Old, Familiar Carols

     The year was 1861. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's second wife of 18 years, Franny, was killed when her dress accidently caught  fire in the farmhouse. His first wife, Mary, had died 25 years earlier during childbirth. After Franny's death, he found it impossible to continue his writing and stuck to mainly translating works into English. Two years later his oldest son, Charles, enlisted in the army against his father's wishes and went off to war. Several months later, Wadsworth received word that Charles had been severely wounded in the Battle of Mine Run. In his despair, losing two wives and now potentially losing a son, Henry finally put pen to paper and wrote these words.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Entitled Christmas Bells, it marries the despair of current circumstances with the hope that Christmas Day promises. I think the words have never had more meaning than they do this Christmas 2020. If this has been a less than stellar year for you, as it has been for me, listen, just listen. You will hear the bells playing old, familiar carols, carols that remind us what happened that first Christmas morning. The bells remind us that God is not dead, he isn't asleep, right will prevail.

I love Christmas music, always have. This year I find it having an even deeper meaning to me as it kindles memories that I desperately need this Christmas. That is my prayer for you, that these old, familiar carols kindle needed memories for you and that you are reminded of the promise and hope that Christmas brings. Wadsworth's poem was set to music and has become a much loved Christmas carol. There are several great versions out there, one of my favorites is by Casting Crowns. I suggest you find it, or whatever version you prefer, and listen for the bells and remember.

Back to Normal?

     A lot of things have taken on a new look in 2020. Many gatherings take place only in cyberspace. The ones that do take place face to face have changed; temperature checks, face masks, and social distancing are now the norm. A phrase heard frequently is, "I can't wait for things to go back to normal." but is back to normal where we need to go?

     620 years before the birth of Jesus the king of Judah, Josiah, decided it was time to get the temple back into shape. As they were cleaning out to get ready to get the work started, the high priest, Hilkiah, made an interesting discovery. He found a copy of the Law buried in a closet. He immediately took it to the king. When the king heard the words contained in the book, he tore his clothes to shreds because he realized that their normal had strayed from the path that God had laid out for them. Their normal was not where they were supposed to be. Over the course of a few generations, "normal" had drifted further and further away from where it had started, tradition had replaced scripture. King Josiah recognized a chance for a reset, to go somewhere other than back to normal. (2 Kings 22:1-20)

     2020 has given us an opportunity to make just such a reset. Back to normal shouldn't be our desire, we need to go where God is leading us and that may not look anything like "normal". "We've always done it that way." is the best way to prevent growth and progress. Let's look forward and instead of going back to normal let's go forward to better. Let's look at this as a chance to figure out ways to to do things better, not to just keep doing things like we always have.  

  

 More Now Than Ever

     2020, the year that never seems to end. 2020, the year of masks, social distancing, shelter in place, oh and a very contentious election. 2020, the year where you can explain away any mishap or difficulty by simply saying, "It's 2020." How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in 2020? Do you even try to celebrate it? Do we actually have anything to be thankful for?

     In February of 1995, Phyllis Campbell took a chance and hired a 28 year old with no teaching experience to teach high school math and history. I had a lot to learn about running a classroom and she was the perfect person to shepherd me through that process. I just want to say, "Thank you, Mrs Campbell, for all that you did to shape my career as an educator."

     Yes, 2020 has been a strange year, but isn't every year? The word unprecedented has been thrown around a lot this year, but if you think a minute you will realize that every year is unprecedented. SO, how can you be thankful amidst all of these unprecedented days? I would suggest you look to the Apostle Paul. His entire ministry was one unprecedented event after another. It started in blindness, included multiple shipwrecks, he had to flee from several angry crowds, suffered multiple beatings, spent several years in jail, and ended with an execution. That was Paul's life and yet he is also the person that penned these words, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:18 NIV)

     All of my students have had a hand in molding me into the teacher that I am today. One group requires special thanks though. Coaching volleyball has changed the kind of person I am. Those hours with my teams, facing the trials, pressures, successes, and failures that come with sport have taught me how to recognize the emotional issues that plague teenagers in general and teenage girls in particular. I have always been good at predicting behavior, but I wasn't good with emotions. Well, coaching teenage girls has changed that. I am not going to try to list all of you and risk leaving someone out so, "To all of my volleyball players and those that helped with practices and stats, thank you. I am a better person because of you. You will always be 'my girls'.

     So if Paul could be thankful in all things, even when those things included beatings, shipwrecks, jail, and more, surely we can be thankful in the face of this current pandemic. Yes, things are annoying at times, and yes we have to do things differently, but are those really reasons not to be thankful? Paul said to be thankful in all things, not for all things. That is an important distinction. This year has seen a lot of things that I have not been thankful for, but I have continued to be thankful in them.

     My life is spent almost exclusively around teenagers, and for the most part I love that. It is what I was called to do. It does have a down side though. I can go long periods of time without having a conversation with another adult that didn't revolve around school and teenagers. A few years ago that was starting to take a bigger toll on me than even I realized. It was then that a friend of mine, Amie Willis, decided to go back to school. She needed help with some of her math and science classes and asked if I could help her. She quickly became my outlet for adult communication. Having another adult I could just be Mike with instead of Mr Matt was more important than I understood at the time. "Amie, thank you for being a great friend and more importantly letting me turn off Mr Matt and just be Mike. That has meant more than you will ever know. It has  given me a way to recharge batteries that I didn't realize were running so low."

     So, if you are struggling with how to be thankful for Thanksgiving 2020, try what I have done here. There are people that you haven't said thank you to. Find them and tell them thank you. I think you will find that you have a lot more to be thankful for than you realize. You will find you can be thankful in things, even in 2020.