The First Day.

by Aaron Alford

(photo: The Garden Tomb, Israel)

No light could be seen from inside the cave. The cold air held the scent of rock and moss and the lingering odour of bitter herbs. The silence was palpable, hovering in the tomb like the Spirit on the face of the deep.

A body lay on the stone shelf, its unnatural stillness betraying any illusion of sleep. For all the beautifying shrouds so carefully wrapped around it, and the precious blossoms placed upon the swaddling cloths, this was a corpse. His friends had done their best to dress the wounds, in some unreasoning and unspoken hope that even in death these wounds might heal, but the reality remained, and they were gruesome. He looked as though he had been mauled to death, and the truth was not far from it. It had taken hours to dress his wounds, long enough for tears to give way to silence and the quiet business at hand. Finally, his mother had wiped the blood from his face. She caressed his pallid brow, placed the last shroud upon his head, and kissed him through the veil.

There was evening and there was morning, and evening and morning. The third day.

The cold air of night lingered inside the tomb, and the ground was cool to the touch. All was still, but for the movement of a beetle, and so silent that its footsteps could be heard as it skittered across the wall.

Then in that silence, a breath.

Light filled the cave like lightning, and for a moment cast a deep, black shadow beneath the feet of the beetle.

The lungs which had sat silent since Friday resumed their interrupted rhythm of rising and falling. The man sat up on one elbow as the white cloths fell gently from his body. He took a deep draught of crisp, cold air, and smiled. The scent of the cave delighted him, especially the scent of myrrh emanating from his burial shroud. He stood, and he seemed to be clothed in robes made of light itself. He turned and looked at the burial cloths. He smiled again, noticing the faint imprint his form and that flash of light had left on them. The shrouds were wrinkled from the absence of his body, and he remembered something his mother had told him about making his bed. He folded them neatly and placed them on the stone shelf. The blossoms which had adorned the edges he arranged in an impromptu bouquet. The beetle came to inspect them. He held out his finger and the bug crawled on, and he surveyed the beetle as the beetle surveyed his scars. The marks, which had seemed so horrible only an hour before, practically glowed now with beauty.

He set the beetle back down, turned to the sealed mouth of the cave, and walked through it.

His face welcomed the sun, and his eyes took in every bright colour of the garden. Each leaf seemed to be the purest idea of the colour green. Each flowering blossom’s morning dew shone with the glow of a newborn. Even the ground beneath his feet seemed to blush with the ruddy warmth of a new mother. The world was alive, re-created, resurrected.

And as he walked from the tomb, in the cool of the morning, the stone rolled back from the crevice of its own accord, and the sun stole into the cave like the dawn of the first day of creation. And he looked, and saw that it was very good.

Beards In Action: We Really Did It!

One January day a few months ago, I said to my friend and fellow YWAM worker Chris, “I’ve been thinking… What if we hosted an outreach team from the Bearded Gospel Men community?”  “Let’s do it!” said Chris (who immediately began to let his beard grow). We had a specific week we’d need to slot it into, and it would be short notice to pull a team together, but we figured if we even got just a few guys out, it would be worth it.

So I put out the call (and kept harping on you guys!), and two friends came out to join us: Jacob Johnson from Portland (aka Beard Central) and Josh Seehorn from Athens, Georgia. We spent a week together serving people from the low-income and street community here in Modesto, and in a word, it was awesome. There are so many stories to tell from this time, and over the next couple of weeks you’ll hear some of them. For now, suffice to say that it was extremely cool to see new relationships form between our volunteers, us, and the people we serve.

Although we called it the ‘Beards In Action’ week, we wanted to let this week be focused not just on the actions of serving, but on making those actions opportunities to engage people in relationship, to get to know their stories and who they are. It’s a very good thing to serve people, but real change comes to both parties when we get to know one another. And that’s what has been great to see this past week. 

It was cool to see Josh, who just completed running and hiking across the entire country, engage people wherever he went. He loves meeting folks and beginning conversations, and his openness and friendliness with people was great to see. It was also a true blessing to see Jacob’s warmth and gentleness with each person he met and in each situation in which he served. Both of these Bearded Gospel Men are awesome guys, and it’s been a pleasure getting to know them.

I also want to give some thanks to someone who was not able to join us, but  who was present nonetheless.  Doug at CanYouHandlebar (www.canyouhandlebar.com) graciously sent us the gift of several of his excellent products, along with a whole bunch of his Wisdom and Initiative Beard Oils to give to bearded friends we met along the way. It was so cool to be able to tell a friend who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to have the luxury of something like beard oil about my friend back in Michigan who wanted to send along his greetings and a gift. I think in particular of our new friend “Grizzly”, who is currently homeless. When I gave him some oil, he got the biggest smile on his face and said, “Wow, man. You really made my day!” So thanks for that, Doug!

We were able to partner with several ministries throughout the week, and you should go check them out. Advancing Vibrant Communities (www.vibrantcommunities.org), The Vine House (www.lovemodesto.com/less-fortunate/vine-house-ministries), and Love Modesto (www.lovemodesto.com) are all doing truly inspiring things in our city, and it was a pleasure to work alongside each one of them. I’d encourage you to find out what may be happening in your own city, and see if there are some opportunities to serve.

And of course, I couldn’t talk about the Bearded Gospel Men ‘Beards In Action’ week without mentioning the Third Annual Northern California Beard and Mustache Competition! This was a fun night (even if it did go a bit long, with too few chairs!) of celebrating all things beardy, and meeting some really interesting people. Josh and I both entered the competition, and although our beards are big, there were beards even more impressive than ours! But we had a good time with each other and the people we met, and that’s really what it’s all about.

