Crazy - another post in the same week!! HAH!

I'm getting ready to see some old friends from college in the next week - a group of us who lived together in the dorm (and were also in the Christian women's service group on campus) kind of put together our own reunions to catch up with each other and just hang out. We all are from different classes, so "standard" reunions wouldn't necessarily bring all of us together and this way we can choose where we go, when we meet up, for how long and how much money we want to spend to do it. But it kind of got me thinking about other people from my past that I haven't ever "reunited" with and the concept of reunions in general.

I remember my mother in law being very excited about going to her high school reunion, I think it was 25 years - she had seen a lot of her old friends and they all caught up on what had gone on in their lives, where they were living now, etc. My parents never talked about high school reunions but every once in a while they would go back for college reunions. My 10 year high school reunion was a few years ago and I didn't go. Actually, I'm not sure that it really happened, but I wouldn't have chosen to go anyway. I'm still somewhat traumatized from my high school experience and didn't think that 10 years was enough time for me to be able to go back being even remotely objective about my fellow 375 classmates. Maybe by the time 25 years goes by I'll think of it as "fun" to see those people and discover what they've been up to - how much money they make, kids they have, where they live, etc. but for now I still feel relieved that I made it out alive and relatively sane. :) So, what about you? Have you been to reunions? Do you look forward to going someday? How long do you think it has to be before you're ready to go back?

I also think it's interesting that I'm really looking forward to this reunion (which isn't even 10 years after my college graduation) - that my college experience was so much more positive than my high school experience. I wonder why. Maybe because this group is a selective cluster of folks that I was close to rather than the whole graduating class. Several, but not all, of these women were in the religion program with me, so we all learned and grew together intellectually, spiritually and emotionally - I was closer with these people than I ever was with anyone in high school. maybe that's college or maybe that's the difference in being 20 vs. 16. I don't know. I'm curious to hear your thoughts about your own experiences though and wish you all a great week!!

My Christmas

A few people have asked so I'm just going to make it easier by talking about it here. Yes, I had a good Christmas, but in a lot of ways it was strange and didn't really feel like Christmas. My mom got married in October (see earlier post) so instead of our "usual" family traditions, we went to his family's house for Christmas Day. His parents made their traditional Christmas dinner and they all exchanged gifts - they had even bought gifts for me even though I barely know them! They are all wonderful people - very welcoming and intentional about making me feel included (I was even asked to do the prayer before dinner) and yet I still felt like an outsider. Of course I did - I was an outsider, completely unknown to these people until a couple of months ago! And while I was grateful that they though to include me in their gift giving, the gifts I received were generic gifts anyone could buy anyone (for example, a candle). I know they were being nice, and I will use the gifts they gave me, but I couldn't help feeling a little down. If these people really knew me at all, they could have spared the shopping and wrapping - I'd prefer a donation to a charity rather than getting more "knick knacks" and "stuff" that needs a place in my house.

There were other things that made this Christmas odd for me - the biggest being that we didn't go to church. In my family the tradition has always been to go to midnight mass but my brother's car died (REALLY dead) and by the time he made it to the house (when my mom's husband drove to pick him up) and we had our Christmas dinner, we were too tired to stay up that late. Which also meant we didn't get to open one gift before going to bed. And Rob's family isn't really religious so there was no church Christmas Day either - where was the meaning of Christmas? In the Yankee Candle and other brand name gifts?? I hate to sound ungrateful but I can't wait for Angela to get home so I can truly celebrate the holiday.

Santa Rant

SPOILER ALERT: If you don't already know about Santa, don't read any further!


I'm not going to tire everyone with yet another rant on the consumerism that surrounds Christmas - it's been done and most of you know where I stand by now. Another interesting thought around Christmas occurred to me this year - the Santa Conspiracy. Where does it come from? Why do we perpetuate it? I remember the year that I figured it out - and ever since then Christmas doesn't feel the same - the magic is gone and there's a cynicism that just kinds of pesters at me throughout the season. While I was at my mom's I watched some of the late night talk shows, which were all repeats of course, and caught this one intereview with an actress who was trying to be very careful about the way she talked about Santa Claus so as not to give anything away while she was talking about what she was doing for her family this Christmas. The host ended up making a comment that, if a child had been watching, would have given away "the big secret" and this actress was visibly upset that he did that after she had been trying so hard. Well watching this got me thinking about the things that we tell our kids - the lies that we work so hard to maintain. What is the purpose? We teach kids not to lie - that "honesty is the best policy" and "truth will set you free" and all of that - but we all lie all the time for a variety of reasons!

Due to the season, Santa is the most obvious example right now - we tell kids that it's his "helpers" that are working the malls and shopping meccas, or that "the elves are watching" their behavior to report back to Santa if they deserve gifts or coal. I've even known parents to go to great lengths to "prove" that Santa exists - leaving footprints, notes, and other evidence to be found the next morning. But let's not forget the tooth fairy, Easter Bunny and boogey man - just to name a few of the other characters we create for our children. Why do we do this? With Sants you can make a case that it's the magic of the season, the spirit of giving, blah blah blah... What about the actual magic of the season that this is when we remember that God made an effort to be in this world, this life with us. Why isn't that the magic of the season and the spirit of giving that we explain? Is it because we can talk about Santa in school and not Jesus - that Santa has given us a secular way of dealing with the holiday?

Why can't we find a way to teach our kids the holiday of love and giving without encouraging this belief that their behavior earns them toys? Why can't we be honest with them so that when they get old enough to figure it out they aren't disappointed or permanently suspicious of what grown ups tell them (of course, this happens anyway once they become teenagers anyway)? I love watching kids at Christmas - believing in magic, their innocence, the excitement, etc. - but I do wonder if that wouldn't all still be there without Santa Claus. And if it wouldn't be, what does that say about us??

NOT NOW I'm still at my mom's house in Rhode Island for the holidays but I wanted to start looking to the New Year and evaluating my commitments and priorities. One of my favorite "jobs" at seminary is being the co-chair of the Social Justice Committee. We're a group of students and staff who try to educate ourselves as well as the rest of the Saint Paul School of Theology community about any of a number of social justice issues, both in and outside of the church (although there's nothing that doesn't have a theological implication or perspective). To help keep ourselves focused, the SJC chooses two "focus issues" - particular topics that we commit to covering for that calendar year. The 2007 issues will be 1) to work on justice issues on our own campus and 2) the genocide in Darfur. To begin educating myself and getting the word out, I checked out this website and wanted to share it with all of you as well. I've noticed that there's an ad campaign on tv lately and hope that we can all work together to educate ourselves about what's been going on and work to move political leaders to find some kind of peaceful solution.

SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Educate Others" that's worth checking out...

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have responded to the suffering in Darfur by standing up and demanding that their governments take action to end the crisis. However, many individuals still have not heard about the genocide in Darfur. To build the political will necessary to…