MORGAN'S MOMENT...
“When do we put the baby away?”
The tree was gone…
    along with a lot of lights
    and Christmas time Madonna’s.
But the olive wood manger scene
    purchased long ago in Bethlehem
    was still there by the poinsettia.
I thought of a Greek baptism
    where they put the baby in a closet
    afterwards when the party began.
Jesus is caroled and lullabied
    right up until Christmas eve
    then closeted for party time.
I forgot the presidential candidates
    all parading their Jesus faith
    that disappears after election day.
Let cynicism not blind us to truth
    that some keep Jesus present
    in compassion and justice.
Which makes me think
    maybe it would be a good thing
    to keep the baby all year around.
— Art Morgan 

BOOK CORNER
Two books got me through New Year’s. “How Starbucks Saved My Life – A son of privilege learns to live like everyone else.” By Michael Gates Gill. Good!
Better is a memoir by long time friend and colleague, George Tolman, “Tales, Trails, Trials & Triumphs – Memoirs of a 20th Century Preacher.” It’s a book almost anyone might enjoy. Well-written and very interesting.
The book will inspire clergy who want to be relevant in churches that are reluctant to move out of status quo. I expect this will be must reading for veteran clergy and lay people because George is widely known among Christian Churches throughout the west  Try Amazon.
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MOMENT MINISTRIES
January 8, 2008
home address:  25921 SW Airport Ave.
Corvallis, OR 97333   541-753-3942
email at a-morgan@peak.org
Vote for opus!
Opus was stumping for his candidacy as candidates are doing these days:
“I believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost ─ and I believe in them 20 – 30% more than the rest of the candidates.”
Unfortunately, he went too far. He also believed in Walrus angels.
Is any of this religious pandering bothering us yet? Does this mean that a Jew or agnostic or Unitarian doesn’t have a chance? Does it mean that orthodoxy will be tested so that a Mormon like Romney has to confess belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
Will Christianity be defined by belief in a triune God? Will orthodoxy and creedal Christianity be the measure of one fit to be President of the United States? I guess a lot of people hope so. I hope not.
I remember being excluded from a local Ministerial Association because I refused to sign agreement to belief in the Apostle’s Creed. Maybe it was one of the other creeds, but it made no difference. I do not justify myself by signing creeds or agreeing to creedal statements. I was disappointed when my own denomination, (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ) strayed from its roots as an anti-creedal church and agreed to a creed. I think the purpose was to become part of the ecumenical church that required creedal affirmation. I still won’t sign tests of belief or faith.
I could never explain the doctrine of the Trinity. We worked on it in New Testament theology and Church history. Some thought the faith was empty without it. Others thought it a hindrance to inclusiveness. Every creed is a kind of fence that defines inclusion and exclusion.
One of the founders of the Disciples movement refused to make belief in the Trinity a mark of Christianity. He argued that it was not in the Bible. A favorite church hymn is “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Christian Church hymnals never included the “God in three persons, blessed Trinity” line. It used to say “God over all and blessed eternally.” Now it is back to the “blessed Trinity” language. Alexander Campbell would not be happy.
It’s not a big deal, except that such things create the kind of fences that are not worthy of a church or a nation. Political candidates are not theologians, not even Reverend Huckabee. Why should they get away with claiming true faith?
We’ve just been through the most faith-heavy administration in history. Many would argue that it has been the least faith directed. If they stopped talking about how true their faith is to Jesus and start talking about what Jesus has to say about war, making peace with enemies, the priority of children and the sick and the poor and powerless, and pandering to the wealthy,  I might listen.

 
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THE CHRISTMAS BABY

      We just re-invented the Christmas story.
      Or else we made it contemporary.
      Actually, I’m not quite sure what we did do to the story. I’m pretty sure that a bunch of children went home from Christmas Eve with an altered story embedded in imaginative brains.
      I always feel a bit two-faced about doing the Christmas service we do at the Old World Deli and Pub. It was originally planned for those who don’t go to churches. I always told people that if they wanted the story “done right” there were about 25 churches in our town with well-rehearsed versions complete with costumes.
      I tried to put in a word that would help those with a bit of Bible sophistication understand that I also had a bit of Bible sophistication. Our on the spot creation of the birth story of Jesus was simply another version of what people imagined for the birth time of Jesus. We glean portions from Matthew (especially the star and the magi), and from Luke (Mary and Joseph and the baby in a manger, angels and shepherds).
      It’s somewhat magical as we read portions of both stories and call forth the characters from the audience. We never know who is going to play what parts. It is not unusual for shepherds to want to upgrade to Kings in mid-drama.
      The highest moments of anxiety for me come about 2 minutes before our 6:30 start time. Will we have a baby? We try to choose the youngest child to come in the door. This year I was trying to decide between using the child who was “Jesus” last Christmas or make the story around a 7-months pregnant young lady.
      This year, just as we had decided to go with last year’s baby, in comes a couple with two children. One they carried in their arms wrapped in Santa Claus clothes. I rolled my eyes. Daughter Linda, who screens these babies and their mothers, gave me the high sign that this baby Santa was going to be baby Jesus.
      What could I do?
      That’s how it happened, honest to God. This was unplanned heresy. Or was it divine revelation?
      I didn’t try to explain to little children that this wasn’t the way it happened. I did confess to the awed crowd that there must be a theology to go with the idea of Jesus as Santa Claus, but at the moment I couldn’t think what it could be.
      That’s the problem with stories. And the wonder of them. Every telling has the possibility of a fresh twist. Sometimes the new telling has a truth that challenges all previous thinking. Or sometimes it tells truth as it is. Santa Claus and Jesus share the Christmas stage.
      Were I still in a pulpit with more time to develop these ideas I would surely remind people that both Matthew and Luke were doing historical fiction. Actually, they were doing theological fiction, meaning that faith was embedded in a memorable story.
      Do you believe in Santa Claus? Do you believe in Jesus? Belief in Santa Claus and Jesus require faith. If you argue for Jesus as a historical figure, what about the history that produced St. Nicholas? You see what a mess I get myself into by trying to do a simple re-creation of an old story in the context of a half hour service that also includes carols and candle lighting?
      People go out with glistening eyes as if they once again saw the true story. Maybe they did.
─ Art Morgan, Christmas 2007