So what began as a little idea to get a couple guys together from the BGM community turned out, in the end, to be even better than I could have hoped. Which of course means you should stay tuned and be ready for the Second Annual Bearded Gospel Men ‘Beards In Action’ week next year!

 

Bearded Gospel History: Saint Patrick

 

by Aaron Alford

 

There is very little one can say about Saint Patrick that has not already been said, but it simply wouldn’t be right to let this special day go by without mentioning something about this unique and compelling figure of Christianity. For a brief and interesting biography of Patrick, I recommend this article by writer Jonathan Rogers: http://www.rabbitroom.com/2013/03/on-the-greatness-of-saint-patrick/

What I can talk about is what Patrick represents to me personally, and why I find him so fascinating. Patrick’s was a life lived in absolute love and service to Christ and to the people around him. 

He was sent to be a missionary in a culture that was defined by its paganism. He was not afraid of the world in which he found himself, however, and instead looked for signs of life, of the movement of the Holy Spirit, within it. He celebrated what was good and true, and with great love and care (and sound doctrine), introduced people to the source of that goodness and truth: Jesus Christ. 

He had a profound awareness of the spiritual realities around him, of God’s immense and unseen workings in the world. He had a sense of Christ’s breath in the breeze, of God’s immediacy in his created world, and of Christ’s presence in the people he was called to serve. He looked with overwhelming love upon the people whom God had made, a people that most of the world (including Christians) had written off as beyond hope or redemption. This was what motivated him to return as a missionary to the very people who had enslaved him. He knew that he need not fear any person, spiritual force, or even the culture of paganism in which he found himself, because Christ’s love was all around him. With Christ’s own love, he loved people.

When I am tempted to despair of Christ’s presence in my life, of his Holy Spirit being at work in the world around me, I need only to remember the incredible prayer of St. Patrick. Here I am reminded of his ever-present help, and his ever-present love. May we carry that same love and confidence into the world in which we find ourselves.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude. 

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

Smelly Betty.

by Aaron Alford

I love my Dad. Sadly, however, he’s beardless. I have seen a picture of him in the 70s where he’s sporting goatee, but that’s the most facial hair I’ve ever seen on him. Pray for him, my bearded brethren. With this information in mind, is it okay if I tell a little story about him? Yes? Okay then.

My Dad’s a trucker, and has often found himself in places where he was able to take some small action, and be in the right place at the right time for someone. The other day, he told me about just such a time.

Dad was at a truck stop, and noticed a dirty, disheveled woman sitting in a booth in the restaurant area. She was slumped over and sleeping, and it saddened him to see her there. Obviously she was homeless, and apparently may have had some mental health and/or addiction issues going on. But really, what could he do for her? Not much, he supposed, and he almost walked on by.

But then he had another thought. He had met some of the people I count as friends here in Modesto, and seen how simple it can be to be a friend to someone in such a situation. Maybe he could at least buy her some food.

He didn’t want to wake her, so he asked the waitress if he could leave a few dollars for her to get something when she woke up.

“Oh, that’s so nice of you! But my shift is ending, so I couldn’t leave the money for the next girl,” said the waitress. “But I know this lady. I’ll get her up.”

The waitress walked over to the woman’s booth and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Betty?”

The woman awoke.

“Betty? This man wants to buy you something to eat. Do you want something?”

Instantly the woman, Betty, perked up.

“Really? Oh that would be wonderful! Thank-you so much, sir!”

Betty ordered something to eat. Then my Dad had another thought. As a truck driver who frequented this particular truck stop chain, he had tokens available for use of the trucker’s showers.  And Betty could really use a shower.

“I don’t know how to say this, but, uhm, if you wanted to make use of the showers, you can use my shower token,” he said.

Betty’s eye brightened. She was not offended in the least that someone noticed she needed a shower

“Really? Oh yes, I’d love that!”

At this point, you should know that my Dad has a big heart, but he’s got quite an aversion to being dirty. He just can’t stand being in a situation where he has to be around anything “smelly”. Thankfully, however, he’s thrown himself into at least two different short-term outreach situations where he’s had to get out of his comfort zone and into a less-than-sanitary situation. I have photo evidence of about a dozen filth-covered street kids in Thailand hanging off of him like spider monkeys. It’s the happiest picture of him I’ve ever seen.

Betty was, well, pretty smelly.

She stood up and threw her arms around my father. “Thank-you so much!” she said.

Dad gulped away a slight gag reflex as he got a good whiff of Betty. “Oh, no problem!” chuckled Dad. He remembered those street kids, and he hugged her right back.

A while later, Betty walked back into the cafe. Unfortunately, she did not have a change of clothes, but she looked like a new person anyway. (“I kicked myself later,” my Dad admitted. “They had shirts and stuff for sale in the truck stop. I could’ve got her something.”)

Betty gave my Dad another great big hug, with tears in her eyes. “Thank-you so much,” she said. She smelled much better this time.

I tell you this story for two reasons, for two different truths that were at play in this little story. The first truth is that God can use us exactly where we are, everywhere we go. You don’t have to be on a missions trip to be used by God.

The second truth is that God also likes to take us to places we’ve never gone. My Dad absolutely loved each of the missions trips he’s been part of. He loved them so much that he wishes he could do something like that full time. But for now, he’s still a trucker, and God seems happy to use my Dad right where he is.

