Jess: Wes and I have been working in two different churches for 15 weeks now. I know this because that's how many weeks of field education I have to complete each semester. It has definitely been an interesting time for us. We knew that we were going to have to do something like this during our tenure at seminary, but we were hoping to minimize the time we spent working separately. Instead, we seem to have maximized it. Oh well, life goes on. I work for 15 weeks each semester, so I'll have Christmas/New Year's and the summer off from field ed this year and next. We should be in the same church all of my senior year, and then we'll be apart again during my internship and Wes' residence in ministry.
So although we weren't anticipating or looking forward to spending all of this semester in separate churches, it has been a really interesting experience. I have loved every minute of my time at St. Mark. As you might know, I don't have to work too hard there. I'm only there 8-10 hours a week, and Sunday morning worship alone takes about 5 hours of that time. I have loved being back in a Lutheran church, and Pastor Linda has been a great mentor. I'm getting to work on some aspects of ministry in which I don't have much experience, like teaching the middle and high school students, doing visitation, and going to council meetings. I have a ton of experience in the different aspects of worship, I got to preach, and I'm getting better at meeting people and learning their names. The whole semester has been a wonderful, fruitful experience.
On the other side of things, however, I have missed out on a lot at Wes' churches. I haven't been to a service there since September. I'm going to be back for Christmas and New Year's, and then I'll be gone again through May. It's difficult to spend so much time away from the churches and people I've spent the last year and a half getting to know. I really like them and I definitely feel the void left by having to leave the churches for so long. On the other hand, it was too weird for me to be at St. Mark all semester and NOT be there for Christmas Eve, so Wes and I are going to attend their earliest service. I might not see everyone I normally see on Sundays, but at least I'll be with that community on one of the church's most important holidays.
In addition to the strange feeling of being torn between to churches, I am saddened by the fact that Wes and I are not worshiping together on Sunday mornings. There isn't a lot that goes on outside of Sunday morning worship at Wes' churches, so I have only seen his parishoners a couple of times since September. My class schedule interfered with Bible study at St. Mark this semester, so we couldn't go there together, either, and Wes doesn't know many people from the church. It's a weird place to be for both of us, and I'm sure it's not going to get a whole lot easier. Next year, I'll most likely be in a different church, so Wes will have to try to get to know another group of parishoners without attending Sunday morning services with them. It's an interesting dynamic, to be sure.
There is definitely good and bad involved in this situation. We have a great base of wonderful people who want to help us grow in our faith and leadership abilities. They want to know about our lives, give us advice, and watch us develop. Yet we do most of this separately, where we can't see as much of the other person learning and growing through ministry. I'm definitely learning a lot, but I'm also looking forward to the day when we can be in the same worshiping community again.
Wes: So I'm a big fan of Christmas. I like gifts--first I liked getting gifts, now I like giving and getting gifts. :)
And I love the Christmas season. It is the most wonderful time of the year, and I love how it really does make people treat others differently. People smile more, and even up here where the culture is one that everyone is supposed to act aloof toward each other, people actually make eye contact, smile, and nod in your direction. It's crazy. Also, the music is spectacular. There is nothing better than Christmas music. My favorite to listen to this season has been Bruce Springsteen's "Merry Christmas Baby." I've been having fun singing along with the jazz licks and pretending I know all of the words.
But I've also noticed something about myself this year. I've been looking under the Christmas tree a lot more than usual--and even more than that since Jess' mom and step-father got here--and I've realized that there are way too many gifts down there. I mean, I love getting fun stuff, but especially in a house without any kids, we sure have spent a lot of time and money on a lot of things that none of us need. I think that I could see us re-working how we do Christmas in the coming years and trying to do more with less as well as give more to others.
I don't know. I want to figure out a way to celebrate correctly while at the same time honestly evaluating how we are spending our money and using our time to determine if it truly is blessing God's Kingdom and honestly celebrating the birth of Christ. One of my pastor friends has a really cool tradition where they only give three presents to their kids each Christmas, and each of the gifts represents a different gift from the wise men: a spiritual gift for frankincense, a practical gift for myrrh, and a fun gift for gold. I think this would be kinda cool. Maybe for the adults, we make it so that throughout the year, we each get three gifts--a romantic gift on our anniversary, a fun gift for birthdays, and a practical or spiritual gift for Christmas. That might work.
