Advent Voices

O Emmanuel

by Malcolm Guite

O come, O come, and be our God-with-us,

O long-sought with-ness for a world without,

O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.

Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name,

Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,

O quickened little wick so tightly curled,

Be folded with us into time and place,

Unfold for us the mystery of grace

And make a womb of all this wounded world.

O heart of heaven beating in the earth,

O tiny hope within our hopelessness,

Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,

To touch a dying world with new-made hands

And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.

(from Sounding the Seasons)

Underneath Miracles

This Sunday in the church I serve, we are starting a study of the miracles of Jesus. His miracles were wonderful in and of themselves, of course. To give sight to the blind and feed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish were quite the feat for those effected. 

But what is special for me about the miracles of Jesus are not the miracles themselves, but what is going on underneath. It's the underneath that matters, and it's there that Jesus seems to do his best work.

Take for example the first miracle of Jesus, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana in John 2. Much has been said of the symbolism of this act; how Jesus turns simple things into glorious things, how this wedding banquet was a foreshadowing of the heavenly wedding banquet yet to come between Christ and his "bride", the Church. It also shows how even adult sons should listen to their mothers. :)

But underneath this miracle is really a simple desire--that the bride and groom wouldn't be humiliated. Remember that in Jesus' day, people tended to live in the same town their entire lives, for generations. This young couple probably met when they were kids, fell in love, and their union was a connection and reflection of their two families. 

And the wedding feast was their chance to celebrate and treat their community, the community that raised them. 

And so to run out of wine, to have to kill the party before it was over--there was almost nothing more shameful. The humiliation would have haunted them for the rest of their lives.

But Jesus cared about their humiliation. The last thing he and his mother (where he learned it from, according to John 2) wanted was for this young couple to suffer such a fate. And so, Jesus turned water into wine--the best wine--turning their potential humiliation into a place of wonder and pride. 

One of the mandates of Jesus is that we follow him (Matthew 4:19), and that together we will do "even greater things" than the things we see him do (John 14:12). 

Now, that may not include turning water into wine (although, let's face it, the fact that humans can do this is incredible, a small miracle in fact). But it most definitely will include turning people's potential humiliation into security, comfort, and joy. Whenever we get a chance to do this--to lift someone up instead of tear them down, to come alongside them so that they don't fail (or don't fail alone)--whenever we work for the dignity of others, we are performing a water-to-wine-type miracle. 

I can raise a glass and toast to that. 

Cheers,


Jeff

Water

Recently, I had the chance to travel with 11 others from our SPC family to the country of Eswatini, a small, mostly forgotten country in the horn of Africa. Eswatini is a beautiful, mountainous, sleepy, peaceful country of roughly a million people in a land mass the size of the state of Massachusetts. It is filled with fields of maze and sugar cane, huts, roadside stands selling fruits and meats, and children walking everywhere. It is a country that doesn’t command too much attention. In fact, you might not think much of it at all. Until you hear about the challenges they face. Close to 1/3 of the nation is infected with HIV/AIDS. 1/3 of girls will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18. In Mahlalini (the community we were visiting), only 1/3 of the inhabitants have access to clean water. These are warning sirens screaming out a cry for help from beyond. When you hear of their challenges it feels like a 4-alarm fire, calling out to the world for help. And gratefully, that is where our church family through World Vision is making a difference. One of the things that was impressed upon us is how integrated these concerns are for the people of Eswatini. Their low education rate comes in part from the long walks to water their children take a few times a day (the world average is 6k per walk), thus taking away precious time for study. The high sexual assault statistics is also caused in part by the long walks to water, often down isolated paths to distant rivers and streams, where predators lurk. Poor healthcare stems from dirty water like the kind we saw, robbing bodies of much needed health.

In fact, as we saw World Vision’s work, it was amazing how many of the problems stem from having access to clean water close to home. If the water is clean, the sickness rates subside. If water is close, the long and dangerous walks to the stream and rivers are eliminated. We’ve all heard it said that “Water is life”. I would add to that “Access to clean water is life” works, too. Jesus says that when you give a cup of cold water to a child, you are living into the reward of God. Simple and profound. And that is what we saw World Vision doing in Eswatini with the resources the people from SPC generously give. World Visions has plans in the next 5 years to encompass the entire Mahlalini community with access to clean water. On the wall in their office is this photo of the miles and miles of pipe they are laying with the government’s help which will completely revolutionize life there. I can’t wait to head back to Eswatini in the future and see the lives that are affected. I would bet that all of the indicators of wholeness—lower HIV/AIDS rates, increased test scores in schools, less instances of sexual violence—will improve drastically. And we get to be a part of that. What an honor and privilege.

Names

I don't know anyone who doesn't like Johnny Cash, at least a little bit. Lyrically, he is transcendent. His voice digs out the depths of one's soul. And his ability to read and play to his audience was legendary.