Paradoxically, to be a blessing right where he is, Dad drew upon the things he learned when he’d went away on an outreach trip. God took my Dad out of his comfort zone so that he could be more effective in the place where he’s most comfortable.

Perhaps we tend to swing from one of these two truths to the other. An opportunity comes along to serve in some kind of outreach experience, and we quickly dismiss it because it’s just not “realistic” and “God can use me right where I am.” On the other hand, maybe we look at what people in “full time ministry” are doing and think we could never do something like that. “It takes a special kind of person to do that!” we say, and fail to see the glorious opportunities in front of us every day to bless someone who desperately needs a little love.

So with all that in mind, what are you doing from March 30 to April 6?

You may have heard that we are organizing a ‘Beards In Action’ outreach trip here in Modesto, California. This could be the ‘out-of-my-comfort-zone’ experience you need. The trip is very affordable, and is guaranteed to both challenge and inspire you with ways you can be a blessing back home. We have plenty of room for last-minute additions to this little team, so if that piques your interest, please drop me a line.

But if you’re not able to join us for the trip, what are you doing from March 30 to April 6?

We would like to extend this ‘Beards In Action’ experience to everyone. Maybe there’s someone right there where you live who needs the encouragement that only you can give. So do a little brainstorming with some friends. Is there something you can do that would be a blessing? If we all share our ideas, we’re sure to find something great. Obviously we can be doing these things any time, but it’ll be fun to post and share some of these stories during that particular week as part of the ‘Beards In Action’ experience.

Maybe this is an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary, to go somewhere you’ve never gone and experience something new. Or maybe you have an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary right where you are. Either way, remember to be where you are with a purpose. Someone you haven’t met may need you in their life. If you’re breathing, you are being called to be in the right place at the right time for someone. Don’t miss your chance to take action.

Beards and Burritos: The Plan Comes Together.

Do you long for action? Excitement? Burritos?

Well get ready, cuz here it comes! The Bearded Gospel Men “Beards In Action” outreach experience is happening!

You may have read last week’s blog entry about the idea for this project, and I’m happy to say that things are starting to come together for this unique outreach experience. We have set the dates of the trip for Sunday, March 30th through Sunday, April 6, 2014.

If you’re hearing about this trip for the first time, let me bring you up to speed. The BGM ‘Beards In Action’ trip will be a one-week trip focused on outreach to the street community of Modesto, California. It will be hosted by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Modesto (this is who I work for when I’m not creating funny pictures of beards). YWAM Modesto is focused on reaching out to, and building relationships with, the poor and homeless. We’ve hosted dozens of teams over the years, and participants have often told us that this was one of their favourite outreach experiences ever.

So what will this week look like?

Because we’re focused on building friendships, your outreach experience will be oriented toward creating meaningful points of contact with people. We create these opportunities in a variety of ways. We usually begin the week with a good ol’ fashioned cookout on Ninth Street, where much of our ministry as YWAM Modesto happens (For an extremely cute description of our ‘Ninth Street Café by my friend Chris’s little girl, click here!).  This is a fun, relaxed way of connecting with people, and I can honestly tell you that some of the relationships that began with an outreach team hosting a Ninth Street cookout have been long-lasting and truly life-changing, for both team members and residents of Ninth Street.

Throughout the first half of the week, we begin to get to know specific people from the street community, and as the team gets to know their stories and their needs, we provide opportunities in the latter part of the week to re-connect and serve them in practical ways. This looks a little different with each team, and is often a chance for the team to get creative in how the team can serve. In the past this has included repairing a disabled man’s trailer and its dilapidated roof, working on someone’s car, or simply treating someone to a “day out” who would otherwise have no means of taking break from the street.

We also make sure you get to experience some of the cool things that our part of California has to offer. This may be a day trip at the end of the week into San Francisco, or Yosemite National Park. Whatever it is, it’s always a fun day spent together.

Of course, because this is a Bearded Gospel Men trip, we have to make ‘Beard Life’ part of the experience! On Saturday, April 5, we’ll be attending a beard competition in Sacramento! This is sure to be a fun night, and you will have the option of entering the competition yourself and representing the Bearded Gospel Men team!

Of course there’s another crucial element that will be a big part of this week, which will be experienced each day of the outreach. This part of the trip is what previous teams have dubbed “The Modesto Food Tour”. This involves places like Modesto’s unique Taco Truck Row and its world famous burritos (For more on these burritos, click here!) We will do our best to help you gain at least five pounds on this trip! (That’s the YWAM Modesto Weight-Gain Guarantee®!)

As for the cost of the trip, we will be looking at various ways of fundraising in order to lower the cost for each participant. At this point however, with no extra fundraising, the cost is only $340 per person for the full week. This includes two “in” meals a day, an “out” meal each day, accommodations, ministry supplies, fuel and other expenses. There’s just no better value for your buck!

We are aiming for at least 5 participants, and we’ll be capping the team at 10. So far we have two confirmed participants, including the inimitable beardsman and cross-country hiker Mr. Josh Seehorn.

If any of this tickles your beard, or if you have any questions, please drop me a line at beardedgospelmen@gmail.com. Remember, your beard longs for two things: adventure and burritos. The BGM Beards In Action Outreach experience will bring you both!

 

(To donate toward the trip, click here:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7USJFAFL2U5J6)

Beards In Action: The BGM Outreach Experience!

