For The Seventh Day Of Christmas: Is This Any Way To Celebrate Christ's Birth?

The annual after-Christmas trash pickup is a major chore for city sanitation workers.

Walking through our neighborhood yesterday I observed street after street lined with piles of trash, the sad aftermath of another holiday celebration. 

It's not that some generous gift giving can't be a good thing. But how can this excessive waste of evergreens, bows, wrapping paper and UPS cartons in any way honor the birth of Jesus?

An issue of the newsletter “Whose Birthday is it Anyway?” produced by a group called Alternatives of Sioux City, IA, offers the following thoughts on Christmas gift giving: 

"The giving of gifts is essential for human relationships. The traditional purchase of gifts is essential only to our convenience and to the necessity of profits for business. The highest form of giving involves the giving of one’s self. So don’t look at catalogues or go to a mall to ‘get ideas’ for what to give. Make a Christmas list and a Christmas budget before the season arrives, and stick to it. If you do purchase some of your gifts, consider buying from local producers, or purchase hand made gifts from artisans from around the world who are preserving traditional crafts and skills and are working at becoming more self-reliant. With every purchase ask these questions:

Does this gift reflect the faith and values I want to share? 

Does the material from which the gift is made reflect careful use of the environment?

Does this gift encourage activity rather than passivity; self reliance rather than dependence?

Does this gift stimulate spiritual, mental or physical growth?

Who profits from the purchase of this gift?"

Surely anything associated with Christmas, which means Christ-mass, or Christ worship, merits our asking the question, “What would Jesus give?” as well as asking, “What would he most like to receive? 

For The Sixth Day Of Christmas: "Why Does God Come To Us As A Baby?"

Infants possess amazing power, but
without imposing control.

Seminary professor Ted Koontz, in an article entitled, “Why did God come to us as a baby?” made the point that while we see babies as helpless and weak, a baby in fact has significant power. For example, a baby can wake parents in the middle of the night from a deep sleep; a power many louder noises don’t have, and has the power to get them out of bed and respond to their needs when they would be willing to get up for few other reasons. 

Yet, he says, this cry of a baby is a power to which we can respond or choose not to. It can profoundly move us, but it’s at the same time a power which in no way robs us of our freedom. Some people might in fact be able to sleep on, oblivious to a baby’s cry. But there is something in our very natures that makes us want to respond. To refuse to do so would be to refuse to be who we know ourselves to be down deep. Something inside us knows that its the only right thing to do. 

So he says it is with the power of the cry of the divine. We can refuse it, block it out, but only at the cost of not being who we are most deeply. This cry, this “baby power,” is the kind God chooses at Christmas, a power that can be absolutely compelling and yet absolutely non-coercive. 

And that’s one of the ways the baby whose birth we celebrate this season truly deserves to be “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” A strange but most compelling kind of power.

(This is from a series of radio spots aired on three local stations by the Center where I work.)

For The Fourth Day Of Christmas: An Innkeeper Makes Room

Dinah Donohue writes the story of nine year old Wallace Purling, who played the role of the innkeeper in his church’s Christmas play one year. 

Wally was big for his age, a little uncoordinated, and was still in the second grade, since learning was hard for him. But the play’s director thought his size would add authority to his refusing lodging to Joseph, and after all, there weren’t many lines he would have to learn. 

At the final performance Wally sternly informed the troubled Mary and Joseph that there was absolutely no room at the inn, period. Then poor Joseph implored, with his next line: “Please, good innkeeper, my wife Mary is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired.” 

For the first time, Wally relaxed his stiff stance and focused on Mary, so small and tired in her oversized bathrobe costume. Wally hesitated, as if he couldn’t get his words out. His backstage prompter whispered his lines loudly enough for everyone to hear: “No! Begone!” which poor Wally repeated halfheartedly, by rote. 

Joseph then sadly put his arm around Mary, she leaned against his shoulder and the two slowly walked away. 

Then instead of closing the door of his Inn as he was supposed to, Wally just stood there, his mouth open, as if about to cry. Then he broke out into a big smile and called after them, “Don’t go, Joseph, Bring Mary back. You can have my room!”

Most folks at Wally’s church left that night thinking that was the highlight of the whole play.

For The Third Day Of Christmas: Honoring The Real Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death (1888)
by Ilya Repin

Mike Sherer, a Lutheran minister, and his wife Kathe, a registered nurse, began celebrating Christmas without Santa Claus when their first child was three years old. They had come to see Santa as little more than a prop for the great North American Christmas Marketing Machine, and so decided to focus instead on his venerable ancestor, the real life St. Nicholas. 

