Excerpts from The Anglican Digest Vol. 37, No. 6

Advent A.D. 1995

Read the welcome page for the Unofficial Web for The Anglican Digest for an explanation of this zine.

on p. 2:

An Episcopal miscellany reflecting the ministry of the faithful throughout the Anglican Communion.

on p. 19:

Our trouble is we want the peace without the Prince. -- Addison Leach

on p. 21:

From the Bottom Upwards

The true Christian religion ... does not begin at the top, as alll other religions do; it begins at the bottom. You must run directly to the mother's womb, embrace this Infant and Virgin's Child in your arms, and look at Him -- born, being nursed, growing up, going about in human society, teaching, dying, rising again, ascending above all the heavens, and having authority over all things.

-- Lectures on Galatians

on p. 23:

The Advent Wreath

The celebration of Christ's birth on the 25th of December was introduced as a special feast in Rome in the middle of the fourth century, and quickly became one of the main feasts of the Christian Year. During this time also, the practice of keeping a penitential season before Christmas became widespread. In the 13th century it was fixed to the four weeks leading up to Christmas.

The name Advent means coming, and refers both to the coming of Christ in his birth at Bethlehem, and to his coming as the Judge of all at the end of time. The Sunday readings and hymns reflect this dual theme of Christ's coming as Saviour and Judge; our joy and our penitence; our "already-but-not-yet" existence.

The Advent wreath originated several hundred years ago among the Lutherans of eastern Germany, and probably came from the symbols of light that were used in folklore during the winter months of November and December. At that time of the year, pre-Christian culture feared the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, as a time when the malignant activity of evil spirits was specially active. During the month of Yule (December) lighted candles were placed on a wheel, with a prayer that the god of light turn the wheel of the earth toward the sun and lengthen the days.

The Church chistianized many of these light and fire symbols. The evergreens, branches of fir, originally placed near the hearth, symbolised the everlasting life found in Christ. This is the origin of our plastic Christmas trees. One of the branches, bent to form a circle, further symbolised God's Son as the light of the world, and there are four candles for the four weeks of Advent.

Gradually the Advent wreath became a symbol reminding the faithful of the Old Testament, when humanity was "sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death"; when the prophets, illumined by God, announced the coming of the Redeemer; and when the hearts of humans glowed with the desire for the Messiah. The wreath itself came to symbolise the fulfillment of time -- the coming of Christ and the glory of His birth.

-- John Patton
in The Deacon's Treasure,
Christ Church, St. Laurence,
Sydney, Australia

on p. 26:

The Last Christmas

He was a volatile man, given to fits of anger and depression. But his love was as deep as his anger and one could be blessed or cursed with either. Usually both. He had retired at an early age to live at the lake and make his way with odd jobs. It hadn't worked. The silence of the new life of retirement contrasted so greatly with the clatter and clutter of restaurant life that sometimes I think he railed against the quietness just to hear the echoes and pretend his friends had come for a visit.

He and my mother prepared to face another lonely Christmas in the winter of 1972 when I called them to announce I had a new job. I was going to be chaplain at Kansas State University. The problem I faced was that the job began January 1, and the move had to be made over Christmas. I worried that my three chilren would be without Santa Claus that year. I asked my father if he would order the toys and get a tree and prepare for Christmas so we could spend it with them. Essentially, I asked my dad to be Santa Claus in the winter of 1972.

I think I remember every Christmas with my family when I was a young boy. My father came alive during the season and Santa Claus lavished us with gifts beyond our expectations. And then, of course, I grew up and entered the priesthood, which meant I was never again to make it home for the holidays. Except for this one time.

It may have been the happiest Christmas of my father's life. He bought all the presents. He decorated a tree and he and my mother prepared to receive us. His eyes sparkled at least as much as my children's eyes.

And in the midst of all that wrapping paper on Christmas morning, I found a prayer book, some wine and a piece of bread and together we celebrated the Eucharist. "All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ..." The tears in my eyes were tears of gratitude to my earthly father for this extraordinary time when his life was changed for a moment and the joy of Christmases past became the joy of Christmas present.

My father died on February 6, 1973. That was to be his final Christmas, and, I have to believe that Almighty God saved the best gift till last.

