Julie and I are down in Austin, Texas this week for Christmas, and aside from a nasty sinus infection, it's been a good trip. I also got the chance today to visit with an old childhood friend, Michael Short, who is living down here now and is actually marrying an Austinite named Jen this coming Saturday. We had a delicious brunch at Kerby Lane Cafe (a uniquely Austin eatery) and caught up on each other's lives.

Among other things, we talked a bit about the new Narnia movie, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" that opened a few weeks ago. On his blog Michael had quoted New Yorker columnist, Adam Gopnik, regarding the likeness of Aslan to Jesus in the Narnia books. While I get really frustrated with both Christian fans and secular journalists who make too much of the connection between Narnia and Christianity (Lewis himself said that Narnia is NOT an allegory of Christianity. Christians who want to read it that way misunderstand it. Not to mention the fact that all the religious hype regarding the movie I think has served to lessen the movie's deserved impact and acceptance with mainstream audiences.) there is admittedly a lot of Christian themes embedded in Narnia, and Aslan is certainly a Christ-figure. Gopnik makes the excellent point that Lewis doesn't actually do a very good job of translating the Jesus of the Gospels into the Aslan of Narnia. If Aslan were to enter Narnia for the same purpose and in the same way that Jesus came into our world, he should have looked and acted very different. Gropnik writes:

".....a central point of the Gospel story is that Jesus is not the lion of the faith but the lamb of God, while his other symbolic animal is, specifically, the lowly and bedraggled donkey. The moral force of the Christian story is that the lions are all on the other side. If we had, say, a donkey, a seemingly uninspiring animal from an obscure corner of Narnia, raised as an uncouth and low-caste beast of burden, rallying the mice and rats and weasels and vultures and all the other unclean animals, and then being killed by the lions in as humiliating a manner as possible—a donkey who reemerges, to the shock even of his disciples and devotees, as the king of all creation—now, that would be a Christian allegory. A powerful lion, starting life at the top of the food chain, adored by all his subjects and filled with temporal power, killed by a despised evil witch for his power and then reborn to rule, is a Mithraic, not a Christian, myth."

And of course, Gropnik is quite right. Jesus, in contrast to Aslan, is not a figure who saves his people through an exercise of violent power, he is the Suffering Servant who goes meekly to the cross and yet still prays forgiveness on those who persecute him and commands us to love our enemies. As my friend Michael points out, Christians should be very careful in using Narnia as a Christian allegory. When it comes right down to it, the message of Narnia is not quite the Christian message (though it bears some similarities). Perhaps we as Christians should be just as quick to help others see those points where Narnia doesn't reflect our faith as we are to point out the similarities, so as not to risk misrepresenting the Jesus that we truly follow. (For the moment, I won't address the sad fact that too many Christians do actually seem to prefer to follow a violent, conquering Jesus who crushes all those who oppose him, rather than a suffering servant - just read the Left Behind books for evidence of that... and I won't ask the even more provocative question of whether those Christians are in fact following the real Jesus at all.)

Of course, in Lewis' defense, I think he would probably freely admit that we shouldn't too closely compare Jesus and the salvation he brought to our world with the actions of Aslan in Narnia. Even if Lewis meant for Aslan to be the "Divine Incarnation" for Narnia just as Christ was in our world, Narnia is not our world, and Narnia was in need of a very different kind of salvation than our world was. Perhaps the best analogy is not to identify the White Witch and her minions with any and all non-Christians in our world (not at all!) but to identify her with those spiritual and societal powers that Christ did come to overthrow - all the powers of oppression, poverty, injustice, exclusion, hatred, violence, materialism and greed - that enslave all of humanity, Christian and non-Christian alike. But we should again note that Christ won his battle with these "powers" through love and sacrifice, not with more violence and hatred. Jesus knew that the only thing that was strong enough to overcome power was weakness (cf. Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 1:25, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

BTW, in case you were wondering, I did enjoy the movie. It wasn't everything I was hoping, but as a children's fantasy movie it was actually pretty good. I know a lot of people have been disappointed with it. I think the key to appreciating it is twofold: #1 - Ignore all the religious hype and don't try to read a Christian allegory into it too much. Just enjoy the story for what it is. And #2 - Don't compare the movie to the Lord of the Rings. They're not the same. Narnia is a kids story, LOTR is not. They're very different in that regards. If you appreciate Narnia simply as a kids movie, then on that standard it's not bad at all.

And here, of course, is the original Christmas Carol, straight from Luke chapter 1. Listen to what Mary says about the true meaning of Christmas:

The Magnificat

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

Another hymn that I think truly captures the purpose for the Incarnation...

O Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

As a counterbalance to all the Christians out there who seem to be telling the world that the meaning of Christmas is trite phrases of greetings, consumer boycotts, and cultural dominance, I thought I'd post the lyrics to a few of my favorite Christmas Carols that I think capture the true meaning of Christmas. I've also highlighted a few of my favorite lines.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Just a note about this Carol: it was written during the American Civil War, another time, similar to our own, filled with hatred and violence. I love the note of hope it sounds in the face of such evil.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Every Christian ought to be required to read Jacqueline Carey's The Sundering series (consisting currently of two books: Banewreaker and Godslayer). My wife, Julie, already had some great things to say about it over on her blog. The story is essentially Lord of the Rings told primarily from the "bad guys" point of view. We start to understand the motivations behind why the supposedly "evil" characters do as they do. We come to realize that good and evil are not so black and white, that it's a lot more complicated than that. We see the good motivations that underlie the bad guys, and we start to notice some of the darker reasonings underlying the good guys. We see that everyone is a complex mixture of light and dark, good and evil, folly and wisdom... just like people in real life.

