Because I believe that justice and peace are possible.
Despite the armed violence and warfare that rips the world,
despite the silent testimony of the dead,
despite the witness of the wounded,
despite the heartache of the displaced,
despite the silent cries of creation,
despite the devastation and the rubble,
I believe that justice and peace are possible.
Because I believe, 24 December will always include a playlist focused on the 1914 Christmas Truce. I recognize that my beliefs, statements, and actions my not make a significant difference, but I stand on my right to believe, speak, and act as I choose.
Snoopy’s Christmas – The Royal Guardsmen
Christmas Truce – Sabaton
Pipes of Peace – Paul McCartney
1914, the Carol of Christmas – Military Voices & Abby Scott, feat. Flt Lt Matt Little, the Raf Spitfire Choir & William Inscoe
Let the Truce Be Known – Orphaned Land
Christmas 1914 – John McDermott
It Could Happen Again – Colin Raye
All Together Now – The Farm
Christmas True of 1914 – Joyce Cooling
The Christmas True – Carol Dowgiallo & Bob Dowgiallo
Ode to the Christmas Truce of 1914 – Marshall Hattersley
Christmas Truce – Fenya
The Christmas Truce – Gloucester Cathedral Choir, Adrian Partington, Jonathan Hope, Sacha Fullerton, Jack Parry, Deryck Webb & Nicholas Perfect
Christmas in the Trenches – John McCutcheon
Silent Night/Stille Nacht – John McCutcheon
Category Archives: Advent
24 December 2024 – The Christmas Truce
Filed under Advent, Current Events
8 December 2024
Happy Christmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon
Once In Royal David’s City – David M. Bailey
Silent Night – Oscar Peterson
Christmas Canon Rock – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
In The Bleak Midwinter- Julie Andrews
Noel – Black Violin
O Little Town Of Bethlehem – Nashville Christmas Orchestra
O’ Come Emmanuel – Little Windows
All Through the Night – Nancy Wilson
The First Noel – Karla Bonoff
The Little Road To Bethlehem – Katie McMahon
A Star In The East – Harry Belafonte T
Looking for the Dove – Peter Mayer
Llegó Navidad – Los Lobos
Bach Prelude On In Dulci Jubilo – James Galway; John Georgiadis: Munich Radio Orchestra, Regensburg Cathedral Choir
Silent Night – Over the Rhine
O Little One Sweet – The Piano Guys feat. The King’s Singers
Sweet Little Jesus Boy – Natalie Cole
Uncle Carl – Aaron Lacombe
Filed under Advent, Louisville, Music, playlist
A prayer about seeking Christ
(nspired by the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac; words in quotations are his.
Great Spirit, Immanuel,
in this Advent season,
we prepare to celebrate anew
the birth of Christ.
As we sing the songs
that tell us Christ will be bornin a manager,
remind us that again this year,
we will find “Christ in the rubble” of Gaza.
For Christ comes to the margins of life.
Not to the imperial palace
but to the humble people
Christ comes.
Not to the seat of powerbut to Bethlehem, little and insignificant
Christ comes.
Not to those enthroned
but to the disinherited and dispossesed
Christ comes.
For Christmas is your act of solidarity
with your beloved children who are oppressed.
Christmas provides a ray of hope
amid the “heart of pain and suffering.”
“Christmas is the radiance of life
from the heart of destruction and death.”
Inspire us, God, to seek Christ under the rubble.
Inspire us, God, to see Christ on the margins.
Inspire us, God, to follow Christ by working for
liberation and justice.
Amen.
Last year, the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac and the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem introduced the concept of Christ in the Rubble in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Their advent creche showed the Christ child surrounded by broken stones and concreate and other representations of destruction.
This prayer, built on that image, focuses on the rubble of Gaza. Rubble, in many forms—physical, psychological, social, and more, exists around. May we seek Christ in all the rubble of the world and respond.
Filed under Advent, Current Events, Human Rights
A thought for Christmas Eve
Written a couple years ago, this remains relevant and may even be more so than ever.
