Hogmanay

Scots use the word hogmanay to refer to New Year's Eve and the rich
heritage of traditions and customs associated with New Year celebra-
tions. Ever since I arrived in Scotland in late 2003, I have heard around
this time of year people in the land referring to hogmanay. Edinburgh
is known worldwide for her hogmanay celebrations of New Year's Eve
and the New Year. Over 80,000 people pour into the city to welcome
in the New Year with festivities and fireworks. The modern celebration
of Hogmanay taps into ancient customs and traditions associated with
the pagan festival of Hogmanay.

The linguistic roots of the word hogmanay are difficult to determine.
Flemish, Anglo-Saxon, French, Norman, and Scandanavian languages,
each have been reckoned to be the source of the word. But the wild and
festive customs of hogmanay appear to have come from the pagan Vik-
ing settlements in Scotland. From the 17th century to the 1950s, Christ-
mas as a Christian festival was banned in Scotland by the Scottish Pres-
byterian Church, the official church of Scotland. Christmas was seen as
too Catholic for Protestant Scotland. Many Scots worked on Christmas
but celebrated hogmanay in grand style. Hogmanay was a big holiday
filled with family, friends, parties, and gift exhanges. It was a special
time for children.

Having experienced a number of Christmases in Scotland since 2003,
it is difficult for me to imagine that Christmas was ever banned by the
Scottish Church. I have enjoyed immensely the Scottish Christian tra-
ditions of Christmas. But over the years I have grown increasingly
aware of the rich Scottish customs that are uniquely associated with
hogmanay. It is a tradition to welcome friends, family, and strangers
into one's home on New Year's Eve and offer them warm hospitality.
Another Scottish New Year's tradition is to sing Robert Burns's For
Auld Lang Syne immediately after midnight.

In Edinburgh and other cities of Scotland, fireworks and torchlight pro-
cessions are planned in order to welcome in the New Year. They carry
on with the spirit of ancient Scottish pagan festival customs from cen-
turies ago. Thus the New Year is welcomed in on a festive note. Cities
throughout the world use the hogmanay New Year celebrations in Edin-
burgh as a model for their own New Year festivities. January 2nd is al-
so designated as an official holiday in Scotland. I have not heard of that
being used anywhere else in Britain or the world.

But the sense I have as I talk to people is that the season of New Year's
Eve and New Years is an opportunity to clear out the vestiges of the old
year and welcome in the New Year. People hope to make a clean break
with the past and enter into a time when new things will happen. There
is something to be said for that. This week I have been clearing out the
vestiges of 2010 and preparing for 2011. I hope to share more about
that as I post in the New Year.

I close wishing you a blessed hogmanay

Blessings to you and yours,

midnight

Christmas Greetings!

Uppermost on my To Be Done list is to wish you a blessed Christmas.
The season of Advent-the four Sundays leading up to Christmas-has
always been a special and rich time for me throughout the years. This
year especially, I have been delighting in this season and am eager to
plunge into the riches that are woven into Christmas Eve and Christ-
mas Day. In a few hours I will head out into the cold and snow for the
family Christmas Eve service, savour Christmas treats after the ser-
vice, and then later attend a Watchnight Service at 11:30 pm.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I will attend a morning Christmas Day
Family Service and then go with a family to their home for the rest
of Christmas Day. I'll be with good friends Jason and Chrissy and their
four children, with a fifth due in early February. I have been babysit-
ting the children-who range in age from three years old to nine years
old-so that Jason and Chrissy can go out for a date night every so of-
ten. The kids are great and we have a lot of fun together.

The time between the first Sunday in Advent, through to Christmas,
and continuing to Epiphany on January 6 is a special time for me. For
just over 30 days we hear and often see acted out the Big Story of God
sending God's Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for the forgive-
ness of our sins. Behind the Manger is the Cross. Christmas and Easter
are meant to be together. Both are essential themes to understanding
the Big Story. My prayer for us all is that we would come to compre-
hend more keenly God's Big Story.

