Advent Laments

published on Friday, December 4, 2009 by admin

Apparently no one was killed in the shopping frenzy on Black Friday, an improvement upon last year when a hapless Wal-Mart employee was trampled by a mob high on the pheromones of pure capitalism. This is the cultural context in which the church hopes to proclaim the journey toward Bethlehem, a journey which began Advent I with the very adult Jesus warning about the eschatological coming of the Son of Man.

It's sad enough that laity are caught in the vortex of this paganism, struggling to remember their baptisms in the rush toward the culturally-defined "Christmas." How are pastors to recall their own identity? Maintain a sense of equilibrium as they attempt to speak the Good News of the Incarnation in the midst of a people caught between record unemployment on the one hand, and the drive to consume on the other? How do we glimpse the New Jerusalem from the parking lots of the New Babylon?

Have you introduced a Service of Longest Night (also called Blue Christmas) to your congregation? Did you find it in place when you arrived? I learned of it years ago, and have since incorporated it in Advent planning in parishes I've served. Though it can take one of a number of forms, Longest Night (usually held December 21 or 22, the longest night of the year) always provides a place for folk to confess that they've had it with Wal-Mart and all its works, that they really aren't filled with tidings of comfort and joy, and that they are ready to hear the truth about the stench into which Jesus was born, with all those asses and oxen milling about the stable. They're ready to be de-Hallmarked and to hear Mary scream as she brings Him into the world. All of us, laity and pastors alike, need to hear this -- on the very night that darkness is most powerful. After all, it is those who dwell in deep darkness who are most likely to sense the light shining upon them.

If you don't know this service, haven't got it in your Advent planning where you serve, seek it out somewhere else. Seek it out where they've had the wisdom to include the Eucharist, and be there. Receive the Bread and Cup from the hand of the One born into the smells, fears, and hatreds of this world. That is the real "in" in Incarnation. Then go with thanks to your own ministry. Smelling of grace.

Pax Tecum,
Ed

Ed Moore
Executive Director
Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream v.1

published on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 by admin

I am jealous of the sleep habits of my collegiate son, who for some time now has been able to log 10 hours of sleep in a single night.

One of the "gifts" of aging is an alteration in our sleep patterns, causing us to have difficulty falling or staying asleep. Insomnia affects about a third of all adults, and can have significant effects on our health. This post addresses ways to alter your environment to improve sleep. Future posts will suggest ways to adjust your behaviors and identify the point when you should seek medical help for poor sleep.

Your bedroom should be reserved for sleep and sex. Consider watching TV, checking e-mail, paying bills, talking on the phone -- even reading -- in a place other than where you sleep.

To improve your bedroom's environment, take machinery that lights up or makes noise out of your room. That may include a television, a computer or modem, even one with a tiny light. If this machinery can't be moved, try taping over the LED lights with black electrician's tape. My computer pulses light when it's asleep, as does my mouse. Unplugging the mouse and taping over the indicator light made a surprising difference in the ambient light in my room.

Is your room too hot, too light, or too noisy? Simple sounds -- a ceiling fan rattle or a wall clock ticking -- can amplify when you're sleepless. How old IS your mattress? Parsonage living presents many challenges, but you can certainly find inexpensive ways to darken a too-bright room, and it may be wise to invest in a good mattress that moves with you. And does the phone have to be right next to the bed, or can it live elsewhere?

Can your spouse reach another blanket, or can you kick the covers off without waking each other? Does your pet's sleeping on your bed wake you? I had a dog who chased something in her dreams, and made enough noise to wake me on more than one occasion.

Begin your journey to improved sleep by checking to see whether simple changes to your bedroom could make a big difference.

Yours in health,
Robin

Robin Swift, MPH
Health Programs Director
Clergy Health Initiative

Photo Credit: Flickr/caribb

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Football Wishes and Tryptophan Dreams

published on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 by admin

Those are my hopes for my own Thanksgiving, anyway. My wife and daughters and I are heading to West Virginia to visit my extended family over the Thanksgiving weekend. Weather permitting, I hope we can toss a football with the kids on my uncle's lawn, in addition to enjoying some football on TV.

I heard a sermon on Sunday that touched on clergy self-care, and I jotted down the following quote, which Google suggests may originally have been a Greek proverb: A bow that is always taut soon ceases to shoot straight. So on Thanksgiving Day, may we all enjoy a little "slack" along with good food and the company of loved ones.

Shalom y'all,

John

John James, M.A.
Research Coordinator
Clergy Health Initiative

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