Latest / The Bubble Lounge (Highland Park & University Park Texas) / Embracing the Spirit of Christmas with Rev. Chris Girata, Rector Saint Michael and All Angels

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Embracing the Spirit of Christmas with Rev. Chris Girata, Rector Saint Michael and All Angels · The Bubble Lounge (Highland Park & University Park Texas)

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This episode brought to you by Kathy L Wall.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: State Farm Agency.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Learn more at kathylwallcom and stewarderango oral surgery.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Learn more at saoralsurgeonscom and kidbiz and the biz.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: To learn more, visit kidbizusacom.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bubble Lounge.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'm Nelly Shudo and I'm Martha Jackson, and we are on the countdown to Christmas.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: It is coming up this Monday.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Are you done shopping?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I am done shopping.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's always things that you can add, and I always do that because I start overthinking my list and like oh, I don't feel like I got enough for this person, I need to add this and that.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: And so it's this constant back and forth.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I feel the same way.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: There's always a last minute, somebody I forgot or something I forgot for somebody.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: It's just the nature of our lives.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: It is, it is.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: But I'm excited, I'm looking forward to it, and it's been so nice to have Alexis at home.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I know you've enjoyed having Charles at home, and she just got her wisdom teeth taken out, as we've talked about.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, how was that?
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: No, I just remember I had done it about the same age as her and it was not comfortable.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Let's say, well, I'm getting nervous about flying on Saturday morning, oh wow.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: But at least we booked a 7 am flight.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: But I think that's one of the worst days to travel.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: It definitely is.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just for a few days too, which always makes it like, well, what if it's delayed, and then you kind of miss out.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: We're only gone for three days.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: So where are you going?
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: New York, I assume.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, to New York, to the Hamptons.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: There's just nothing better than New York over the holidays.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: I feel like, well, we're out in the Hamptons, not the city, but it's actually kind of magical in small towny and cute.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: That's how I picture it.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I'm sure the decorations are just gorgeous.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: You, you, you.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: So here's our interview with Chris.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Chris Garada, welcome to the show.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: It's a great time to be back with you.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: I was like it's like an anniversary thing, it is, it is.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Well, you joined us a year ago and we talked about Christmas and I was listening to the episode last night and it turns out that it was like 17 degrees snowing, but then it said it feels like negative one.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: Oh, it was windy too.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: It was terrible, it was extremely.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: It was like a polar vortex.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: And now it's 65.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: And it's beautiful, but then I think, on actual Christmas.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: A few days later it was like 80 degrees and sunny.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: Well, and now?
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: This year, I think it's supposed to rain.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: So great.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: I haven't even seen that.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Oh, we always look at things like that because we have to make sure we're ready, of course.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: How Christmasy rain.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Well, our episode was really fun last year.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Like you shared so much great advice, very practical advice.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: We had some really good laughs.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: To you I'll say those are my favorite episodes that are like beneficial and useful and we also get to have a few laughs along the way.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: I love to be in here.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Well, you really draw people in, which is great.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, you just have an energy about you that draws people to you, and I think that's so important when somebody's at a church and trying to get people to come.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Well, isn't it nice that a church might draw people in?
