile to Babylon, the Chronicler points to this as a key factor in the reason the nation was punished: “The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.” (2Chronicles 36:21)
    But it’s the prophet Hosea who suggests most blatantly this almost-living quality of earth, a “responsiveness” that sets it apart from inanimate objects. A rock does not respond, it’s largely unaffected if you toss it here or douse it there. But soil is responsive: it suffers if you abuse it; it flourishes if you take good care of it and treat it well, with respect and consideration. In Hosea 2 God describes how, on account of the nation’s ‘adultery’ in worshipping idols, He will “make [Israel] like a desert, turn her into a parched land...I will take away my grain when it ripens...I will take back my wool and my linen...”(Hosea 2:3,9). But later in the chapter He promises to eventually restore Israel – listen to the “responsiveness” of the soil here: “‘In that day I will respond,’ declares the LORD— ‘I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel [“God plants”].’” (Hosea 2:21-22)
    Coming to the New Testament – was Jesus an advocate of the soil? When Christ looked down, did He see more than just lifeless inanimate clods? He headlined the soil in at least a couple of His classic parables. In Mark 4 we find what’s typically called “The Parable of the Sower”, but when you look closely, it should really be called “The Parable of the Soils”. What’s the decisive factor, the “variable” to put it in experimental terms? Not the sower or the seed being distributed: those are constant in each scenario. It’s the amount and quality of soil that’s crucial. Along the path, the seed didn’t even hit the soil but was snatched up by birds. In rocky places “the soil was shallow”. The next patch described is soil lousy with weeds. But the last batch, which produced a good crop, “fell on GOOD soil.” (Mark 4:3-8)
    Another parable Jesus gave, less well known, describes a farmer scattering seed, sleeping and getting up, yet the crop goes right on growing quite independently of him. What’s the active ingredient? Mark 4:28, “All by itself the soil produces grain...” The soil is the ‘star of the show’ in Christ’s little word-picture of the Kingdom of God.
    So, as we “sow” the body in the ground, and say the traditional words “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Dennis’ heritage invites us to carry on his advocacy: to view the soil as far more than ‘just dirt’, something to be manipulated or exploited without regard. Scripture too suggests soil (or lower-case ‘earth’) is precious to God, to be nurtured, protected, appreciated and respected. Until the Day of resurrection when it responds to the Master’s call by giving up those buried therein, we’re entrusted to be caring stewards – that those who come after us may also be sustained.