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Tag: Christmas

Gift of Love

December 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Advent, Part Four

Travel Journal, 113

On a recent visit to Missouri (more of which you can read about here), I had the opportunity to talk with several retired missionaries. So many of these people had spent the entirety of their lives giving of themselves to God, caring for the people of this world.

When confronted with all the craziness that is the near-cultlike American Christmas Gift-Giving, I have found myself asking why?

Why do we spend so much time, effort, money, and mental strain on selecting or making the perfect gifts for our friends or family? I confess that my heart tends toward the cynical. My immediate reaction is that Americans are so obsessed with self-image, that even giving gifts is a form of social status marker. It feeds into a culture of reciprocity that turns into an ugly cycle. We spend money on stuff to give to others, which causes others to spend money on stuff to give to us, and so on it goes. We might as well all just keep our money and buy whatever we want and forgo the embarrassing clothing exchange at Kohls. No, you did not get my size right!

Of course, this is all hogwash. Sure it may be true to some degree and in some situations, but again, I’m far too cynical.

I heard a honking car outside. We had been visiting with a couple who had lived and served as missionaries in Russia, when we were interrupted. I slipped outside to find a gentleman who I met earlier that day waving me over to his silver Oldsmobile. He and I hit it off right away. He collects clocks. And I happen to really enjoy pocket watches. Smiling, he passed me a very old, silver pocket watch. He regaled me with information and stories about watches and railroad timekeeping.

Most people give gifts out of the kindness of their heart—for Love, which is this week’s Advent theme.

Humankind was formed to be the image of God (Gen. 1:27). This image refers to not only bodily form and the spiritual nature of God, but to the characteristics of God. And His prevailing characteristic is love. Christ’s tale of coming to Earth, living a self-less life, teaching and preaching, and saving Humankind culminates in a very special gift—the gift of self-sacrifice. Christ came to Earth. And that’s what we celebrate now, during Christmas. But He came for a reason, to die in our place.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15). Self-sacrifice is the ultimate gift. What more in the name of love?

We remember probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible—that, God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

anthony forrest

 

Follow along with the Advent tradition! Here are a few passages of Scripture for this week’s theme:

Love

Luke 2:8-20

Psalm 24

I John 4:10

John 3

 

And be sure to check out each one of this year’s Advent stories:

Advent, Part One on the Idyllic Christmas 

Advent, Part Two on Real Peace

Advent, Part Three on Joy Found at Missionary Acres

Real Peace

December 5, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Photo courtesy Christmas Village Market

Advent Part Two

Travel Journal, 111

We were attracted by a Christmas festival in Baltimore, Maryland. We flew into the good ol’ harbor town of Baltimore specifically to enjoy “The Authentic German Christmas Market” called the Christmas Village. Cozy winter visitors come from all around to take in warmth of this little Christmas scene.

Tiny cottage-like buildings dot the inner harbor at West Shore Park. Vendors sell their crafty goods. Heaps of giant pretzels stacked feet high can’t be missed. Carolers sing. And jolly bearded folk offer mulled wines and ciders to warm the heart and soul. Lights hang low, just above head. Don’t forget to ride the old fashions Christmas carousel. Handcrafted ornaments hang on candlelit trees, waiting to find their home in yours. When you walk away from the Christmas Village, even the most shrunken, Grinch-like heart will undoubtedly grow three sizes.

We walked the lovely little village, ciders in hand. Baltimore surprisingly delivers a wonderful Christmastime opportunity. But like all big cities, all is not calm. All is not bright.

The Second theme for Advent is Peace.

What does peace look like?

Without even looking up a definition, I tend to think of peace as the absence of conflict, suffering, and sorrow. But sometimes peace can be harder to define than simply the absence of certain things. While darkness is simply the absence of light, that does not mean that all light is better than the darkness—take a house fire at night, for example.

So when we walked along the harbor walkway after the Christmas Village and saw a man sleeping on a bench, my gut reaction was that he was simply asleep. But my second thought was that it was 15 degrees outside, he wasn’t wearing appropriate clothing for the weather, and he had several emptied bottles of booze nearby. The man may have had the appearance of peace, but he was far from at peace. He was barely breathing and would have no doubt died on that park bench. I described his situation to the 911 dispatcher and an ambulance arrived shortly thereafter.

The book of Isaiah tells us that unto us a Child is born. His name shall be called the Prince of Peace (among other wonderful things). (Is. 9) And when he did come to earth, a group of angels announced from the sky that this Child, Jesus, brought peace and goodwill to men. (Luke 2) Jesus didn’t just come to earth to ease conflict or dull the pain of existence. He came to earth and brought a real, lasting peace. The peace is Jesus himself. His salvation is not that he came and left. His salvation is that He came and the presence of God has not left. It is no longer dark. And the light is the warm glow of the Son of God.

