Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

Christmas has not always been celebrated by the Church. For the first few centuries, the most important holy day was Easter. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ were the central events of salvation. The birth of Jesus was of little concern. Perhaps this is because only two of the Gospels even make mention of it. John and Mark take Jesus’ existence for granted. No need to talk about someone’s birth when it is self-evident that they must have been born. Of course, to some in the early Christian movement, it was not self-evident that Jesus was born. For some who believed that Jesus only appeared to be human, Jesus’ physical birth was a non-issue because it never happened. For some who believed that Jesus became the Son of God only when he was adopted by God at his baptism, his physical birth was like everyone else’s. No big story there. It isn’t until around the second century that we find records of any celebration of the birth of Jesus, and these assign it to Janua...

So here's a question to ponder: is Christmas all about happy feelings, joy and good will and peace and sugary sentiments? If you answered "yes," (and who doesn't hope for such things in life?), then read this part of the Christmas story: Matthew 2:13-23. Leonard Sweet has this to say about all this: This is the time of year when we need to be on high alert for cute. We love cuteness. This is a cute-driven culture. And this season of year turns everything it touches into glitz and cuteness. But the story of Jesus’ birth wasn’t cute. The Annunciation wasn’t cute. The virgin birth wasn’t cute. The Magnificat wasn’t cute. The little town of Bethlehem wasn’t cute. The killing of the innocents wasn’t cute. The nativity genealogy puts Mary in the lineage of Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheeba, and Ruth (yes, the one who snuck in to the rich Boaz’s tent at night while he was sleeping to seduce him). Jesus’ genealogy is not cute. Golgatha wasn’t cute. “Crux” in Latin me...

This next Sunday the choir at our church will be presenting a Cantata, "Go Tell It!" There will be one service at 10:00, so there will not be a sermon. So what follows are some interesting links to sites concerning the origins of Advent,Christmas and Epiphany. Obviously - or it should be obvious to anyone with a healthy sense of historical development and change - Christmas has not always been celebrated as we do now. Like most festivals and holidays, it has undergone a variety of changes  and it has an interesting evolutionary history. The Catholic Encyclopedia Online has an in-depth and rather scholarly look at the origins and early testimonies to the dating and celebration of Christ's birth.  Highlights: Possible connections with the roman festival of Sol Invictus (the Victorious Sun), various pagan accretions as Christianity spread throughout Europe and Asia, earliest mention of anything celebrating the birth of Jesus dates to about the year 200 C.E. Any website...

I love watching science fiction shows. Not the horror kind, but the kind that depict possible futures, exploring space, time travel and the like. Science fiction functions as a vehicle for people to think about alternative ways of living or ways to address current social problems. Some of my favorites have been TV series such as Star Trek (all the various series), Star Wars, Firefly, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Aeon Flux, Solaris, among others. What especially appeals to me is how these shows imagine and then depict a different world from that which I experience everyday. Occasionally the things imagined come true in “real” life. Think of the communicators from Star Trek. They look and act just like today’s cell phones. I’m still waiting for the convenience of transporters to be able to teleport to work, rather than just telecommute via computers. The ancient prophets had a similar imagination. They imagined a world different from the one they knew at the present – their pres...

Here we are in Advent.  Waiting. Waiting. Getting ready. Getting prepared. Decorating the house maybe. Prettying things up, dusting off the ornaments, maybe. Thinking about Christmas gift shopping, maybe. Getting ready. But for what? The same old holiday as before? The same old Christmas tunes endlessly blaring at us when we're shopping? The same pressures each year at this time? Maybe it's time for a change, time to stop, really feel the chill in the air, really sense the darkness gathering and lapping at our feet like a rising tide. Time to allow ourselves to feel the unrest inside, acknowledge the cobwebs in the corners, the dirt behind our ears. Time to look at the tarnished silver in our drawers and tarnished gold in our hearts. The prophet Malachi is just the person for such a time. In chapter 3:1-4 , he talks about one who will come to help us clean up our act. Or should I say "acts?" For this one will come to help us individually and collectivel...