The Twelve Books of Christmas, January 3

For the 10th Day of Christmas, I have chosen one of my favorite Christmas stories:  "Christmas Moccasins" written and illustrated by Ray Buckley.  It is a Christmas story in that the gift given is on Christmas Eve.  but it is also a story of being wronged and forgiving; it is a story of extravagance; it is a story of our baptismal vocation, and how difficult and necessary it is.

It is also a story told from a Native American perspective.  The grandmother in the story is both steeped in the Christian faith, and also in the traditions of her community.  The story speaks about the particular way the grandmother prays, and also the value of the beautiful beaded moccasins she makes.

The story begins one winter as the grandmother and the boy are beat up by two teenagers as they walk in the woods.  The youths steal their coats and grandmother's moccasins.  The grandmother lost two toes to frostbite, walking home.

What will be their response?  What will they do?

This book is a Christmas book, but it's about more than Christmas.  It is about how faith can inhabit our whole lives, from one degree of glory to another.

The illustrations are also as gorgeous as the story.

The Twelve Books of Christmas, December 31

On this 7th day of Christmas, I'm recommending a book called "The Miracle of Saint Nicholas" by Gloria Whelan, and illustrated by Judith Brown.  It is a story that takes place in post-Soviet Russia at Christmas-time.  A little boy named Alexi walks past the Church of St. Nicholas in in small village of Zeema.  He asks his babushka about the church, and she tells him stories about what Christmas was like when she was a little girl, before the soldiers came and closed the church.  Alexi has many questions for his babushka, including "What is an icon?"  "Why is the church closed?"  "Why can't we have Christmas in our church again?"

Babushka told Alexi that the church has been empty for 60 years.   The church has an empty altar now.  There is no cross, there are no candles, no bread and wine, no icon of St. Nicholas -- and no priest.  There were mice living in the church.  "It would take a miracle to open our church", she said.

But Alexi dreamed of Christmas at St. Nicholas.  And he worked hard to make it possible.  He swept and he cleaned and he made the church ready just in case the people would come, and just in case there could be worship on Christmas.

I will let you read the rest of the story yourself.  Gloria Wheelman's prose is evocative and poetic.  Judith Brown's detailed pastel illustrations help us enter the Orthodox culture of Russia.  This picture book is accessible to small children in its basic story, but its depth makes it compelling to readers of all ages.

I love to find books to give another's culture's experiences of the meaning of Christmas.  This book helps me understand the depth of the incarnation, in a country where faith was suppressed for a time, but did not ever die.

The Twelve Books of Christmas, December 28

This is the 4th Day of Christmas, and, for some of us, a day when we remember the Holy Innocents, those babies killed after Jesus was born, while Herod was looking for him.  So, today's recommendation is perhaps an unusual one, the book "Refuge".  This books touches on the beginning of the Christmas story, and tells all of it from the donkey's point of view.  The donkey brought the man and woman to Bethlehem, where they found refuge among strangers.  The shepherds and the angels came, of course, and then:  the man had a dream:  a dream of danger, and the little family was on the road again.

They pass the shepherds and sheep on the way, and they take comfort from one another until they reach their refuge:  Egypt.

It is really a simple and beautifully told story.  There are some things that are over-simplified, of course -- it sounds like the wise men came shortly after the shepherds, when in reality, that happened somewhat later.  But the focus of the story is that the Holy Family has to flee.

Most of the illustrations are in black and white, with flashes of color interspersed.  It tells a part of the story we don't usually think too much about.

But this is Christmas too:  Danger -- and Refuge. Telling this story helps keep our sentimentality in check, and remember that there are children all over the world who are still in danger, and families who still need refuge.

Our Book Arrived! There's A Woman In the Pulpit

The RevGals book arrived at my door yesterday afternoon, not too long before I was supposed to leave to prepare and preach for our Saturday evening worship service.  I'll confess, though:  the night before I broke down and bought an e-copy because I couldn't stand it any more.  I had to start reading, even though I had (have) more than enough to do.

I have an essay in this book (I'm not ashamed to admit), but I haven't read as far as my essay yet.  In fact, I have just tonight gotten as far as page 58.  I had tears in my eyes when I finished reading "By Water and the Word," by my friend Jennifer Burns Lewis.  She is my friend from Western Springs:  I even met her once, when were visiting family in Chicago.  In true RevGals fashion, we took pictures of our shoes (many of us blogged anonymously back then).

Some of the women in the book are "virtual" friends:  people whose blogs I have been reading, off and on, from April of 2007 when I created my own blog with the very basic instructions from one of my stepsons:  "Go to www.blogger.com and do whatever they tell you to do."  About a month and a half later, in ignorance of the rules that said you had to be blogging for six months to join the "RevGalBlogPals" blog ring, I requested permission and became a member.  I began to "meet" other women in ministry from other traditions and other areas of the country, learning about their lives and their families and their hobbies, the joys and the struggles of ministry where-ever we were.

So, the book I now hold in my hands is a writing project, and I'm excited about that, but it's also the product of a community.  It is a virtual community which is a real community of support:  we share stories and wisdom and advice; we read each other's thoughts; sometimes we even get a chance to meet in person.

I'm excited and proud to be a small part of this book, which includes so much honesty, so much wisdom, so much diversity.  They are doors left open into our lives, and the lives of our congregations and our families, if you are curious at all.  

Should you read this book?  Yes.
Should you buy this book?  Yes.
Will you laugh?  Will you cry?
I did.

(There's a Woman In the Pulpit is available from Amazon; also check your local bookstores!)