A simple lack of conflict doesn’t cut it. Without the peace of Jesus, we might as well be drunk on a park bench in a t-shirt and jeans in the middle of winter. That kind of peace is artificial and deadly. A lack of conflict means nothing without the true Agent of Peace, the Prince of Peace. The presence of Jesus displaces conflict, war, sorrow, sadness, pain, and death.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Is. 9:2) For to us a child is born. His name shall be called Prince of Peace. (9:6)

anthony forrest

Follow along with the Advent tradition! Here are a few passages of Scripture for this week’s theme:

Peace

Isaiah 9

Luke 2:13-14

Colossians 3:15

Psalm 27

And be sure to check out Advent, Part One on the Idyllic Christmas

The Idyllic Christmas

November 28, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Advent, Part One

Travel Journal, 110

What makes the perfect Christmas? Could it be the anticipation of setting up the tree? Barely making it past Thanksgiving before it goes up? Could it be family traditions? How about the food, gift-giving, shopping, get-togethers, or the Grinch?

Is there a recipe for the idyllic Christmas?

My wife and I went looking for that answer one year. We packed a weekend bag, boarded a plane, then watched expectantly as we descended through the clouds, making our pilgrimage to the land of Christmastide. What better place to look than the one state whose very existence serves to fuel Christmas dream?

Ah, Vermont. Thou home of nearly every Hallmark movie. We had found a nice deal on a romantic backwoods’ inn in the quaint village of Chester, Vermont. I had scoured the depths of the internet to find a great place to spend an ideal Christmas weekend. The results astounded me. Every town in Vermont is an ideal place to spend Christmas. So I picked, at random, a little town with a little inn. Not a hotel. Not a motel. An inn. And I tell you, there’s a difference.

You stay at a hotel because you get to.

You stay at a motel because you have to.

But you stay at an inn because want to. An inn beckons people. Even Joseph and Mary wanted to stay in one (no room). Quaint inns dot Thomas Kinkade paintings and can be found in fantasy novels.

And the Fullerton Inn is the quaintest.

The lovely New England inn is nestled gently in the northern Appalachian Mountains. Each of the windows bore shutters. And the many railings displayed numerous wreaths. We walked in and immediately knew we were in the right place. The place was hung with green. A blaze roared inside the stone fireplace. But above all, the simply enormous Christmas tree caught our eye. As we walked through the entry ogling it, a small bustle of ladies scooted by and one of them stopped near us.

“Oh, you’ll have to excuse the mess,” she declared, “the whole town is getting ready for the Christmas festival!”

Literally, just like a Hallmark movie.

That week we saw carolers and Santas, ate gingerbread cookies, and drank hot chocolate. We’d never been so nostalgic about Christmas—never had such an idyllic and festive time. We talk about it every year.

But neither nostalgia nor Christmassy romance can fill the heart-sized void that all men and women feel. The traditional Christian celebration called Advent (Latin for the coming) begins on Sunday, November 28th this year.

And the first week is all about hope.

I can’t speak for you, but the reason Christmas means so much to me is that I yearn for it. We’ve spent a full year building to something. All the other holidays are over. I’m looking into the next year, worried about whatever is to come. But as soon as I dig out my copy of A Christmas Carol and hear the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah, I start to feel that draw. The nostalgia, warmth, expectation, longing, desire, and everything else I can’t put my finger on all comes crashing in on me. And that’s the way it should be. For the Christian, we use this time of Advent to focus on the One true gift of Jesus Christ—God Himself come to earth *to seek and to save that which was lost.

That feeling of longing and waiting is good. Use it. Watch your Hallmark movies (the Fullerton Inn was featured in this one). Drink that second cup of hot chocolate. String popcorn and cranberries (google it). And feel that draw. Something, Someone, good is coming.

The draw you feel this year; all that nostalgia and expectation weighing on you, I say, look to Jesus this Christmas season. Remember His coming. He makes each Christmas idyllic.

anthony forrest

 

 

Follow along with the Advent tradition! Here are a few passages of Scripture for this week’s theme:

Hope

Luke 19:10*

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

Psalm 122

Isaiah 2:2-5

Romans 13:11-14

Know Him this Christmas

December 23, 2019 / / 2 Comments
St Augustine Catholic Church In Montpelier, VT for Handel's Messiah, 2017

To know Him we must be like Him

 

Born humbly into a new life

Into an old animal shed

A clean, yet humble livestock barn

Perfect beginnings for a life Christ-led

 

From fleshly beds of discontent

To beds of straw we now lay

Simple beds of contentment and joy

As our Saviour laid on that first Christmas day

 

Trading old lives of confusion and strife

For new lives of simplicity

Turning from sin, and looking ahead

With goals of Christlike purity

 

‘Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

‘And who may stand in His holy place?’*

Clean hands, pure hearts

Seek ye fully His holy face!

