A Christmas Parable

Merry Christmas Eve!

Years ago my father shared with me Louis Cassels' "Parable of the Birds". Since that time it has become my custom to use the parable in our Christmas Eve Services; this year will be no different.

Cassels was Senior Editor for United Press International, wrote as their Religion Correspondent, and penned this parable in 1959. It has continued to be reprinted in papers around the world for almost forty years.

The Parable of the Birds

Louis Cassels

Once upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug. He wasn't a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person, generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other men.

But he didn't believe all that stuff about God becoming man, which churches proclaim at Christmas. Why would God want to do anything like that?

So when his family left to attend midnight services on Christmas Eve, he stayed home.

Shortly after the family drove away snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. Sometime later, as he was reading his newspaper by the fire, he was startled by a thudding sound that was quickly followed by another. Then another.

When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through the window.

"I can't let these poor creatures lie there and freeze," he thought. "But how can I help them?"

Then he remembered the barn. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his coat and boots and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light.

But the birds didn't come in.

"Food will bring them in," he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn.

To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving his arms. They scattered in every direction -- except into the warm, lighted barn.

"They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to himself, "and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me."

"If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety."

Just at that moment the church bells began to ring. He stood silently for awhile, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas.

Then he sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to do it."

The Real Meaning of Christmas

I was watching the news and drinking my coffee this morning when the anchors began showing, and talking about, pictures of children sitting on Santa's lap. It was pretty funny, because they were all pictures of children crying, and the anchors were talking about children's fear of Santa. It would have been another fluff piece until one of the anchors made the offhand comment, "Well at least they're learning the true meaning of Christmas".

Huh?

Now, I know I often comment about the culture's values being different from the Christian values. I talk about our need to be "subversive witnesses against the dominant culture". But even this was a shock to me! But I also think it is indicative of what our culture believes. For many, Christmas is about Santa, the temple of the mall, and the priesthood of all shoppers.

I'm not going to bash the culture, or that anchor, or people who celebrate Christmas differently that I do. I am, however, going to say that we need to be better witnesses of what Christmas is all about: the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. I hope you'll join me.

December 30th Worship Schedule

I wanted to give you all a heads up about a change in our Worship Schedule for the last Sunday of the year. We will have our 8:15 and 9:30 Traditional Worship Services as normal. Our 11:00 Transformation and Traditional Services, however, will be worshiping together in the sanctuary.

This change is due, in part, to the many requests we have had to occassionally worship together. As I discussed this with the Servant Team, the point was brought up that if we do this on "normal" Sundays we would not all fit in the sanctuary, and we don't have enough chairs to all fit in the Christian Life Center! So, we thought this year we would try to combine these services on the Sundays that are traditionally not as well attended as others. The great part about this is that it will give us powerful worship experiences on Sundays when the energy level may be a little low.

I hope you'll be supportive of this change, and enjoy worshiping together at 11:00 or at one of the services at 8:15 or 9:00

I've Ignored You

I've started writing a blog entry several times this month, but something always happened that kept me from doing it. Here are some snippets of what I have been intending to write, remembering that my paternal grandmother's favorite phrase was, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions!"

I have been asked my opinion on the United Methodist bishops statement that all troops should begin an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. First, I want to remind you that the bishops do not speak for the Church. Only the General Conference, which meets every four years, can speak officially for The United Methodist Church; they do that through The Book of Discipline and The Book of Resolutions. Secondly, I think an immediate withdrawal would be catastrophic, plunging the entire area into conflict. I believe the statement was ill-advised and harmful. I am proud that our bishop, Lindsey Davis, did not vote for the adoption of the resolution.

On to happier matters. Last Sunday was the first Sunday in the liturgical season of advent. The word Advent comes from the Latin "adventus" meaning "coming". There is a dual purpose to this season; we remember Jesus' first Advent in Bethlehem, but we also look for his final coming in victory when the Kingdom of God will be fully realized. The color of purple is used of this season to remind us of its penitential and preparational nature. These four weeks allow us to do some spiritual housekeeping as we journey to Bethlehem. It is the gift the Church gives to us once a year in order to keep our spirits healthy.