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, tell us about that.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I hope that's not the exception to the rule.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: That is what it's all about, by the way, Honestly yeah, the attraction into something that could be meaningful and to really transform yourself and your life, and the way that you set your priorities and the way you see the world.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: And you know, as I was coming over this morning, I realized that next year is going to be dynamic.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a whole lot of ugly just because it's an election year, and I think that we all need as much of that kind of grounding, that core, that rootedness in hope, in peace, in love, as we can get.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: I agree, because it really is, if you think about just how our country is these days and all the crazy things going on around the world and it is a time of great tumultuousness.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: It really isn't what it was 10 years ago.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: Well, we forget how to just be good to each other.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: Instead, we are trying to compete with each other and be most right, instead of thinking that there are a few ways you can be right, that just because you believe something doesn't mean the other person is wrong, and that kind of generosity is something that I think a lot of people just forget.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: I remember when I was in grad school I had a professor who wrote a book called Forgetting Ourselves on Purpose, and it was a fascinating book and it was born out of his experience.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: He was a junior professor at Harvard early on in his career and he was fascinated by incoming law students at Harvard Law School.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Over 70% of them said they wanted to spend their careers working in nonprofits or some version of that.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: Upon graduation, less than 5% did oh interesting.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: And it was his belief, I suppose, but also through surveys that he discovered it wasn't as if those students became self-centered or became selfish or even cynical.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: It was because they forgot what they actually wanted to do when they started.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: They were so formed by the crucible of their law school experience.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: They actually just forgot, and I've always held that idea in my mind because I think that most people forget that they're actually.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: They would like to be nice or generous or kind to other people and they get swept up in the cultural milieu and the forces that really weigh on us.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: And part of what I like to say is, of course, I'm in church every Sunday and to me, religion, church it's actually meant to remind us of the stuff we already know.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: We're not saying anything new when people come to church on Sunday.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: They're not really learning something new.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Most of the time.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: We're really just being reminded of all the things that we forget during the week because life gets in the way.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting that you said that, because you're so right about people.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: You know, I think people get caught in this rat race about status etc.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Instead of thinking about oh, what I originally wanted to do was to give back, Absolutely, you know.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: It makes our hearts full to give.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: I mean it's, I guess.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately it sounds cliche, but the more you give, the more you get, except anybody who gives understands that's not a cliche, I mean it will.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: I guess I should say it's a cliche for a reason.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: It's true the more we give, the more we get, and if we can set our lives in habits that remind us to give and then give again, our entire life will be so much better.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Hey Park City's families.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: We all feel that pinch of rising home insurance, don't we?
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: But there is a solution and it's closer than you think.
• 8:35
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• 8:37
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• 8:43
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• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Kathy has a knack for simplifying it all.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Call 214-350-2692 or stop by kathyelwahlcom to schedule a meeting.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: She's ready to review your homeowner policy and pinpoint where you could be saving more money right now.
• 9:00
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• 9:04
  Speaker 1: It's not just about rates.
• 9:06
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• 9:08
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• 9:11
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• 9:20
  Speaker 1: With Kathy Elwahl on your side, you'll have an agent you can trust and help secure your family's future.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: This holiday season, make it magical with KidBiz and the Biz, your one-stop shop for the coolest kids in tweens fashion, located at Inwood Village.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: At Lovers Lane in Inwood, kidbiz and the Biz offers the trendiest outfits, from graphic tees and cozy sweatshirts to wide-leg pants and soft loungewear.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: For that ultimate comfort and it's not just about clothes, accessorize with colorful enamel jewelry.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Or pick up playful toys and plush pals that guarantee smiles.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Or gear up your young athletes with under armor.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Or let the whole family travel in style with personalized John Hart luggage and travel accessories.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: And one more thing mention the Bubble Lounge podcast for complimentary in-store monogramming on John Hart items.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Celebrating over 30 years of bringing joy, kidbiz knows how to delight your little ones this holiday season, so head on over to KidBiz on Inwood and tick off those wish lists with gifts that keep on giving.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Here's to a holiday brimming with cheer from KidBiz and the Biz, where the wonder never ends.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Finding an oral surgeon is hard enough for yourself, and when it comes to your kids, it can feel impossible.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: We suggest our friends at Stuart and Orango because, from emergencies to wisdom teeth and everything in between, they have you covered.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Stuart and Orango are board certified with MDs who specialize in full scope oral, facial and implant surgeries for both children and adults.
• 10:46
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• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Best part is they're conveniently located at Northwest Highway and Hillcrest Avenue.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: So if you want the best of Big D caliber oral care, come see the friendly staff at Stuart and Orango To learn more about them, or book your appointment.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Visit saoralsurgeonscom.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: That's saoralsurgeonscom, well older people.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: I've been reading a lot about older people, like Dick Van Dyke's, one of my favorite actors.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Okay, he's 98 years old and he was talking about this.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: He was saying how and I think this is so true.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: You know, people retire and then they just go off and they live on the beach.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: What keeps people young is giving back right, like when you're involved in something, whether you're just being an usher at church or whatever it is.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Whatever little thing you do, I think that's what keeps people vital.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Purpose matters.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: If our life has no purpose, or if our life's purpose is our own self centeredness, oh my gosh, that will fail.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: That will never fill us up.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: We will be emptied by that kind of life.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: And so for us to maintain a purpose that is for the benefit of other people.
