Drum Roll Please...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce the launch of My Alabaster Box: An Offering Of Incense.

OK, so for now, it's a series of posts on a blog. But when I've got them complete, there will be enough for me to publish. And I can start contacting artists and getting permissions for songs, now, too. And what I'm really launching here is not the series, but the new site.

MyAlabasterBox.Wordpress.Com will be the new home of my blog. As I've said, I'll try to keep things up between both, but the truth is, I'll be looking for an email solution for that (can I send one email to two addresses and have it automagically update both blogs?) so I don't have to actually do what I'm doing now, and physically go to both blogs and enter an update!

Anyway, I'm excited, and I'm looking forward to your comments over on the new site. What are you waiting for? GO! Read! :D

Musical Musing: Deep In Love With You, Micheal W. Smith

Sitting at your feet is where I want to be
I’m home when I am here with you
Ruined by your grace, enamored by your gaze,
I can’t resist the tenderness of you

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

Humbled and amazed that you would call my name
I never have to search again
And there’s a deep desire - It’s burning like a fire
To know you as my closest friend

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

You’re golden?, my redeemer
Your blood runs through my veins
My love for you is deeper
Than it was yesterday
I yield? through the curtain
Pardoned by your grace
Oh you’re the lover of my soul
You’re the lover of my soul
I’m deep in love with you, Lord

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

I’m deep in love with you, Abba Father
I’m deep in love with you, Lord
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

My heart, it beats for you, Abba Father.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.
My heart, it beats for you, Precious Jesus.
I’m deep in love with you, Lord.

Let me apologize first for the question marked lyrics; no one on the internet that I found had these yet; the album was just released late October/early November (right before I went to Europe, if I remember correctly)… so I was transcribing them as I listened to the song on repeat on my computer. I gave you what I understood… I’m not sure I got them right.

I’m not worried though; the ideas that made me fall in love with this song (even though it is repetitive) are in the first verse and in that repeated verse, not the bridge. It dovetails for me into another song I’ve mused about… Casting Crowns, “Your Love Is Extravagant”. Can you see where the two would remind me of each other?

“Ruined by your grace, enamoured by your gaze, I can’t resist the tenderness of you…”
“Your love is extravagant”

“Sitting at your feet is where I want to be; I’m home when I’m here with you.”
“Your fragrance is intoxicating in our secret place”

“And there’s a deep desire - It’s burning like a fire - To know you as my closest friend”
“Your friendship, it is intimate”, “You considered me a friend”

“I’m deep in love with you… my heart, it beats for you,”
“Capture my heart again”

Oh, Beloved… I know this isn’t “Christmas” as you normally think of it. I know there is no Santa here, no reindeer, no elves or snow… no magi or shepherds, no virgin or angels… and yet, Beloved, this is why we have Christmas. This is why Christmas is so beautiful and alive for me. This is why I loved The Shack, because you see, Beloved, mine is not an empty religion made up of rote and ritual, but a living relationship, energized by conversation and stunning love. Stunning, I tell you. Do you remember what I said about “extravagant” love in my musing on the Casting Crowns’ song? (look at that! I linked it for you!... but I’ll give you a tidy summary anyway).

Extravagant love “spends much more than is necessary or wise”, it “goes beyond what is deserved or justifiable,” and it “exceeds the bounds of reason”. This is the love that our God pours out on us. Extravagant. Excessive. Beyond what we deserve, beyond what is justified… beyond what is justifiable. God’s Love spent EVERYTHING for us, casting off glory to take up humanity, and all for love of us. Loved that completely, that fully, that… that extravagantly, I am ruined for anything less. Nothing else could compare, and thus God’s love has left me ruined for any other lesser love to try to take His place. It’s like if the first time you ever ate meat, you had the best, most delicious, perfect cut of meat ever… everything else would pale in comparison. Burgers would be nothing… you’d forever be ruined by that ONE cut of meat that defined what meat is supposed to be (I know, really weak example, but how else do I express the idea of being ruined by something so good?)