This third century bishop of Myra, who lived on the southern coast of what is now Turkey, became legendary for his generosity in helping the poor and needy in his parish, according to stories about him that have been passed down through the generations. Because this real saint seemed to be a good alternative to the jolly old elf of recent invention, the Sherers began celebrating the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, which is on December 6, as an early part of their family’s Advent, and each year designate 5% of their December income to give anonymous help to a needy individual or family in their community, in the spirit of the good bishop of Myra. 

They Sherers do put up a tree, but cover the floor all around it with good books about Christmas instead of the many other gifts for themselves that used to accumulate there. The books they then put away each year with the tree decorations, to give them a rest and to make them “new” each Advent. The Sherers report that their giving up a fake Santa for a real saint they feel embodies the true spirit of Christmas has been a richly satisfying change, one they would recommend to anyone.

(This is from a series of radio spots aired on three local stations by the Center where I work.)

For The Second Day Of Christmas: When Does The Work Of Christmas Begin?

Writer Esther Gillette eloquently describes Christmas as “a candle with haloed ray, quietly giving itself away.” 

If there’s any one lesson we can learn from the Nativity event, it is that "it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

Indeed, Christmas should inspire us all to so love the world that we make of ourselves a gift to our neighbors far and near. As one unknown author has written:

When the song of the angels is stilled

When the star in the sky is gone

When the kings and princes are home

When the shepherds are back with their flocks

The work of Christmas begins;

To find the lost,

To heal the broken

To feed the hungry

To release the prisoner

To rebuild the nations

To bring peace among people everywhere.

On behalf of all of us at the Family Life Resource Center, we wish you the very best during this special season. May the good work of Christmas begin in each of us.  

(This is from one of the radio spots aired regularly on several local stations by the Center where I work.)

For The First Day Of Christmas: Strangers Brought To Their Knees At Mangers

I had heard similar stories of a temporary truce in WWI, but not
about this one in the earlier Franco-Prussian War. 

"O Holy Night," one of my favorite carols, was written for a Christmas Eve service in 1847 at the request of a French priest celebrating the installation of a new organ at his church. He had his friend Placie Appeau write the words, and asked another friend, Adolphe Charles Adams, to set it to music in time for the occasion. 

The new carol, "Cantique de Noel," was an  immediate sensation, but when some church leaders later learned that Cappeau was a socialist and Adams a Jew, the song was banned from use in church services, though it remained popular among the French people.

Boston-based musician John Sullivan Wright, a Unitarian minister and an abolitionist, translated the song into English and introduced it to America ten years later. He was especially fond of the words in the third verse (Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother), and his English version of the carol became a favorite among many, especially in the North.

Some years later, in a lull in the fierce fighting of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, an unarmed French soldier emerged from the trenches and sang the French version of the song, and was briefly joined by some enemy soldiers responding with German carols. 

The Christmas story continues to be about bringing unlikely strangers together, on their knees. Gentile astrologers from the far east bow down, as do Jewish shepherds from the hills around Bethlehem. Socialist musicians are brought together with Catholic priests and Jewish poets. French and German soldiers lay down their arms, if only briefly, all bowed by the miracle of God coming to life in a most vulnerable way. Around one common manger we experience a foretaste of friends and enemies alike being born again into a revolutionary, upside-down reign of shalom for all people.

Truly he taught us to love one another

His law is love and his gospel is peace.

Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother

We know that through him oppression shall cease.

Note: I hope to again post something for each of the twelve days of Christmas, this time mostly from some of my radio spots aired each holiday season on a couple of local stations. 

In The Year Of The Rat, A Thrill Of Hope

In Chinese culture, the Year of the Rat is associated with
a time of fertility and abundance, quite unlike how most of
us have experienced 2020.

A thrill of hope,

The weary world rejoices

for yonder breaks 

a new and glorious morn.

        - from O Holy Night

January 25 of 2020 marked the beginning of the Year of Rat in the Chinese lunar calendar, a year their zodiac associates with wealth and productivity. Ironically, it began just days after the first case of coronavirus surfaced in the US, brought here by a US citizen who had just visited Wuhan, China.

The year 2020 has gone pretty much downhill ever since. Think volatile political and racial divisions and conflicts, apocalyptic wildfires and hurricanes exacerbated by global warming, and untold economic hardships the likes of which we have not seen here since the Great Depression. This has resulted in suicides and deaths by drug overdoses that have accompanied the dreadful death toll brought on by COVID-19. 

We hear the word unprecedented used a lot these days, even though there have been human tragedies and traumas throughout history that have been far, far worse than anything most of us have ever experienced. In the US we have been spared the kinds of hardships that many of our world neighbors have had to endure endlessly, while other parts of the world have enjoyed exceptional prosperity and privilege.

