Monday, November 22, 2004

Who is King?

Going a little churchy this morning but that's the diversity of blogging. I was having some major differences with a very close friend of mine over what may be in retrospect really trivial but that is all a part of life and its dealings. We actually sat down and trashed it out agreeing to disagree on some issues and finding acceptable grounds on others. The fact is that we have been friends for 12 years and we have had issues before and will have them again but if the friendship is worth it then you work through the issues. I had a really hectic weekend with school all day Saturday and I went to church on Sunday. I've always been church oriented so why the difference yesterday? On my return to Kingston, I have adopted Stella Maris as my new church home. I have been going since February and the services have been good. Coming from a quasi-country church experience, the urban church scene takes some readjusting to. I grew up in Kingston but moved to St. Catherine about 10 years ago. I am now back in Kingston. I say quasi-country because although St. Catherine is considered an extension of metro living, it has only acquired this status in the last 15 years or so. In this regard status changes faster than habits an so peripherals such as church have deep foundations in rural habits. It is not uncommon to attend service and remain in the church yard conversing with someone you see once a week for a time longer than the service itself and then have umpteen church sister and brothers at your door later for chat and dinner all bearing some element of the meal. Anyway back to my topic...The theme of mass yesterday was Christ the King. I am not going to talk from a religion aspect but rather a Christian aspect. The pastor spoke on a topic that is a part of the church year every year so I have heard the readings many times in my 39 or so years of being in church. Yesterday however he equated yesterday's significance to Christmas, Easter, birthdays Thanksgiving etc. His message was that we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, His life on earth, Easter for His death and resurrection and the salvation it brings but then the cycle stops. Having gone through all the other stuff we almost ignore the fact that what we celebrate each Sunday and especially at those other feast days is really that Jesus Christ is King!! He then made mention of all the other things that we put so much effort into... the birthdays, Thanksgiving (Stella has a high percentage of Americans there). He looked at our prayer habits. Is it a case of when we pray we ask God to address our circumstances as He sees fit or is it us telling Him the circumstance and what He IS to do about it. In retrospect we probably do need to re-examine our stance on our lives. As Christmas approaches let us endeavour to recognise the CHRIST in Christmas and to enjoy the season for what it is really. The celebration of the beginning of our lives. Who really is King?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent thought Scratchie. You may know that I am one who does not push church door often....but still have a firm belief. But yes, I agree with you, let's try not to emphasize the spending, partying etc. too much.

What I can't understand though is some folks who say they are not believers, but still celebrate Christmas?? Any thoughts on that?

Have a good week. Dr. D.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with you all, especially living here in North America. The holidays (all of them) are very commercialized. The one that bothers me the most is Easter. Here, everyone does the Easter Bunny thing and then there are those who actually get gifts...and I am not talking about little gifts, but I mean expensive things....Easter is definitely about Jesus' death to me and a solemn occasion....Not something that is so far out of hand commercially that it would be impossible for someone who was not familiar with the tradition to recognize what it was about.

This brings to mind the first year I was here in Canada....A girl that I worked with was amazed that we celebrated Christmas in Jamaica....when I asked her why she said "Because you don't have snow in Jamaica!!!!" Now really!!!!! I very gently reminded her that Christmas was not really about snow, but rather about Jesus Christ! And this was in the big city of Toronto, not in the boonies where I live.

Ciya

Stu said...

Bob Marley?... Just kidding.

Scratchie said...

Thanks for the comments guys. Bwoy yuh can always count on Stu for a morning smile. But Stu...recently it has been Beenie man who is proclaiming to be king of the dance hall. I don't think many parents realize how explicit his lyrics are.

Anonymous said...

"Pon di bed, pon di floor, against wall"... I do...

Interesting words re "Christ the King" still.

Mad Bull

Anonymous said...

Hey Scratchie, MB, is dis evening I heard that song by Beenie for the first time. There is nutten left to the the imagination still..... Dr. D.