Lucille Sider Shares her Creative Coleus Christmas

WHATEVER YOUR FAITH MAY BE, we all can agree that “peace on earth” is the fondest hope of Christmas. Our challenge is finding ways to promote peace among family and friends. After the tensions and tragedies of 2021, that calls for real Christmas creativity! That’s the theme of our cover story from author Lucille Sider, who writes from her Chicago neighborhood about a horticultural project that involves friends and family in a delightfully red-and-green tribute to the power of nature to surprise and inspire us. Have you ever heard of a Coleus Christmas? Well, then, enjoy Lucille’s story and share it with friends.

Holidays & Festivals

From David Gushee

A Special Advent Series

DR. DAVID GUSHEE, America’s leading Christian ethicist, has published an inspiring and thought-provoking three-part series about the meaning of Jesus’s “incarnation,” which is the core of the Christmas story for 2 billion Christians around the world. All three parts of Dr. Gushee’s series now are available on the Baptist Global News Network under these headlines:

In early 2022, our publishing-house team will launch Dr. Gushee’s major new book, Introducing Christian Ethics: Core Convictions for Christians Today. (Note: That Amazon link gives visitors an early peek at the cover of the book, which will be released in February.)

From Bill Tammeus

2,000 Years After Mary?

JOURNALIST BILL TAMMEUS writes from a different perspective about the Advent story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He begins: “Next weekend, as Christians around the world celebrate Christmas, considerable attention will be paid to a woman who, in effect, made Christmas possible—Mary, the mother of Jesus,” then he raises the ironic truth: “And yet even today vast stretches of world religions are patriarchal.” Then, Bill points us toward a whole series of stories about the progress of women in religion, including in Islam, where Mary also is highly revered. Please read Bill’s column and share it with friends.

‘Las Posadas’ continues

DECEMBER 16 was the first day of a Hispanic Christian tradition that takes the Christmas story into the streets in a traditional procession depicting Mary and Joseph looking for shelter in Bethlehem. The observance runs through December 24 in many Latino communities. Stephanie Fenton has this story for us—and, yes, she includes links to some tasty recipes and songs appropriate for the occasion.

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT-GIVING IDEAS? Did you know that Americans are reading, and are shopping for books, now more than ever? In a special Holiday Gift Giving column in our Front Edge Publishing website, Susan Stitt describes six new books that may be a perfect choice for a friend or loved one. AND PLEASE NOTE: This photo and Susan’s column includes Bill Tammeus’s newest book, Love, Loss and Endurance. If you have come to enjoy Bill’s wise and thoughtful writing, you’re sure to enjoy that memoir.

WANT TO SEE ALL THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit InterfaithHolidays.com

Click on this image to learn more about the December 2021 issue of Ed McNulty’s Visual Parables Journal, which is packed with complete discussion guides to moves including House of Gucci, Red Notice, Ted Lasso, True Story and many more.

Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns:

THE POWER OF THE DOG—Ed writes, “Director/writer Jane Campion’s adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1968 novel is set in Montana, but she has found a region of her native New Zealand as a serviceable stand-in.”
WEST SIDE STORY—Ed writes, “Director Stephen Spielberg and scriptwriter Tony Kushner have triumphed in their revision of the smash Broadway and film musical West Side Story! I have long been a lover of the play and film that featured music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.”
ENCANTO—“This time Disney transports us to the mountains of Columbia where the Madrigal family live in an enchanting village called the Encanto. In a flashback that reflects the experience of thousands of Latinos, a large group of people is fleeing from violent forces that threaten them, among them the Madrigal family.”
HOUSE OF GUCCI—”Director Ridley Scott’s sprawling film based on the sad history of the glamorous Gucci family and their fashion empire features some over the top performances by a gaggle of A-list actors.”
THE FORGIVEN—“Roland Joffé and co-writer Michael Ashton take us to South Africa where they focus upon the work of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Forest Whitaker), President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission shortly after the demise of apartheid.”
PASSING—Ed writes, “Actress Rebecca Hall steps behind the camera to co-write and direct this adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 Harlem Renaissance novel about two light-skinned black women able to fool a racist society by passing as white.”
TED LASSO—In this column, Ed does what he does best: He draws parallels between pop culture and our spiritual traditions. In this case, Ed writes about how the popular TV series Ted Lasso could be enjoyed as a series of illustrations of Jesus’ Beatitudes.
TICK, TICK … BOOM—Lin-Manuel Miranda directs Steven Levenson’s adaptation of the autobiographical one-man stage show by Rent writer Jonathan Larson.
FINCH—Ed writes, “If Tom Hanks and a volley ball can hold our attention in Castaway, then how much more will this be so when you replace his buddy ‘Wilson’ with a cute dog named Goodyear and a sentient robot? Be prepared to laugh and cry while watching this dystopian film.”
KING RICHARD—Ed gives 5 stars to this film that focuses on the father behind the Williams sisters’ careers in tennis.