Beloved, This is Christmas. This is the miracle Emmanuel, God with us. This is the great condescension, God Almighty, the Creator, putting on mortality and coming to earth to woo us and win us back to Himself. This is why I celebrate Christmas… not because a baby was born in a stable, but because of who that baby was. Beloved, that baby was Emmanuel. That was Love enfleshed. That was Extravagant Love, going beyond the bounds of reason or what we deserved, longing only to love us all, longing only to call us His own Beloved.

Did you know that’s why I call you “Beloved”? Because you are. You ARE. Even if you don’t know my Savior yet, even if you’re still skeptical about this Jesus I speak of, even if you doubt how my God could be Good and All-Powerful and I could still have experienced the things I did… Beloved, none of that changes the fact that Jesus came to this earth for YOU. That extravagant love spent itself for YOU. That right now, sitting on the throne of God, the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, the Baby we celebrate at Christmas is looking down at you and LOVING YOU more than you can imagine. As I write these words, as you read them, Beloved, He is longing to ruin you with a love that will blow your mind and leave you as enamoured with Him as I am.

And you can take Him all your questions, all your doubts, all your problems. All your whys, or why nots. All of it. Beloved, all He wants is to love you, and for you to learn to love Him back… and until you open the dialogue, until you consent to relationship with Him, He can’t answer your questions, and you can never experience the life-changing love that’s being poured out on you now. I want you to celebrate Christmas with me, Beloved. Won’t you risk knowing my Christ? Isn’t extravagant love and a grace so good it “ruins” you a risk worth taking? You’ll never know unless you try.

The Shack, by William P Young

(My review for Facebook)
I'm aware that there's controversy, and as I was reading, there were a few places where I could see that someone might have problems. That said, I did not have problems with it. Simply put, this is one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life.
This book discusses the basic structure of man's interaction with God; is it built on rules and limits and religion, on the law the demonstrates where we fall short of the ultimate goal of perfection, or is it, as the author would suggest, about a living, vital relationship with God? Is God a distant ruler aiming to strike us down for our failures, a cold and heartless judge condemning us to hell, or is it possible that God is, as John revealed in his epistle, Love, and moved by love, marked by love, in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine and that shatter our preconceptions, not only of God, but of what we are to be if we are to be called adopted sons and daughters of God?
If this book serves to call men and women into a deeper, truer relationship with their Savior, with the Lover of their Souls, with the Abba Father who loves us enough to create us knowing what it would cost... surely there is value in this book.
I know that the many tears I cried were bottled as I read, and I know that they will fertilize more rich growth in the garden God continues to cultivate in my soul.

I want to make it clear that while there are things in this book that I can't speak to theologically (the gender of God, for instance), I'm willing to dismiss them as creative license to accomplish the larger goal of giving the author a structure into which to write this discussion with God.
The core of the discussion? I have no problem with that. I can't tell you how many times I cried, but I'll tell you there was at least one time that I fell apart, sobbing, and had to wait for the tears to clear before I could continue (page 173)(I don't want to say too much lest I spoil things for those who haven't read the book).
God loves you. Desperately. God LONGS for a relationship with you... as I've seen before, "God thinks you're to DIE for." I know that's hard to wrap your mind around, and if you're asking "But what about the bad things?!"... you need to read this book.

Beloved, I've lived the bad things in life. I was raped repeatedly from the time I was 10 until I was 13. I was abused emotionally and physically by my mother and convinced myself that she couldn't love me... which meant I couldn't be loved. At all. By anyone. My father died in a car accident when I was 17. I can't have children. I've got a litany of reasons to doubt God's goodness or God's love... but I don't. I don't doubt God's love for me. I cling to it like an anchor in the storm. This book is the closest I've ever found to explaining how it is that I can find God still Good and Merciful and worth Loving (and all powerful) in the face of all the evil in this world (even in my life).

Seriously. This may be one of my new favorites EVER, and I hope to spend a good deal of time dissecting it and finding the places in Scripture that illustrate the soul-changing, life-filling, joy-giving power discussed in this tiny little read. If you haven't yet, pick this one up.

Christmas Carol #3 Breath of Heaven

I have traveled many moonless nights,
Cold and weary with a babe inside,
And I wonder what I’ve done.
Holy father you have come,
And chosen me now to carry your son.