Some of you may or may not know that “The Proprietor” of Bearded Gospel Men does not run this website and Facebook page as a full-time job.  My “real job” is as a Youth With A Mission (‘YWAM’) missionary.  YWAM is an international, ecumenical Christian missionary and humanitarian aid organization that is represented all over the world and involved in hundreds of expressions of outreach and ministry.  I am connected with YWAM in Modesto, California (www.ywammodesto.org). We are a small team dedicated to building meaningful friendships with the street community, with the Church and with Jesus, while introducing everyone to each other.

You may have read the story I wrote about my good friend Arley, who passed away this summer.  (If you haven’t, you can read that here.)  The shortest version of the story is that Arley was just another drunk in the park when I first met him, but through the long, slow work of friendship and the Holy Spirit, his life was dramatically changed.  Not only did he become a dear, close friend, but he also began to reach out in kindness and love to others.  He could easily identify with their feelings of hopelessness, because he had lived there himself. He knew what despair felt like, but he also knew what it felt like to find hope, and to find the love of a Saviour.

My friend Bob is another example of someone who’s life was dramatically changed by the power of friendship. Bob made the miraculous journey from living in profound isolation and two bottles of Jack Daniels a day, to being a joy-filled man in love with God and his local church community.  I mention Bob because of how we met him.

South Ninth Street is an extremely neglected part of town where there are several “residential motels” (not unlike the motel portrayed on the show Breaking Bad). On Ninth Street, addiction, mental illness and despair are common. We as YWAM Modesto fell in love with this place. Since we couldn’t afford to rent out a building on Ninth Street to run a drop-in centre, we came up with the ‘Ninth Street Café’: an outdoor, impromptu café we started hosting each week. We found a nice, wide-open spot on the sidewalk next to the bus stop, set up some tables and chairs, and began serving coffee and donuts right there on the street. For years now, people have come down to hang out with us and be refreshed through smiles and friendship.

Several years ago, a group of Canadians were with us. They were from my home church in Ontario, and they were here for a week of outreach to the residents of South Ninth Street. When we have a team with us like this, we like to host special events for the people of Ninth Street, events that we couldn’t necessarily pull off with just our own small crew. That week, we hosted a big barbecue, serving burgers and cold drinks to whoever came by. Bob, who was living at one of the motels, came by that day. He was so moved by what we were doing that he went out and bought ice cream for everybody. One of the Canadians struck up a conversation with him, and they talked for hours. This was the first time I’d met him.

Later, after the Canadian team had returned home, Bob lost his job. We began to see him more often at the “Ninth Street Café”, and we began to develop a meaningful friendship with him. He began to share more of his life with us, and we began to share more of our lives with him. I found out that he absolutely loved fishing, but that it had been years since he went because of his current circumstances. So one day we went fishing together. Simple things like this slowly became what was, in the end, a life changing friendship for all of us. To make a long story short, Bob came to open his heart to friendship and to God, and eventually went to a 30 day recovery program.  He has been clean and sober for 3 1/2 years now, and is an active and integral part of a local church community. (Actually, he’s currently one of my roommates at the house where I’m living!)

I share Bob’s story because I want you to know that being part of a short-term outreach team really can completely change someone’s life, including your own. When a team comes to serve with us here in Modesto, they are coming alongside an ongoing ministry. We do not do “in-and-out” events. A team that comes to work with us is helping us to develop further and deeper relationships with the people we seek to serve in an ongoing basis.

So here’s where you come in. Imagine a team like that, serving alongside our ministry, made up completely of gloriously bearded gospel men!  The possibilities are truly wondrous to ponder!  With that in mind, you are cordially invited to be part of the very first official Bearded Gospel Men “Beards In Action” outreach team!

We’re hoping to get a group together to come here to Modesto in late March or the first week of April.  Yes, that’s  soon, but it would seem to be our available “window” as YWAM Modesto to host such a team.

The team would be hosted here in Modesto for five days to a week (probably over a weekend, so as to cut down on the ‘days off’ required to come out), and work alongside our team in ministry to the street community of Modesto.

We’ve hosted a lot of teams here over the years, and it’s always an extremely fun and rewarding time of making connections and friendships with the street community, as well as each other, while learning about the nature of poverty and homelessness in America and what the average person can do to help. If you’ve not had a lot of experience with reaching out to the poor, it’s a great way to get your feet wet, so to speak. If you’ve had plenty of experience in that area, it’s a chance to experience it in a different context.

We try to make everything completely relationship based.  This is not an “evangelistic” outreach (though you’ll have ample opportunity to share your life and your faith with people), nor is it merely a work/project based outreach (though you’ll have the opportunity to bless people in very practical ways).  It’s a week to make friendships and connections, and to be changed by them as a result.

Also, there’s a lot of food.  Taco trucks, man.  They’ll change your life. I guarantee it!

The week also includes a “day out”, either to San Francisco or Yosemite National Park or another nearby and awesome California location.  If we can work out the timing, it’s even possible that we could participate in a beard competition night in San Francisco or Sacramento.  Now that could be a lot of fun!

We’re hoping to pull together a small team of between 5 and 10 men.  The cost for the week would be about $300 to $340, which would include housing, groceries for two meals a day and an “out” meal each day.  The rest would go to outreach costs for the YWAM team, including fuel and outreach supplies (i.e. food for a Ninth Street barbecue and any other special events or projects we would do that week, as well as our day out).  How you get here would be up to you.

It really is a very fun and meaningful week to be part of.  And it would be awesome to actually meet some of you guys face to bearded face. As a side note, it has been statistically proven that taking part in one of these teams will vastly improve and even cause the appearance of facial hair! If an experience like this is something you think you would like to be part of, please send us an email at beardedgospelmen@gmail.com and we can begin to work out the details.