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: We're made for that.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: Any parent knows that, although their children will take so much out of them, it actually is so deeply fulfilling to love and to give and to nurture with such intensity.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: It gives us that kind of purpose.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: And then we can extrapolate that and apply that to so many different things.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Well, that's so true.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Just last week I volunteered at the Jubilee Center which is a big St Michael's organization and I was had been for several days, very stressed about a few things, like it was really consuming me, to be honest, and I really wasn't in the mood to go, and I also knew the times that I have volunteered and given back.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Just when I leave, I feel so much better.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: It really feels good to give back and have a purpose, like what you're saying, and just to see the smiles on people's faces as they drove through the line and picked up their pajamas and their gifts and they would say Merry Christmas and they were so grateful.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: It just filled my heart and made me feel so much better.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: It's amazing how often and sorry, I guess I'll just use it as an example it's amazing how we forget how good it feels and it's so easy for us because our lives are so busy.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: All of us, none of us are sitting around doing nothing.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: We're constantly in motion and doing things and their expectations put on us, whether from family members or friends or neighbors or professional or whatever.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: And then we have these moments where we're sort of pulled out of that and even if we think to ourselves, god, I don't have time for this, when we go and we do it it feels so good and it's as if we remember what we already knew.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: It feels really good, it's a big release.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: It just takes that stress off your shoulders.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: It is Part of it I was just saying this is something the other day that if you look at surveys of professionals' happiness, clergy are always at the very top of the list of the happiest professionals, which might seem a little counterintuitive because so much of what we do is sit with people in their pain.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Except because we do that so often, we are daily reminded to be grateful for whatever we have in our lives, regardless of how much or how little that is.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Even if we're going through our own pain, there is a constant reminder of gratitude, and I think if people could create a structure in their life that reminds them to be grateful, or reminds them that what they have is always enough, that they don't need the more that the world tells them they need.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: What they have is enough, then that kind of gratitude, I think, translates into generosity, which then feeds their souls in such a profound way.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Well, last year you talked about the importance of keeping a gratitude journal and I know you mentioned Oprah is where you saw that originally and I think that's so true.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: It's something that I would like to start in the new year, because there really is.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: If you just look for them, there's so much to be grateful for.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Well, and to remind yourself because we did talk about that last year and I've taught myself that, like you know, both of us had children go off to college this year.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: College is not always what you think it's going to be initially.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: It doesn't all work out perfectly, and I always told them I told you this last year I really do sit in my room sometimes and say out loud the things that I'm grateful for, and I try to tell him that I think there's something about putting it out there out loud by yourself that actually makes it real.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I was just sitting with a young woman in her early 20s.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: She's gone into her career for the first time and she's struggling with a number of kind of what I would call like real life problems.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: As we were talking through, I said the same thing why don't you work on gratitude daily?
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: And one of the things I said to her was physically write it.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: Don't type it, don't even just think it.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: Actually use your hand and write it on paper, because that kind of tactile experience is majorly important for us.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: It really sinks in to our being in a way.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: That kind of just thinking doesn't really work.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: That's so true.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, studies have shown, if you write things down, you're more likely to remember them and act on them, and that's like something that they don't do too often in school anymore, and it's a big mistake.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: It is a big mistake.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: I have a question for you.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: You made me think about prayer, yes, okay.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: So what is your thought on praying out loud versus in your head?
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: That's an interesting question.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: First, I want to say praying at all is better than not.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: So if the idea of praying out loud is so intimidating that you wouldn't even pray, don't worry about it, pray Now.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Having said that, I do think praying out loud it's really helpful because it does hey, it manifests physically speaking something really does work for us.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: I think our human condition is such that, just like when we said, we physically write something, when we physically speak something, it feels more powerful to us.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: I do not think praying out loud in front of other people is necessary at all.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: So if that's scary to you, Like on the subway.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you know.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Eyes closed, spinning in circles.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, don't do that.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: But I do think if you, even by yourself, actually spoke gratitude, spoke prayers of peace, spoke prayer for people in your life who you know need it and actually name them, that's going to.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: It really does change you from the inside out, and not just once.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: It's like we said last year doing something once in a while, once a year it's not really doing anything for you because we're people of habit.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: We need the habits to actually work those muscles to change us over time.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: It doesn't happen quickly, but if we start, even if it feels weird and awkward I cannot tell you how many times I say a prayer out loud at a meal or in a group and people say, oh my gosh, that was so good.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: How do you do that?
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: Actually, just say anything and it works for everybody.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: People think that there's some kind of magic poetry that one can learn in order to be like the best prayer possible, and that's not it.
