Late December always seems to be a good time to reflect and think about all the things that have happened; as well as think about the future. While we were traveling what seemed like endless kilometers during choir tour I thought about quite a few things that applied to the Christmas season as well as the New Year.
Before we get to my musings, let's talk about more important things like what's happened and what is going to happen. The big December event here at Aparri Bible Seminary is the Christmas cantata presented at Aparri Church of Christ and the subsequent tour where a smaller group of students travels to some supporting churches to present the cantata in some other venues. This semester ABS has 75 students enrolled and 73 of them participated in the presentation at Aparri C of C. The smaller traveling group consisted of 22 students plus some additional support staff. 10 additional shows were presented at various point in Northern Luzon. This year's choir shows and tour were a wonderful success with minimal vehicular trouble and maximum audience appreciation. The largest audience on the tour was the 1500+ students of Ballesteros National High School: Ballesteros, Cagayan.
My youngest colleague on the ABS faculty; Sir Kenneth (who was one of my students last year) had the honor of being the featured speaker for this year's tour as well as the driver for the seminary equipment van. Ken actually got his driver's license the day we left, so the whole driving thing is still fairly new to him, Word is he still enjoys driving; so good for him.
This very week classes resumed after Christmas break. Midterms are actually next week which seems impossible; but the semester rolls along whether you consent or not. The next big event on the seminary calendar is the Inter-Seminary Fellowship that will take place in February in Baguio City. That should be exciting. Graduation is scheduled for mid March. The semester will soon be over; no doubt about it. That. of course. means a return to the States for me shortly after. I'm looking forward to that. My only request/hope is that I arrange next year's visa before I leave for minimum hassle.
Which brings me to my next point. I'm hoping to return the Philippines and Aparri Bible Seminary for the next school year, that of course means that those supporting churches will have to step up again, Lord willing. I don't know how long I will have this ministry; but the only thing I'm sure of now is that until I hear different, I'm supposed to be here. So I'm proceeding on that premise.
Now, to the musings about Christmas and the new year. Much of this was prompted by the theme of the cantata this year, "Voices of Christmas." The main point of the presentation was that regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in at Christmas; the point of Christmas is Jesus. That's nothing new to most of us; what really struck me was a particular piece of monologue from the presentation where an elderly lady described how Christmas was the quietest, loneliest day of her year because so much of her family had passed away or moved away.
Even though I'm not 75 years old I can relate to those statements. There is no doubt in my mind that Christmas is, for me, a lonely day. That doesn't mean that I wasn't able to celebrate; and this year was much better than last year as far as emotions about being away from home go. The fact, however, remains that most people want to be with their family on Christmas, and the best I could do was an hour of Skype.
This is one of the bare facts of what I do. If you're going to do mission work in the other hemisphere, you're going to have to deal with some separation. Everyone here does an admirable job of trying to include me, and I truly appreciate it, but it isn't the same. There are some people here that I am very close with that I genuinely love like family, but on Christmas once again, it isn't the same. This truth made me very receptive to the message of the cantata. Not just that Christmas is about Jesus; but also that even if present circumstances are not ideal, it doesn't (or perhaps shouldn't) change the things that are true about Christmas and the things that most of us love about Christmas. The idea as one of the songs from the cantata put it, was that the important parts of Christmas live inside us. The Christmas attitude is what (hopefully) distinguishes Christmas.
Romans 5:1-8 says this much better than I ever could. "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through
whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And
hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (New English Translation).
That right time began with a baby in a manger. This is the most basic reason for celebrating Christmas: "O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel . . ." The message of Luke 1:37, the accomplishments that began with Christmas; these are the source of what makes Christmas special. These truths are not effected by my being 8000 miles from my family.
So even though the time of Christmas seems a bit lonely, I hope that can continue to see the blessing that a simple, quiet Christmas provides. A chance to learn things about God and his word, a chance to improve attitudes and thoughts, a chance to let God make me better than I was.
It doesn't take a big stretch of the intellect to connect this to new things, like years for instance. The things that make Christmas a special time, are true of every single day a Christian has in fellowship with God through his indwelling Spirit. And so what's true of Dec. 25th is true of Jan. 4th and April 1st and Sept. 27th. Every day is a chance to learn things about God, to learn things about his word, to improve attitudes and thoughts, to let God make you better, to deepen your faith, to be more generous, to be more compassionate and on and on. As Pastor Roy said when the choir was in Delfin Albano: "Everyday is Christmas for a Christian!"
To conclude, you've probably heard most of this before; I'm certainly not claiming originality here. Perhaps this was a reminder you needed to hear, and that's enough for me.
"O come thou Dayspring, come and cheer; our spirits by thine advent here."
Before I end this post, I want to mention a few other things. One very nice thing about Christmas is that some of my friends who study or work in Manila are home for the holidays. I enjoyed seeing some folks I hadn't seen in a while and made a few new friends as well.
Also, last post I forgot to pass along my congratulations to my cousin Toni Beth and her husband Zach. They welcomed their first child into this world approximately 6 weeks ago, I'm very happy for them and wish young Liam the best.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing Louisville Cardinals who managed to share the Big East football championship, join the ACC, beat Kentucky in basketball and football, and make ESPN and lots of other analysts look foolish by winning the Sugar Bowl. It is an exciting time to be a Louisville fan. Jurich is the best Athletic Director in the country.
Happy New Year! I hope you are well.
Nick