What do you think? What are some of your Christmas traditions? Do you get a lot of presents, or just a couple? Are we celebrating Christmas in a way that honors God?
Let me know your answers. I'm excited and interested in hearing from each of you.
You stay Christmassy, World Wide Web!
-jess and wes
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Wesica, I am delighted to read your last post. It sounds like both of you are continuing to grow, experience life, and reflect on the world. I would like to respond to Wes' question concerning Christmas gifts because for me, Christmas is always a dialectical tension between joy and misery.
ReplyDeleteI usually deplore Christmas because it is centralized around gift-giving. I hate the idea that we give an obscene amount of gifts (and money) to each other in the name of Christ; most of which are rather useless. What does a new pair of socks have to do with the birth of the savior? How does purchasing a frying pan for a family member declare the event of God in-breaking into the world? It doesn't. Lets be clear, our gift giving does not reflect the kingly gifts given by the wisemen (by the way, the greek is not specific--there aren't three wisemen; its just a masculine, plural pronoun). The concept of Christmas we celebrate is a shadow of the greatness proclaimed in the coming of the Christ-child.
I said I usually deplore Christmas. This year I noticed something notably different in my attitude towards the festive season. I have been working this fall by painting and remodeling homes while waiting for my graduate applications, so I had money to purchase gifts for the first time in recent memory. I (the combined I, which of course includes Sarah and, well, lets be honest, she did a a lot of the shopping and wrapping) purchased one gift for each member of my combined immediate family. The sensation of receiving a gift brought unspeakable joy to some (while others said thanks and added the gift to the pile) and made an inlet for the discussion about the true gift of Christmas - the realization of true love in tangible form. Gift giving has been retooled in my mind this year from a unless tradition to a means of understanding the audacity of grace and the adulation required by the cross. When gift giving becomes simply a part of the season, it should almost be considered a sin, for gluttony and selfishness can be and will be the death of us; however, when a single gift is used to light the way to faith, as the star did so many years ago, then it is worth giving.
Wes, you asked pointedly about the number of Christmas gifts that should be given: there should only be one; one which feeds someone's soul and shares a true gift with them. The idea of giving three gifts a year (birthday day, Christmas, and baptismal B-Day) is a wonderful idea.
In stead of deploring Christmas preparations, I am looking forward to next year because I am going to only give one gift to each person, which ultimately may not be for them, but a gift that they themselves might give away.
Ok, so I know this is uber late...since we're in January now, but oh well. I needed to catch up on reading y'all's blogs. I enjoyed this one.
ReplyDeleteJess: Wow! You've been so busy! I can't even begin to imagine how challenging it must be to be at different churches and not being able to worship together with Wes. I don't even like that I do things all by myself at church and don't have someone or others to worship with regularly. Church is so communal that I can imagine that it's hard to be apart from another community that you know so well and also engage a community that you work with and also want to be apart. I want to hear more stories and know more as time moves along and you continue to be at this church/worshiping and working in a different context from Wes.
Wes: I love the Christmas season for the exact reasons you described. Another thing we have in common! ;)
Thoughts on Christmas traditions...I understand where you're coming from when you say that you struggle with seeing so many gifts under the tree. I like the beauty of the tree with gifts around it. I feel like it is part of the Christmas scene. I think it's neat that you're thinking of ways to be a blessing to God and His kingdom, so I think it's important to keep in perspective the reasons we give gifts. I think that especially in the US we have more than we really ever need, but at the same time I don't think there is harm in genuinely giving from the heart and wanting to be generous with our giving. So for me personally, I won't complain if the Christmas tree is filled with presents, but I want those gifts to be there not out of obligation but out of love. Wouldn't it be nice if we could take the pressure off of giving/receiving gifts?
So perhaps scaling down the gifts we give to our loved ones may not be a bad idea and perhaps we do give more of our time, money, or presents to those less fortunate. That isn't a bad idea, but at the same time I think we can give generously and be genuine at the same time.