I am waiting in a silent prayer.
I am frightened by the load I bear.
In a world as cold as stone,
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now.
Be with me now.

Breath of heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me,
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy.
Breath of heaven.

Do you wonder as you watch my face,
If a wiser one should have had my place,
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of your plan.
Help me be strong.
Help me be.
Help me.

Breath of heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me,
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy.

Breath of heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me,
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy.
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven.
I sang this song in church once, frightened that I would go off-key somewhere, but so awed by the beauty of the song that I longed to share it. And it seems fitting, having discussed the ordinary nature of who Joseph and Mary were, having thought of what Joseph might have been thinking as he held the tiny Son of God in his arms, that perhaps I should consider the young Mary next.
As I said in the last musing (On “Strange Way to Save The World”), Mary is certainly a very young woman. While she’s been raised to this life, expecting to be a mother at so tender an age, surely she never expected so… challenging? daunting? awesome? a charge as her own Savior. And she certainly didn’t expect to come into motherhood before she was a bride, with reason to fear for her or her son’s life because of the law she’d been raised with and obedient to so long. Surely in the long months before Jesus’ birth there were whispers… even if Joseph married her before her pregnancy showed, people would wonder at the sudden rush and the quick blossom of life.
But our Lord did not leave her alone in the midst of this. Though it would have been difficult to tell right away that she was pregnant (no EPT then, folks) the truth of the prophecy was proven as soon as she ran to Elizabeth, who was, as the angel had told her, 6 months pregnant. Indeed, the reaction of Elizabeth’s child to the unborn Savior carried by Mary told Elizabeth immediately that this was indeed no ordinary child. The two women stayed together for an undisclosed time, but it is likely that by the time Mary went home, Elizabeth was close to delivering her son, and Mary was certain of her own pregnancy.
I’ve never been pregnant. I’ve wanted it, desperately, even when I was afraid because of what seemed like poor timing, but I’ve never known what it’s like to be pregnant. I helped raise my sister, I’ve watched others go through pregnancy, and I’ve watched as my sisters and brother in law are raising their collective 12 (nearly 13 children, when the sister I helped raise has hers this coming spring). So I’ll admit that I can only surmise at the rush of emotions that Mary might have felt. But you, Beloved reader, perhaps you’ve been pregnant. Or your wife has. Or maybe, like me, you’ve had to live vicariously through loved ones… But surely young Mary experienced many of the same fears and joys you felt…
Dread… I’m pregnant. How will my partner/husband react? What will our families say?
Fear… this is her first child; Will it hurt? Will I be able to bear it? Will I survive it (A far bigger concern in her time than for us now, granted, but still)? I’m going to be a mother. Me. What if he falls down? What if I drop him? What if he hurts himself? What in my life shows that I’m even qualified to be a mother… much less mother to the Son of the Most High?!
Awe… This is life, growing within me! This is a miracle, and every day He is grows larger and stronger and closer to entering this life! This… This is the Son of the Most High!
Joy… Feel that? He moved! He kicked! He’s alive in there, well and strong! I’m going to be a mother! I will hold Him soon…
So many things, so many more than even other mothers felt. Did she feel a special burden because of who this child was? Did she fear her mistakes more than others might, because of who this child was? How much did her son’s unique identity shape her reactions during her pregnancy, or did God grant her a special grace as she carried God incarnate, the Word made flesh? (I have friends who debate whether or not she suffered labor pains! I can’t answer that one!!)
I think all of these thoughts, all of these questions, are why I love this song. It’s so intimate… almost as though we’re eavesdropping on Mary’s prayer in the last hours as she travels to Bethlehem where she will deliver her son. We get a glimpse of the humanity that surrounds Jesus, of the ordinariness of the woman God chose to deliver Grace enfleshed.