Such disparity was evident in the first century and in other dark times in history. The poor and dispossessed, often near starvation and without the most primitive means of healthcare, were typically in desperate straits, with blind, crippled and destitute beggars lining the streets for help. 

The Christmas story in Luke’s gospel begins with the familiar words, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed,” and notes that this census was first taken when Quirinius was the tyrant governor of Syria. In Matthew’s account King Herod, head of Roman-occupied Judea, is a prominent part of the story as well. 

These were all ruthless, powerful men under whose occupation any rebellion was met with brutal force. Untold numbers of people were crucified, tortured, beheaded or raped as a way of intimidating their subjects into submission. And not unlike other monarchs of his time, Emperor Caesar Augustus, sovereign over all of the so-called civilized world of his day, claimed to be a divine son of God, and a god himself, with titles like "god from god," "Lord," "Liberator," and "Savior of the world." 

So the early gospel writers were taking their lives into their own hands by claiming divine birth for a child born of a peasant girl in an occupied country, and by announcing a new kingdom ruled by another God, Yahweh, whose anointed son was Jesus. This kind of treasonous statement could have resulted in Roman legions being dispatched to deal harshly with such political heresy. According to the Matthew account, Herod, in fact, commanded that all the male children in the area around Bethlehem be killed to eliminate any possible rival. 

All of which makes Christmas more than just about festivity and merry making. It is a bold announcement about who--and in the end, what power--is really sovereign, a declaration that still divides the world in two but that still offers the world a glimmer of hope. Hope that help will come, not so much from the top down, through political power players, but from unlikely places like dimly lit hovels where God chooses to give birth to "good news of great joy for all people."

The people who walked in darkness

    have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

    on them light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)

Christmas Glad Tidings and Holy Hilarity

Piero della Francesca painted his nativity scene around 1475, one of his last surviving works.

In this Renaissance piece by artist Piero della Francesca one can easily overlook the donkey in the background, even though it's smack dab in the middle of the piece and letting loose with a big Holler-luia. It may be that only the ox and ass are truly getting what's happened, the former responding with a stunned stare and the latter with a full throated bray. And of course the baby Jesus appears to be waving its arms as if to gain attention.

Perhaps Francesca is suggesting that the rest of us have yet to fully comprehend how unbelievably astounding and amazing the incarnation story really is. Is Immanuel, "God with us,"  really for real?

Joseph is looking away as if in a daze, and the remainder of the cast--angels, shepherds, and Mary--are shown displaying a very proper but almost ceramic piety and solemnity. And in spite of just having gone through childbirth, Mary is immaculately dressed, as are all her unlikely guests, except for the Holy Infant himself, shown here minus his swaddling clothes. 

I was made aware of this painting by writer Jean M. Bloquist in her article "Holy Hilarity," one I found in an old issue of Weavings magazine. She writes:

"I cannot know the mind of Piero, but for me the painting speaks delightfully of the unexpected incursion of the Divine, the magnificently mundane manifestations of God, the hilarity of the holy in our lives--and our amazing ability to remain oblivious to it... Over and over the Holy breaks through with a glorious bray and a grace-filled grin."

Meanwhile, Round John Virgin is nowhere to be seen, having apparently exited after the Silent Night was over. 

Franklin Graham Encourages Christians To Pray For The President-Elect--And Thousands Protest

Franklin Graham was an early and loyal supporter of the
President, but he also met with Barak Obama, as did
his father, Billy Graham, who had close relationships
with numerous American presidents.

Citing I Timothy 2:2-3, Franklin Graham posted the following on his Facebook page two days ago:

"As we approach a transition in the leadership of our government in Washington, it is critically important for followers of Jesus Christ to pray for those who will be making decisions that impact the future of our nation. Just because we might not have voted for someone doesn’t mean that we get a pass to not pray for them. The Bible instructs us to pray for all of our leaders—“all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:2-3). We must not give up or waiver.  

"Pray for President-elect Joe Biden, that he would not be swayed by the voices of self-interest, but that he would listen to the still small voice of Almighty God. I met then-Senator Joe Biden many years ago through Senator Jesse Helms when I went to meet with him in the capital. Senator Helms paid him a compliment and said Senator Biden was a Democrat that Republicans could work with. I pray that this will hold true for the future. Pray for President-elect Biden every day—that God would direct His decisions."

As of today the post has generated over 46,000 comments, most of them negative. Here is a sample:

"When we have an evil leader how are supposed to cooperate? I believe in praying for and respecting the office, but evil is evil."

"I pray the Truth will be brought to light that it was Truly a Trump Landslide."

