Happy New Year

"Happy New Year" is the most common greeting we hear these days.  I suppose it is more a seasonal saying than it is a truly thought-out hope for the one to whom we offer the greeting.

What would happiness in a new year look like?  Surely most or all of us would pray for peace in the world and an end to hunger.  We may hope for fulfillment in our relationships and in our work.  Some may yearn for material blessings that are lacking.

Happiness can be elusive if it is based on the circumstances of the moment.  But there is a greater sense of happiness that evolves from one's spirit.  Repeated studies have shown that people who have faith in God are happier than those who don't.  For instance, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University reports that religious participation brings happiness even in times of economic distress.  The CBS Interactive Business Network reports on a Gallup poll that indicates people with religious involvement are twice as likely to say that they are very happy than those with no religious involvement.  It is easy to find these studies on the Internet--no need to take my word for it.

Every couple I see who intend to marry hears me say that the best gift they can give to one another is the sharing of a faith life.  If they want to wake up 50, 60, even 70 years from the day of their wedding next to the one they love, the best guarantee of that is a faith life they share.  I ask them to google "faith and happiness", "faith and length of marriage", "faith and satisfaction in marriage"--really, anything they can think of.  The research always comes down in favor of those with a significant faith life.

Happy New Year.  How could it be even happier?  If you have a house of worship, you will have one more important resource to which to turn in both good times and bad.  I wish you a happy new year.  I wish you a faith that brings you great, new, and renewed joy!

Fail...Really?

On Facebook, I have a young friend who frequently ends her posts with the word “fail”.  It may be something she has observed in society; it may be something that has been done to her; it may be something she has done herself.  In any case, it is something that disappoints her, and she writes, “Fail.”

That could be true of all our lives.  Here are some of mine for the past month:

• Thanksgiving Eve Day travel.  Fail.
• Palm Pre (smart phone).  Fail.
• Snowblower start.  Fail.
• Snowblower started but broken on huge snowplow deposits.  Fail.
• Palm Pre .  Fail again.
• Palm Pre.   Failed two days in a row
• December 12 worship attendance after 16 inches of snow and bitter cold.  Fail.
• December 12 offering—worst in modern history.  Fail.
• Broke a Christmas gift before I ever got it to the car.  Fail.
• Furnace thermostat.  Fail.
• Vikings.  Fail.  (You know my passion here…)

But my fails are minimal compared to the hardships for others.  In fact, the great things that happen eclipse the failures by many times.  I began to think of a young man and woman about 2000 years ago:

• Engaged, but woman is pregnant.  Fail.
• Said woman is in her teens.  Fail.
• Said fiancé intends to end engagement quietly.  Fail.
• At nine months of pregnancy, woman is forced to make a 103 mile journey either by foot or common animal (donkey?).  Fail.
• No room at the inn.  Fail.
• Earliest known visitors to the baby—smelly shepherds.  Fail.

You get the idea.

As we read the scriptures, we see many instances of “fail” in Jesus’ life.  He had to follow a most difficult road, up to and including his death on the cross.

But the non-fail aspects of his life and ministry make all the difference.  To all the world.  For all time.  We romanticize the holy birth of Jesus.  The list above would indicate it probably wasn’t as pristine as “Silent Night” or “Joy to the World” would have it.  Real life comes with challenges.  Jesus was able to meet all those challenges.  Because of that, we worship a baby born into crude surroundings and whose first bed was an animal’s feeding trough. 

That is amazing.  Non-fail.  The biggest non-fail of them all.

My Song in the Night

Hundreds of singers.  Thousands of worshipers.  Many songs.  One question:  What will your song be this Christmas?

Advent Vespers is not a Christmas concert offered at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis by Augsburg College.  It is an Advent worship experience pointing toward Christmas.  About 15,000 people witness the five worship experiences.

This year's offering was entitled, "My Song in the Night".  We have so many songs that we sing at night--particularly lullabies when we have small children in our midst.  Perhaps we sing or hum that we might calm or bring comfort to ourselves.

And we have a wealth of songs that we sing at Christmas--the best hymns and carols of the year!  People come to church just to hear the magnificent Christmas songs!

But there is one song that abides with me after Advent Vespers:

     O, Jesus, my Savior, my song in the night,
     Come to us with Thy tender love, my soul's delight,
     My comfort and joy, my soul's delight,
     O Jesus Savior, my song in the night.

That is the song that will sing in my heart this Christmas Eve.  If I am to put all my trust in just one place, it is going to be with the one who brings light and love to the world.

If you are interested in hearing more of this song in the night, be at Bethel in Rochester at 3pm, 4:30pm, or 6pm on Christmas Eve.

What will your song be?

Early Christmas Inspiration

Do you need to get in the mood for celebrating Christ's birth?  Check out these two:

http://www.godvine.com/Celine-Dion-Sings-O-Holy-Night-Simply-Incredible-83.html
May a holy night soon visit you with the gift of a savior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE&feature=player_embedded

This is not the Macy's rendition, but a food court in Canada.  Watch for the little boy a few times.  Has his heart been forever changed?  "Let ev'ry heart prepare him room...."

A merry and blessed Christmas to you.