Don’t be too quick to say No just because of cost or distance! There are always possibilities for group fundraisers! Take some time to consider it, and if the idea seems to stick with you, then you should probably drop us a line. As Francis of Beardsisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times.  When necessary, use beards!”

Good King Wenceslaus and the True Meaning of Boxing Day

by Aaron Alford

Much has been made in the media about this supposed “War on Boxing Day,” and it’s time someone addressed it!

Okay.  No one has mentioned anything at all about a war on Boxing Day, and most people in the United States have never even heard of it. Still, I feel we need to be reminded of just what the true meaning of this oft-neglected kid-brother of Christmas really is. Let’s keep the box in Boxing Day!

If you haven’t heard of it, Boxing Day is celebrated in Britain and Canada (The Proprietor’s home and native land) and most Commonwealth countries.  For us Canadians, Boxing Day is kind of like the Canadian Black Friday.  (However, Canadian retailers started doing Black Friday sales a couple of years ago, too, so I suppose it’s kind of like Black Friday II: Electric Boogaloo.) It’s the day for big sales and super deals on all your electronic/useless crap needs.  But this wasn’t always the case. Boxing Day used to have much more meaning than that.

Boxing Day has its origins in a practice that used to take place in Britain, in which employers of servants and other tradesmen would give gifts to their employees, often in the form of a box full of presents and bonuses for them to take to their families. The name may also refer to a box traditionally placed at the back of a church on Christmas day to collect offerings for the poor.  In either case, these gifts for servants and for the poor were given on the day immediately following Christmas, which also happens to be the feast day of the first martyr of the Christian Church: Saint Stephen.

And here’s where Good Duke Wenceslaus comes in.

Yes that’s right, “Duke”.

Wenceslaus, you see, was a Bohemian Duke who lived in the early 10th century.  He was a good man, a Gospel man if you will, who was famous for his Christian devotion and especially for his charity to the poor.

A chronicler of Wenceslaus’ life wrote this about him:

“But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you…. (N)o one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.”

Unfortunately, not everyone around the young duke was such a fan, and his own brother conspired against him. He was assassinated at about the age of 30.

These stories and legends about Wenceslaus endured, however. So renowned was he for his love and compassion that his example gave rise to the medieval concept of the “rex justus” or “righteous king”.  It was Emperor Otto the First who later conferred on Wenceslaus the title of “king”, several years after Wenceslaus’ death. These stories later inspired Anglican priest and hymn writer John Mason Neale to write what is technically not a Christmas carol, but a St. Stephen’s Day hymn in 1853.

You’re familiar with the tale he tells, in which the Good King looks out on the snow covered land on “the Feast of Stephen”, or Boxing Day.  When he sees a peasant gathering wood, he sets out to bring the poor man a feast of choice meat and fine wine.  His servant travels with him, but in the blustering cold and wind, the servant becomes faint.  He finds his strength, however, when Wenceslaus tells him to walk in his footsteps in the snow.  The ground itself seems to warm with the footprints of the saint.

And here we come to the true meaning of Boxing Day.

On Christmas day, we celebrate the birth of the eternal and omnipotent God taking flesh and becoming an utterly helpless child. On St. Stephen’s Day, we remember the first martyr of the Church Christ founded. It is interesting to note that young Stephen was himself a deacon of the Church, and his primary role involved distributing the goods of the Church to widows and orphans. It would seem that the day after Christmas was meant to be a day to, in one way or another, remember the poor and the “least of these”. We see that in the examples of Stephen and Wenceslaus. Just as the Christ Child forsook the riches of heaven to bless us, we are reminded to forsake our own riches to bless those around us. As we walk in the footprints of saints such as these, who themselves tried to follow the footsteps of Christ, we find warmth in the ground on which they trod.

So maybe it’s time to reclaim the righteous origins of Boxing Day.  Where are the poor among you?  Who is facing difficulty today? Who is facing hardship in “gathering winter fuel”?  Perhaps we can find a box of blessing for them, and, like Wenceslaus the righteous king, we may ourselves find blessing.

*Special thanks to my friend Sam Tweedle for the title and inspiration behind this piece!

Bearded Gospel History: Saint Nicholas

by Aaron Alford

If you ever find yourself being pickled in a cask, jolly old Saint Nicholas is a good man to have in your corner.  If you find yourself attempting to deny the divinity of Christ at a Church council, not so much.  But more on these things later.

Today Bearded Gospel Men celebrates one of the most famous figures in bearded Gospel history, Saint Nicholas of Myra.  With his feast day falling on December 6, and his long association with being a protector of children, it’s easy to see how he became so closely associated with the Christmas season.

There are not a lot of clear, hard facts known about the life of Nicholas, but we do know that he died on December 6, in 345 or 352 AD, and that he was bishop of Myra, a city in what is now Turkey. We can, however, get a general picture of who he was and what he was like from the stories and legends that made him famous.

Nicholas was born as the only son to a wealthy Christian family, and his parents died in an epidemic while he was still quite young.  Nicholas, seeking to live out the gospel’s invitation to “sell everything you own and give to the poor”, held his inheritance lightly. The earliest story of his care for children and for the poor comes in the tale of an impoverished man and his three daughters.  Having nothing as a dowry for his daughters to be considered eligible for marriage, the three young women were destined for a life of slavery or prostitution.  The story goes, however, that as each daughter reached the age for marriage, young Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through their window.  (In some versions of the story, these bags of gold land in the girls’ shoes or stockings, or were tossed down the family’s chimney.)