And then there is his compassion. Recently, I was listening to one of his most popular songs (spoken word? song? rap?) "A Boy Named Sue," off his live at San Quentin album. This song is really a poem by the mostly children's poet Shel Silverstein about a boy given the name Sue by his father who left the family early in his life. This name gave him such grief that he vowed to find his dad and kill him for sticking him with it. Upon finding his dad and getting ready to keep his promise to off him, his dad tells him the great secret--he named him Sue to force him to be tough. In other words, he named him with a purpose in mind, which turned out for good. The song ends famously,


And I think about him, now and then

Every time I try and every time I win
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him..
Bill or George! Any-damn-thing but Sue!


And the crowd laughs. And the song ends. A happy ending.


But what gets me about this song is the setting and the people who are hearing it. This is San Quentin Penitentiary.

THE San Quentin Penitentiary.

One of the roughest prisons in the country, where the hardest of criminals are housed. Men whose names are anathema, or forgotten, or purposely set aside so that the rest of us don't have to say them. These are men whose names are pretty much trash.

And it is into that context that Cash comes and tells the story of a man whose horrible name is redeemed, and even seen as something that can be a part of the gift of his life. A name that someone else gave him, that is not part of the good.



Stunning. When you the see the video clip of the song, the men listening are eating it up, laughing and smiling.



But more than that, they are wanting it to be true.



In some ways, all of us has Sue-ish names attached to us. (and if your name is literally Sue, my apologies. Feel free to substitute. 😊). Names like "failure" or "too old”, “too young”, “damaged goods”, or whatever name defines you to be different or not acceptable.



But those are not that matter. The name that matters is the one God gives us; forgiven friends. 



Those prisoners certainly needed to hear that. And we do, too. 



Names matter. 



Your name matters.



Let's dwell on that today.





Jonny Cash, A Boy Named Sue, Live at San Quentin

Hangin' Loose

Jeff here.

Aloha! I’m posting from the airport in Maui where we are about to take a little (and I mean LITTLE) airplane from Maui to our next destination, the Big Island of Hawaii. This past week started out as a whirlwind, getting back from Southern Africa around 3 on Friday, spending Friday night, Saturday and Sunday unpacking, doing laundry, taking the girls to see friends, buying a suitcase full of sunscreen, and heading back to our summer home (aka the airport) on early Monday morning. It felt good to be home but also a little surreal. On one hand, it felt like we’d been gone for a long time. On the other, it felt like we had never left. We are very thankful for our family and friends who welcomed us home, were excited to hear about our journeys, and even mowed our lawn!

Mostly what it felt like to be home was an inner quiet. Both Kristi and I commented on how weird it would be to come back from a life-changing adventure and be forced to dive back into normal life. I realized that is completely pretentious to say—99% of the time that is how life always works. But both of us remarked at how nice it would be to have some space to process, not just individually but as a family. We were also excited to have some space to rest, because while our travels for the previous month were thrilling, eye-opening, and fun beyond belief, they were also a tad-bit stressful, worrying about people’s health, general safety, driving on the other side of the road (it always seems to come back to that)…Needless to say, we were in need of some serious chill time.

And Maui proved to be the correct prescription. This past week, we’ve been in Kihei staying at the condo of one of the Hoff’s (Kristi’s family) life-long friends, Pam Thorstensen. Only Kristi had been to Maui before (back in college=a LONG time ago) and we were all excited to live the Aloha, try some fun things, get a little tan, and do some processing. Since I am posting this at the end of our time here, I won’t go in to minute by minute detail, but I will hit some of the highlights and big memories…

1)      Eating at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Yep, Jimmy Buffet is alive and well.

2)      Going on a snorkel trip. The second day we signed up for a snorkel trip (subsidized courtesy of Wyndam resorts. Imagine that, you only have to submit to 2 hours of guilt-laden sales tactics to score a great deal. We are still not sure if it was worth it). Violet in particular was not excited about this. She was scared and decided that she would stay on the boat. But never fear!—to prepare we bought a cheap snorkel set at the store and Clara set to train her in the pool at the condo. After a few days, she got really good, and by the time we hit the boat, she was more than ready. When we took to the water, Violet performed like a young Jacques Cousteau, even following the naturalist around on a mini tour, asking questions, pointing out fish, and was the last one of us in the water. This will not be her last snorkel trip, I would guess. On the boat, we also saw another cool sight—a huge pod of spinner dolphins (over 100 estimated) riding the waves, jumping, spinning and putting on quite a show. It was so cool to have a front row seat. It was definitely a highlight.