"President Trump has SEVERAL paths to victory. Do NOT lose your faith!"

"Biden will never be my president. He's a traitor."

"With All Due Respect, Mr. Graham, I Can Not pray For Demons!"

This outpouring of mostly critical responses prompted Graham to post the following clarification yesterday: "Some thought this meant I am not supporting President Trump or am giving up. That's just not correct. President Donald J. Trump is still our president, and he still has my full support and prayers. After the electoral college voted I simply felt it was important to remind everyone that Joe Biden needs to be high on our prayer list."

It should be noted that all of the apostle Paul's instructions to pray for, and to practice a kind of subversive submission to, civil authorities were given during the reign of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus.

The Weavers' Home Was A Haven Of Hospitality

Lloyd Sr. and Sarah Weaver had this house built on College Avenue when they moved from Newport News to retire in Harrisonburg in 1969.

In 1948 they had given up a thriving meat and cheese market business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to answer a call by the Virginia Mission Board to serve as urban missionaries in the rapidly expanding Newport News area. Their hospitable home there was called "House of Peace." Their work in the city evolved into a ministry to seamen from Japan and other east Asian countries, and the couple offered Christian-focused hospitality to countless numbers of international guests over the years they lived and served in the area.

Sam, their youngest son, reports on how the ministry began, “My father would eat at a coffee shop. One day, he saw an Asian man eating by himself, so he went over to talk with him and found out that this man was an officer on a Japanese ship. He had to stay in Newport News because of an injury. My father discovered that all of the officers could speak fluent English. So, in 1952 he and my mother started boarding the ships, developing relationships, writing letters and sharing the gospel.” Thus began the unique and fruitful ministry called “Church at Sea.” Sam recalls, “My dad counted 25 men who gave their lives to Christ in baptism during those years." (from an article by VMM's Carol Tobin)

The Weavers' new home on College Avenue in Park View continued to be known as a house of welcome, and the couple had a furnished bedroom in their basement designated as their "prophets room," a place for out of town guests. They also had a basement apartment for students and other tenants, including at times their own grandchildren.

The world needs more people like Lloyd and Sara, who not only made their home a place of winsome friendship for friends and strangers alike, but who saw each of their three children and many of their grandchildren serve in active leadership roles in the Mennonite Church. Their oldest, Sara Jane, with her husband Chester Wenger, served as a missionary to Ethiopia for many years (their daughter, Sara Wenger Shenk, became Dean of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary). Lloyd, the next oldest, who also married a Sarah (Yoder), was a pastor most of his adult life and a long time president of the Virginia Mennonite Mission Board. Kenneth became head of Mennonite Broadcasts (later Mennonite Media), and the youngest, Sam, was principal of Eastern Mennonite High School for many years, followed by a productive term of service as Virginia Mennonite Conference administrator. He and his wife, another Sarah (Alderfer) later moved into his parents' house after they were gone.

Recently the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community acquired the property, which adjoins some of the Park Village duplexes in the southwest part of the campus, and plans to remove the house to make room for some added upscale retirement units. The Weaver house did need some significant repair, but I can't help but feel sad over the disappearance of this 50-year-old dwelling in our neighborhood. 

May its memory, and the memories of people like M. Lloyd and Sara Weaver, live on forever.

Lloyd Weaver, Sr., (center) ministered to Japanese and other officers in Newport News. “Our non-resistance witness has been a great help in our work. […] Our Japanese friends remember the bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We are thankful to prove to them by the Scriptures that Jesus’ program is one of peace, and that the Christian’s is no less.” – Lloyd and Sara Weaver (courtesy of Carol Tobin, content editor of VMM's Transforming magazine)

Jail Sentences Are Becoming Death Sentences

NBC Channel 12 photo of a Virginia prison COVID unit.

One of my prisoner friends, age 73 and legally blind, was recently moved to Deerfield Correctional Center, which has had a record 19 deaths from COVID, the highest number of any Virginia prison. In spite of my friend's reputation as an exceptionally hard worker and his having been a model prisoner during 48 years of incarceration, he has been repeatedly denied the parole release that would have greatly reduced his danger of infection, 

As of this week, according to the latest Virginia Department of Corrections report, there were 593 active cases of COVID-19 among Virginia inmates and 227 among staff and employees. A total of over 5,200 positive inmate cases have been reported and more than 1,250 cases among workers, resulting in 35 deaths from the infection since March.

Another prisoner friend, age 52, after noting with concern the number of men being taken to the hospital after the outbreak of the coronavirus at Buckingham Correctional Center, was himself rushed to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital with COVID in early June, and remained in critical condition on a respirator in the ICU for weeks . He was finally returned to Buckingham after three months, but soon had to be taken to the Southhampton Memorial Hospital for ongoing care three days later, where he was in rehabilitation until a month ago. 

