The Rip-off of Following Advent

Here's how it's supposed to go.

First comes the 4+ weeks of Advent, a time of slowing, of cleansing, of deep-thinking, a time to be still and quiet, a time to contemplate the deep mysteries of the Incarnation and the hope of the 2nd Coming. A time to cease and desist from extravagant activities, a time to look silently inward, seeking holiness in the midst of a darkening winter.

Then, beginning December 25, 12 solid days of Christmas. Almost two weeks of celebrating Christ's birth, of excitement and joy and raucous wonder that the Lord has come to us.

Get it? Advent - the time of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," then Christmas - the time of "Joy to the World."

But our culture does it backward. 4+ months of garish Christmas displays in the stores and Marts of the land, many weeks of garlands and trees and Bing Crosby and Liquor and laughter, an extended time of frivolity leading up to December 25, and then. . .

It's over in an instant. All except the "returning merchandise to the mall-a-thon." We wake up on December 26, look around at the decorations and say "Is that still up?" All the Christmas music disappears from the airwaves, the Christmas specials gone from the television. And should you appear to still be in a Christmas mood on, say, January 3, people will look at you funny. "Dude - it's already New Years!"

Which means those of us who choose to do it the right way tend to get ripped off. We come through Advent and wake up on Christmas, ready to begin the celebration, just when the world is saying "nope - had enough of that."

See, I'm trying hard this year to stay in Advent and not get to Christmas too soon. I'd prefer to not be mugged by all the mall displays, I'm seeking music that is reflective, I'm reading books and articles that make me think slowly and deeply. Yes, we're probably going to watch Elf tomorrow night, and I've got the Harry Connick jr. Christmas CD on, so it's not like a total fast. But, overall, I'm not allowing myself to jump into Christmas hyperdrive yet.

And yet, I know how it's going to be. I'm going to be all ready to jump into the Christmas season just when the rest of you will be taking down your trees and removing the boughs of holly from the halls. Those of us who follow Advent. . .well, we may just feel a little cheated that everybody else peeked into the present box before it was time.

So, just so you know, I'm still going to be celebrating Christmas for a couple weeks yet, right up to Epiphany, with perhaps a short break for my birthday in there. I may just wish you a Merry Christmas well into 2009. Because once Advent is over, I plan on being plumb full of Christmas cheer. I can feel it building up already, and it's going to take some time to work it all out.

Music List for Independence Day

(How many of these are in your collection?)

1. Portraits of Freedom: Music of Aaron Copland and Roy Harris; Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, conductor. (Highlights include A Lincoln Portrait and Fanfare for the Common Man)
2. Handel: Royal Fireworks Music; New York Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez, conductor.
3. Tchaikovsky: Festival Coronation March; USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, Guennadi Rojdestvenski, conductor.
4. Orff: Carmina Burana; The London Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, conductor.
5. Honor to our Soldiers: Music of the Civil War; Classical Brass.
6. Heart of America; Azusa Pacific University Choir and Orchestra, Gary Bonner, conductor.
7. Out West!: Tone Poems of the American West; Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, conductor (highlights include Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite and Copland's Rodeo)
8. Greatest Hits: Simon and Garfunkel.
9. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, from Tchaikovsky Gala in Leningrad; Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman, conductor.
10. Respighi: The Pines of the Appian Way (from The Pines of Rome); New York Philharmonic, Giuseppe Sinopoli, conductor.
11. Holst: The Planets; Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Levine, conductor.
12. Copland: Appalachian Spring; Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, conductor.
13. Sleepless in Seattle: The Soundtrack
14. Dvorak: Symphony No. 9: From the New World; The Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor.
15. Summon the Heroes; The Boston Pops Orchestra, John Williams, conductor. (Highlights include Bugler's Dream, Summon the Heroes, Festive Overture by Shostakovich, The Olympic Spirit, and 1492: Conquest of Paradise)

Just Wondering

Last Monday was Memorial Day. You all knew that. Last Sunday was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. You all knew that, as well. It has become tradition in many churches to have a patriotic theme on Memorial Day Sunday, with flags and pledges and singing of anthems and the like. A friend of mine (ahem) told me of the lady in her church who called her to lead an impromptu Pledge of Allegiance directly following the offertory (which, btw, was "The Battle Hymn of the Republic").

