What Are Your Little Icelandic Elves?

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day, sipping some coffee and reading through some of my favorite magazines that I like to peruse while sipping coffee at a Barnes and Noble - and I came across an interesting interview with a personal favorite band named Sigur Ros. They are from Iceland, and it's very hard to describe the type of music that they play. It's mostly instrumental, with a few icelandic words here and there (although on their last CD, titled strangely ( ), all the words were words that they made up). Their music is beautiful, haunting, strange, and great for listening to - while sipping coffee at a Barnes and Noble, perusing through your favorite magazines.

Anyway, Sigur Ros has released a new CD named Takk, and its great. The lead singer was interviewed for the magazine Paste (a great magazine, by the way - its founder and editor is a Christian and was featured in Relevant Magazine a couple of issues ago), and he started talking about superstitions and strange beliefs that people in Iceland have. I guess there is still a strong belief that there are Icelandic island elves that haunt the island. The lead singer described how the Icelandic government will build roads that are windy and that go around large boulders - boulders that could be moved by heavy machinery - because of the belief that elves live in the boulders. He described a recent story about how a large boulder could not be moved - for days, heavy machinery kept breaking down - until someone came and asked the elf living in the boulder if they could move it. After the elf gave its blessing, the rock was moved without any problem whatsoever.

It got me thinking about what my elves are. Well, not necessarily elves, but what are those strange superstitions or even beliefs about the Christian life that really are silly and don't really have any support behind them - yet I still hold onto them anyway? I think that one of those elves that I'm trying to let go is the idea that conversion is a one-time event that takes place and then is over. Although I do think there is a specific moment when Christ took hold of me - at baptism - I don't think that it was a moment-only event. I think that salvation is continuing to happen - not so much in the justification idea of the term; but most definitely the sanctification idea. ("Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" comes to mind) Sorry about the big words.

Another one is my concept about eternal life. I used to think that eternal life only meant after I died. I now believe that eternal life is supposed to be experienced in the here and now as well, right here, right now. Jesus said, "This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." (John 17:3) It would seem to me that Jesus is saying that eternal life starts when we begin to know God. So as a missional Christian, I shouldn't be just happy that I'm saved and that eternal life begins after I die, I should be helping to bring forth eternal life and God's kingdom here on earth before I die. If that doesn't make sense, it's probably because I'm still thinking through this. If you want more on this subject, I would recommend "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren and any Dallas Willard book.

We even have our little Icelandic elves at Christmastime - which might seem appropriate given that there are elves at Christmastime of the Santa persuasion - yet some of them are gaps in the Christmas story that we've filled using Christmas carols, our imaginations, movies and more. Let me give you some examples:

- in the carol "Away In A Manger" it states "the little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes." Why wouldn't he cry? He was a baby at the time, you know. It was probably a little chilly. He was just born. I think he would cry.

- We Three Kings: News bulletin, folks. They weren't kings, they were astrologers. We don't know how many there were - we assume there were three because three gifts were given. Historic tradition says twelve. And they weren't at his birth, as you see so often in nativity scenes. They showed up two years later or so, and by that time Mary and Joseph would have had a house.

- there was no room in the inn: There certainly was no inn or innkeeper. The Greek word Luke used was "kataluma," as in "There was no room for them in the kataluma." Scholars agree that this word should never have been translated "inn," but instead describes a spare room of some kind or perhaps a common room for travelers who needed a roof over their heads. On busy nights there would have been several families snoozing in the corners of the village kataluma, covered with blankets and robes. (taken from reallivepreacher.com)

- the nativity scene itself: In a place like Judea, wood was scarce, which would make a wooden "barn" structure unlikely. More likely was the idea of the nativity scene taken place in a limestone cave, or even at someone's house. Archaelogists have uncovered structures that showed that most houses in those days had two levels: one level for the family, the lower level for the animals. In any case, Jesus' manger was probably of stone.

Hopefully I haven't ruined your idea of Christmas - and I don't think it's bad that we fill those gaps with ideas that may be wrong but warm-hearted and good-intentioned - yet at the same time, we need to realize that the birth of Jesus wasn't a warm fuzzy occasion. I think one of the best songs to describe the scene is called "Labor Of Love" from one of the best Christmas CDs - Behold The Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson:

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyway that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph by her side
Calloused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
On the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

What are your little icelandic elves - Christmas or otherwise? Again, it's probably not bad to have them for the most part, but it's always good to put a magnifying glass to what we believe and analyze our traditions and beliefs in the light of Scripture and history.