I have no idea how many hundreds of thousands of dollars his care has cost Virginie taxpayers, all of which could have been avoided had he been granted the parole release he was assured he would be able to earn when he was persuaded to accept an Alford Plea many decades ago. Meanwhile, he is suffering from a life-threatening case of pulmonary fibrosis as a result of COVID, a condition for which there is no known cure. He is also being denied getting his long held prison job back due to his condition.

Then last week I heard the following from a distressed 61-year-old inmate at Augusta Correctional Center, someone who already has a serious lung condition. "At the moment we have gone from three offenders in the Red Zone Covid-19 quarantine area in our gymnasium to 35 being sick with the virus. Each day since Monday there has been an increase in cases. Today, one of my co-workers in the laundry was isolated and found to be positive as well. He is having extreme breathing problems and they moved him from the infirmary to the Red Zone."  

This friend, in mortal danger of contracting coronavirus, has served over 40 years behind bars and is deserving of both geriatric and regular release, both of which have recently again been denied.  

My heart goes out to all of the men and women in our prisons and jails who live in constant fear of the kind of outbreak that could result in their unintended death sentence.

Here's a link to express your concerns to Governor Northam's office: 

https://www.governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/communicating-with-the-governors-office/

December 7, 1941 And December 3, 2020: Two Dates That Should Live In Infamy

Today is the 79th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, resulting in the deaths of 2403 Americans. 

Last week, on December 3, a record number of 2804 Americans lost their lives due to Covid-19, and we have been experiencing losses at nearly the rate of a Pearl Harbor every day since.

Here are some other sobering comparisons:

The September 11, 2001, bombing of the World Trade Center resulted in 2977 casualties.

The Oklahoma City bombing claimed the lives of 168 people.

In 2019 an average of 100 people per day died as a result of highway accidents in the US.

The average number of American service members who died each day during 1968, at the height of the Vietnam conflict, was 46.

Meanwhile, there are around 2300 abortions performed in the US daily, the majority of which are of embryos in the first trimester of pregnancy.

We Must Make Our Prayer List Our 'To Do' List

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire

uttered or unexpressed,

the motion of a hidden fire

that trembles in the breast.

- James Montgomery 1818

One of my aims upon awakening in the  morning is to offer a prayer of blessing for each of the twenty households listed in our house church directory, along with members of our family and others for whom we have concerns. But I've been wondering, can my praying become a convenient substitute for my actually reaching out to bless more of the people and circumstances I care about? 

If it is at least partly partly true that "God has no hands but our hands," then the words of Pope Francis are especially apt, "You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works."

I used to wonder why Jesus placed the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," right in the middle of his teaching about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. Prayer is usually thought of as asking God to do things for us, with the promise that if we ask with urgency and persistence, God will give us what we ask for, that if we seek, and keep on seeking, we will find what we are longing for, and that if we knock and continue knocking, God will open doors of opportunity for us. That's the context for Jesus's  Golden Rule text about our doing to, and for, others whatever we would have others--and God--do for us.

So the praying and the doing go hand in hand, never one without the other. The "sincere desire" in the above hymn, inflamed by prayerful attention to a broken-hearted God, must result in "the motion of a hidden fire," our compassionate action. Our prayer list must become a part of our "to do" list.

In the words of the German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his Letters and Papers From Prison,

People turn to God when God is sore bestead: 

they find God poor, disgraced, without roof or bread,

attacked by sin, thus weakened, and deprived of life. 

A Christian stands by God to share God's pain and strife. 

In other words, prayer is more about our hearts and minds being aligned with God's, rather than about our changing God's mind and to have God work on our behalf.

Send A Christmas Card To A Virginia Prisoner!

"Remember those in prison as if you were also in bonds, and those who suffer as though you were suffering with them."  

Hebrews 13:3

Jesus himself is among these forgotten men and women.

This year I'm again encouraging individuals and groups to send holiday cards to people behind bars. Here are the names of some folks I know who would appreciate some good tidings from the outside.

Unfortunately, I only have addresses here for men with whom I have corresponded. There are also two state prisons for women in Virginia, and the number of women behind bars is growing.

When you send your card(s) you can include an article, a copy of an inspirational piece, or your family's annual newsletter. Regrettably, the Department of Corrections now makes photocopies of the envelope and its contents to be given to the prisoner, to avoid having even a particle of an illegal substance to find its way inside! 

Your card and whatever else you send may weigh no more than one ounce, and include no more than a total of three items. Do not include cash, checks, postage stamps or prepaid envelopes. 