My Catholic friends, please forgive me if it seems I make Mary too human. Yes, she is one of my heroes of the faith, like Peter and Paul… but what makes her heroic to me is her very humanity. It is the fact that she is so like me, so like my sisters, so like any other woman who could have lived, who has lived… but her life is so marked by the undeniable Grace of God that she is forever changed, forever marked by it. She is an Everywoman, a promise of what we can be if only we would trust in our Lord… not that we could give birth to our Savior, but that we could have an intimate, loving, personal relationship with him. She was the first to know the New Testament Christ, the revelation of God as personal and relational, as approachable, as fully God and fully Man… and it is that aspect of her life that marks her as remarkable to me, just as it is Peter’s rash foolishness and quick temper that highlight his humanity before God changes him and makes him a mighty man of Faith, or Paul, who has a murderous zeal for the law before meeting Christ and learning to see in a new way. It is the humanity of Mary and Joseph in these first moments that awe me; how great the grace of God that is poured over them to bear these unprecedented remarkable events.
You see, Beloved, seeing Mary as human, seeing Joseph as human, remembering that they were ordinary people… well, it gives me hope. No matter what I face in life… well, if God can grant ordinary men and women enough grace to get through 9 months of an unplanned pregnancy, a birth in a barn, and all that would follow… surely there is grace enough for what I must face.
As Mary sings “Breath of Heaven, hold me together…” I can sing it, with the confidence that the Breath of Heaven will indeed hold me together, that just as she was not alone 2000 years ago, neither am I tonight. Christmas, Beloved, Christmas is about hope and the faith to carry on when it seems you can’t. Surely that is worth celebrating?
Breath of heaven,
Hold me together,
Be forever near me,
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy.
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven.
Breath of heaven.

Christmas Carol #2: Strange Way To Save The World

Sure he must have been surprised
At where this road had taken him
'Cause never in a million lives
Would he had dreamed of Bethlehem
And standing at the manger
He saw with his own eyes
The message from the angel come to life
And Joseph said...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

To think of how it could have been
If Jesus had come as He deserved
There would have been no Bethlehem
No lowly shepherds at His birth
But Joseph knew the reason
Love had to reach so far
And as he held the Savior in his arms
He must have thought...

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade
Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
Why here inside this stable filled with hay
Why her, she's just an ordinary girl
Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world

Now I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say
But this is such a strange way to save the world
...this is such a strange way, such a strange way,
a strange way to save the world

You may have guessed from my first entry in this “Christmas Carol Musings” series, that my favorite carols are the ones that point to the grander purpose of Christmas. If you’re familiar with “Christian” music, you may even know this song (and folks from Rejoice/Owasso/Tulsa, if you haven’t picked up “Owasso Sings Christmas” yet, with Janettia Alexander singing this offering, you’re missing out… call Rejoice to find out how you can get your copy of this awesome album (and no, I’m not on it, I just heart it!)), but for those readers who’ve never heard it, this is a new one.

This time, I don’t have to define terms for you, but I do want to give you the Christmas story, because that’s the story this song assumes you know already. If you’ve heard this story all your life, read along with me anyway… try to rediscover the wonder you felt the first time you heard it, or the first time you heard it once you knew what it meant. If this is the first time you’ve heard this story, it’s told in the Bible in several places. I’d recommend reading the entire thing, but to get just the meat for this story, you’re going to go back to Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-20, and Matthew 1:18-2:12.
Mary was a young girl; keep in mind that in the first century, life spans were significantly shorter than ours are now, and customs were different, not just because of the time, but because Mary and Joseph would have been good Jewish men and women, raised obediently in the law of Moses. Joseph would have been raised and educated as long as his parents could afford, and at 13, he’d have been apprenticed to a master tradesman… possibly his own father. By 13, though, Joseph was considered an adult, responsible for himself and his actions. He would have continued to work with his master (not as a slave, but an apprentice, remember), learning the trade, until he was able to work on his own and support himself and his family. Chances are good that his parents and Mary’s parents had pre-arranged the marriage years before the two of them knew the other existed. Once Joseph could care for Mary, the betrothal, this pre-arranged marriage, that had been planned would move to an engagement and then marriage… but this arrangement was so binding that the only way it could be broken was through the same mechanisms in place to divorce a wife… and in ancient Jewish law, divorce was not easy. So Joseph was almost certainly 7-10 (or more) years older than Mary, and Mary was little more than 13-15 herself. After all, if she didn’t die in childbirth, odds were that disease would take her before she saw 40; if she was to bear the sons and daughters that the couple would need to support them and their family (because that was the custom), they had to start as soon as she was able to… which meant she entered married life as an adult about the same age that Joseph was considered an adult.

