Sixth Day of Christmas

“On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… six geese a laying.”

Scripture

Psalm 139

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Colossians 1:15-23

1 John 1:1-4

For Reflection

We have arrived near the end of the earth’s 2009th cycle around the sun since the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  These are the shortest, darkest days of the year in the northern hemisphere.  Plant life is latent in frozen land and water.  Many animals hibernate or have migrated to warmer climes.  In Indiana, we are living the carol:

“In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan

Earth stood cold as iron

Water like a stone.”

What a time to receive our True Love’s sixth round of Christmas gifts: six days of creation.

Today’s gifts are as mysterious and wonderful as a goose laying an egg and a live gosling hatching from it.  Who can fathom the miracle of life?  Four times I have assisted and watched our children be delivered and draw their first breaths.  Four times all that is rational and scientific and explainable has been tearfully eclipsed by wonder and mystery and sacredness.  I sing with Michael Card: “Give up on your pondering and fall down on your knees.”

If you want to argue for or against evolution or scientific creationism, you’ve lost my interest.  If you need to try to reduce the incomprehensible and grand process of the formation of life into an argument for six literal days, you’ve missed the point.  If you need to try to prove that what we know as life just happened by chance, my heart goes out to you.  The invitation today is not about proving or arguing or convincing or taking sides.  The invitation today is to receive all life as sacred, to dare to perceive the world as a God's gracious gift, to look unto Jesus as the Apostle John looked unto him: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim.”

Light.  Sky and atmosphere.  Land and seas, plants and trees.  Sun by day and moon by night.  Living creatures in the seas and sky.  Living creatures on the land and humans in the image of God.  The summation of each day or epoch of creation is this: “And God saw that it was good.”  Whether Genesis 1 is poetry or pattern of life’s progress, above these it is rooting us all in an infinitely creative, life-giving, beauty-loving, relation-building, grace-bearing God.  Creation speaks both of God’s infinite greatness and God’s intimate interest in the smallest detail.  And like God, in God’s image, we are created to be.

The Gospel writers and Apostles did not miss the connection between creation and Christ.  Paul describes Jesus as the “firstborn over all creation” and that “by him all things were created.”  John writes: “That which was from the beginning…our hands have touched.”  Michael Card captures something of this mystery: “A mother made by her own child!”  In receiving the six days of creation as Christmas gifts, and embracing creation as a mysterious grace, we join with Jesus Christ in bearing life and grace in our world in our generation.

Journaling & Prayer Possibilities

Let your mind wander over the events of the past year.  What personal, family, or relationship changes made an impact on your life?  What took place in the neighborhood or community or nation that made you thoughtful and responsive?  What world events triggered more than a casual response in you?  What happened in your community of faith that created challenge and change?

The Holy Spirit often acts as “agitator,” challenging our responses, moving us toward creative stewardship of the resources and relationships we’ve been given.  How has that happened this year?  For each point of growth or challenge or change, offer thanks.  Take this time to listen and still learn from these challenge points.

Song

To The Mystery by Michael Card

When the Father longed to show

A love He wanted us to know,

He sent His only Son and so

Became a holy embryo.

Refrain

That is the Mystery!

More than you can see.

Give up on your pondering

And fall down on your knees.

No fiction as fantastic and wild

A mother made by her own child.

The hopeless babe who cried

Was God Incarnate and man deified.

Refrain

Because the fall did devastate

Creator must now recreate.

And so to take our sin

Was made like us so we could be like Him.

Refrain

Benediction

O Divine Word, we are the offspring of Your purpose.  And that purpose reaches down into our flesh.  It was fashioned by You and for You.  I feel that destiny pulsating within me, and when I respond I respond to the pull of your Creation’s fulfillment.  I thank  you.  Amen.  (E. Stanley Jones in The Word Became Flesh)

Fifth Day of Christmas

“On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…five golden rings.”

Scripture

Psalm 98; Deuteronomy 6:10-25; 31:24-26; Romans 10:1-13

For reflection

The reality around our house is that, without this extended focus on the twelve days, Christmas would be receding into distant memory by now. But here it is the fifth day of Christmas and we are anticipating yet another gift on the journey to Epiphany. Granted, this way of observing Christmas does not have hyped anticipation. Instead, there is a gentle, persistent remembrance and insight into the Word become flesh that is inviting and instructive.