Mr. James E. Bender 1010837

Greensville Correctional Center

901 Corrections Way

Jarratt, VA 23870-6914

Mr. Brian E. Brubaker 1315055 B-414

Deerfield Correctional Center

21360 Deerfield Drive

Capron, VA 23829

Mr. Brian Cable1198941

Sussex Correctional Center

24414 Musselwhite Drive

Waverly, VA 23891

Mr. Lawrence Davis

Sussex State Prison

24414 Musselwhite Drive

Waverly, VA 23891

Mr. Stephano Colosi 1037581

Buckingham Correctional Center

P. O. Box 430

Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

Mr. Branson Fink 1011319 

Lunenberg Correctional Center 

690 Falls Road, 

Victoria, VA 23974

Mr. Robert Davis Fitchett 1035660

Buckingham Correctional Center

P. O. Box 430

Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

Mr. Greg Goodman 1101523

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville, VA 24430

Mr. M. Steven W. Goodman 1028377

Greensville Correctional Center

901 Corrections Way

Jarratt, VA 23870-9614

Mr. A. Jefferson Grissette 1143033

St. Brides Correctional Facility

P.O. Box 16482

Chesapeake, VA 23328

Mr. Robert Vernon Hostetter 1054419

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville, VA 24430

Mr. Pernell Jefferson 1016207

Buckingham Correctional Center BI-412-B

P. O. Box 430

Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Larry D. Johnson 1060258

Green Rock Correctional Center

P.O. Box 10000

Chatham, VA 24531

Mr. John Livesay 1108120

Greensville Correctional Center

901 Corrections Way

Jarratt, VA 23870-6914

Mr. Ronald Miles 1067348

Powhatan Correctional Center

600 Woods Way

State Farm, VA 23160

Mr. Kenneth R. Pack 1063808 (far left, above)

Buckingham Correctional Center 

P. O. Box 430

Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Guy Price 1177889

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. Timothy Rankin 1208262

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. Minor Junior Smith 1158588 (blind)

Deerfield Correctional Center

21360 Deerfield Drive

Capron, VA 23829

Mr. Jerry Treadway 1021558 cell B-617 (deaf)

Sussex Correctional Center

24414 Musselwhite Drive

Waverly, VA 23891

Mr. Thomas Tully 1130289

Baskerville Correctional Center

4150 Hayes MIll Road

Baskerville, VA 23915

Mr. Jonathan David Turner 1941213

Lunenberg Correctional Center 

690 Falls Road, 

Victoria, VA 23974

Mr. Richard Webb 1174188

Augusta Correctional Center 

1821 Estaline Valley Road 

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. Jonathan D. White 1161021

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. John Bennie Williams 1091323 (blind, second from left, above)

Deerfield Correctional Center

21360 Deerfield Drive

Capron, VA 23829

Mr. Raymond Witt 1180381

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. Jamie Yoder 1010853

Augusta Correctional Center

1821 Estaline Valley Road

Craigsville VA 24430

Mr. Charles E. Zellers, Sr. 1036758 

Buckingham Correctional Center 

P.O. Box 430

Dillwyn, VA 23936

NOTE: If for whatever reason you prefer not to include your return address with your letter, and don't have a post office box, you can have the person respond to me and I'll relay their message to you (assuming I have your contact information). In my many years of corresponding with incarcerated individuals I have never had any problems resulting from disclosing my address, but some people do recommend against it.

Have We Over-Elevated The Office Of Pastor?

Although trained as a teacher, I felt I should respond
when a local congregation asked me to serve as their
part time assistant pastor, and later their senior pastor.

"The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..." - Ephesians 4:11-12 (NRSV)

I found it deeply rewarding serving as a minister at Zion Mennonite near Broadway while at the same time doing part time teaching at Eastern Mennonite High School from 1965-1988. For the remainder of my adult life I've worked as a counselor at the Family Life Resource Center while serving as an unpaid pastor of a house church congregation, Family of Hope. 

Being bi-vocational has helped me identify with the many church members who give hours of their time serving in and through their congregations while being engaged with their everyday world of work and family. And in spite of the blessings associated with my pastoral role, I've realized that one of the occupational hazards of being a professional pastor is the tendency to experience an elevated and even isolated position in the congregation. Church organizational charts, congregational budgets, and even the architecture of church auditoriums further underscore the specialness of the person most visible during worship services and often looked to as the primary leader in the church.

The Greek term translated "pastor" refers to a shepherd, and occurs numerous times in the New Testament, but terms like "elder," "bishop" or "overseer" are used even more frequently to refer to congregational leaders of first century (typically house church) congregations, along with assistants referred to as "deacons." 