So we have a 13? 14? year old girl who’s still living at home with her parents, a devout girl who’s been raised in observance of the law of Moses just as her culture and religion demands, and is waiting to be married to her husband, a man to whom she is bound, if not yet legally married. One day, as she’s going about the daily tasks she does… helping her mother with the cooking, cleaning, maybe making clothes… suddenly, an angel appears and speaks to her, saying odd things to her: “Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.”

Mary is rightly confused; it’s not every day that people just appear out of nowhere, and what an odd greeting! Even in her religion, this is odd; God has not spoken to their people for hundreds of years! But the angel continues. “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. (You’ve pleased Him!) You will be with child, and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (italics mine). Mary, ever the wise one, asks the angel how this is supposed to happen; she knows where babies come from, and she’s not done anything that would bring one! This is important to her; even the hint of impropriety is enough for an accusation of infidelity, is enough to give Joseph cause to divorce Mary… and worse, to have her stoned to death.

The angel assures Mary again, telling her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will be “overshadowed” with the power of the Most High so that the one who will be born will be called the Son of God. Then he tells her something that might seem a bit gossipy if you didn’t know better; “Even your cousin, who has been barren (unable to have children) is in her sixth month… because Nothing is impossible with God.”

The tidbit about Elizabeth might seem gossipy because for a woman of her advanced years who has never conceived to suddenly turn up pregnant is certainly grounds for scandal. Remember… even the hint of impropriety is enough to give grounds for a divorce, or a stoning. But as he tells Mary that she will carry the Son of the Most High, he also tells her she isn’t alone… “Oh, Beloved of God, even your cousin has conceived through the power of God!”… and Mary runs to her cousin.

OK, so where is Joseph in all of this? Especially when Mary runs off to her cousin and comes back obviously pregnant, and he knows the baby is not his? We go to Matthew to find out. Joseph is clearly a good man; he could have had Mary and her unborn child stoned, but he opts instead to find away to quietly divorce her to minimize the shame to them both. Before he can carry out his plan, an angel comes to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel says, “do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins.” This clearly had an impact; when Joseph wakes up, he goes and gets Mary and marries her, but does not share her bed until after the birth of the child.

So here we are; an ordinary man and a young woman. Good people, yes, smart with sensible heads on their shoulders, but open to the extraordinary of their faith. And Joseph, having been raised and educated in the Jewish faith, would have been taught the Psalms… including the ones of the Messiah, the anointed one of Israel, who would save the people from their sins. And we know Mary considered these things; we’re told she “treasured these things up in her heart”. They’re trying to live quiet, ordinary lives when the extraordinary steps in and interrupts. And then, because they haven’t been shaken up enough, the occupying government of their home interrupts their lives again. The government wants to take a census… and it wants everyone to go back to their ancestral homes. Joseph, who has been living in Nazareth, who has probably been a Nazarene his entire life, suddenly has to go to his ancestral home… to a tiny little town called Bethlehem.

Can you imagine if you were suddenly told you had to report for a census, not based on where you live now, but based on where your ancestors were from? Could the towns handle the sudden influx of people? And poor Joseph and Mary; others could travel faster, but they were limited because she was so close to her delivery. There was no hopping on a jet and flying there… no, they had to walk or ride an animal the entire way. They were late arrivals, and by the time they got to the town, it was full. Surely they knew it was close… Mary was probably experiencing labor pains by now. They were at the point that Joseph was begging for ANYWHERE safe to take his poor wife to deliver her child… and one man finally offered his stables.

It is here that the greatest gift God ever gave us arrived. In a stable filled with hay for bedding and eating, a young girl gave birth to the child who would grow up to die for her sins. And the first people to arrive? Shepherds. Outcasts of society, with only their flocks for company, sent by… yeah, you guessed it, more angels.

