December 2004 - An "Extra"-ordinary Seasons Greetings Greetings to all my NYC Vineyard family and friends, How has your holiday season been so far? Pretty ordinary huh? Why would it be otherwise since our holiday motto now is, “Have fun, spend as much as possible and offend as little as possible…” Secular life, no matter how you dress it up and spice it up ends up leaving us empty. Society has managed to airbrush all the meaning, mystery and power out of our holiday festivities. Most people just go through the motions and after fulfilling their holiday obligations are left tired and in need of a vacation. I imagine that if a group of extraterrestrials visited us between September and January to observe Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years, they probably wouldn’t be able to make any distinction between these holidays. They might conclude that we Americans celebrate some strange three-month long festival that pays tribute to a venerated pumpkin icon. During this festival the pumpkin-hero morphs through a series of changes, from a harmless bodiless big head character, into a member of a cornucopia that stands guard over a meal. This weird metamorphosis continues as the pumpkin-hero-table setting is mashed into a cake-like substance and is devoured by the celebrants as part of a winter gift orgy. But surprise, surprise! This festival comes to a climatic conclusion with a great outdoor gala. The pumpkin inexplicably reconstitutes in the form of a huge illuminated crystal ball and is slowly lowered from the roof of a skyscraper before an adoring cheering mass of people. They all disperse to get ready to do it again next year. These interplanetary visitors return home and report to their superiors. They can only conclude that Americans spend a lot of time celebrating a large orange-skinned fruit-hero by dressing-up, eating-up, buying-up and then throwing-up! Now if I weren’t a Christian you might think I was a cynic (well maybe I am just a bit). But actually because of the in-breaking of Jesus Christ into my life there is at the core of my being a place where these holidays give expression to the deep spiritual experience of the God’s faith, love and hope. In the midst of what would otherwise be a dull and unfulfilling existence, the holidays help my family, friends and I celebrate life affirming significance that God’s love and faithfulness adds to our lives. My cynicism is held in check because Jesus is the reason for the season! Wishing you a blessed Christmas, Mike Turrigiano