Christmas Highlights

Christmas had all the usual things that were pretty excellent this year. Presents, family, friends, Jesus, roast potatoes. I could blog about these things, but I won't. I've decided I might blog about 5 things which were less usual, but still quite wonderful.

1. The King Parrot



We were having community brunch on Christmas Eve. It was full of Christmas cheer, which I think is like generic cheer but with Christmas biscuits thrown in. I was in the kitchen doing something domestic, when a king parrot came and landed on our kitchen door. He was red and green and loving Christmas. It felt like the wildlife were in on the joy too.

2. I Love Carol

Actually, I love carols. But there's nothing wrong with Carol, I'm sure.

After having developed a hatred of carols from my years of forced carol singing throughout primary school, it's taken me a long time to recover. However, slowly over that last few years my aversion has been wearing off, I have learnt to forgive the Three Kings, Royal David's City and the Harking of Angels. So that this year I positively loved carols. Partly because many of them have such fantastic words, but also because when done well they sound great. I went to the midnight service at St Stephen's, Belrose for a bit of a sing and celebrate, and the team there (they know who they are) did a great job. Helped me celebrate Jesus more.

3. Sleep

On Christmas evening between 6pm and 7pm I had a nap. It rocked.

4. Christmas Night Movie

Anmol, Daviandra and I went to the movies on Christmas night. We had a drink before hand in bar and then watched Meryl Streep play The Iron Lady likaboss. She was pretty awesome and the movie wasn't half bad either. If only she ahd an arc reactor around her heart and the ability to fire weapons from her jacket sleeves, it could have been the best movie of the year. Movies, good friends and beer. Best way to do Christmas night in my book.

5. Skype

On Boxing Day at Christmas with my Dad's side of the family we skyped Jo and Victor. I didn't get to talk to them long because they were by far the most popular people not in the room, but it was nice to see them. I'm looking forward to seeing them (and their offsprung) for real, but till then, speaking Star Trek style will do pretty good too.


And that is the less usual of another happy Christmas.

Thumbs Up for Jesus

I love babies and I love Jesus.

Today is win.

Incarnation at the Scales

I am currently standing in Myer, Top Ryde looking at outrageously expensive kitchen scales for Mum for Christmas. (I'm too poor, sorry Mum.)

Behind me is the Christmas Shop. They're playing carols and Hark the Herald Angels Sing was just on. I was struck just then, as I am every year, at what profound theological statements these songs make. It seems so odd and wonderfully subversive that every Christmas the wonder of 'Christ the everlasting Lord' would be sung in our temples of consumer idolatry. That we would be asked to 'hail incarnate deity' who was 'pleased as man with man to dwell' while we are also encouraged to shop till midnight for our convenience makes me so happy. It's what Christmas is about really, God being found in the midst of the most unexpected places. Even here in Myer Top Ryde.


"Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
'Glory to the newborn King!'"

Face

I'm on my last night of camp. I've been speaking on this camp for the last week. My best speaking stuff up of the week was when I encouraged all 70 kids to "put your face in Jesus."

Faith and face sound very similar.

Crash

The other night (Wednesday) I went around to visit April and Dan in Lane Cove. When I arrived I parked on the side of the street. I'd parked in-front of a van, but I remembered when that the corner April and Dan live on is pretty dangerous, they'd had two crashes on that corner in four days, one having happened that day. I figured if the van I was parked in-front of moved there would be nothing between me and the cars coming around the corner. So I moved my car forward and parked on the other side of a driveway, figuring I'd be far enough away from the corner to escape any crashing vehicles.

I hadn't been at April and Dan's more than 15 minutes when we heard a long skid and then a rather loud bang coming from the road. Dan said "That's a big one", then ran to get his shoes. Living on the corner has turned Dan into a bit of a hero. Dan and I ran out (April wasn't home yet) and there was a lady sitting in a Falcon, facing into the road, eyes close head back on the seat. At first she looked unconscious, but she turned out just to be a bit shocked.

She had lost control on the corner, almost hit the van, spun out, and landed on the other side of the van and crashed into a brick bin enclosure for the units next door. Somewhere in that she also managed to take out the rear left side of my car so carefully parked away from the dangerous corner. This is what we found when we came out.



It was pretty exciting. Happily the woman was ok.

Within minutes, while the sound of the crash was still echoing around Lane Cove, a tow-truck turned out. They have amazing super-hearing tow-truck drivers. The faintest sound of a crash and they're there in a flash. Turns out, towing companies have informants all over the place and you get $50 reward for calling in a crash. Living on April and Dan's corner could be quite the little money maker.

After the crash things were not so exciting. I exchanged details with the driver and waited around for her husband to turn up. Then once he had come and I'd gotten a few more details of him and he'd gotten mine, I went in for some dinner.

My car is drivable. The bumper catches the wind when driving at high speeds and makes a loud noise. So I've stuck it to the car with gaffa tape and stuck some red cellophane on the brake-light to make sure it's still red, but other than that, the car works as good as ever. I'll stick up a photo of my handy man job later.

So there you go, my first proper crash and I wasn't in the car. Best way to do it I reckon.

Jesus, my Idol

"Come on, guys." This is the look Jesus gave the disciples when they had taken the joke too far.


I was sitting in staff meeting today and I was thinking about having a conversation with a friend about whatever we were talking about. You know how you pretend to have conversations with friends. Anyway, my answer to whatever question my friend hypothetically asked me was all about Jesus, and my friend, in my head, responded something like "Your answer to every question is Jesus."

At that point I started to think about how my answer to everything is Jesus. Then, because these days I tend to think about life in terms of right and wrong worship, my idolatry alarm went off. I thought to myself "You think about Jesus too much, Jesus is your idol, Jesus is your false god." I felt pretty cut that I was denying God the worship he deserves. I was just about to repent for my sinful, adulterous heart, when I realised, "No, hold on, Jesus is God. He's the one thing you can't make too much of.*" I was about to ask Jesus to forgive me for worshipping Jesus. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been forgiven. That's one action God would have held against me.

It was a nice discovery that, for change, my heart was in the right place



*Along with the Father and the Spirit, of course.