So this is the story the song assumes you know. The Creator of the Universe, the Son of the Most High God, Christ, the Anointed Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Beginning and End… is born in a cramped stable in a tiny town to a young girl and her poor husband, surrounded by animals and hay, and visited first by society’s outcasts. If you and I were to write the story of a Savior, it would never start this way. He would arrive in a clean hospital, the son of royalty or socialites. His first visitors wouldn’t be stinking shepherds, and certainly not animals, and his room would be sterile, not surrounded in hay. He’d be born in New York or London or Paris or something… a big city with all the best equipment. We’d never bring the Savior this way… which is why we’d get it wrong. This is indeed a strange way to save the world, but it was the ONLY way it could be done. He had to be the least of us to know our suffering and to be approachable by all men. Because you see, Beloved, Jesus didn’t come just for the rich. He came for you and I, for Mary and for Joseph, for the stinky shepherds, and even for all of those who reject Him.

I know the reason Love has to reach so far, and I thank God that Joseph got to hold His savior in His arms and marvel at this beautiful, ugly, stunning strange way that my God came to save the world.

Christmas Carol Musing: December 2, 2008

What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

Why lies he in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear, for sinners here,
The silent Word is pleading.

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him,
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

I think it’s fitting to start this new series with the carol/hymn that was playing when the idea struck me, the one that has brought me to tears this year as I think about the import of the words being sung, one of the only ones I could “play” on the “play by LED” keyboards I had as a child (though it was listed there by the melody’s older, secular name, “Greensleeves”).
I think I want to start by defining terms; if you didn’t grow up in the church, you may not know what all of these words mean (if you even knew the carol set to this tune).
The first word that I want to define, the first one that might raise an eyebrow, is “laud”… what is “laud”, and why should we “haste” to bring it to a baby? Dictionary.com defines it as a song or hymn of praise. When it is used as a verb, it means to praise. Something that is laudable is praise worthy. The carol calls us to hurry to the child that we might offer praise. Why should we offer it to a Baby? I’ll get to that in a bit, when I define what “Christ” means… but first-
What does “mean estate” mean? If you’ve ever been in a barn filled with animals, you might have an idea… while there are some who find the smell of horses and cattle familiar and pleasant, I’m not sure that anyone would disagree with me when I say that perhaps, being born and spending the first hours of your life in a barn filled with animals is not exactly ideal for any child (though it’s certainly better than being born in the street… at least it was dry and relatively warm). When you consider who this child is, it’s certainly not the birth you’d expect… but even without that consideration, the conditions into which the Babe, the Son of Mary, was born, were certainly meager. They were, as Dictionary.com defines mean, ignoble, inferior in status, rank & dignity, unimposing & shabby.
What about incense, gold, & myrrh? Well, over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll discuss more about these traditional gifts given to the child (and the fact that the number of gifts given is where we get our idea of how many wisemen or kings came, though that number is never actually established, and could have been as few as two, or far more). But for tonight, I want to remind you that this was a child they were visiting, one who was presumably the first son of a poor carpenter and his betrothed young bride (who, according to all the gossip in their home town, had conceived him out of wedlock, and not to her new groom!)… since when do perfumes (incense), money (gold), and funeral ointments (myrrh) make an appropriate gift for a baby born in a stable? (OK, maybe the perfumes helped with the smells of the stables, but that’s hardly a normal baby shower present, is it?).
Actually, though, the gifts make sense when you know who this baby is. They hint at the arrival we’d think He deserved, at the gifts one would make to a person of His stature, and at the sacrifice He was born to make, but that none of them could understand or imagine. The gifts make sense when you understand that this baby, this tiny Son of Mary, was born to be praised, because we don’t know Him for His mother, but for His Father, who was no meager carpenter.
You see, we say “Jesus Christ” as though “Christ” was his last name or something… but in truth, “Christ” is a title, like “King” or “Master”, or even better, “Messiah”... the Anointed One. To call Jesus “Christ” is to address him as Messiah, as the Anointed One of God. It identifies Him as the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies, the One King of Israel Anointed by God, who will save His people from their sins.
This, Beloved, is not just another Baby. This Baby is unlike any baby that was ever born before Him or since Him… and Christmas is CHRISTmas because it is a celebration of the Christ, the Anointed One who was born to die, the Creator who came to earth to redeem His creation to Himself.
This, Beloved, this is why we hasten to bring him praise. This is why we wonder at why He, of all the babies to ever be born, is born in stable around animals, why we marvel at the angels who sing of His birth and the lowly shepherds who came to meet Him first. This, Beloved, is why we sing for Joy… and why funeral ointments were a fitting gift for this singular child. Because without His death 33 years later on a Roman cross, a righteous, holy man dying in the place of the sinners, the ultimate scapegoat, the Lamb of God whose blood would mark the ultimate “Pass-Over”… without the death for which He’d need the funeral ointments, the perfumes to mask the stench of death, without that, this is just another baby, precious to His parents, but unremarkable otherwise in history. And without His resurrection, Beloved, we have no hope. Christmas is remarkable not because a baby was born, but because the Christ, the Anointed one, The Messiah, had finally come.
What child is this?
This is Christ, the King
Crucified before the foundation of the world,
To win you and I back to Himself.
And that, Beloved, is why I celebrate Christmas.
I’ll see you tomorrow with another carol.