It comes this night.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
Above the roar
of anger and hatred,
Above the howl
of prejudice and bigotry,
Above the oppressive maelstrom
of systems and structures,
Above the crash
of violence and war,
Above the groan
of doubt and despair,
Above the dis-ease
of heartache and heartbreak
Above the tumult
of turmoil and trouble
Above the clamor
of struggle and strife.
Above it all,
despite it all
because of it all,
it comes this night.
Faintly,
ever so faintly,
it comes.
This night
and all nights,
It comes.
Thank God, it comes.
22 December 2023
Walk. Albuquerque.
Christmas Must Be Tonight – The Band
I Believe in Father Christmas – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head – John McCutcheon
Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes – Bruce Cockburn
Angels We Have Heard on High – R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton
Ode to Joy to the World – The Piano Guys
Love, Love, Love – Clarence Fountain & The Blind Boys of Alabama
Angels W Have Heard on High – Pentatonix
The Story of Christmas – Peter Mayer
Patapan – Julie Andrews
Little Drummer Boy – Jonathan Maracle
Merry Christmas to You – The Blind Boys of Alabama
Christmas Morning – Bill Miller
Christ Child Lullaby – Rosemary Beland
Mistletoe and Wine – Cwmbach Male Choir
Away in a Manger – Ed Gerhard
Filed under Advent, Exercise, New Mexico, playlist
AdventWord 2022 – December 25 – #Emmanuel
Emmanuel. God with us. If God is with us, any photo would work to express Emmanuel. I chose several that show working for justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God by visiting elected representatives, advocating, making a public witness, and amplifying other voices.
Photo 1 – New York delegation at Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2019, Washington, DC.
Photo 2 – Advocacy postcards for immigration justice, Whitestone, NY – 2018
Photo 3 – Standing Rock, SD – 2016
Photo 4 – Whitestone, NY – 2015
Photo 5 – Louisville, Ky – May 1, 2021
23 December 2022
Walking. Apartment.
Go Tell It on the Mountain – The Blind Boys of Alabama
Angels We Have Heard on High – Aretha Franklin
O Little Town of Bethlehem – Dolly Parson
Feliz Navidad – Agua Clara
We Are Christmas – Spellman Glee Club
O Come All Ye Faithful – The Chieftains
Silent Night – Darlene Silversmith
I Feel the Christmas Spirit – The Indigo Girls
Angels from the Realms of Glory – Bill Carter and the Presbybop Quartet
Once in Royal David’s City – Eric Rigler
In the Winter’s Pale – Tim Story
Do You Hear What I Hear – Eileen Ivers
Some Quiet Night – david m. bailey
Home This Christmas – Tom Jackson
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel/People Look East Melissa DuPuy, Russell Davis & Deanie Richardson
Filed under Advent, Louisville, Music, playlist
AdventWord 2022 – December 23 – #restore
Great conversation about how to restore people with the Rev. Dr. Don Shriver, president emeritus at Union Theological Seminary, and the Rev. Stanley Chimeysa, prison chaplain from the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Malawi.
They are leading thinkers and practitioners of restorative justice.
Their thinking and acting is moving toward transformative justice.
Photo: February 11, 2019; Manhattan, New York; not sure who took the photo. Obviously not me. There were several other people present.
22 December 2022
Walking. Apartment.
O Little Town of Bethlehem – Dolly Parton
Silent Night, Holy Night – The Piano Guys
What Child Is This – Michael Hedges
King Jesus Hath a Garden – Clare College Singers & Orchestra
Green Sleeves – Joanne Shenandoah
The Hard Road – Jonathan Maracle
I Saw Three Ships – Celtic Harp Soundscapes
Snowflake – Little Windows
The Gift – Tom Jackson
Christmas Must Be Tonight – The Band
O Cone Emmanuel – Rosemary Beland
I Believe in Father Christmas – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Mary Had a Baby – Bruce Cockburn
Away in the Manger – Darlene Silversmith
This Clearness of Light – William Ackerman
With Mary Let My Soul Rejoice – Princeton Seminary Choir
Journey of the Angels – Enya
Filed under Advent, Exercise, Louisville, Music, playlist
Along the Graybeard Trail 