Another somewhat horrific legend is told of three boys being murdered by a butcher and their bodies pickled in a cask to cure. Nicholas, by the Holy Spirit, learns of the butcher’s deeds, and through his intercession the children are brought back to life.  Yet another story is told of an unjust governor who had taken a bribe and sentenced three young men to death. As Bishop, Nicholas intervened, stayed the hands of the executioner, then proceeded to rebuke the governor until he admitted his crime!

Nicholas also knew the hardship of suffering for his faith, and, along with hundreds of other Christian clergy, was exiled and thrown in prison under the persecution of Diocletian.  It was not until Constantine came to power that Nicholas and the other Church leaders were released.

After his release, Nicholas is said to have been present at the Council of Nicaea.  There he is said to have confronted Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ, with a dramatic slap to the face.  Unfortunately, this story can’t be confirmed, but if Nicholas was as passionate as the other stories about him infer, it is easy to imagine his passion for truth igniting him in such a way. After all, even saints are only human!

The journey of the historical Saint Nicholas to the modern Santa Claus is an interesting one with a lot of fascinating connections to our modern Christmas traditions and images, not the least of which being his red bishop’s vestments and long white beard. But what has made Nicholas’s life and the stories around him truly endure is his passion for the truth, and his great love for the poor, the weak, and the innocent — particularly children.

When I hear the story of the poor man and his three daughters, I’m reminded of families living in strikingly similar situations today.  I’m especially reminded of impoverished Burmese families I met when I spent time in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.  Many of these families face a similar kind of desperation, and their children face the same danger of being sold into slavery and prostitution.  Thankfully there are a lot of modern Saint Nicks working to help these families, though the need is still great.

To get to the real heart of the historical Saint Nicholas, one needs only to look to the heart of the God he served. Who is weak or vulnerable in my world? Whose cause deserves justice? Whose stocking could use a visit from Saint Nicholas, and what can I do to bless them?

As we walk out these days leading up to Christmas, may each sidewalk Santa we see be a reminder to us of the real Saint Nick. May we be reminded to live out the love of the One who for love’s sake became poor.

—

A good source of info about St. Nicholas and his relationship with the Christmas season can be found here: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/

All Seated on the Ground: A Christmas Story.

by Aaron Alford

On the outskirts of town, the crackle of a modest campfire could be heard from a distance. Working men’s hands stretched out towards the fire, their eyes gazing at the inviting flame. 

The small circle of four enjoyed each other’s company. Jake stroked his beard absently, his round face a picture of contentment.  He meant to take a deep breath of the night air, but the breeze shifted and instead he took in a lungful of smoke.  Coughing and laughing, he waved his hands in front of his face, the smoke stinging his eyes.  His friends looked on and seasoned the night with another healthy smattering of laughs.

“Daaaah!” he said with a wheezy chuckle that shook his big frame.

He wiped his eyes with one more chuckle, glancing around at his friends. Jake’s soul needed a good, strong laugh right now. His wife was not living with him at the moment.  She had the girls with her. Sometimes the other guys saw Jake bite his bottom lip while he worked.  They knew this meant he was missing them. Phillip sat next to Jake, and had noticed that familiar lip-bite several times this evening.  

Phillip was older than Jake by two years, and shorter than Jake by two inches.  He was Jake’s closest friend. Slow to speak, it seemed that words formed somewhere in Phil’s dimples before he spoke them, and they were always worth waiting for.  He seldom offered a solution to a problem, but he always offered a shoulder.

Jake was the first person Phillip told when Phil l found out he would be a father, and that night they drank bad wine to celebrate. Phillip went to Jake sixteen years later, when that first born son stormed out of the house, cursing his father and making an oath never to see him again.  They drank bad wine that night, too.

Phillip glanced around the hills at the animals they were minding and reached for the communal jug.  David beat him to it and with a wry smile, and took a deep, warming swig. David, thin on top and thin in the middle, had been a widower for almost as long as he’d been a father.  When he spoke of his little girl, married now and expecting David’s first grandchild, his eyes became thin slots of joy.  When he spoke of his wife, those eyes were wide and thoughtful, and it seemed he had married her yesterday morning.  When he spoke of her death, they were distant, and it seemed she had died last night.  The wound left by her absence had never truly healed; it ached in cold weather.

But he knew how to tell a good joke badly, and he laughed twice as often as he cried. Dave licked his lips and placed the jug in Phil’s waiting hands.  Phil took a large gulp and set it next to the kid of the group, a young man they called Turtle.  Turtle lifted the jug close to his lips, but didn’t take a drink.

They had nicknamed him Turtle quite simply because he was slow. He was young for his age. He began working with these men two years ago, when his father gave him the scar above his right eye.  He told his son never to come back, and Turtle, though crushed, obliged.  He felt no bitterness to his father; he was too simple for that.  He simply felt sadness. But Turtle had begun to make something of his life. He had even found a young woman with far-off green eyes and wispy brown hair who seemed to him to be God’s messenger on earth. Her name was Zoe, and to him she was Life itself. 

“She’s really pretty, huh?” blurted Turtle, absently holding the jug in his hands.

 He liked to talk about her.  Whatever the actual topic of conversation was at the moment didn’t matter.  When he got to thinking about her, he went to a place far away. Talking about her was an invitation to join him there.

“She sure is, Turtle.  Very pretty,” said Jake with a knowing look to the others.