Open the gifts given to you today by your True Love: Five gold rings: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They are known in Judaism as the Torah, or Pentateuch. Together they are what is referred to in both the Old and New Testaments as the Law. This is the backbone and skeletal structure of the Biblical community of faith. It is the plumb line in an idolatrous and crooked world. It is the narrative and standard for much of what has held Western civilization together for millennia.

The Law is not so much “law” as it is a woven story of faith in which a covenant between the Hebrew people and Yahweh is developed, solidified, interpreted, and applied. This people without identity or land, this people who were slaves in Egypt, find identity (Israel), deliverance (the Exodus), and a home (Canaan, roughly contemporary Palestine). The common denominator in the formation of Israel is faith in and obedience to one unseen God, who is revealed as Yahweh, or I Am.

Genesis traces the roots of a chosen and faith-formed people. Exodus walks us through slavery in Egypt, miraculous deliverance, and the formation of the Sinai covenant. Leviticus outlines the terms of the covenant, establishing everything from the calendar to minutia regarding food preparation. Numbers takes great pains to name every tribe and family; it creates a sense of community, belonging, and relationship. Deuteronomy renews the Sinai covenant as the nation prepares to enter Canaan after forty years of wandering in the desert.

How the people of Israel live in light of Torah is the subject of much of the rest of Bible. The historical narratives (Joshua through Esther) tell of the rising and falling of Israel based on adherence to or apostasy from the Law. The prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) are essentially passionate pleas for Israel to voluntarily return to live within the terms of the covenant, within which there would be joy and shalom. The New Testament is about rescuing the Law from legalism and vain traditions and of the fulfillment of Torah in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul declares, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).

So much of what it means to live by faith is learned from the Pentateuch. Abraham took God at God’s word and it was credited to him as righteousness. Joseph first survived then thrived by faith. Moses led people out of slavery in Egypt singularly by faith in the promises of God. The invitation made to these ancient people was extended to Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph. It’s extended to us, too.

Journaling/prayer possibilities

Reflect or read again of one of the “faith heroes” in the Pentateuch: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, etc. Note how simple and daily responses of faith to God’s counsel have become larger than life, formative for generations. What simple invitations to “walk by faith and not by sight” are presented to you daily? What “mini idols compete” with God for reliance for need satisfaction or security? What simple but profound decisions can you make to set these aside, to challenge your fears, and to live by faith? What would it mean to accept the gift of the Pentateuch today?

Song

O God, Who Called the Hebrews by Melvin Farrell, S.S.

O God, who called the Hebrews once of old

To follow Moses to the Promised Land,

This day you gather us, your chosen fold,

To lead us heavenward in Christ’s command:

As then you saved your race from slavery,

So now from Evil’s bondage make us free.

On Sinai Moses held a sacred feast

To offer homage when your voice was heard,

So we assemble here with Christ, our Priest,

That we may worship and embrace your Word:

O God who taught your chosen flock to pray,

Look kindly on our sacrifice today.

Benediction

O merciful heart of God, grant me yet again Your forgiveness. Hear my sorrowful tale and in Your great mercy blot it out from the book of Your remembrance. Give me faith so to lay hold of Your own holiness and so to rejoice in the righteousness of Christ my Savior that, resting on His merits rather than on my own, I may more and more become conformed to His likeness, my will becoming one with His in obedience to Yours. All this I ask for His holy name’s sake. Amen. (from A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie)

Graphic by Raette (www.artbyraette.com)

Fourth Day of Christmas

“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling birds...”

Scripture

Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 7:21-23; John 20:30-31

For reflection

Still celebrating Christmas?  Still reveling in the afterglow of the Word become flesh?  As you put away Christmas decorations, and as the gifts you have received merge into your wardrobe or take their place in the household to become part of the fabric of living, keep the candle of Christmas glowing.  You have received greater gifts!  And you are yet to receive more!

Open the gifts for the fourth day of Christmas: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Calling birds, indeed!  Good News like none other.  Told from four different perspectives, it is a story above all other stories.  It’s a meta-narrative in which we can find ourselves and through which we can live our own stories authentically.

