December 30, 2007: The First Sunay after Christmas (and the Fifth Day of Christmas)

Last night June, Chelsea, and I returned to Kentucky after a ten-day stint in Georgia and Tennessee for the tail end of Advent and the beginnings of Christmastide. Making the rounds of various churches to which members of our extended family belong, we worshipped at First Baptist Church in Barnesville, Georgia, saw a good bit of spectacle at mega Rock Springs Church in Milner, Georgia, participated in a quietly beautiful Communion at First Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia. While non of these parishes considers itself liturgical in any traditional or historical sense of the word, each one in its own way (although all are Baptist) celebrated the Birth of Christ with reverence, a strong need to share the Gospel, and inspired singing.

I am, of course, glad to be back in "liturgical country" where the Church Year will guide my Christian thoughts, prayers, and actions. While driving the roads, I found myself thinking about the New Year and how I might let 2008 open itself up to all of us who practice daily Morning and Evening Prayer, especially how these writings might guide all of us toward deeper and more rounded commitment to Christian living. What follows is brief listing of some possibilities.

I'd like to share with you more of what I'm reading. As you know, the Rule of Benedict emphasizes the importance of study as one strong way to strengthen our personal and communal lives in Christ. So inasmuch as I general set aside several hours a day to read a good book (many of which are recommended by other Christians), I'll be sharing titles, authors, and selections from chapters with you more often.

The Rule also helps us understand how our daily work becomes vocationally dedicated to God. For those of us who are retired, our usual understanding of work and vocation is necessarily changed. As a professor, for nearly forty years I taught over a hundred students every week, composed articles for professional conferences, shared my thinking with lots of committees, graded essays and tests, and taught numerous courses online. Now all of that is in the past, and I see myself as a worker quite differently. Now more domestic and grandfatherly than academic and avuncular, I find myself working more with tools around the house, making sure the birds get feed, tending gardens, and keeping the boat afloat at the lakehouse. I vacuum floors, fix the coffee at 5:00 a.m., and read the newspapers before dawn. In short, I sleep less and putter a lot. But in all of this I also have things to share. So if it's all right, I'll post a bit of my family and home life as a way of sharing how Christ continues to shape the mornings and evenings of my daily life. Perhaps in some ways you'll find yourself thinking about the same sorts of things that preoccupy my thoughts, and we can share the breezy blowings of the Spirit together.

And, yes, I want to do a bit more writing about our prayer lives and am determined that I'll be more regular in posting reflections that arise from our common life in the church catholic. I'll do my best to share more commentary, art work, and encouragement so that all of us move more fully into ceaseless prayer, prayer that continually offers our lives, moment-by-moment to God.

Well, that's it for this morning. Have a blessed First Sunday after Christmas. If you're Roman Catholic like my daughter Amy and her family, you'll be celebrating The Holy Family; if Episcopal, then there may be mention of Josephine Butler, Pioneer Worker Among Women; if Orthodox, St. Anysia, Martyr; Venerable Theodora of Cesaria. If just plain citizen of the world, then the Fifth Day of Christmas when your true love gives you five golden rings!