MORGAN'S
MOMENT...
“We don’t give money
    for people
    that made bad choices.”
A response during a conversation
    about all the appeals
    from charities.
I tried to think which charities
    would drop from my list
    using those criteria.
What happened to
    “there but for the grace
     of God go I?”
I wish we all made good choices...
    that we all had good genes
    that we all were born in the USA.
I wish kids all had good parents…
    that none were mentally ill
    that disasters never happened.
I guess we’ll give to causes
    that try to help those in need…
    as we are able.
‘Tis the season to remember Jesus
    who had compassion even for
    those that made bad choices.
— Art Morgan 

BOOK CORNER
I spent part of Thanksgiving week reading Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol.” It is fiction that leads some to believe it as fact. As in “The Da Vinci” code it a series of crisis and chase events. I wouldn’t call it inspirational. I was something to do at the cabin during a rainy week.
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MOMENT MINISTRIES
– Decembeer 3, 2009 –
    A MOMENT MINISTRIES production – Art Morgan
a-morgan@peak.org
THE BIG GAME
All the important history of this week will be decided by the time this gets in the mail. At least in Oregon. Two Oregon schools will decide which goes to the Rose Bowl. Our friends in California and Washington (as well as Arizona) are in the unusual position of not being involved in that decision.
Pity the churches in Oregon that are trying to get members to move toward a pious celebration of the Christmas season. This week of the beginning of Advent, who cares?
I must say that with a wife and two daughters with degrees from Oregon State and two grandchildren with degrees from the U of Oregon my UW loyalties and clergy priorities don’t count.
 
The other game in town!

annual PRE-CHRISTMAS SUNDAY BRUNCH

 SUNDAY Dec. 6 AT 10am, more or less

At their historic home of Barbara Ross and Joe Omelchuck
460 SW Jefferson in downtown Corvallis

BRING SEASONAL BRUNCH ITEMS TO SHARE
COME TO THE GAME!

GIFT IDEAS
George Tolman was the first to give us the idea of giving an extra gift to our grandkids at Christmas via Church World Service. They will be credited with four bee hives, 20 rabbits, six goats, two pigs, 500 chicks, a sewing machine (with training), and seeds and tools sent around the world.  (We forgot the partridge in a pear tree!)
Of course we’ll give other gifts, but these are extra.
It’s a way of making the point that for the amount we spend on gifts that are soon spent or forgotten it is possible to remember others in our family of fellow humans on planet earth.  Merry Christmas to all!
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SAYING YES TO VIRGINIA

               I’m expecting the Christmas editorial page to run that well worn article, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
               There seems to be a coming of age moment when children begin to question Santa Claus. I don’t remember my children ever asking me if Santa Claus was real. So I don’t know what I might have answered Virginia.
               Would you tell a questioning six year old, “No, there is no Santa Claus” especially at Christmas time? What would you say? I’d be interested to hear how people deal with such a question.
               Most kids seem to catch on by themselves, maybe with the aid of older children who’ve caught on. It may be a growing understanding. If there was a moment when I moved Santa from history to legend I don’t remember it.
               You can no doubt Google up a history for Santa if you need one. There are religious and secular traditions. But most don’t need a birth certificate in order to enjoy his involvement with Christmas.
               Then there is Jesus. I remember a religion student at Oregon State University telling of things he was learning in his religion class. He had come to our Christmas Eve service a number of times. I knew his class would cover the origins of world religions and learn of the various miracle birth stories of their founders. He would have learned that the Bible offers several versions of how Jesus appeared in the world. Everything from the two birth stories in Matthew and Luke, to no mention at all. He would have learned that a historical story of Jesus is virtually impossible to defend.
               I don’t remember how he posed the question, but basically he asked me, “Is the birth story of Jesus in the Bible true?” It’s not like asking, “Is there a Santa Claus?” But it’s pretty close.
               This all comes to mind as we prepare to do our “do-it-yourself nativity story” again on Christmas Eve. I will invite children to come forward to stand in for shepherds and angels and wise men (and women). A mother will come forward with an infant child to portray Mary and Jesus. Will I use Christmas Eve to question whether any of this actually “happened”? Could I, would I, should I say, for Christmas sake, “Yes, Virginia….”?
               Here’s the way it played out one year. Some months before Christmas that religion student met me with his wife. She was “with child.” She patted her tummy and asked, “Baby Jesus?”  I signed her up for Christmas Eve on the spot.
               Sure enough, this young man who could no longer believe in Santa or in the Christmas story came on Christmas Eve to play Joseph, with his wife as Mary, and their infant child as Jesus.
               Is Santa real? Is Jesus real? On Christmas, at least, the question is not asked.  We all, believers and unbelievers together, light our candles and sing “Silent night, holy night, All is calm all is bright.” Yes!
─ Art Morgan, December 3, 2009