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: If you just speak from your heart, you name the people you're with, you name the people that you know need that kind of support, especially the people you love and you can't physically be with for any number of reasons you live in a different city, or maybe they're ill or anything like that.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Name that out loud.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: It does transform your heart and it sounds so, I don't know almost goofy or fantastic.
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: It's super real.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: Well, speaking of all of this, it brings me to.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's the Christmas season, it's coming up on Sunday.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: It is, you must be gearing up for quite the busy weekend.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: It's always a big deal.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Christmas is the moment when the most people come to church for sure more than Easter and, I think, the highest percentage of people who don't come otherwise.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: So preparing for the hospitality is very important.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Because, yeah, there's the logistical how do we get that many people into the space in a comfortable way that's not too intense, not too intimidating?
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: But also, if someone's only showing up once a year, can we give them an experience that will be sticky enough for them to consider coming back again?
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Because it's just like what we said last year Once a year, I mean it's nice.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: I don't wanna say don't come, because that seems counterintuitive, but it's not actually doing much for you.
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: And so try it again.
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: Come a few more times, or come for special things, or come by yourself and sit in a quiet space.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: I mean any of that is fine, but I think it does start with that.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: Everyone in the pool moment, where it's just flooded hallways, flooded parking spaces and the stress Can you remember getting your kids ready with the scratchy clothes and the uncomfortable shoes and the hair done in a way that is not normal and all?
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: and on and on.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: I mean it's so stressful, and for someone who's right, and for those of us who do it every Sunday, it's still hard.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: For the people who do it once a year it is.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, by the time you actually make it to the church you're thinking what am I doing?
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: Is this even worth it?
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: And so that's where everyone is when they sit in the church, and so to receive them there and then to try to shift them to a place where they might leave a little bit more filled than when they arrived, that's a trick and that's what we work for.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: Well, so I'm Catholic.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: So just a question when you were saying just go any time, do you all have masks every day of the week?
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: So we have prayer service of some kind every day.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: It is not always a Eucharist service.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Our tradition has many different forms of prayer, and so something is happening each day, but we have people who will come just any day by themselves, sit in one of our chapels, light a candle.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Not everybody wants the corporate prayer experience.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: And that's fine, I happen to be someone who loves a parade, so I love the banners and the music and the lights and all the stuff I love the fanfare.
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: A lot of people, though, would like to sit in silence.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: And meditate.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: Can you imagine?
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: There have been seasons in our lives where just quiet is a gift all on its own, but to also be in a space and the church is not a building, the churches of people.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: But there are sacred spaces, and so Catholics, episcopalians, I mean there are Christians who do think that some spaces are sacred and they're not sacred because God is present or not there because God's present everywhere.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: What makes them sacred is that the people who have been there for years and decades and even centuries have prayed and they have laughed and they have cried.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, they've literally soaked the walls of these sacred spaces with their prayers.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: And when you walk into a space like that, I do think it vibrates a little bit.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: I mean there's something different about those spaces, not because of their design, but because of the people who have been in them over and over, lived and died.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: In those spaces, they really become something sacred.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Well, you compared it.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: You said you love a parade, but I feel that way about theaters in the same way I do about church, like even an empty theater has that vibe to it that there's a sacredness about it to me because of what's going on there.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, obviously it's not God-like.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: I just mean that people go there to watch a show and there's a, there's energy there.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's an energy.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: I think that's totally legitimate.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: When something unusual or exceptional happens in a space, again and again and again over years and years, that space really does, I think, absorb the energy.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: It just takes it on, yeah.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: I think so Same thing like your home.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: You know, when you kind of come home and we've all done it, we've been away on a vacation or a trip or something, and you come back home, whether it's a smell or it's a feeling, whatever that is, it's different, it's not just anywhere else.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: And so I think, wherever that kind of sacred experience happens for you, it does become in a sense kind of like your home.
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: A theater, a church, it can happen almost anywhere.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, so again back to gearing up for, like, what are you doing?
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Like, are you sleeping?
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Are you just running around like a crazy man?
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, no, no we mostly we're ready because, you know, christmas comes around every year so we prepare for a while.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: We do kind of the last preparations at the physical space.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: So I mentioned it's supposed to rain.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: The reason I know it's supposed to rain is because there is a totally different thing we do to prepare the building, especially outside the building, when we know there might be some bad weather, whether that's ice or snow or rain.
