AWOL Santa

Sinterklaas didn’t show up this year and we were disappointed. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we traveled to Pella to visit family. Its been a tradition in Pella that on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, there is a small parade where Sinterklaas, the Netherlands’ version of Santa Claus rides down Franklin St. in a big boat (with wheels) and passes in front of the Tulip Tower. Traveling with him are some folks dressed up as gifts—box costumes with ribbons. Trailing behind is the newly selected Tulip Queen and her court—making one of their first official appearances since their selection.

Sound a little cheesy? Yes, it is. However, it has always given us an excuse to go up town and grab a coffee or head to one of the local bakeries for some Dutch Letters, macaroons, or my daughters’ preference, “Cookies with LOTS of frosting.”

This year we showed up, waiting for Town Crier to announce the coming of Sinterklaas. There were quite a few others milling around the town square waiting as well. Soon, we hear the buzz that there wasn’t going to be a parade. There was a rumor that there wasn’t enough interest, or that those normally in the parade had other obligations.

So, there we stood, pastries in hand, waiting for a parade that wasn’t going to happen. We shrugged our shoulders, expressed a little disappointment, and then we went home. Sinterklaas was soon forgotten.

Over this Christmas season we will drive past houses covered with flashing, blinking, lights, some even choreographed to music. (Pretty clever.) Our children may be dressed up like shepherds or wise men. We will arrange miniature nativity scenes on our mantles. We will put up trees, buy gifts, and make Christmas themed treats. We do all this to celebrate a birth that happened over 2000 years ago.

In the minds of some, this is simply silly. To be honest, a lot of it maybe is. There has long been the complaint that Christmas is too commercialized and that we forget the “Reason for the Season.”

Yet, amidst all the decoration and flash, most Christians acknowledge that they have hope that Jesus will make His appearance again. Christmas may mark Jesus earthly birth years ago, but it should also point ahead to the time He comes again.

I encourage you to celebrate, decorate, and enjoy the holiday, but somewhere between the tinsel and bows, the Christmas meal and treats take a minute and reflect on Jesus’ impending coming. If another holiday passes and Christ has not yet come again, may we be a little disappointed, but may we never forget that He is coming again. May that hope change us. Decorations will be packed away. Lights will come down, but may we never lose our desire to see the King. May we say, “Maranatha,” “Come, O Lord. Come soon.”

Hull is Steamrolled

The latest big attraction in Hull--one of many, I assure you, is the lightshow offered by one of our citizens (who attends the church I serve, I am proud to say).

FACEBOOK!

I am so current, so relevant. I now have a Facebook page. Now I will wait patiently for all my friends to appear.

Truth and the Golden Compass

Truth, not the saccharin "Truthiness" of Stephen Colbert is one of the themes of the book, "The Golden Compass," by Philip Pullman. As the opening book of the "The Dark Materials" trilogy, Pullman introduces us to a type of parallel universe, where things resemble the world we live in, but yet unique and different. Truth, or the Magisterium's hiding of the truth (i.e. the church) is there for Lyra, to try to find.

As a side note, as I begin reading this book, I was intrigued to find reference to John Calvin as being the "last pope," who moved the headquarters of the church to Geneva. Poor Calvin, the whipping boy for any one with RPE (i.e. Regretted Puritan Experience).

Anyhow, I have received chain e-mails, had concerned parents knock at my door, and read articles pro and con about this book. So, of course, I am reading the book, so I can form my own opinion.

As I begin the book, I've done a little research on the side. (www.hisdarkmaterials.org is an excellent resource.) What I'm finding is that Pullman, like Dan Brown of "The DaVinci Code" fame has an agenda. They both have an almost allergic aversion to anything that has to do with the established church. Pullman isn't the atheist that people claim him to be. Instead, he is more concerned about breaking down the dogma and doctrine of the orthodox church. In his view, the established church is authoritarian and preoccupied to the level of paranoia with holding on to power.

It is my opinion that Pullman is very religious in a sense. He doesn't deny the divine. In fact, he uses his powerful imagination to picture the divine in ways we have never imagined. The problem that people (i.e. orthodox Christians) have with Pullman is that his sense of the divine doesn't have a lot of use for the Apostles' Creed.

Anyhow, I'm reading. From where I am at right now, I can tell that this is a book I would read WITH my children, and not let them read it alone--not until they are older, anyway.

What it comes down to is this--If a book of fiction is enough to shake a person's faith, I would be inclined to ask how much faith there was in the first place. Related to that is that if the Christian faith cannot sustain a challenge from a work of fiction, it isn't much of a faith at all.