There was nothing of the kind of lay/clergy divide in the early Christian church that developed later and that has persisted in most congregations since. All members, whatever their gifts or roles, were a part of the "laos," referring simply to the people. Each member was charged with the care of others, that is, to "admonish those who idle, encourage the timid and help the weak,"(1)  and each participant in their gatherings was to be prepared to share "a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation or a tongue or interpretation... for the strengthening of the church."(2) "Preaching" was a term used more often in the context of proclaiming good news to the un-evangelized rather than for an elder or overseer delivering a weekly homily for believers.

This isn't to diminish the gifts of teaching and shepherding by designated leaders appointed to give oversight to congregations, nor to suggest that some of those appointed leaders may not deserve to be financially supported in order to free them to do this or other kinds of service. But have we over-emphasized one ministry, that of pastor/teacher, above a whole array of others included in the various lists of gifts found in Paul's letters?(3) 

Feel free to comment.

(1) I Thessalonians 

(2) I Corinthians 14:26

3) Romans 12:6-8, I Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-31

What Christmas Giving Would Jesus Encourage?

 

With a 20% discount, this silk
Christmas tie is a mere $19.95.

When we received our 84-page gift catalog from Christianbook.com last week I looked forward to checking out some good reading material from this distributer, one that typically offers some great prices on current faith-related titles.

Only to discover that this was their Christmas "Gifts & Home Accents" edition, one that included no books or other reading material whatever. Instead, there were pages after pages of "Stoneware Word Mugs" with Bible texts, tote bags with words like "The Lord will guide you always," tee shirts and sweat shirts emblazoned with Christmas themes, "FBI" (Firm Believer in Jesus) and multiple other adjustable caps, and all manner of Christmas cards, candles, calendars, creches, jewelry, and tree ornaments.

OK, I don't want to be labeled a Grinch here, and I could see having a couple of pages of holiday-themed trinkets for sale, but is there any way Jesus could be honored by having his birth celebrated with 84-pages of religious trivia?

I'm thinking Jesus might actually weep at the direction many of his followers appear to be taking here, and strongly recommend alternatives like some generous gifts to help homeless or refugee families during this Advent season, or a handwritten note of encouragement (if a visit isn't possible) to some lonely folks in the community. 

After all, whose birthday is it, anyway? 

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2016/12/lets-keep-christ-out-of-our-christmas.html

Update: Jail Policies Regarding Wearing Masks

MRRJ is having a COVID-19 outbreak, according to a WHSV-TV report.

In a press release issued yesterday, the Middle River Regional Jail reported that 25 staff members and 4 nurses at the facility have tested positive for COVID-19, and that 15 inmates are also infected. That number is almost sure to increase today when testing of all inmates and staff is being carried out.

There is no mention of any of this in today's Daily News-Record, even though Middle River houses many of the incarcerated men and all of the women from our area who are sentenced to time behind bars or who are awaiting trial.

Already three months ago, Tracy Stover, whose son was then an inmate at Middle River, launched a crusade to get MRRJ to fully comply with the Governor Northam’s orders requiring the consistent wearing of masks in all public facilities, including jails.

In a petition Stover circulated in early September, one that got over 500 signatures, she cited multiple documented cases of staff at the jail either not wearing masks or wearing them improperly. Her persistence resulted in what she believed was a retaliatory action by MRRJ which involved having her son moved to the Rockingham/Harrisonburg Regional Jail. There, incidentally, none of the staff members are required to wear masks, based on their attorney advising them they are exempt from the Governor’s order since the jail is the “residence” of the inmates and because their staff members are engaged in law enforcement, an activity for which masks are not mandated.

Meanwhile, Ms. Stover has been untiring in her efforts to see that her son and other inmates are protected from staff members who may expose inmates to the virus. Among her efforts have been to submit both letters to the editor and an Open Forum piece to the Daily News-Record, but to date none of these have been published, and her personal contacts with the sheriff, who is in charge of the local jail, and with the administration at Middle River Jail, have also yielded less than positive results.

But the current number of infections may represent a word to the wise: Sometimes a mother really does know best.

Plenty Of Free Food, Flowers And Foliage

"Jerusalem artichokes" formed a colorful border along our driveway.

Mike Cooley, an agroforestry and permaculture consultant and an elder in a neighboring house church near Woodstock, introduced me to "Jerusalem artichokes" a couple of years ago.

No one seems to know how these plants got their name, since they are neither artichokes nor are they native to Jerusalem, but are a part of the sunflower family. I was warned not to plant them in my garden or a flower bed since they tend to be a somewhat invasive species. 