Pay close attention to the Scripture readings today.  Isaiah 61 describes the year of Jubilee, a comprehensive and radical personal and social reordering of life according to God’s reign.  Jesus proclaimed Jubilee fulfilled in his coming.   Luke 7:21-23 offers confirmation to the followers of John the Baptist that, in fact, Jesus is the Good News for which generations of people had longed.  John 20:30-31 makes clear that the Gospel writers did not, could not capture it all.  It also makes clear the intent of the Gospel writing itself: that we may believe and have life through Jesus Christ.

What Christmas promises and implies, the Gospels write large by walking us through the life of Jesus with heart-opening, gut-wrenching lucidity.  The Gospels document and detail the evidence that the hopes and fears of all the years were, indeed, met in Jesus Christ.  The “birth narratives” in Matthew and Luke conspicuously hint at the broad, troubling, and grace-bearing impact Jesus would have.  And John’s eloquent introduction sets the stage for a story in which the Word came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  But to as many as received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

The four Gospels make no attempt to reconcile differences in details or to paint a seamless, air-brushed picture of Jesus.  Each is written from a different perspective for a different audience at a different time and from a different place.  The fact that they are individually so raw and make no pretense at orchestrating events so as to present a united front adds to their authenticity and believability.  Though incredibly diverse, the common threads and penetrating message of the Gospels witnesses to something that has forever changed the world.

I grew up saturated with stories from the Gospels.  It was a gift unappreciated and taken for granted.  I didn’t awaken to the radical nature of the Gospel message and its claims upon my life and the community of faith until I was well into my twenties.  I am still waking up to this gift, still being converted by the challenging invitation, still being apprehended by the call.  I am still realizing this is, indeed, Good News for all humanity, for every person, for even me.

The Gospels are Good News on their own terms, not mine.  Only as I let go of my flimsy excuses, shallow attachments, grandiose notions, self-serving interpretations, and uncertain certitudes, the Gospel finds me and I find my home in the Gospel.  Our own stories are significant when they find their place in the Story.  Every person takes his or her place in the Gospels.  We must to decide how the Gospels tell our own stories.

Journaling/prayer possibilities

Recall one story from one of the four Gospels.  Explore the various places you might take in the story: a well-intentioned Pharisee, an accused sinner, a seeking Zacchaeus, a lost sheep, a hired hand, a confounded disciple, etc.  Let the Gospel be gift to you by receiving the grace expressed in the story: forgiveness, hope, a sense of place, dignity, personhood, healing, comfort, faith, love.  Offer thanks for the gift of the Gospels.  Seek to listen and explore them more fully, letting their radicality lead where it may.

Song

May the Mind of Christ, My Savior by Kate B. Wilkinson

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,

Live in me from day to day,

By His love and power controlling

All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly

In my heart from hour to hour,

So that all may see I triumph

Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father

Rule my life in everything,

That I may be calm to comfort

Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me

As the waters fill the sea;

Him exalting, self abasing,

This is victory.

May I run the race before me,

Strong and brave to face the foe,

Looking only unto Jesus

As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me

As I seek the lost to win;

And may they forget the channel,

Seeing only Him.

Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.  Amen.  Numbers 6:24-26

Graphic by Sara Tyson (www.saratyson.com)

Third Day of Christmas

“On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three French hens…”

Scriptures

Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

For reflection

Two days past Christmas Day, the realization of this journey to Epiphany begins to set in.  It’s such a different rhythm than the usual post-holiday let down.  At the same time we are usually beginning to put away Christmas decorations, this way of living Christmastime keeps the gifts coming and the celebration building.  If you put everything into the Big Day, you may find yourself letting down emotionally or spiritually this week as you get back to routine matters or delve headlong into New Year revelry.  May this simple spiritual journey and the gifts you are receiving sustain and steady you.

Open today’s gifts: faith, hope, and love.  The Apostle Paul distills these three graces as the most essential of all Spirit-given gifts.  Strip away everything else that seems so necessary, all those “must-have” gifts, the ones so desirable to possess, the ones that make us feel good about ourselves and others feel good about us, the ones that make us feel needed or rewarded.  What’s at the heart of this Christian journey?  What is irreducible for life to the full?  Faith.  Hope.  Love.

