Weary Christmas Traveler

I think I may have caught a glimpse of what it might have been like for Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus (historical facts tell us this didn’t happen, but that doesn’t make it untrue!). While my Honda Civic is no match for a two humped camel, it felt like at times I was traveling at that pace due to winter snow and ice. In all, I was actually lucky when it came to dodging the worst of it - no blizzards, road closures, or time spent in a ditch. Maybe a camel would have been better given weather conditions.

Chicago to Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids to Des Moines. Des Moines to Ames. Ames to Walnut. Walnut to Omaha. Omaha to Walnut. Walnut to Des Moines. Des Moines to Chicago. Check!

I wouldn’t have traded the journey for anything. While the miles on the speedometer spiked and the time spent in the car droned on, the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends brought me joy this Christmas. As someone who values relationships immensely, it was important for me to catch up with friends from past lives and see counsins, aunts and uncles from all over the U.S. I was able to see a couple undergraduate friends from UNI and a couple graduate friends from ISU. I was able to be at my large family Christmas at the Amvet Hall in Walnut (yes, we have it in a hall, a house just doesn’t work for 75 people). Too much wine, champaign, and beer aside, this was quality time spent with quality people.

How could I be more grateful and blessed than this?

Like I said, I wouldn’t have traded this journey for anything. Though weary and a bit run down, I am sustained and inspired by my relationships with so many. These folks were certainly gifts to me this Holiday season, I only hope in some small way I was able to reciprocate the love they showed me.

I think I may have glimpsed more than what it may been like for Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem. I think I may have glimpsed a piece of the Christmas message, too!

Creme Brulee

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but I enjoy college football. In fact, if you know me well, you know I enjoy Iowa State University (ISU) athletics. While ISU has somewhat of a reputation for being a “basketball school,” mainly because of the heartache circulating around ISU football , I can’t help but STILL cheer on Cyclone football. I guess this makes me a die hard fan.

And yes, you are right, there will be no “bowling” for ISU this year - they only won two games and their head football coach skipped town after two seasons. I am just fine with Coach Chizik leaving, from what I could tell he’s all show boat and ego, something that doesn’t mix very well with ISU fans. In fact, you could say not only is ISU athletics not very flashy or sexy but the institution itself isn’t either; it’s a place that excels with the likes of agriculture, engineering, and veterinary medicine as top programs. That’s ok with me, too, it’s a meat and potatoes, down to earth place that takes pride in the important things.

Speaking of important things, ISU hired its new coach today - Paul Rhodes. Like ISU athletics and the university itself, it’s not a WOW hire or what many would call a big splash. I had to do some reading up on Mr. Rhodes, and remember, I’m a die hard. After some research, I am genuinely pleased with what this man brings to Ames - integrity, hard work, a familial atmoshphere, knowledge of the game, relates well with young men, and has a desire to want to be at ISU, to be apart of the Cyclone family. Time will ultimately tell how Rhodes does as ISU’s new football coach. After Chizik’s (former coach) dog and pony show ISU seems to be getting back to what it does best - excelling with less in a culture that expects more. I’m looking forward to tasting the meat and potatoes and passing on the creme brulee.

Winds a Whirled

It seems as though I get to this point every December where classes finish for the semester - papers, presentations, finals, and all the academic rigor over. Attention turns toward Holiday happenings, travel plans back to Iowa, and of course an awareness of gifts to be purchased. The “practical Christmas” can overwhelm.

This year, however, I’ve been able to approach the Holidays a bit different. I’m not sure if only having one class to finish meant less of a hectic run to the end, or if I’ve just been a bit more attuned to the Season of Advent, but I’ve felt a crisper, fresher sense about the impending birth of Jesus.

As the cold ’winds a whirled’ outside this Saturday, I snuggled up in a blanket and watched a movie where Whoopi Goldberg became Santa. Through all of her resistance and often comical response to the idea of her being Santa, she glimpsed a new-found spirit that called her back to the simple message (but large implications!) of the incarnation - the sense that all of us are our brothers and sisters keeper. Whether this is celebrated amongst family, co-workers, friends or others, it’s an astonishing realization that our (humanity’s) common brokenness and giftedness is the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God in the here and now. Joy to the World!

As the winds snapped outside, I felt an inbreaking of the special message of Christmas inbreaking in my spirit, too! With the academic piece put away for the year, I am looking forward to sharing in and being apart of the spirit (breathe) of Christmas, whirling around and touching those who are open to its message. I hope I am fortunate enough to feel it’s breeze sweep over me at some point. I hope this for you, too.

Let us Begin at the End

It may be a strange way to begin a blog site, but I couldn’t help but be touched by a commentary that described Abraham Joshua Heschel’s (Jewish Ecumenical Scholar) near-death experience.

Several years before Heschel’s death he suffered a fatal heart attack, and upon gaining consciousness said, “my first feelings were not of despair or anger. I felt only gratitude to God for my life, for every moment I had lived. I was ready to depart. Take me, O Lord, I thought, I have seen so many miracles in my lifetime… I did not ask for success [in my lifetime]; I asked for wonder and you gave it to me.”

I, too, ask for wonder and curiosity. Who is God? What is this world for? Who am I to God in this world? Our greatest problem, Heschel writes, is not how to continue but how to return. How do I return to my truest self? How do I ‘come home’ to my deepest desires? I might suggest that life is about a great homecoming — an inner journey to the peaceful God-place within that informs and sustains our humanity.

I imagine I will be using this blog to ‘work back,’ starting at the end of recent experiences and asking how they contribute to my continual quest to return home. I’ve begun at the end; come with me on my journey if you like. Like Heschel, I hope to proceed with a heart full of gratitude and wonder and the courage to ‘depart again.’ Exciting things are ahead.