It has me wondering, though.

Memorial Day was created for one purpose: to remember and honor those who have died in combat while defending the United States from foreign oppressors.

Wait. That's not quite right. Originally, Memorial Day was set aside to remember and honor those who died in the Civil War; i.e., those who died either in defense of the Union or in defense of the right to secede from the Union. Later on, it was expanded to honor all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

So, here's my question. How did we get from "honoring those men and women who died while defending our country" to "generally honoring America"?

(Aside: I know many who see the day as fulfilling neither of these roles; to some, it's a day to fire up the bbq, take a drunken boat ride, or fit in the first camping trip of the summer. I'm not talking about those people, or that issue, here.)

In other words, it's not enough to honor the dead, we are expected to honor the nation of the dead as well. But it seems to me the more we make the day about honoring the nation in a generic, 4th-of-July sort of way, the less we actually honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

And, if I can step on another toe or two. . .in many places (churches, especially), Memorial Day seems to have expanded to honor ALL those who have served (or are currently serving) in the military. We lift up those who are fighting now, we salute those who are in Iraq and Afghanistan, we sing the national anthem in support of our country's wars, and in support of those who fight our country's wars.

Please don't hear me denigrating any of our soldiers. I honor them, and support them, fully. They boldly serve a cause and pay a price few of us understand. I am grateful for our veterans and our current troops and the work they do.

But we have days to honor them - Veteran's Day, for one. The 4th-of-July, for another. In our church we maintain a list of soldiers and pray for them constantly. We have parents of soldiers who remind us over and over to lift our service men and women in prayer, and we do so gladly.

Yet those who have died have this one day - Memorial Day - and more and more there is a pressure to make that one day about ALL our troops, and about our nation in general. I wonder if that isn't muting our respect and honor for the dead. I wonder if, in slowly expanding its focus, we have lost the deeper meaning this day is supposed to hold. I wonder if making it more generic, we have taken away its true power?

And much of this comes back to our worship. As I take God's people into worship, I feel a comfort level honoring men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect freedoms many of us take for granted. But I'm more reticent taking the time we set aside for God and using it instead to praise the country in which God has placed us. Not that I don't love our country; I just never want to be guilty of elevating our country above the God we come to worship.

And I think God's not so concerned when we lift up our brothers and sisters who have served to the end; I'm not so sure he's all that happy when we turn the "house of prayer for all nations" into a "God bless America" rally.

Which is why I come back to the question about Memorial Day. If people's expectations are that we'll pull out the banners and bunting, that we'll sing the Star Spangled Banner and do all we can to honor America. . .they'll be disappointed. But aren't those all false expectations to begin with, considering all the day is supposed to mean?

What do you think?

Snapshot from the Fourth

I took Olivia over to Penrose Point for an hour or so yesterday afternoon. We parked the Jeep and walked a forest-shaded path out to the Eastern beachline. From there, we wandered north toward the tip of the peninsula. Along the way we discovered jellyfish, crabs (dead and alive), barnacles, and cool-looking rocks. To our right Puget Sound fell away, with Mt. Rainier rising over Steilecoom in the distance. A C-117 from McChord AFB circled lazily over Tacoma.

We passed the final bluff, giving us full vision of the northern beach, and there, about 20 yards away, sitting atop a large boulder, sat a Bald Eagle, gazing north across the Bay. We stealthily approached, but he saw and flew to a further perch. So we stood and watched him, as he kept one eye on the water and another on us. To his right, a heron waded slowly along the shoreline.

Eventually, we made to walk closer to the Eagle, and got within 30 feet or so, but he decided that was enough and flew into the forest to our south. I told Olivia how special this was - seeing America's National Bird on America's birthday.

She was more interested in the clam shell she'd just found. But it was wondrous, just the same.