Finally, I want to encourage you to sign up on the registration pads to have a name tag made. Then, when we distribute them in January, I want to ask you to wear them. We all like to be called by name, but there is no way we can know all our members, visitors, and constituents by name. Hopefully this will be a way of being a more hospitable congregation. It will help us all learn the names of others. I remember doing this in a congregation of 500 members (we number 3,000). I actually had two gentlemen who had each worshiped together for over 20 years, knew each other by sight, but did not know each others name! That church averaged a little under 200 in one worship service, so they had plenty of time together. They were both very active in the church. They just didn't know each other's names and were too embarrassed to ask!

I'll do my best to be more disciplined in posting to this blog. And if you have a question or a suggested topic, feel free to email me at jhiggins@mceachernumc.org.

Veteran's Day

By a fluke of the calendar, my first Veteran's Day out of the combat zone fell on a Sunday. So, yesterday during our worship services we honored our vets by projecting the pictures from their years of service during our anthem and had them stand as their service song was sung. Many of our vets wore part or all of their uniforms, and I wore my "blues" instead of the traditional robe.

Veteran's Day this year was different for me. Maybe, for the first time, I felt like a true vet - one who had served in a combat zone. Perhaps for the first time I felt truly like a "Soldier" and not "just" a Reservist. For whatever reason, yesterday was a special day.

In the afternoon I had the opportunity to speak to a group of vets, primarily WW II vets, in Roswell. It's good to still see the inter service rivalry and esprit de corps after so many years away from the service. Our WWII vets are truly a national treasure, and the greatest generation. These are the folks who spent years away from home, had V-mail instead of email, and did not have 15 days mid-tour leave. Unfortunately, we are losing them at a rate of about 1,000 per day. I was also surprised to learn that we still have about 250 WWI vets still living.

I think that when I breathe my last and my eyes close in eternal sleep, I'll look back on my life and one of the things I will be proudest of will be my service over the past year. It was truly an honor to serve with the men and women I was with in Iraq - they are some of the finest people I have ever met.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Then and Now

This is a picture taken this past summer in Balad, Iraq at the Sherpadome, home of the C-23's we used to fly down to Tallil in when not in rotary wing aircraft. I'm on the left, with CPT Josh McConkey in the center and MAJ Joe Kelly on the right. These are two of the finest men, and greatest medical officers in the U.S. Army.

This is what we looked like this past weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado!

All Soldiers, and their spouses, are given the opportunity to attend a Reunion & Reintegration Weekend after deployment. I led 30 of these retreats in the Southeast for the 81st Regional Readiness Command before being deployed to Iraq. We learn how to better communicate, deal with conflict, and reintroduce fun, friendship, sensuality, and spirituality into our relationships. It was great to get reconnected with Joe and osh, along with so many other Soldiers that I served with in Iraq. It was great to meet the spouses of these Soldiers as well.

And 30-50 degree weather beats 110-120 degrees any day!

Parking Lot Update, Part II

The paving is complete! It has been a long journey; felling trees, moving dirt, installing underground utilities and irrigation, drainage, curbs, pouring and rolling gravel. But in one day all the asphalt was put out and rolled.

Today the irrigation system is being completed and the landscaping is being planted.

In addition to the parking lot, the retention pond has been reconfigured. The pond has been hydroseeded, and soon the new fence will be installed. By the end of the week the lot should be striped and ready to be used.

Parking is a huge issue for churches. These additional spaces will give prime parking space for an additional 200-240 participants. Thanks to all the folks who had the vision to add these prime spaces.

Speaking of prime spaces - why not save the best spaces at our church for those who need them most and our visitors? It is an act of servant leadership to park as far from the building as possible and walk to the church. Regardless of what I have planned for the day, I always walk to the church so someone else can have my space. I enjoy the weather, some time alone, and the quiet of the predawn darkness. Why not drop off your family at the door, and then park in the upper lot? Or park up there and and walk down together as a family. Also, consider how many cars you bring to the church. Driving together as a family can be an act of stewardship not only of parking spaces, but of God's resources of oil as well.