3)      Riding the Waves. The other excursion we took while on Maui was signing up for surf and paddle board lessons. Kristi has always wanted to paddle board and while I was indifferent at the time, I decided to go with her one morning close to our condo. After getting a three minute lesson (how to stand, how to get up, how to get up again after falling), we hit the ocean and started paddling. Kristi of course was a natural—not falling but once right when we started. I on the other hand was a natural at falling and getting back up again (the chumbawumba song was playing through my head). But it was so much fun! The water was warm, the surroundings were beautiful, and all the while there were a huge pack of sea turtles swimming all around us. One literally came up and swam directly under my board. Besides a walk or two, this was the first thing Kristi and I had done for fun together by ourselves for a long time, and it was so much fun.

 

Afterwards, we went and picked up the girls for a surf lesson. Lucy, Clara and Dayle (Violet stayed on shore and cheered them on) hung ten, or at least eight, and did an incredible job. They really got the hang of it and started surfing that that girl from Soul Surfer (without the shark). It was fun to see them try another something new (another emerging theme from our trip) and have a great time doing it together.

4)The beach. We have loved hanging out on the beach in Kihei. We mastered the art of boogie boarding, making sand castles, reading, and getting slight sunburns. We even watched our fair share of awesome sunsets with our toes in the water. We even watched one with our own Amber Slate, who was here with her small group on a trip before heading off to Princeton Seminary. We will carry a lot of wonderful memories from this beach.

We also will bring with us one sad and scary memory—we saw a man die in the surf. A few hundred yards away was a rock outcropping that many kids and adults were climbing on, fishing on and diving off. Sunday afternoon, we all of the sudden saw a lifeguard running by us on the beach and a wave runner speeding towards the rocks. We looked and saw a man laying on the rocks and someone giving him cpr frantically. It turns out he was an older man who was out there fishing (possibly a little drunk) and apparently collapsed in the water and wasn’t pulled out in time. It was so scary to watch something so out of control—all we could do was pray. It spurned some good conversations though afterwards, not just about water safety but about life and death and God’s presence even in the midst of pain. People even die and suffer in Maui—hard to believe but it is true.

 5)Church. On Sunday I had the chance to go to a little church on the island (the name escapes me). It was started in 1860, and was the cutest little stone church. They had a visiting pastor that day from ironically enough South Africa, who had taken part in the anti-Apartheid movement, was imprisoned and continued to work for justice and peace in his homeland. loved it.

 6)2048. That’s right, last night I mastered the game 2048, finally getting to the 2048 square. I realize that for many, that is chump change, but for me a big accomplishment. J

Today we are heading for the next to our next to last destination in this incredible summer-the Big Island. We are having a great time and loving every minute. Aloha!

 

 

Fish Tales for our Last Day

Violet here. Our last day in Africa we stayed outside Cape Town in a town called Camps Bay. Our hotel room was a HUGE apartment that was right by Table Mountain and the beach. We went to dinner at a place called the CodFather and had fish. It was good. That night was the biggest storm I’ve ever seen. It was LOUD!

Speaking of fish, the next day we did something I really wanted to do—we went to the aquarium! It was very fun, and the best thing we saw there was sharks! There were also cool fish tanks that you could stand up in the middle of and look out. It was really fun! Because there are two oceans here, we saw fish from both warm and cold oceans. After doing some last minute shopping we went to the airport for the last time Africa. Our planes have been really fun, too. On the way back to London, I watched Rio 2, the Muppet Movie 2, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Now we are in the Airport before our LAST FLIGHT HOME. I am really excited to see my friends and grandparents and my room.

Violet (for the family)

Toto meets Jurassic Park

Jeff here. So the Toto song "Africa" is rolling through my head a lot these days, and especially these past 24 hours. We made it to our next to last destination, Botlierskop, a Private Game Reserve just a bit outside Mossel Bay in the middle of nowhere--think Toto meets Jurassic Park. This place is awesome. Just a few minutes after we checked in to our rooms we wandered outside to see three massive Rhinos lounging about. Apparently they (and the rest of the animals) just wander around, such that they suggest you call for the golf cart to get a ride back to the lodge after dark. Shortly after checking in we went out on our first game drive of the stay, a three hour jaunt around the 3000 hectare farm (around 7500 acres). I'll let one of the kids write about the game drive, but it was really fun. We saw 4 of the big 5 up close and personal (Elephants, Water Buffalo, Lions, and Rhinos. No Leopards here, although they've seen a few tracks they say), along with a lot of other incredible beasts. We have another game drive this afternoon.

The other big news is that we all rode elephants this morning. Yep, cross that off the old bucket list. It was very fun but I don't know if my hips will ever be the same. :) Kristi, Violet and I rode the big male, Clara and Lucy rode the female, and Dayle was on the baby. A fun ride and quite an adventure.

We leave here tomorrow and are heading back to Cape Town for our final night before heading home.