Brugge’s Notes

There are some who say that we measure time in lifespans. As a child, Christmas took forever to come around. It seemed like a lifetime. This is because it had literally been a whole lifetime since the last one. When we get to be in our twenties, Christmas seems to come around twenty times as quickly. As we reach our seventies we adopt the attitude, ‘What’s the point in taking down Christmas decorations? We’re just going to put them up again right away.’

The recent news events from Charlottesville have brought so called “hate groups” to the focus. We feel compelled to speak out against those who feel driven to focus their hatred and acrimony on groups seen as different from themselves.
As Christians it is our duty to speak up for those who are oppressed and raise our voices in opposition to those who preach hatred and malice. It is natural for us to feel anger at those who spew their hurtful words and messages of hate at others who they hardly know.
It is also natural for that anger to turn into hate. Hate that is displeasing to God. [read more]

We all like to be happy. It’s our nature. We naturally avoid things that make us unhappy. I think that is one reason that the season of Lent is not especially popular. It is a time for personal reflection. A time to examine ourselves, take an inventory of our sinful lives, and be remind of how we fall short of God’s image. But do we really need that? Do we need this downer? Can we even force ourselves to be sad when Springtime is so close? After all, we’re basically good people. We may not be perfect, but nobody’s perfect and the truth is, we’re a lot better than a lot of people we know. We live good lives and try to be nice to others (mostly). So do we really need Lent? We have God’s promise of forgiveness–our sins have been washed away. So why do we still need this heavy duty guilt trip? Because without Lent, we have no Easter. Sure, we can attend Easter service and sing Easter hymns, even hunt for colored eggs and have a big dinner. But without Lent, Easter is without meaning, it’s empty. There’s nothing there but the music, the Easter Lilies, and egg hunts. Our celebration is hollow. Consider this quote from Mark Twain. “What is joy without sorrow? What is success without failure? What is a win without a loss? What is health without illness? You have to experience each if you are to appreciate the other.” Think about that

Did you miss the New Year’s celebration? You’re not alone. It passed by with scarcely a notice. I’m talking about the Church New Year—the beginning of the Advent Season. Yes it’s wonky stuff, but bear with me. Christians sometimes speak of the three comings of Christ: in the flesh at His birth, in our hearts each day, and when he returns in glory at the end of time. From the earliest of times the period of Advent was marked by fasting and penance, making one’s heart ready to receive the Lord. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming. It may surprise you to know that for most of its history, Christmas was not considered a major holiday. It only began to grow in importance in the Middle Ages but even then it was alway seen as less significant than Easter and Pentecost. You most likely have heard how pagan mid-winter celebrations were gradually blended in with the celebration of Christmas and how many of the customs now associated with Christmas were borrowed from pagan beliefs. Then as now, it was the feasting and drinking, the exchange of gifts, and general merriment and excitement that raised the stature of Christmas. Unlike today, this period of festivity was confined to the twelve day period from Christmas Day until the Epiphany. The Advent period leading up to Christmas was always a somber period of fasting

A recent podcast of the program Hidden Brain, interviewed Dacher Keltner, the director of UC Berkeley’s Social Interaction Lab. He spoke about some of the interesting scientific studies in how people interact with each other. When looking at how people in social settings gain power, studies find something that might seem counter intuitive. If we think about power as being able to dominate by scheming and maneuvering people into positions of disadvantage, the people who display altruism, kindness, and social intelligence, these are the people who gain power and respect from their peers. But there is a catch. Once these people become powerful, their power tends to undermine the very qualities that help them get there in the first place. Dr. Keltner says, “There is something about the seduction of power that makes you lose site of ethics and other people’s interest.” Twenty years of study on thousands of people has shown that any group of people, when first brought together, quickly evolves into ranking by social power. Often times, those who are boisterous and bullying start out grabbing attention, but over time they start to lose power and never gain the social position that they are seeking Meanwhile those who listen to others, who shows empathy and compassion, rise in the esteem and the ranking of their peers. We support those who listen to us, show us compassion and understanding, and are respectful of us and our ideas. We resist those who try to dominate us and who try