If you observe Advent, you know that faith, hope, and love, together with joy, are at the center of the Christmas story: HOPE for a Messiah sustained longingly over many generations; the FAITH of Zechariah, of Mary and Joseph; the LOVE of God for the world expressed in Jesus; the response of JOY by all who drew near to see this thing that has come to pass.

In Advent, we learned about these gifts.  But now receive the faith of Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph.  Now receive hope for the in-between times--which is most of the time!  Now receive love enough to eclipse all hurts, forgive all sins, and forge the deepest commitments.

What would it mean for us to move from teaching our children or loved ones about faith to offering them the gift of faith?  How do we move from talking about hope to living and modeling hope?  Why not quit trying to teach love; let yourself be loved and express unequivocal and unqualified regard for others?

The reality of these core gifts is that we will never realize them unless we exercise them.  Faith is not faith until you’ve trusted.  Hope is not hope until I’ve lived from here to there in unflagging anticipation that what was promised shall be.  Love is not love until we’ve opened our heart to risk forgiving or extending ourselves when reciprocity is far from guaranteed.

And it isn’t until we dare to move these gifts from being nouns to verbs that we realize that faith itself is more grace than effort, that hope is more grace than will, that love is more grace than feeling.  In the decision to act in faith, we receive it afresh.  In the decision to hope instead of live down to lowered expectations, hope is born anew in us.  In the decision to love, the love of God is unleashed in us all over again.  No wonder these “French hens” are so valuable, so prized as gifts.

Journaling/prayer possibilities

Journal (write reflectively about) an occasion in which you chose to act in faith or hope or love rather than in predictability, calculated risk, or typical rationality.  Why did you choose faith, hope and/or love?  What did you learn in the process?  How can you relay this experience to your children, loved ones, or friends?  Give thanks for the gifts of faith, hope, and love, and for the experiences in which they are exercised.  Reflect on your present life choices and consider what it might mean to choose to exercise faith, hope, or love in them.

Song

Above What We Can Ask or Hope by Charles Wesley

Above what we can ask or hope,

   The God of grace delights to give,

To fill the empty vessels up;

   And when we grace for grace receive,

Enough in Christ remains behind

   To fill the souls of all mankind.

Long as our faith’s capacity

   Is stretched to admit the blessing given,

We drink the streaming Deity,

   And gasp for larger tastes of heaven!

But when we lose our emptiness,

   The oil, the joy, the Spirit stays!

Empty us then, most gracious Lord,

   And keep us always empty here,

Till Thee, according to Thy Word,

   We see upon the clouds appear,

Thy glorious fullness to reveal,

   And all Thy saints forever fill.

Benediction

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen.” (Ephesians 3:17b-21, NIV)

Graphic by Sara Tyson (www.saratyson.com)

Second Day of Christmas

“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves.”

Scriptures

Psalm 119:33-40; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Galatians 3:1-25; 4:4-7

For reflection

Today’s Christmas gifts -- the Old and New Testaments -- are foundational gifts.  Together, they weave the connected and continuing story of salvation history.  It begins with the people of Israel and continues in the Church of Jesus Christ.  The books of the Old and New Testament are authoritative in that Christians hold that no other documents or sources are needed to lead us to faith in God and life in fellowship with God and one another.

Christmas is the transition point from Old Testament to New Testament.  Ancient anticipations, expectations, and interpretations of the Law and prophecies of a Messiah (Christ) are fulfilled in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  Many good people were so deeply entrenched in their traditions that they simply could not make Jesus fit into their worldview.  Many others -- hungry for grace, liberation, and restoration – in faith opened their hearts to Jesus, in whom they found the embodiment of God’s promises.

The Old Testament was the primary source for early followers of Jesus.  It was the Old Testament to which the Apostle Paul was referring when he said “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).  So, don’t leave the Old Testament out of your study.  Read it for all its worth, for all you can possibly learn and glean from it.  At the same time know that much of what the OT points to has been or is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The word “testament” is pretty heavy.  It’s similar to “covenant.”  Testaments have binding promises and obligations--many assumed and unspoken--for the parties who enter into their terms.  So, when Jesus says to the disciples, as they share the Passover meal together, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (2 Corinthians 11:25), it must have been rather mind-boggling.  We are still exploring and living the full implications of this new covenant.  Reading and seeking to understand the the Old and New Testaments, we live, learn and appropriate the terms of this new covenant.

