January 2010

Do you remember the song The Circle of Life from The Lion King movie? The lyrics, written by Tim Rice, remind us that we live in a world full of beginnings and endings, life and death, giving and taking:

From the day we arrive on the planet, and blinking, step into the sun
There's more to be seen than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done
Some say eat or be eaten, some say live and let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede, you should never take more than you give

The weeks leading up to Christmas at Redlands United Church of Christ reminded me that the Circle of Life runs through our congregation as much as in the rest of God’s creation. Being a circle, it’s hard to decide where to begin describing the phenomenon, but I’ll start somewhere in the middle and I hope that you’ll go around with me.

The church’s youth, along with some dedicated adult volunteers, spent many hours deciding on a gift for the congregation in the form of a Christmas Pageant. They thought and fought about what would be meaningful … not only for us to receive but for them to give. One day, my son Jacob came home and said he was worried it might fall flat this year; that the script was straying too far from the core Christmas story and even becoming (gasp!) sacrilegious. However, in yet another in a long line of miracles, the congregation was awestruck by the sacred gift.

While the pageant was being prepared, there were others preparing another holy gift. About a dozen people were trying to fill the shoes of Saint Helen of Arth by crafting 30 gingerbread houses. They muttered as walls and rooftops broke in half and cursed (mildy) as completed houses crashed down as though struck by earthquakes. Then, the effort was all proven worthwhile as wide-eyed youngsters coated them with frosting and tons of delicious and colorful candy.

Meanwhile, further along the circle, RUCC’s children had been collecting money leading up to Christmas and decided they would donate it to the Christmas stocking fund for parolees’ families. The elves working on the stockings found they had to shop til they dropped to spend the generous gift, even being able to fund one more family than originally planned.

What happened in the parolees’ houses after the gifts were delivered isn’t known, but I imagine the giving continued as they shared their goodwill and perhaps had their lives changed a little by the experience.

Some of us fall by the wayside and some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles and some have to live with the scars
There's far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky, keeps great and small on the endless round

And so the Circle continues. The birth of a baby in a dark stable inspires us to be more than we can imagine, give more than we have, and love more than we knew possible.

With optimism and hope,
Loring Fiske-Phillips