George Martzen "georgos"

We celebrated Christmas Eve at home this year with several TTC students joining us for dinner. We shared food and stories from Myanmar, Philippines, China and Malaysia. Afterward, I sat at the piano and we sang a few Christmas songs. Some of our guests, who have been away from home and family for a long time, expressed appreciation for the hospitality. Well, it's easy to be nostalgic at this time of year, given the close extended family of my own upbringing. I recall how in my younger days that Christmas Eve always started with the service of candle-lighting service at First church. There the Christmas story was rehearsed in Scripture readings, congregational singing, anthems and solos. Preaching was minimal. The story was enacted with the extinguishing of the lights. Then the pastor read, in the dimness of one candle, the words of John 1, "In the beginning was the Word..." As the candle light was slowly passed down the aisles to each person, we began singing ...

My life is currently influenced by several key issues and involvements: Most immediately, I am involved in the life of The Methodist Church in Singapore, which tonight officially concludes its 9th General Conference session with the re-dedication of Robert Solomon as Bishop. He was re-elected yesterday. I will play a humble role in that service. I am also an American who gladly welcomes the hope of change in Barak Obama. I also observe with some concern the shifts and splits in American religious life, such as the formation of the new North American Anglican Church. Well, they can do what they want, but the action is one expression of a growing hermeneutical divide, which feels painful to me. I consider myself a progressive evangelical. With my evangelical brothers and sisters I can sing "There's something about that name...", I study my Bible, I pray the BCP in morning, I affirm the great ecumencial creeds... But Christian faith is not some iron wall that separat...