One of the things I find most helpful as I read both Old and New Testaments is to try to grasp and apply the appropriate genre--the literary form--of writing that is being used.  We read legal documents differently than we do songs.  We understand letters differently than we do histories.  We appreciate the difference between a matter-of-fact statement and hyperbole (intended exaggeration).  Noting this helps us interpret and apply the Bible more effectively in our lives and world.  The fact that we believe the books of the Bible are inspired and useful for “teaching, etc.” doesn’t mean we read flatly.  To take the Bible literally does not mean we take it literalistically.  The difference is profound.

The dramatic diversity of the writings in the Bible makes it difficult to find a common thread running throughout.  But both Old and New Testaments point rather commonly to a Kingdom of God -- people living in harmonious and abundant community through the gracious reign of God as Lord.  God’s reign is depicted in the Old and New Testaments as a kingdom of peace.  So it is fitting that today’s gifts are depicted as “turtle doves,” the dove being the ancient and contemporary symbol of peace, or shalom.  I like to think of the Old and New Testaments being at peace with each other.  The dove is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit, who brings the Word of God alive in our lives.  Embrace God’s gift peace expressed in the new covenant mediated and sustained by Jesus Christ, the partridge in a pear tree.

Journaling & prayer possibilities

Try to imagine yourself a Catholic parent in 16^th Century England and your expression of faith has been banned because of international politics.  What essential gifts of the Christian faith would you want to instill in your children, even at the risk of your life?  Make a short list of essential gifts are vital for faith for children and adults in contemporary America, gifts worth living or dying for?  What simple daily steps can you take to increase awareness of and love for the Word of God in your life and the lives of your loved ones?  For what in the Old and New Testaments may you offer thanks today?

Song

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire by Charles Wesley

Come Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire;

Let us Thine influence prove;

Source of the old prophetic fire,

Fountain of light and love.

Come, Holy Ghost, for moved by Thee

The prophets wrote and spoke.

Unlock the truth, Thyself the key;

Unseal the sacred Book.

Expand Thy wings, celestial Dove;

Brood o’er our nature’s night.

On our disordered spirits move,

And let there now be light.

God, through Himself, we then shall know

If Thou within us shine;

And sound, with all Thy saints below,

The depths of love divine.

Benediction

“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)

FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Scriptures 

Luke 2:1-20; John 1:9-14
 

For reflection

This is the official day for gift giving and receiving.  After anticipation of Advent and “I can hardly wait” eagerness of children (and some of us adults, too), Christmas arrives.  What gift will you – or did you – open first?  What are your feelings after the last gift has been opened?

Of all the gifts our loved ones give us, there is a gift that is before and after them.  It is the occasion of every other gift.  It is a gift that is the more-than-gifts-can-express, heart-felt intent behind every gift.  Our “true love,” who is none other than God, gives us the Gift – Jesus Christ.
 

The Incarnation – the “Word made flesh” – is at once strange mystery and compelling attraction.  If we step back a bit from our cultural conditioning, foregone conclusions and all-but-imperceptible worldview, Incarnation is a strange mystery.  As the 4 Him song below muses: This is such a strange way to save the world.  Poets have tried to put the Word-made-flesh into words: What child is this who, laid to rest on Mary’s lap, is sleeping?  And: I wonder as I wander out under the sky how Jesus the Savior did come for to die for poor ornery sinners like you and like I?

Do you ever wonder about such things?  It is so beyond us that we can’t rationally fathom it.  We will be exploring it for a lifetime; we get to live these questions, to enter into the mystery.  But for now, for this day, at least, can we accept the Good News told by angels? Can we just revel in it, wonder, ponder?

If it is strange mystery, the Incarnation is also a compelling attraction.  Those who get the chance to hear the story – stark as angels appearing in the sky to shepherds – are drawn to the child in the manger.  Hearing, we, too, can decide to hasten near to the manger…to adore.  Adore.  Half giddy cooing like a grandparent over an infant; half prostrate-falling worship in the presence of sheer Power, sheer Love.