One of the plant's benefits is edible tubers that can be roasted or boiled and enjoyed as a side dish or made into a tasty soup. Native Americans are said to have planted them along trails where they could be available to hungry travelers. They are a great source of iron, copper and Vitamin C, and are said to be good for maintaining hair health (something I could benefit from!).

Tubers for planting can be ordered from home and garden supply stores.

About the size of ordinary potatoes, these tubers all came from one stalk. 

Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman?" Speech

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) spoke at a Women's Rights Convention held at the Old Stone Church in Akron, Ohio, in November of 1851. This is a part of one person's reconstruction.

...That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

...Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Twelve Gross Falsehoods Held As Gospel Truth

History is full of examples of widely held falsehoods and mass delusions that have led to disastrous consequences. 

Too many of us would rather not be confused with facts, having already made up our minds.

1. Christians were falsely blamed by Nero for the burning of Rome in 64 AD, setting off a wave of brutal persecutions carried out over a period of 250 years. 

https://www.historyandheadlines.com/july-18-64-ad-great-fire-rome-nero-blames-christians/

2. In the Middle Ages and following, Muslims were seen as a threat that could only be eradicated by force, resulting in organized military Crusades that have forever stained the reputation of the Christian movement and contributed to perpetual hostility between Christians and Muslims, and even to the rise of groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS today. 

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/islamophobia-from-crusaders-to-colonialists-to-cartoonists-27126

3. Jews throughout Europe and elsewhere have been portrayed by Protestants and Catholics alike as evil Christ-killers and as a danger to Christian civilizations and institutions. The resulting plague of anti-semitism has led to inquisitions, banishments and eventually the unimaginable horror of the Holocaust. 

https://www.history.com/topics/holocaust/anti-semitism

4. Thousands of sixteenth-century Anabaptists were tortured, exiled, drowned and burned at the stake for advocating the kind of religious freedom we take for granted today, the right to choose as adults what faith, if any, one chooses. State church officials, Protestant and Catholic alike, believed free-church advocates to be "damnable heretics" and a threat to Christian institutions and governments. 

https://thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-persecution-of-anabaptism-16th-century-catholic-lutheran-and-calvinist-perspectives-2/

5. Many early American ministers perpetuated the belief that African slaves were part of an inferior race, the descendants of Hamites destined to live in subjection. This belief contributed to untold suffering by African-American slaves, a horrific civil war, and years of Jim Crow-era segregation, oppression, lynchings and the kind of racism that persists today. 

https://time.com/5171819/christianity-slavery-book-excerpt/

6. Anti-Catholic intolerance was rampant in the 19th and 20th century, with many sermons and published books warning of a plot by the papacy to take over US democracy, beliefs that were widely circulated during the candidacy of John F. Kennedy for the presidency. Christian leaders like Billy Graham and Norman Vincent Peale even had a secret meeting in Switzerland working at ways of preventing Kennedy's election (an effort Graham later publicly regretted). regret. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/america-history-of-hating-catholics

7. The Joe McCarthy hearings of the 1950's perpetrated the belief that Communists bent on destroying America were infiltrating every US institution, including the Congress and the State Department, and that entire education and entertainment establishments were a part of a dark plot to turn the country into a communist regime. 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism

8. More recently, Central American immigrants and refugees from other nations have been demonized as criminal drug dealers, gang members and worse, and as threatening our very existence and identity as a nation. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/08/26/fact-check-and-review-of-trump-immigration-policy/?sh=50bce56856c0

9. Barak Obama was believed by millions to have been born in Kenya rather than Hawaii and thus not being eligible to be president, and as being a Muslim who hated this country and was secretly plotting to bring about its demise. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories

10. Many today believe hospitals everywhere are routinely over-reporting COVID-19 deaths for profit, and embrace widespread rumors like Dr. Fauci conspiring with Bill Gates to deliberately spread the coronavirus infection for nefarious reasons. 

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/may/12/jerome-corsi/conspiracy-theorist-spreads-false-claim-about-fauc/

11. The majority of supporters of the President today believe that the entire voting system this year has been corrupted by a dark conspiracy of bad actors, in spite of it having served the republic well for over 200 years, and in spite of the process being closely monitored and verified by poll workers and secretaries of state of both parties, in blue and red states alike. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/11/05/here-are-the-debunked-voter-fraud-claims-trump-and-his-supporters-are-spreading/?sh=17106bc11fca

12. Millions of Americans have bought into a "QAnon" deep state conspiracy theory that claims the Trump administration is waging a secret war against Satan worshipping pedophiles that include high ranking Hollywood actors and Democratic politicians. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/53498434

Consider these words from the apostle Paul, a first century Christian missionary: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." II Timothy 4:3-4 (NLT)