“I know, huh,” said Turtle, smiling.

Silence came upon the four friends again as they stared into the fire. 

Lambs brayed.

David sighed deeply.

Phillip coughed quietly.

The fire crackled and popped, and suddenly an angel stood within it, and said Hello.

The men jumped, falling on their backs as if hit by a blast.  Jake screamed girlishly. Phillip tried to run but only tripped over himself. David scrambled backward on his hands and elbows.  Turtle didn’t move.   

It stood as tall as a fig tree.  It was a fiery green, flickering with the campfire’s flame.  Though the men were scattered, the angel seemed to gaze on each one of them. Mighty dread pounded in their ears. Their impending death seemed apparent.

“Don’t be afraid,” the angel said.  

But Turtle had stained himself, just a little.

The angel’s voice was both deep and light, like the rushing of water and the babbling of a brook. 

“I bring you good news,” the angel smiled, “of great joy, which will be for people of all time, everywhere. Tonight, just over there in David’s town,” and the angel held out a flaming hand and an outstretched finger, “a Saviour has been born, who is the Anointed One, the Lord.”

Turtle, being the simple one, accepted the situation with remarkable speed. “Wow,” he said, “Can we see him?”  

“Yes!” The angel smiled as if sharing an inside joke. “This is how you’ll find him. He’ll be wrapped in swaddling bands, and laying in a feeding trough.”  

The absurdity of that image didn’t strike them until much later. For now, face to face with an angel, it seemed perfectly natural. Then the angel hunkered down, as if he were bending low to whisper in a child’s ear. Later, when David told the story, he swore the angel whispered, “Watch this!”

It seemed a curtain was drawn back, and the shepherds saw something once seen by the prophet Elisha. Standing on the hills, as far as their new eyes could see, were angels.  Thousands upon thousands, millions, more than could be counted, line upon line, arrayed in the swirling, perfect order of nature itself. There were figures of flame, like the one in their campfire, and beasts with strange faces; there were creatures with enormous eagle’s wings, and creatures which eluded all description. 

The campfire angel stood to his feet again, and bellowed with a voice as big as the sea:

“Glory to God in the highest!”

The angelic horde shouted back with the sound of a million trumpet blasts: “And on earth, peace!  Good will towards men!”

The sound of their acclamation shattered the shepherds’ souls, and they trembled with a terror that felt like ecstasy.  

Again the angel shouted, even louder, and the earth itself thrummed with his voice:

“GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!”

The legions of beings called in return, deeper than thunder and higher than music.

“AND ON EARTH, PEACE!  GOOD WILL TO MEN ON WHOM HIS FAVOUR RESTS!” 

And in an instant, they were gone.  The curtains closed.  The campfire angel disappeared with, what Dave would later claim to be, a wink.

The four men stood there in the silent hills, the night air whisping across their faces, drying the tears they hadn’t realized they had cried. They had never been so scared, and they had never known such peace. They felt like men born anew.  They felt like men on whom God’s favour rested.  And they laughed all the way into town.

Honourary Beard: Clive Staples Lewis

by Timothy Braun

 

By the Lion’s Mane!  What is this nonsense? Bearded Gospel Men featuring a beardless man?  It’s outrageous!

I’m sure most of you who frequent this site are at least somewhat familiar with CS Lewis.  Perhaps best known as the author of the classic children’s books, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis was also one of the most brilliant Christian minds of the 20^th century.  His works of apologetics, most notably Mere Christianity, are legendary and have provided countless Christians with confidence and clarity in their walk with Christ.  That Lewis was a Gospel Man I don’t think anyone would debate; so what about the beard?

Well, we here at BGM believe that, while beardedness is best expressed outwardly, it is truly a matter of the heart (you know, kinda, almost, sort-of like Rom. 2:28-29).  A true Bearded Gospel Man is one from the inside-out; his beard is an extension, an outflowing of the beardedness of his soul!

I believe Lewis was bearded at heart.

Even a cursory glance through his works of fiction show that Lewis provided beards for all of the noblest and wisest of his characters.  Father Christmas, for example, Lewis describes as having “a great white beard, that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest” (LWW, chapter 10).

Now, Father Christmas is a bit of a gimme (as would be references to bearded dwarves), but beards are all over Lewis’ works.  Take centaurs for example.  Lewis’ centaurs always have beards:

“The two Centaurs, one with a black and one with a golden beard flowing over their magnificent bare chests, stood waiting for them, bending their heads a little so as to look into the cave.  Then the children became very polite …   No one thinks a centaur funny when he sees it.  They are solemn, majestic people, full of ancient wisdom which they learn from the stars, not easily made either merry or angry; but their anger is terrible as a tidal wave when it comes” (The Silver Chair, chapter 16).

And then, in The Last Battle, once the followers of Aslan are in ‘the new Narnia/heaven,’ the High King Peter introduces Tirian to Digory “whose golden beard flowed over his breast and whose face was full of wisdom” (chapter 12).

But perhaps my favourite description of a beard from Lewis’ fiction comes from the last book in his science fiction triology, That Hideous Strength.  In this scene Jane, the female protagonist, meets Dr. Elwin Ransom for the first time.  Due to his previous adventures Lewis has Ransom take on the mythic role of the Fisher-King,  here described as “the wounded man.”   All quotes are taken from chapter 7, The Pendragon:

“Jane looked; and instantly her world was unmade.   …  Winter sunlight poured through the glass; apparently one was above the fog here.  All the light in the room seemed to run towards the gold hair and the gold beard of the wounded man…  Of course he was not a boy – how could she have thought so?  The fresh skin on his cheeks and hands had suggested the idea.  But no boy could have so full a beard.  And no boy could be so strong.  It was manifest that the grip of those hands would be inescapable…”

“She had, or so she had believed, disliked bearded faces except for old men.  But that was because she had long since forgotten the imagined Arthur of her childhood – and the imagined Solomon too…   For the first time in all those years she tasted the word King itself with all its linked associations of battle, marriage, priesthood, mercy, and power.”