Today’s gift is a “partridge in a pear tree.”  The image is of a mother partridge feigning death in the presence of an intruder in order to draw attention away from her vulnerable chicks.  The Gift in the manger would one day lay down his life for poor ornery people like you and like I.  That, too, is part of the strange mystery and the compelling attraction.

This is a busy day.  I hope it's not too busy to take a few moments to step outside, away from the wonderful noises and traditions.  Break away briefly.  Wander out under the sky.  Quiet yourself.  Wonder about the Incarnation.  You don’t have to have answers for all the questions.  Asking about them is itself entering into the mystery.  And, before you head back in, find a way to offer simple thanks for it, for the Gift.

Song 

“A Strange Way to Save the World” by 4 Him
 

I’m sure he must have been surprised

At where this road had taken him,

But never in a million lives

Would he have dreamed of Bethlehem.

And standing at the manger

He saw with his own eyes

The message from the angel come alive.

 

Refrain

And Joseph said

“Why me? I’m just a simple man of trade.

Why him? Of all the rulers in the world.

Why here? Beside this stable filled with hay.

Why her? She’s just an ordinary girl.

Now, I’m not one to second-guess

What angels have to say,

But this is such a strange way

To save the world.”

To think of how it could have been

If Jesus had come as he deserved,

There would’ve been no Bethlehem

No lowly shepherds at his birth.

But Joseph knew the reason

Love had to reach so far

And as he held the Savior in his arms

 

Refrain

Journaling/prayer possibilities

What does it mean to me to “adore Him?”  What issues tend to hinder my freedom to “adore Him?”  Busyness?  Guilt?  Shame?  Feelings of distance or ambivalence?  Cynicism?  Name your hindrances.  Then prayerfully let go of this baggage for today.  Express adoration, or whatever is in your heart as you let your pen wander over the wonder of the Gift.

Carol 

“O Come, All Ye Faithful”

Benediction 

“O God, my Father, I thank You that when all other ways were inadequate You opened the way to us.  When we couldn’t come to You, You came to us, came to us in lowly form, human form.  And now we can come to You through the Way.  Amen.”  (E. Stanley Jones in The Word Became Flesh)

WHICHEVER SONG, A TRADITION LIVES

Most people are familiar with the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song.  It has now been parodied into a thousand wacky renditions.  There’s a plethora of versions on YouTube—some very off-beat stuff.

Some historians think that the song originated in England at a time in which the Church of England prevented Roman Catholics from publishing or circulating church literature.  They postulate that the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, with the silly gifts for each of the twelve days spanning from Christmas to Epiphany, was developed as a clandestine tool for teaching Catholic children the basis of Christian faith.  The idea is that each day’s gift represents some tenet of the catechism, as you’ll see in following days.  As such, it would have been a device to help children memorize important points of doctrine.

Other historians agree that, indeed, there was a song that used the twelve days of Christmas as a teaching tool for Christian faith, but it’s not the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song.  Rather, the song of the period from which the Christian teaching elements corresponding to the 12 days of Christmas more likely comes is titled “A New Dial.”


I’ll leave it to historians to duke it out over which song.  You can read all about this debate at www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/music/12days.asp.  Whichever song it was, these facts remain.

(1) The twelve days of Christmas--from December 25 to January 5--were for centuries the prevailing way the holiday and season was celebrated; it still is in some regions.  This is, technically, the season of Christmas.  The four weeks before December 25 is Advent and what follows, on January 6, is Epiphany.

(2) There was a song that creatively used each of the twelve days of Christmas to highlight and reflect on an aspect of Christian faith.  It is those points of faith that I will reflect on each day during this journey to Epiphany.

And (3) we have opportunity today to explore this tradition and these points of faith as a way to shine light for our own journeys into the heart of winter.

So, the celebration and journey begins tomorrow—on Christmas Day.  I hope your preparations for the holiday have brought you to a point of readiness to receive the precious gifts God has in store through the revelation of the Word made flesh.  May your Christmas Eve transition you from frolicking to worshiping and celebrating with joy.