Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem

This poem illustrates, for me, a creative touch of God in a secular enviornment. Inclusive but still carries the gospel in poetic form. The poem is not a gospel sermon but it does remind me of Paul on Mars Hill.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

(This poem is copied to this blog without permission)

Response to the Praying in Jesus Name Controversy

Some people don’t understand the difference between (1) a denominational worship service and the prayer therein and (2) a public prayer at a mandatory formation that should meet the needs and lift the spirits of all in attendance, believers (of all faiths) and non-believers alike. Offending and denigrating others whose beliefs are as strongly held and as sincere as ours even though they don’t include our belief in the divinity of Jesus is NOT a way to draw folks into the presence of Jesus.

I work hard to pray prayers at mandatory formations that will move non-believers toward a loving, accepting and forgiving God. I want to demonstrate a God who cares much more about individuals and less about cultural religious formulae. Have I prayed any more or less in the name of Jesus if I do or do not say the words "In Jesus Name?" The chaplain wears a CHRISTIAN cross and they ask him or her to pray at their mandatory formations. This is an awesome privilege to influence for Christ that I would hate to lose in favor of insisting on a favorite closing formula.

Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt has the right, the mandate of the military chaplaincy and the backing of the Constitution of the United States of America to pray however he wishes when he is leading Christians in a worship service or praying in a private or a non-mandatory setting. Military chaplains CAN and DO pray “according to their individual faith traditions.” There’s no need for an Executive Order.

Part of the “protecting religious freedom” that the chaplain is demanding from the President consists in protecting the rights of those who are not of the Christian faith tradition, ensuring that they not be forced to pray in a tradition that is not theirs—in the same way that we Christians ought not to be forced to pray within the strictures of another’s faith tradition. It’s a matter of respect for all of God’s children—not just the ones we see as special.

It sounds as if the good Chaplain Klingenschmitt has somewhat less tolerance and respect for others than that demonstrated in Scriptures by Jesus Himself. Perhaps our prayer for him should be that he be guided to develop a sensitivity for the rights and beliefs of others, and an ability in all circumstances to ask himself: “WWJD?”

IMHO, Christianity does not need this sort of behavior put forth as an example of what it means to be a Christian clergy-person.

On Christmas Music

I'm embarrassed to admit it. I love the Thanksgiving to Christmas Day 768 hour Christmas music marathon on my satellite radio. When it is over I will be glad but in the meantime, if I'm awake I'm listening to Christmas music. A friend wants to put sharp objects in his ears at the sound of the constant Christmas clamor. Not me. I have come to love Madonna's stylized "Santa Baby"; Ray Charles and Edie Brickel make me smile; my current favorite, "The Man with the Bag" will probably end up in an Advent sermon next year; any Marsalis family member puts me in the spirit of the season; "Walking Round in Women's Underwear" makes me laugh till I pass a little pee; I get perverse pleasure from forcing my visitors to listen to "I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Klaus" (So you won't "ask or tell" Santa turns out to be Mommy); and I still (since 1953) love to listen to the diminutive voice of Gayla Peevey singing "All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus cause I love hippopotamus and hippopotamus'uz love me."



Should I be embarrassed? Or is it possible to enjoy the schmaltzy, commercialized, and absurd bottom line driven season without losing the rich, historic and religious context. I really do know the difference between the two but I also find the first to be a conversational bridge to the second. It really is not so far from "The Man with the Bag" to a gracious God who brings gifts even when I have not been "extra specially good."

Thanks to Friends and Relatives

Thanks to the encouragement of friends and relatives I am going to make an attempt at the discipline of writing. Some of it will be random thoughts but most will revolve around and flow out of what I am doing, writing and praying at the Dover AFB Mortuary. Thanks in advance for any comments or criticisms.