-- The Rev. David K. Fly
Grace Church
Kirkwood, Missouri

on p. 28:

Incarnation

It had been a particularly tiring day for a four-year old girl and her parents. After putting their daughter to bed, they collapsed into their room. But the little girl was too tired to fall asleep and became fearful of the dark. "Mommy, Daddy, come here, I'm scared" came just as her parents' eyes closed. "It's okay, God's in there with you," they replied, hoping to ease her fears. A minute passed. "Mommy, Daddy, come here, I'm scared." "But we told you, God's in there with you." "I know he is, but I need somebody with skin on them!"

God knows what we needed: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ... and we beheld His glory ... full of grace and truth. (St. John 1:1-18)

-- The Rev. Joseph Arps
Hamden, Maine

on p. 37:

Blind Faith

Blind faith in reason is a central tenet of humanism. But the twentieth century has shown that our reasoning is not neutral. We are driven by motivations at a deeper level than our reasoning faculties. In fact much of what is called reasoning is more properly called rationalising. Moreover, humanism cannot explain our aspirations or our failures, and is impotent to provide the necessary change in human nature.

Yet there is a perverse refusal to reconsider historic Christianity which still offers the most compelling critique of our contemporary dilemma as well as the answer in Him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

-- Anthony H. Nichols
in North West Network
The Anglican Church of Australia

on pp. 45-50

And in All Places

...

EPISCOPAL NURSING HOMES are among the best in the country, according to Consumer Reports. Information on a facility directory and other publications is available from Episcopal Society for Ministry on Aging, Inc. (ESMA), 323 Wyandotte Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

...

ANYONE INTERESTED in free information about retreats and programs with the Society of St. John the Evangelist should write to: The Receptionist, 980 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02138.

...

TO GIVE AN OLD COMPUTER a new home in Russia for church use, please contact the Rev. Richard Kew, Russian Ministry Network, P.O. Box 2806, Mufreesboro, TN 37133-2806. [Or, as noted along with phone and fax in Vol. 37, No. 5, p. 45, via e-mail at RichardKew@XC.org.- tbc]

...

THOSE INTERESTED in learning how church festivals can be promoted as a means of growth may write John D. Buss, P.O. Box 1383, Keokuk, Iowa 52632 for further information on his "kit."

...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Trinity Church, Greely, Colorado, which will celebrate its 125th Anniversary on the Third Sunday of Advent, December 17, 1995, with a service from the 1789 Book of Common Prayer.

...

KEEP THE FAITH and share it, too!

on p. 59:

These From the Cathedral Door

Christian "fundamentalism" is not something restricted to the Religious Right. It is not one easy target constituted by conservative "free-church" Protestantism. It is rather a moving target. It is a moving target because it is evenly distributed -- in human hearts!

Here are a few fundamentalisms that demonstrate the reach of the phenomenon:

Hippolytus -- fundamentalism: Building an entire theology on a single Second- or Third-Century text that survives only in a most uncertain and fragmented state.

Free Will -- fundamentalism: A supposed "doctrine" of free will, which overlooks almost every theologian from the Fourth through the Seventeenth Centuries, and wants human nature as existing within limits as predestinarian.

Anno Domini 1979 -- fundamentalism: Taking forms conceived over one decade as the absolute benchmark for all subsequent liturgy.

Can you think of other examples? We all know about "conservative evangelicanism" and its exponents, particularly those on the television. We all know what we are supposedly not. Do we also know our Anglicanism in its full richness and depth? Do we want to acknowledge Cranmer on the Eucharist or Ramsey on the Gospel in the Catholic Church or Whitgift on the bound will? Or did those people and their ideas simply never exist?

"Fundamentalism" is a universal phenomenon. By personal fiat it makes "me" a fundamentalist over against "you." It presumes much, turns a blind eye on those of whom it does not approve, and is uneasy about "the other." (St. John 8:7)

-- The Very Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl is Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent,
Birmingham, Alabama

on p. 22:

HOW TO RECEIVE EACH ISSUE OF THE ANGLICAN DIGEST

We welcome one and all to the readership family of The Anglican Digest (TAD). To receive the little magazine regularly (it is published six times a year), send us your name and address and include a contribution toward its cost ($19 is suggested). As its Founding Father said, "It's as simple as that."

100 Skyline Drive Eureka Springs, AR 72632-9705

This web page has no official connection to TAD whatsoever.

This URL is http://www.oocities.org/Athens/3680/v37no6.htm; the welcome page URL is http://www.oocities.org/Athens/3680/tadindex.htm.

Document Owner: Tim Chambers

tbc@netbox.com, http://www.netbox.com/tbc/