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: We want to make sure that we do things like you know get there's one spot ready for the mundane.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: There is one spot on one sidewalk that often will have dirt run off from the grass and create little muddy spot when it rains.
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: Well, we know that and so we know we need to attend to that multiple times that day because we don't want people stepping through the mud in their Christmas shoes.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Or little kids stomping it all over your church.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: I mean all of the above.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: And so things like that matter because that's part of the hospitality Trying to give people a really good experience.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: That matters, that's part of the work that we do.
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: It's not just the liturgy or the sermon or even the music, it's the entire experience.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: Needs to be something that feels special.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Right, right.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Well, what do you do to kind of help temper people's mood?
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: You were talking about how hard it is to get to church, especially when you have little ones and you're trying to make them look all cute and everything.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Because I remember one year when we only had Alexis, my older child.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: And Sean was taking her to the nursery and I was saving a seat for him.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: And saving seats is a big no-no at St Michael's and probably every church.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: And this man yelled at me yeah.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: And I just there was, just so much tension, so much tension.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: And I sat there through the whole service filling tense and upset to be sitting near this man.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: That was so rude.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: And what do you do to try to help people be more joyous and not be like that?
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: Well, I started last Sunday, the Sunday before Christmas, saying to the people who were there, the regulars.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: We have a lot of people coming for Christmas and, although I said it a little bit more theological than this, like, be nice, right, because they're coming and do not think to yourself well, they only come once a year.
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: They come once a year and so this is an opportunity for us to actually be kind and generous and warm, even and we can't keep every person I mean, we were talking about many thousands of people over the course of one day.
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: You can't have every person be kind all the time.
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: I mean, we are human.
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: We are messy all that stuff.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: But if we can, to the best of our ability, put greeters, ushers, other workers out to greet people with a smile, to help people find their seats to be more orderly.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, you speak of Sean and he helped us organize the way that our big services are seated so that it is so much more calm it is so much more dignified.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: And that helps everybody to just chill a little bit and to let themselves receive what is so beautiful about Christmas the carols and the lights and the feeling, the physical warmth of being surrounded by other people.
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: The whole thing is like magic, unless you get yelled at by a random stranger and so trying to do.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: That is good.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: I mean regularly.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: We do things, like you know, when we baptize babies.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: We may have six or 10 babies baptized in a service and one of the things I try to do is I go out before the service begins.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: I look at all the parents and I say I look them in the eye and I say do not take your baby out, they're fine.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: If they make noise, they are fine.
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: And if somebody gives you a side, eye or an ugly.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: Look, I was like that is their problem, it is not yours.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: And so trying to kind of because I can't control some crotchety person saying something or looking ugly at somebody, except that if I name it first and make it real like that's on them, it's not on you, you are here and that is a win.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: Then hopefully, even if somebody is not as kind as they should be, there's a little bit of that positive reserve to where you can slough it off.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Now, what if the baby is running up and down the aisle and kicking people?
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: How would you feel about that?
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: You know I'm going to say kicking.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Do you have a?
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: limit I'm kicking.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Do you have a limit?
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I don't think so.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Well, you know what it was interesting.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: We just had one of our most beautiful services that we do every year, which is Christmas lessons and carols.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: It's hundreds of years old and it's style.
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: It's based on what King's College does in Cambridge.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: It's gorgeous, and there's one single mother with a couple young kids who comes to those services and she wants her kids in the service.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: And one of them just kept making noise through the service Delightful noise, but for so many people you almost do treat it like theater.
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: We're like sit still and be quiet so you can see what's happening in front.
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: You receive what these people have spent hours and hours preparing for, and as I sat there I realized she comes to every one of these services.
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: She wants her kids to experience this and they can make the noise.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: It's fine.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: I mean physically harming other people, let's not do that.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: Instead of what we have to.
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: What is the first thing?
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: What is the highest priority?
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: The first priority is we're together, that's it.
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: Everything else is icing, and so an excellent experience.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: Although I want that for everyone, that is never as important as people physically being together, because when we're together, we call the sacred into being God's everywhere all the time.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: When we gather, though and we gather in very intentional ways that sacred presence can really get into us in powerful ways, and being together helps make that happen, because, like I said, the church isn't the place, the church is the people, and although, yes, you can go pray on your own, you're never getting everything that you can when you actually also join with other people in prayer or praise, and so do both.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's a good message and it makes me think do you have a message this Christmas?