New "Series"

By the time I got the idea for this series, I was away from my laptop, and this is the first I've gotten back to it, and we'll be going to bed as soon as this weird trippy video is over... but I have an idea for a new series of Musical Musings, and I'll try to start them tomorrow when I'm in the office. So keep your eyes peeled for Musings inspired by the holidays, and meditations on what Christmas is really all about for me.

"Recipe" Time...

OK, I can barely call these recipes. I freely admit that when I get in the kitchen, I look at what I have and bluff. Fortunately, that often results in yummy food. My most recent bluffs:

Last night's Chicken.
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about a pound)*
1 Shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice*
1 tablespoon olive oil*
4 small sprigs fresh rosemary*, chopped

I keep fresh rosemary growing on my window sill. I peeled off 4 little sprigs... about 10-12 leaves, and roughly chopped them with my knife. The liquid measures of lemon juice & olive oil are guesstimates; I swirled in olive oil to go with the butter, and squirted in some prepared lemon juice from one of those plastic lemons. And while I used chicken breasts, you can certainly use tenderloins or thighs or whatever meat works for you. I imagine this would go well with pork or a nice whitefish, too. Shallots are usually near the onions... they're sort of the cousin of garlic & onions... they're more like onions than garlic, but they're small and they've got a little different flavor.

Cook everything BUT the chicken until the butter is melted (you want the flavor of the aromatics (all those herbs and the juice and stuff) to mix before adding the chicken). Add the chicken, cook covered on low heat, turning until chicken is cooked through. (Actually, John did the actual cooking; I'd bought a huge package of chicken and was splitting the boneless breast halves and then separating the big package into sizes we'd actually use.)

This was super easy and took little if any extra seasoning. :D

SOS & Taco Meat.
You get these together because they started together.
I browned a pound of ground sirloin & a pound of turkey breakfast sausage with some fresh cracked black pepper and cumin (maybe a 1/2 tablespoon? each). This was way more meat than I needed for my SOS, so I pulled out a storage bowl. Into the bowl went more cumin, chili powder, some boutique "Trail Dust Seasoning" (himtnjerky.com), and just the barest hint of cayenne, and a little more pepper... just stuff that made it smell "taco-y" When the meat was browned, I drained it off and put half of it in with the seasoning and shook to coat. Will use the taco meat tonight in nachos or tacos or some similar application of tortillas, meat, & cheese. The SOS was continued by adding 3 cups of water to the pan I'd cooked the meat in & bringing to a boil. I mixed 1.5 cups of pioneer country gravy mix with 1 cup of milk until blended and then added this to the boiling water. I peppered to taste (my tastes are less peppered than John's, and more than the gravy comes, so probably a tablespoon or 2) and then added the remaining meat. Mix well & serve over toast. This still left enough SOS to serve over toast (or potatoes) for another meal for the two of us... so John may have that for lunch tomorrow, or maybe I'll take some for lunch.


Cooking is only as hard as you make it. If you can figure out what things will pair well (watching other cooks helps you learn that) then you can add flavor as you subtract fat and make yummy food.

It's worth noting I couldn't give you nutritional values for any of this. Anyone who wants to look them up and report back is welcome to.