MORGAN'S MOMENT...
It’s supposed to snow today…
    but it’s not keeping its promises
    just like it usually doesn’t.
We like weather immensely
    announced in our house every instant
    on three weather devices.
Jean gives our best forecasts…
    going to the door hand out
    reporting what is or isn’t.
I’m still kid enough
     to dream with Bing
     of a white Christmas.
It’s happened twice in Corvallis history
      a frequency that equals
      that of Phoenix AZ!
No wonder I declare
      that I don’t trust the Management
      or those who promise the weather.
I learned when very, very young
      that neither dreaming nor praying
      brought snow on Christmas.
Being good or making promises
      has equally poor results…
      the Master Weatherman is unmoved.
We get far more rain than snow…
       which true to Jesus’ observation
       falls on the just and unjust alike.
They still promise us snow
       and though I remain untrusting…
       my eyes keep checking the window.
— Art Morgan 

BOOK CORNER
The last time I read Thomas Friedman it was to learn the “The World is Flat.” His current book  is “Hot, Flat and Crowded - Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America.” It sounded a lot like some of what we are beginning to hear out of the Obama team plans for reviving America’s economy and place in environmental change.
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MOMENT MINISTRIES
– December 16, 2008 –
    A MOMENT MINISTRIES production – Art Morgan a-morgan@peak.org
YEAR END
Our postal permit always ends on December 31. This makes me try to get out a last mailing on the old permit fee. Usually mid-December turns out to be the last mailing of the year.
My best estimate is that I got 28 mailings out in print as well as 11 summer editions sent via email link to those whose email addresses I have. I surprise myself at the range of topics covered.
Those of you who have commented by email and letter have been very kind and added insights to my thoughts. I like that. It encourages me to keep writing.
I always intend to get a personal card out to everyone. About the best I can do is assure you that if you get this I pressed your label on the page and registered your name(s) in my mind.
So I’m thinking of each of you this Christmas – as always.
The blue sheets go beyond those on my limited list. I hear of them passed on to be used or read in different settings by people whose names I do not know. I like the idea that thoughts spread. I hope to stir thinking rather than end thinking.
So thanks for reading the blue sheet. It motivates me to keep my thinking and reading current. It also helps me feel like I have a large community of friends. I am grateful.
CHRISTMAS EVE
      We’re at the Old World Deli again for Christmas Eve. A baby has been offered by Ted Cox and Veronica via their son, Mauricio and wife. Last Christmas she patted her tummy and said to me “Baby Jesus next Christmas maybe?” So that is taken care of.
      Some of us will gather about 5:30 to take the Deli apart and set up chairs. Paul and the Musicians will start some carols about 6:00 when early arrivals appear. We start the program at 6:30 and finish at 7:00. Carols, the created nativity, and candle-lighting make up most of the event. We aim at those who aren’t likely to seek out one of the many church services in town.
IN CONCLUSION – Peace on Earth ala Friedman
 “We can no longer expect to enjoy peace and security, economic growth, and human rights if we continue to ignore the key problems of the Energy Climate Era: energy supply and demand; petrodictatorship; climate change; energy poverty; and biodiversity loss. How we handle these five problems will determine whether we have peace and security, economic growth, and human rights in coming years.” (p. 49) (Thomas Friedman, “Hot, Flat and Crowded’)
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“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace…” (Luke 2:14)
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WHO STOLE BABY JESUS?

Every Christmas needs a weird story of violation of the sacred. What worse than somebody stealing the baby Jesus? This is followed by the good news that churches are getting Global Positioning System devices to implant in the figurines so police can track them down. The baby Jesus is presumable now safe from kidnapping while lying in his crib.
As a semi-religious semi-professional, I find it a bit embarrassing to see clergy interviewed in front of their churches saddened by the heartless snitching of Jesus.
When things like this appear on my mental screen I fast forward through a variety of thoughts, hoping to find one worth thinking about. Some of my thoughts follow:
“Get a life. You’re bothered about a lost doll? What about the thousands of babies lost to    cholera in Zimbabwe this week?”
“Hey! You’re missing an opportunity. Follow the GPS signals to see how Jesus is getting along in his new home. Maybe he’s found someone to play with. Maybe he’s glad to be brought in out of the cold. Maybe somebody needed a little Jesus.”
“You guys are always trying to push Jesus into people’s hearts and lives and homes. You should be delighted that someone wants him enough to take him. What you should do is put up a sign saying ...
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – TAKE BABY JESUS HOME – FREE!
– No Hidden GPS Embedded –
“Baby Jesus has pretty much disappeared already. He’s gone from the Courthouse grounds, from all commercial window displays, and from the schools. No use of the word “Christmas” anymore and no carols. No boy sopranos (like me) there at Bryant School in Seattle on a cold, wintry evening. belting out my solo verse from “We Three Kings,” “Myrrh is mine its bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom…” Awful! If anyone stole Jesus it was us.”
“No, children didn’t steal Jesus from the schools. I can tell you that our level of sophistication on religion then was almost as microscopic as it is today. We didn’t know what problems it caused Jewish parents who didn’t believe Jesus was their Messiah or anyone’s divine God.  It took me a few years to agree with them and appreciate that the Menorah with its candles held a more sacred place to them than even the Christmas tree! It was Christians who ruined the whole scene by refusing to recognize the claims of others on the season. By excluding Jews and Muslims and Unitarians and Pagans and Secularists and Atheists and others that celebrate the Winter Solstice and the light festivals, Jesus got kicked out as well.”
“The world puts itself in more danger from religious conflict than ever when there is no place for learning about the traditions of others. My hope would be for a school curriculum that uses the special holidays of various religions to do a bit of teaching. Baby Jesus could have his day.”
“What are they going to do when they find those who steal baby Jesus from those cold, dark outdoor mangers? Prosecute them? Require hours of community service? Fine them? Give them jail time?”
My last thought is that maybe someone should say that Jesus is a figure of enough magnitude to make Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” cover. In fact, he still makes a good run at “Man of the Century.”  Jesus would even make a good run at claiming to be “Man of the Last Two Millennia.” Some would say he’s a finalist for “Man of All History.” I say give him a birthday. If putting him outside in a manger where he could get stolen does it for you, go for it! It sounds a little silly to bring out the baby every year. but it makes the point that holiness appears as lowliness. In fact nobody steals the baby Jesus. Instead, when Christmas works its magic, the baby Jesus steals us.
─ Art Morgan, Christmas, 2008