Getting Ready for Giving Thanks
It is late on the evening before Thanksgiving. I sit here with a turkey baking a few feet away. My wife has hit her bottom and has gone to bed. The church is all set up and ready for whoever shows up tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The smell of the baking has me more excited than ever about the opportunity we have with this first free community Thanksgiving meal.

It is all about giving. Thanksgiving is not about what I get or about what I will eat. True gratitude always reaches out to others. The attitude of gratitude is to humbly realize that I have been blessed and as a result I give back. The world owes me nothing. I owe my creator and my God everything. Will let you know tomorrow what happens.

Waiting at the Door
Went to the airport this evening to pick up some people coming to town for Thanksgiving. As you may have heard on a newscast, this is the busiest travel day of the year. I would affirm that. I have never seen the Twin Cities airport that busy. Cars lined up. People by the scores waiting by the baggage claims for that loved one they are picking up.

With Sunday being the first Sunday of Advent, my sermon-machine mind went to the promise of Advent. It is a time of waiting, of course. But it is also the time to remember what is going to be in the return of our Lord. No matter how we may interpret the various theologies, it all boils down to waiting. Like the people at the airport. There is this barrier- the secure area that you Do Not Enter! You watch and wait for the glimpse of the person you are waiting for. You check and re-check the arrivals and baggage claims. You look around knowing you are not alone.

A cry goes up- there, I see him. A family moves toward the door as the son from the Army, the daughter from college, the first grandchild comes through.

Our lives are like standing at a door like that. There is this barrier between the now and the forever. We watch and wait expectantly for the coming of the Loved One who loves us more than we can ever know. We look for the signs, check the information we have and still have to wait. We know it will happen. We know that sooner or later the door will open and down the escalator of the Second Coming Jesus will appear. We know that. But we can so easily forget that it is going to be as joyous and exciting and wonderful as that hug the mom receives from the son she hasn's seen in months, or the embrace of two sisters reunited.

May we not forget that this is the final story of Advent- and it is truly what we are waiting for.


Christmas CD of the Day
I don't promise to do this everyday, but will try to update you on what I am listening to for the Christmas season. I love Christmas music and own far more Christmas CDs than I need to. One of my all-time favorites is:
La Fiesta de la Posada by Dave Brubeck. I first heard this on a jazz show on public radio 20 years ago. I love the music- it is eclectic: choral, mariachi, Mexican, Brubeck piano jazz and just plain wonderful.

The Fiesta de la Posada (the Festival of the Inn) is, I understand, a Mexican tradition. People go through the streets re-enacting the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Brubeck has taken the story and turned it into a wonderful musical celebration.

It was first recorded in 1976 and released on CD in 1997. I am not sure that it is still in print, but if you like Dave Brubeck, this is worth finding!