Why Christmas is Dec 25th

From the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, the days grow shorter and colder and from the Northern Hemisphere the sun appears to get smaller and move south. The sun spends less and less time in the sky and the night becomes ever longer. On Dec 22nd, the sun , having moved south for six months, makes it to its lowest point in the sky. Curiously, it rises in the same spot in the southern sky for three days. The spot, happens to be very near to the constellation of the Southern Cross (crux). On Dec 25th, the sun begins to move again, only this time to the north. In the constellation of Orion, his belt consists of three stars, they are the brightest in the constellation and have been referred to as the "Three Kings". These three stars align and point to Sirius, the brightest star in the eastern sky on the night of Dec 24th, which in turn happens to point at the place where the sun is going to rise on Dec 25th.

In short, the sun, losing ground for six months, dies "on" the Cross on Dec 22 and remains in this state for three days, at which point it is reborn and begins to grow, causing the days to become longer. The three kings follow the eastern star to the place where the sun will rise on the day of its birth.

I always wondered what Alma was talking about when he said: "...Even the earth...and its motion, yea, and also the planets...do witness there is a Supreme Creator." Now I know, when Jesus created the universe, he set it up so even the stars would tell of His birth and resurrection.

The Tumbleweed and the Log

There is an analogy frequently repeated in the church that drives me nuts. You may recognize it from when President Monson relayed it in a General Conference address back in the fall of 1997:

"...what I've called the 'hot coals' story. He described a warm fireplace where the pieces of wood had burned brightly, with the embers still glowing and giving off heat. He then observed that by taking in hand brass tongs, he could remove one of the hot embers. That ember would then slowly pale in light and turn black. No longer would it glow. No longer would it warm. He then pointed out that by returning the black, cold ember to the bed of living coals, the dark ember would begin to glow and brighten and warm. He concluded, 'People are somewhat like the coals of a fire. Should they absent themselves from the warmth and spirit of the active church membership, they will not contribute to the whole, but in their isolation will be changed. As with the embers removed from the heat of the fire, as they distance themselves from the intensity of the spirit generated by the active membership, they will lose that warmth and spirit.'"

I have heard it so many times and I still can not stand it. I think the thing that bothers me about it is it is opposite from the truth (at least for me). As I look back throughout my life, there have been times when, due to circumstances, I have been unable to attend church and would go long periods of time without any association with mormons. These were the times of the most spiritual growth and the solidification of my testimony. The times when I have been a weekly church goer / frequent temple attendee are the times I become lazy, complacent and more critical. However, leaving me (and those like me) out of it I ask: Is this what people really think? Do people see the church as a raging fire? I sure don't and here is one reason why (there are many);

A couple weeks ago, my family attended church with a co-worker of mine. I am familiar with the church, and admire the pastor. I have heard him preach on the radio and listened to some of his sermons online. I see him as a man of God and have a lot of respect for him. When we went, it was a refreshing experience. Everyone seemed excited to be there, I mean really excited. It was an hour and a half long service of which the first twenty minutes and last twenty minutes were spent standing and singing along with the rock band on stage. In between the music was an interesting sermon though it seemed somewhat shallow (unfortunately not from the normal Pastor - he had swine flu :( ). There were people sitting beside me, in back of me and in front of me with their Bibles out and note pads, taking notes. Not counting my wife, I can not remember the last time I saw anyone take notes in a Sacrament Meeting.

My kids enjoyed the standing and singing to the electric guitar, drums and keyboard. I did too, I must confess. The feeling of inclusion was very apparent. The place was packed. The converted school bus was out front after it had made its rounds picking up people from all over town. No one I saw was dressed up, everyone looked and felt comfortable. After the service everyone was hanging around talking enjoying each others company. We had to rush out to make it to our own service.

Upon arriving at our church there was a noticeable difference. Looking around, no one seemed excited to be there. Everyone was dressed up and there was a bit of stuffiness in the air. Sacrament Meeting was a bit of a different experience. The closing hymn was “The Spirit of God” – one of my favorites, but I wasn’t singing, it is hard for me to sing that slow.

I spent a lot of time that day, and since, thinking of the two churches. Comparing them. I have attended many different churches but this presented an interesting contrast rushing out of one to make it to the other. I decide to try and come up with three words to explain each of the two churches and here is what I came up with.