 

Wrapped in cloths of truth

Laid in a manger of grace

Quietly animals low

Born again into His perfect grace

 

To know Him we must be like Him

 

anthony forrest

 

*Psalm 24:3-4

Holy Night

December 19, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Travel Journal, 43

I slung my well-worn backpack over my shoulder and stepped onto the escalator that leads down to the baggage claim and public transportation area of the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport. The good news was that my flight had arrived early. The bad news was that my next flight wasn’t for another six hours. An early arrival was far from helpful today.

Last step of the escalator glided to the bottom floor of the airport. I walked off and into the direction of the light rail train stop. If I ever have a long layover at MSP, I’ll typically take the train to the Mall of America and Ikea. But let’s be honest. The only reason I go to the mall is because the train terminates there. I walk through it on my way to Ikea and those tasty little meatballs and stunning pre-fab furniture. It’s a great way to blow an afternoon before the final leg of a trip.

But as I strode past the luggage claim carrousels, a man pulling a roller-bag caught my eye. He wore a black overcoat and halted at a baby grand piano not far in front of me. Certain airports strive for interesting and fun ways to create atmosphere and culture. And MSP has several pianos. Sometimes a busker sits and plays, attempting to sell albums, and sometimes the pianos lie vacant. Such was not the case today.

I walked past him, not wanting to become the audience and, to be honest, not really caring too much about whether I heard him play. But I soon froze where I stood as he struck out the first notes of “O Holy Night.”

I turned and found a seat. He clearly knew what he was doing with the piano. He played and improvised on the old, old tune and extracted from it every ounce of Christmas. No sheet music sat in front of him. But off to his left side stood a phone, recording a video.

His music warmed the soul of this weary traveler. So when he finished, I clapped and walked over to introduce myself. He was an expat living in Quito, Ecuador. The medical work he did kept him busy in South America doing pro bono surgeries for children in need. This, the very embodiment of the post-haunting Scrooge, was on his way to Colorado for Christmas with his family. His adult daughter was on the other end of that video call, listening to her father play her favorite Christmas hymn.

Not every person celebrates Christmas. And not every person confesses Christianity. But for those of us that do both, Christmas gives us an opportunity to come together in common purpose: to live in kindness, love others, and spread a song of hope found in a Savior born to save. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn and each soul captured by the appearance of the Christ has felt its worth. That leaves us with nothing to do but to fall on our knees in awe of such a holy night.

Merry Christmas,

anthony forrest

Shepherd Song

December 16, 2019 / / 0 Comments

In a field far away

Near the place where a king

Came to earth in the form of a child

The keepers of sheep

Awoke from their sleep

To the cry that salvation was nigh

 

Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim

Good news and joy have come down

So together we’ll sing

Praise to the King

And glory to God on high

 

What a marvelous day

When the anthem was raised

And the angels lit up the sky

In joyful release

The sang of a peace

And a Savior for you and I

 

Oh, Come!

Let us go to the place

And see the face

Of the One, the Gift, the Word

Who has lifted the lame

Brought life to the dead

Oh, come!

Haven’t you heard?

 

annthony forrest

Land of the Nativity

December 12, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Travel Journal, 42

We are greeted with clasping hands and a generous smile.

It is hard to know who said “shalom” first. But we all do at some point during introductions.

The man quickly catches a boy by the shoulder.

The little black-haired boy looks up at his father, who had stopped him in his play. The boy gazes up at his father, listening to the instructions. But in a couple of seconds, the boy runs off like a shot, out the door and down the alleyway.

Our host (also shop owner) eagerly leads the four of us to four tiny plastic chairs of differing colors. Color seems to be the theme running through Jerusalem. Brightly ornate scarves hang about us. Several languages color the air. And a dozen or more ethnic groups create a culture more colorful than any other on this earth.

And now I see the little Arab boy, running in his shorts and sandals, carrying something. He holds what looks like a platter suspended by three ropes tied at the top and held in his hand. On that platter are five small and clear glasses of green tea, whole leaves. The lad moves effortlessly through a nearby crowd. He enters the store and his father serves us.

It’s delicious and sweet—this tea, this place, this moment, everything. And all the uncomprehended Hebrew has me hypnotized. But I refocus and notice that our friends stand and begin moving into another room.

We are here with an objective.

We are here to find Christmas.

Presently, the shop owner and giver of delightful tea rummages through piles of olive wood carvings. First, he produces the hand-crafted manger; then Mary, now Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men three, sheep, camels, ect.

It’s all here. He tells us, as is visible by the various models nearby, that he has crafted hundreds of Nativity scenes. He appears quite proud of his creation.

He should be proud.

His hands craft the very throne of the Majestic One. Olive wood is lowly enough to be hand-crafted and beautiful enough for a King; which, to me, seems just right.

Tis a King’s tale.

 

anthony forrest

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