News you can use
News you can use
"Remember Your word to Your servant in which You made me hope. This is my comfort in my distress, that Your promise gives me life."
Out our way, the winters can be brutal. Cold arctic winds sweep the hills and the plains while the sun rises late and sets early. You can understand why all those folks from LA who jumped at the lower housing costs in the Big Open last May are trying to sell out come February. That is not just "calving season" for ranchers, but sales season for realtors. Some ask how we Montanans deal with it,and we just grin and whisper "We know about chinooks."
As any Montanan knows, the warm chinook winds are a promise we count on and are seldom disappointed. Even when the sky goes dark by 4 p.m. each day, the howling winds push 5 inches of new snow and drop the temperature to minus 30 degrees that night, and sunrise comes late and gives little warmth, we know about the promise of the chinook which sooner or later arrives and ends the cold spell.
As I shared last week, the early Church sought to celebrate the birth of Christ despite the persecution of the pagan world. It was dangerous to be a believer in those early centuries as believers were not simply reviled or rejected, but often arrested, imprisoned and put to death. But the Church came up with an answer - "The Winter Solstice." Pagans celebrated the return of the sunlight by marking the day when the light cycle reversed. After the shortest day (and longest night) of the year, the days began to grow longer and the nights shorter. For the Romans, the Solstice celebration was around the end of December. Naturally, people who did not celebrate the Solstice were suspected of being Christians! As there was no exact date recorded in the Gospels for Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the Church decided to "blend in." Let the "Festival of the Coming of the Light" become the "Festival of the Coming of the Light of the World".
Today, Christmas has lost much of its meaning, and believers are still scorned and sometimes persecuted for the faith. Maybe it's time for some of us to follow the example of the early Church and move past the lights and reindeer and Santa to the real "reason for the season." And so I nominate the "chinook" as a new symbol of Christmas.
We clearly live in dark times these days, but so have the faithful in days gone by. Consider the prophet Isaiah's words of long ago: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness." (Isaiah 5:20) Sound familiar? Watch the news, listen to the politicians, observe the mobs who riot and loot without consequence, note the celebrities who openly condemn morality and family values. The darkness is here again. But so is the "Christmas Chinook - the Spiritual Solstice."
The Psalmist saw darkness all around and growing, but instead of despair, the words are of hope. Read them again, especially if the "Alberta Clippers" are howling against your door. Look at the Christmas lights that adorn homes, streets, maybe your own tree; and remember the promise of the "Christmas chinook." Why did the Psalmist hope? Why was there comfort and life? Because of the promise.
Jesus didn't just pop into the world. He had long been expected and the world was - and still is - transformed. Not a believer and don't read the Bible? No worries, Pard, grab a world history book. Perhaps once you realize the "Christmas chinook" is real and is still at work, you will want to go back to the Source. God is patient and will wait. In the meantime may I suggest you invest in Handel's "Messiah" where the highlights of the "Christmas chinook" are beautifully spelled out in glorious song. The prophecies, the fulfillment and the ongoing process that the "Christmas chinook" continues to this day.
Be blessed and be a blessing!
Brother John
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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].
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