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: Do you change your message each Christmas?
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Oh sure, okay.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: So what is this year?
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Well, I say yes, or will I ruin it for people?
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: No, I always joke that I have one sermon.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: It's really not that complicated.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: Jesus said love your neighbor, love God, love yourself.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: Okay, so that's it, and then I just riff on that every Sunday For Christmas A I always try to make it super simple.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: First off, I should not exceed 10 minutes, because most of the people in the space they're not here every week, and going too long is just one of those triggers that will make them leave a little annoyed.
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: And so it's one of those where tell them what you want to say, stop, because then they never have the experience of wondering when is this going to end, and so they kind of leave.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: I see the same thing about funerals and weddings.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: Don't let people think when will this end, like at your wedding, that's, that's unfortunate.
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: Um, so same thing Christmas, easter, those kinds of things like do it nice and tight, never let them wonder when it's going to end.
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: Okay, to that end this year, knowing what's going to happen in 2024,.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: I'm actually focusing on our capacity to care for one another that we simply don't manifest most of the time, and so I'll tell you the story that I'm planning to use, which I don't know.
• 32:10
  Speaker 3: I don't write my sermons, so it could be that I change it the morning of the 24th and it does something else, but right now.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: There was a wonderful story out of New York last week where a Chihuahua got loose on the Staten Island freeway.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: Have you seen this?
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: No, hilarious.
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: Okay, so this little Chihuahua the people are just driving along and this Chihuahua is just running in the shoulder of the freeway.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know like seven, seven pounds, right.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: Like tiny, tiny little dog.
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: Well, so, immediately, what people did when they realized this is they kind of stacked their cars and they all slowed down to create this shield, this wall that would keep the dog from being hit by a car.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: And as they all slowed down, they were obviously stopping traffic for countless people behind them.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: But as they did this, people were pulling over and getting out of the car and running in front of the wall trying to grab the Chihuahua.
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: So after a few minutes of this, they were able to grab the Chihuahua, rescue it.
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: They found the owner I mean, she was crying cause she got her dog back, all this sort of stuff.
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: It was one of those situations where the dog had just gotten out of the backyard and then was gone for hours and then, all of a sudden, there it is, sat down on the floor.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: The point of that story for me although I think I can tell it in a way that is quite funny is that what did people do when they saw this tiny little creature?
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: They immediately sought to protect it.
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: That's our natural way of being.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: We were created to actually care for the entire world, especially one another, and yet how often do we have such ugliness and rancor in the way that we speak to or act toward one another.
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: Part of what I think we can do at Christmas is give everyone just a moment to realize the best of who we are is actually to love and to care for one another.
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: That's how we were made to be, created to be, and we see that in this little moment, with this tiny dog on this giant freeway.
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: What if we did that at the grocery store or in our office or when we're watching the news?
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: A little bit more charity, a little bit more generosity, a little bit more kindness can make a really big difference, and even if it's only in our own hearts, I think it's worth it.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Well, that's just a beautiful way to end this.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: It's a great message.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: It's always great to have you on the show.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: I love being here.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: They know you so well.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: I do not only get to see you twice a year.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: We're becoming friends, though.
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: Yes, exactly.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for being here.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Where can people find you?
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, visit us at st Michaelorg, so that's spelled out S-A-I-N-T.
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: Michaelorg.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: You can find tons of things there and, especially if any of your listeners are interested in doing things like prayer, we do these daily prayers.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: It's less than 10 minutes.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: You can find them, podcasts anytime you want.
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: It's just weekday prayers and we do Bible studies and we get thousands and thousands of people who listen to every one of those episodes, the prayers and the Bible studies.
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: And so this is something where, even if you go to another church, even if you don't go to church and you're just interested in someone kind of guiding you a little bit, there are many, many resources available there.
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: And, if you feel so inclined, come on by 8011 Douglas Avenue right here in North Dallas.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: We'd love to see you on Sunday, and your podcast started right here in the Bubble Lounge, didn't it?
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Yes, it did.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: Right here I was going to say we recorded the very first set right here.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: That's right and it's evolved to something much bigger.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for being here, my pleasure.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: And that's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: I'm Martha Jackson.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: And I'm Nellie Shudeau.
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: We'll catch you next time in Merry Christmas.