Ah, yes!  Wisdom and power, mercy and sacrifice all embodied in the ageless awesomeness that is the beard.  That’s beautiful stuff, that is!

Even in Lewis’ more serious, thoughtful writings beards show up.  In The Screwtape Letters Lewis has his fictional demon, Screwtape, advise his novice, Wormwood, in how to tempt and corrupt Christians.  In his unendingly witty and backward way Lewis gets his points across.  In Letter #20 Screwtape says:

“The aim is to guide each sex away from those members of the other with whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are most likely.  Thus we have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male (such as the beard) disagreeable to nearly all the females – and there is more to that than you might suppose.”

There you have it!  Lewis (sort of) declared that the unbearding of men is a diabolical act!

And as a final point we look to Lewis’ biography by George Sayer:

A few years before his death, Lewis was able to visit Greece for the first time. His biographer, George Sayer, writes that Lewis was moved by his visit to a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Rhodes during Pascha in 1960, where, with his ailing wife, Joy, he attended part of the Paschal service as well as an Orthodox wedding. In Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, Sayer writes, “Whenever the subject came up between us, [Lewis] said that he preferred the Orthodox liturgy to either the Catholic or Protestant liturgies. He was also impressed by the Greek Orthodox priests, whose faces, he thought, looked more spiritual than those of most Catholic or Protestant clergy.”  [quote from: http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/back_issue_articles/RTE_29/Shine_As_The_Sun.pdf  (pg. 55)]

What could he possibly mean about the faces of Orthodox Priests other than their beards?

And so, the case has been made:  CS Lewis constantly associated nobility and wisdom with beardedness.  He attributed society’s preference for the clean shaven man as a diabolical corruption while referring to the perennially bearded clergy of the Orthodox Church as the most “spiritual” of all clergy.  And, it should also be mentioned that Lewis’ spiritual mentor, George MacDonald, had a rather large beard.

So why did Lewis himself not grow a beard?  That is one question I don’t have the answers for.  Was it his work in the Universities of Great Britain that forbade beardedness?  Perhaps.  But I don’t know.

However, what seems clear to me is that our dear brother Jack was a man with a bearded heart.
And so, for his work in furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the clear promotion and reverence of beardedness we hereby bestow an honourary beard on Professor Clive Staples Lewis (posthumous).

 

 

Notes & Ideas:

Narnia:

From “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Chapter 10:

Father Christmas: “He was a huge man in a bright red robe… with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard, that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest.”

From “The Silver Chair,” Chapter 16:

“At that moment there was a sound of horse-hoofs tapping on rock from the mouth of the cave, and the children looked up.  The two Centaurs, one with a black and one with a golden beard flowing over their magnificent bare chests, stood waiting for them, bending their heads a little so as to look into the cave.  Then the children became very polite and finished their breakfast very quickly.  No one thinks a centaur funny when he sees it.  They are solemn, majestic people, full of ancient wisdom which they learn from the stars, not easily made either merry or angry; but their anger is terrible as a tidal wave when it comes.”

From “The Last Battle,” Chapter 12:

“He [the High-King, Peter] brought him [King Tirian] next to a man whose golden beard flowed over his breast and whose face was full of wisdom.  ‘And this,’ he said, ‘is the Lord Digory…’”

 

Screwtape:

• Letter #20 (pg. 77)

“The aim is to guide each sex away from those members of the other with whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are most likely.  Thus we have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male (such as the beard) disagreeable to nearly all the females – and there is more to that than you might suppose.”

Space Trilogy:

From Chapter 7, “The Pendragon”:

“Jane looked; and instantly her world was unmade.”

“Winter sunlight poured through the glass; apparently one was above the fog here.  All the light in the room seemed to run towards the gold hair and the gold beard of the wounded man.

“Of course he was not a boy – how could she have thought so?  The fresh skin on his cheeks and hands had suggested the idea.  But no boy could have so full a beard.  And no boy could be so strong.  It was manifest that the grip of those hands would be inescapable…”

“She had, or so she had believed, disliked bearded faces except for old men.  But that was because she had long since forgotten the imagined Arthur of her childhood – and the imagined Solomon too… For the first time in all those years she tasted the word King itself with all its linked associations of battle, marriage, priesthood, mercy, and power.”

 

CS Lewis and the Orthodox Church:

A few years before his death, Lewis was able to visit Greece for the first time. His biographer, George Sayer, writes that Lewis was moved by his visit to a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Rhodes during Pascha in 1960, where, with his ailing wife, Joy, he attended part of the Paschal service as well as an Orthodox wedding. In Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, Sayer writes, “Whenever the subject came up between us, [Lewis] said that he preferred the Orthodox liturgy to either the Catholic or Protestant liturgies. He was also impressed by the Greek Orthodox priests, whose faces, he thought, looked more spiritual than those of most Catholic or Protestant clergy.”  (my emphasis)

[taken from: http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/back_issue_articles/RTE_29/Shine_As_The_Sun.pdf  (pg. 55)]