In my previous blog posting I shared that on December 12 I would be
conducting a service and preaching before a minister search commit-
tee at a neutral pulpit. Let me fill you in on what happened on Decem-
ber 12. After the service, I was interviewed by the committee and then
after the committee voted, I was invited to preach as 'sole nominee' at
the church with the vacancy. I accepted the invitation, and will preach
as sole nominee at St. Fergus Parish Church on January 16. I am ex-
cited about the church and the position, and look forward to preaching
there on that date. After the service, the congregation will then vote
whether or not to extend to me the call to be minister of St. Fergus Par-
ish Church. I am very excited, and am eager to lead in worship at the
church on January 16. As always, I covet your prayers.

Festive Christmas Blessings to you and yours,

Advent and an Advent Prayer

I can't recall Advent being mentioned at all when I was growing up in my
home Presbyterian church in Kelso, USA. I do not have any memories of
an Advent wreath, of lighting Advent candles, or of hearing any mention
of the word 'Advent' and all that it signified. But it might have been be-
cause I was a kid (believe it or not, I was a kid once) and it just did not
connect with me. But what I enjoyed was the Christmas season, which in
my book started in late November and went to a few days after Christ-
mas. I have many fond memories of singing Christmas carols, receiving
and giving Christmas gifts, attending Christmas parties, and decorating
Christmas trees. Christmas was by far my favorite season of the year.
But I don't remember anything about Advent.

Even though Christmas is still my favorite season of the year, there
have been some changes in my views. I now view Christmas as the
twelve days between Christmas Day and the sixth of January. It has
a special place in my heart because it is an opportunity to focus less
on Christmas activities (as important and fun as those are) and more
on celebrating Jesus and why he came into the world so very long ago.
I take more seriously the good saying that Jesus is the reason for the
season. I love to re-read the Old Testament stories of God's people
yearning for God to come among them and bless them with the divine
presence. Through the Old Testament prophets, kings, and priests
God promised that God would come to Israel, forgive their sins, and
dwell with them forever. The people of ancient Israel yearned for this
to happen.

I can't prove it, but I believe that we humans have two basic needs that
only God can satisfy. The first is our deep desire for God to come to us
with God's unrelenting redeeming love for us. Even more than we need
the love of our mothers, I believe that we need God and God's love in
our lives. We all yearn for God to come to us because God created us
for an intimate relationship with the Lord God. The second basic need
is connected to the first: we all have the need to receive God's forgive-
ness of our sins. That is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Intimate communion with God is established only by God's forgive-
ness of our sins.

I see three advents, or three comings, of Jesus Christ. Jesus' first com-
ing was when he was born in a manger in Bethlemen on that first Christ-
mas Day. The second refers to the Second Coming of Christ when Jesus
returns to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords at the end of time.
I also have come to recognize a third coming of Jesus when a person in-
vites Jesus into his or her life. I encourage you during this special season
of Advent to remember Christ's first coming on Christmas Day, to look
forward to Jesus' coming again in the future, and to invite him to come
into your life or to invite him back once again.

I offer this prayer to help us prepare for the coming of Jesus into our
world:

Calm us to wait for the gift of Christ;
Cleanse us to prepare the way for Christ;
Teach us to contemplate the wonder of Christ;
Touch us to know the presence of Christ;
Anoint us to bear the life of Christ.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

This week I have faced three challenges. First, since late last week all
of Britain has been hit by severe winter weather which has included
arctic temperatures and significant accumulation of snow. Things still
have not gotten back to normal. Second, I experienced the joy of a hard
drive failure on my laptop last Monday. It had been out of commission
until today. It made me realize how much I depend on my laptop to do
all that I need to do. Third, I have been invited to conduct a worship ser-
vice and preach at a neutral church before a vacancy committee of a con-
gregation that has attracted my attention. I would appreciate your
prayers on my behalf as I seek a pastoral position in the Church of Scot-
land.

Blessings to you and yours,