Other Church: Excitement, Enthusiasm, Sugar Rush

My Church: Dull, Duty, Depth

First my explanation of why I chose those words for the other church. There was no one there that I could find that did not seem excited to be there. From the youngest kids to the ushers to the old ladies, there was an air of excitement that permeated the entire space. Not just excitement but also enthusiasm. The people attending seemed genuinely enthused about the Lord Jesus and what he had done for them. But it also seemed a bit like a sugar rush, an inrush of current if you will, but not a lot of substance to hold onto that rush.

Now, the words for the mormon church. I can not remember the last time I have been to a church meeting that was not dull. Not to say the messages were not good, but they were dull. There is a sense of duty in the church, duty to show up, duty to sit quietly, duty to do what you’re told, and you just do it, all of it. But there is depth, the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored by Joseph Smith has no end. One can take it as far as they wish, which I might add, is a large part of the problem.

The Church of Jesus Christ has all the restored keys and proper authority to accomplish the purpose of life on this earth. Because of this they do not need enthusiasm or excitement. The other churches do not have all the answers. They have Jesus and they have the Bible. Arguably, that is enough, but there will always be questions and gaps. They fill these with their excitement and enthusiasm. The mormon church does not need excitement or enthusiasm, they have “the truth”.

So to go back to the lame analogy and expand it to this example; the other church is like a dry tumbleweed. When lit it creates a large fierce flame which has no substance. The mormon church is like a nice hardwood log. Once it is lit, it is not going out, it will put out lots of heat, and will burn a long, long time, but will never give you the excited, enthusiastic flame of a dry tumbleweed.

As I was contemplating this, I began to wonder, was it always like this? That is easy to answer: no! Then I began to wonder, if Joseph Smith had been born in our time, say 1980, what would the church be like, would it be the same? The first vision would have been in 1994 and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would have been founded in 2005. Also in 2005, Emma would have been called to collect hymns for the new hymnbook. Hmm, now I have a question. Would Emma have picked the same hymns? Or would she have picked some of the newer (upbeat) songs? Honestly, I can not see a twenty six year old woman nowadays putting together a collection of songs like what we use. But I digress, that is not my point.

I have had many discussions with my wife since this experience and I have not been able to figure out, how could excitement be brought back into the church? The church is not growing near as well as claimed. Even though we frequently sing "All is Well, All is Well", I think there is a strong argument to the contrary. I cringe everytime I read 2 Nephi 28, is that not what I hear from the pulpit of the church? The church does not need to compromise any of its core beliefs or underpinnings to do this, but it needs excited members, enthusiastic members. I can not get it out of my head...if the members of my church had the excitement and enthusiasm the members of the other church had, oh, imagine...

Does Jesus come to Your Sacrament Meeting

In honor of the one year anniversary of my post about whether or not mormons know too much, I figured I would give an update. For those who missed the last post, here is a brief rundown. I postulated that mormons knew too much and tended to loose sight of what matters most. In delving into various gospel topics, they tend to forget about the saving mission of Jesus Christ and can leave him out of their talks entirely. It is shocking, at least to me, that I can sit through talks without a single mention of the Savior until they close their remarks in His name.

I have been keeping track since the last post and kept a running total. Below are the results. It has been somewhat surprising. The averages have never dropped below 3 and only briefly gone above 5 once (That was the Youth and it lasted less than a month). After over 18 months of tracking, it seems like right around 4 is where they will stay.

Youth:
Mentions of Christ in an average talk:
1.00 – Times Christ was mentioned as a Formalities
0.68 – Times Christ was mentioned while quoting from Scripture
0.42 – Times Christ was mentioned while quoting from General Authorities (and other spiritual literature)
0.32– Times Christ was mentioned indirectly
0.37– Times Christ was mentioned in the context of a Testimony
0.63– Times Christ was mention for Other reasons
3.42 – Total mentions of Christ in a talk


Adult:
Mentions of Christ in an average talk:
0.96 – Times Christ was mentioned as a Formalities
0.59 – Times Christ was mentioned while quoting from Scripture
0.56 – Times Christ was mentioned while quoting from General Authorities (and other spiritual literature)
0.39 – Times Christ was mentioned indirectly
0.44 – Times Christ was mentioned in the context of a Testimony
1.06 – Times Christ was mention for Other reasons
4.01 – Total mentions of Christ in a talk.

So, I do not know about your Sacrament Meetings, but these are the results from the Sacrament Meetings I have attended, most were my home ward, but I travel a fair amount on business and kept track in wards I visited as well.