I won't recap the story here, but I will say that this book reminded me that truth is complex. We don't live in a world of black and white, nor do we live in shades of gray. We live in a world of bright vibrant colors, where all the shades blend together and bleed over into one another. It's like living in a Monet painting. And it reminded me that if we want to pursue truth, if we want to pursue God really, then we have to start getting used to the complexity.

Honestly, sometimes I despair at whether this is really possible. It's so much easier to live in a world of black and white and I can understand why so many Christians choose simply to hang onto that view of things. But that too discourages me, because when I see so many Christians refusing to see the swirling colors of reality and speaking and living as if all things were simply black and white, it makes me wonder whether we care less about truth than we do about being "right". It seems like we'd rather have absolute certainty in our partial answers and half truths than do the hard work of wrestling with the complexity of reality.

And I guess what weighs me down the most is wondering whether it could be any other way. Can we create a church community that embraces complexity and doesn't rush to easy answers and quick judgments? Will our church in Yorkville be any different than the vast majority of churches out there who preach only a world of black and white? Honestly, I fear the judgment of those around me (those who will be in our new church plant and those around me in the broader Christian community - i.e. other pastors, churches, supporters, etc.) who don't want me to answer their questions with an "I don't know" or "It's complicated" or "Well... yes and no." If can't jump as quickly to condemn all the same things they condemn will they call me "wishy-washy"? If I show grace to sinners and allow people's lives within the church to be messy and in process, will people say I'm soft on sin? If I refuse to shelter their children from the complexities of reality will they think that our church is not a "safe place"?

Actually, it's not that I so much fear judgment against me personally. I fear what it means for the church, for the Body of Christ, if creating a community that deals with the complexities of life turns out to be impossible. I think what I'm scared of most is trying to plant a church that sees the world in color, and failing at it precisely because people only want a church that preaches a world of black and white. I don't want to lose hope that a faith community like I dream of really could exist.

Snoopy was a postmodern? :-)

Here's another great comic by my online friend, Brian Hart, from his site disassemblance.com:

I'm getting so sick of all this crap about a "War on Christmas" and Christians threatening to boycott stores that say "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas". For all the years that we have been complaining about Christmas becoming too commercialized, why should we all of a sudden want to make sure that the word Christmas is inextricably connected with bastions of commercialism like Target and Wal-Mart? Wouldn't it be a good thing if those temples to materialism stopped directly associating their efforts at serving the god mammon with the birth of our Lord? Anyhow, I don't have too much more to say along those lines that hasn't already been said by my friend Dave Fitch over at his blog.

But for all those on both sides of the debate that want to make this whole "Happy Holidays" thing into a big political issue I have this to say: If you think that saying "Merry Christmas" is offensive to non-Christians you need to get a clue and lighten up. And if you're a Christian who is offended by someone saying "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" you might want to go to the doctor for a rectal exam to see if you can get that ten foot pole removed. Aren't there far more important things to be thinking about as followers of Christ this time of year than worrying about whether everyone, Christian or not, is paying sufficient respect to our holiday?

Have a _________ ___________ everyone!

It seems like there's a Walgreens or a CVS Pharmacy going in on every street corner out here in the west suburbs of Chicago. Honestly, right before we moved away from the Wheaton area there were three new Walgreens that went in within just a few blocks of each other. And now out here in Yorkville there are (or will be) three Walgreens within 5 minutes of each other.

I just don't get it. Why does anyone need a drug store? Aren't there already pharmacies in every Jewel-Osco, Target, WalMart, and Dominicks around? Isn't it way more convenient to get your prescriptions and toiletries at a place where you can also get your groceries and/or clothes? A drug store just has such a limited selection of products, why would I choose to go there instead of one of those other stores?

I guess what I really don't understand is why these drug store chains are growing and expanding so much across the suburbs. It seems to me that the drug store concept would be an outdated one, a dinosaur of a bygone era doomed to extinction. And yet it's just the opposite - they seem to be booming. I just don't get it. What's the draw? What's the appeal? In an era where "one stop shopping" is increasingly the norm, why are people still shopping at specialty retailers like Walgreens that don't sell anything any different than what you can get at the bigger stores?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about supporting small local businesses and fighting the homogenization imposed on us by the big box retailers. But Walgreens and the like aren't small local businesses. They're big national chains that are essentially the same as the big box stores, only smaller and with less selection. I'd go to a locally owned mom-and-pop drug store for the principle of the thing, but why would I go to a Walgreens?

Can anyone explain this to me?

Here are some more of my favorite quotes and thoughts from my Northern Sun catalog ("products for progressives"):

"It is not love in the abstract that counts. Men have loved a cause as they have loved a woman. They have loved the brotherhood, the workers, the poor, the oppressed - but they have not loved [humanity]; they have not loved the least of these. They have not loved "personally." It is hard to love. It is the hardest thing in the world, naturally speaking. Have you ever read Tolstoy's Resurrection? He tells of political prisoners in a long prison train, enduring chains and persecution for the love of their brothers, ignoring those same brothers on the long trek to Siberia. It is never the brothers right next to us, but the brothers in the abstract that are easy to love."

- Dorothy Day, social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement.

Have you all seen those annoying "Motivational Posters" that seem to hang in every corporate office and teacher's classroom and high school principal's office? You know the ones that have little inspirational quotes about "Integrity" or "Perseverance" or "Excellence". Well if you're as a cynical as I am you'll get a kick out of the "Demotivational Posters" at www.despair.com. They cut through all the crap and tell it like it is. Here are some of my favorites:
















I'll post more later.