Culture Shock

Croatia generally does not celebrate Halloween. Sure, you'll occasionally see cafes or clubs advertising Halloween parties, but the tradition of trick-or-treating has its equivalent in February here. Being outside America and analyzing how others celebrate holidays has led me to take a more critical stance on how I celebrate. So last year, while we were visiting America and anticipating Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, I asked myself this question: How are we as American Christians supposed to celebrate the various holidays our culture emphasizes? I think the decision should begin by making a distinction between participating and celebrating . For Halloween last year, my wife and I decided that our family would participate by allowing our kids to dress up and go trick-or-treating. We had several conversations before the event because we didn't want to do something simply because everyone else was doing it. Nor did we want to reject it simply because it's not a ...

It's not the fact that God chose to go to another world or take on a different form that strikes me. It's that God would choose to come to our  world. The Word was clothed with this sort of skin.  God became one of us . And He communicated with us in an imperfect human language much like the one I speak. Augustine calls Jesus the 'divine humility'. Fully God and fully man, Jesus embodied God's descent and provided the way for our ascent. He became a foreigner so we would no longer be foreign. Divine humility. The Infinite being found in a manger. The Absolute encountered as human. Our Savior Jesus Christ. May you also be filled with wonder today in that moment of peace. Merry Christmas!

"Faith is simply following, following its object. Faith is going a way which is marked out and prepared." - Karl Barth If faith can be defined this way, isn't faith exactly what the magi and shepherds were demonstrating when they traveled to see the baby? The star and the desire to worship the newborn king of the Jews were the only motivating factors for the wise men. The throng of angels and their heavenly song prompted the shepherds. In other words, these two groups of people were not drawn to Jesus because of their faith. They exercised faith because they were drawn to Jesus.  Their worship of Jesus was completely outside the realm of tradition or religion.  They knew nothing of the reason for the season, or the Christ of Christmas. The only appropriate response was to go and see what it was that had been announced. The way had been prepared. But that's all they knew. They were filled with awe, wonder and probably confusion.  There was no sense whatsoever...

Today was a first for daddy and me. My parents and I were invited to meet St. Nicholas (Sveti Nikola) in one of the schools where they teach English. Being from America, daddy thought Santa and St. Nick were one in the same. Though there is much debate on the issue, St. Nick didn't look anything like the red-suited bowl full of jelly bellied fella we saw in the American malls last year. Nor did his entourage include reindeer. Instead there was a horse and carriage in front of the school as we arrived. We walked inside and saw St. Nicholas talking with the schoolchildren. We also saw his rival Krampus who managed to scare me, mommy and the whole first grade class. According to tradition, if you're naughty you receive a stick from Krampus rather than a present on St. Nicholas day. I don't know how they knew, but I got a bag full of goodies which my parents promised to help me consume. Then I got to meet them face to face - much to my dismay. All's well tha...

We've been force-fed our culture's version of Christmas for months. Shopping, buying, planning, spending, worrying, and traveling are what “Christmas” has become for us these days. And those days seem to come earlier in the season and last longer into the night every year. But Christmas is finally here! It’s time to tear away all the excess. Time to forget about the traffic, malls, gifts, trees, lights, treats, and toys. The simplicity of the manger is so refreshingly ironic. Jesus came to the humblest of women in the humblest of ways. To remember his birth is to forget about ourselves – to revel in the astonishing mystery of Christ. And so I rejoice in having the opportunity to worship. With the angel, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord!