Only a short recording this week, no talk. There’s a meditation on Christmas Past, followed by decorating the church in readiness for the Christmas Eve Carol Service.
Deck the halls!
Christmas
Christmas: A Subversive Holiday
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No separate audio this week due to poor quality audio recording, watching the video with subtitles – hit the Subtitles/Closed Captions’ button once you’ve started the video – should improve intelligibility.
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Clay Nelson © 16 December 2018
I find it ironic that many Unitarians struggle with celebrating Christmas. They love to regale us with tales about how the church took a lot of pagan traditions and repurposed them. Which is true. They scoff at Virgin births, moving stars, the birth of Saviours of the World, divine babies in human form, and challenge any of it as history. And of course, they are right — none of this historically happened. They find Christmas fit only for children and gag at how it has been sentimentalised. And once again they are right. The delight and wonder in a child’s eyes on Christmas morning is worth all the hassle of making it magical for them. Only through their eyes is the wonder available to us who are world-worn and weary. And yes, the sentimentalising of Christmas makes it easy to miss its offer of another way of seeing life and of living our lives.
Continue reading Christmas: A Subversive HolidayChristmas Eve Candlelight Service 2017
Rev. Clay Nelson
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No text for this service.
Carols not included.
Rev. Clay Nelson © 24th December 2017
Carols and Shared Reflections
Rev. Clay Nelson
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No text this week.
Rev. Clay Nelson © 24th December 2017
What are we waiting for?
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Opening words are First comes the waiting, by Erika A. Hewitt.
Rev. Clay Nelson © 3rd December 2017
Christians are celebrating the First Sunday of Advent today, one of the four Sundays before Christmas. As Unitarians, it is fair to ask, why do we care? Well, because Advent is all about celebrating waiting. Continue reading What are we waiting for?
2016 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
How Unitarians Saved Christmas
Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 11 December 2016
This week it was reported that one of Donald Trump’s surrogates, his first campaign manager, told Fox News that President-elect Trump had saved Christmas from Obama. Apparently he had won the war on Christmas, declaring it is now safe to say “Merry Christmas” again. In a world of fake news stories where pizza joints can be shot up because of outrageous lies generated by fake news sites, it isn’t surprising President Obama was plagued by such stories. One in particular was that being a “Muslim,” he never said, “Merry Christmas” or called a Christmas tree a “Christmas tree,” in spite of hours of videotape recording him doing just that. Continue reading How Unitarians Saved Christmas
Christmas Carol Service (without the carols)
Christmas: A Holiday without Borders
By Rev. Clay Nelson
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Rev. Clay Nelson © 13 December 2015
I confess I am sometimes subject to flights of fancy. I had an episode a few days ago. I wondered what Jesus would think if he actually came back as some Christians believe he will some day. “Came back from where?” is a question that comes to mind. But never mind. It would be especially intriguing to hear his reactions to what he would find if he came back at this time of year. What would he think? Continue reading Christmas: A Holiday without Borders
A Subversive Christmas
Rev. Clay Nelson
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https://aucklandunitarian.org.nz/podcast/20141214RevClayNelson_ASubversiveChristmas.mp3″]
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Clay Nelson © 14 December 2014
We have lit the third Advent candle, the one for peace. It promises that the day is drawing near when we will once again hear the Christmas stories from the Gospels. In preparation for that I would like to give you my Christmas present early. Come Christmas Eve, I would like you to be able to actually enjoy and be transformed by the stories without having an internal argument with your rational side about Virgin births, moving stars, the birth of Saviours of the World, divine babies in human form, and whether or not any of it is history. Continue reading A Subversive Christmas