December Twenty-Fifteen
May the sounds of Advent stir a longing in your people, O
God. Come again to set us free from the dullness of routine and the poverty of
our imaginations. Break the patterns which bind us to small commitments and to
the stale answers we have given to questions of no importance. Let the Advent
trumpet blow, let the walls of our defenses crumble, and make a place in our
lives for the freshness of your love, well-lived in the Spirit, and still given
to all who know their need and dare receive it. Amen. –Howard Thurman The
Mood of Christmas
While darkness and coldness infiltrate our
days, we do not only look forward to the coming of warmer and lighter times,
but also to the coming of the Light that will expel all that is dark forever.
Did you know that of old Advent was a time of preparation, just like Lent
coupled with self-examination and fasting? I regret that nowadays we have lost
this time of preparation, as because of all the December busyness we threaten
to be all of the sudden confronted with a child in a manger without being
really ready to welcome him.
–Artway.com
The world is alive, blinking and clicking, winking at us slyly, inviting us to get up and dance to the music that’s been playing since the beginning of time, if you bend all the way down and put your ear to the ground to listen for it. ― Shauna Niequist Cold Tangerines
If you ask what language the Creator speaks, the best answer is this:
God’s first language is full-spectrum light, clear water, deep sky, red
squirrel, blue whale, gray parrot, green lizard, golden aspen, orange mango,
yellow warbler, laughing child, rolling river, serene forest, churning storm,
spinning planet.
A psalmist said the same thing in another way—the universe is God’s work
of art- God’s handiwork. All
created things speak or sing of the God who made them. If you want to know what
the Original Artist is like, a smart place to start would be to enjoy the art
of creation.
-Brian McLaren We Make the Road By
Walking
I
arise today with winter in my being:
Resting
earth
Gracious
darkness
Dreaming
seeds
Barren
trees
Frosty
breath
Glowing
fireplaces
Empty
spaces.
This
is my inheritance in this vibrant new season.
I
arise today in the heart of winter.
-Macrina
Wiederkehr
The
Circle of Life
Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery.
–Wendell Berry Hannah Coulter
Oh, by gosh, by golly! It’s
time for mistletoe and holly! -Frank Sinatra, Mistletoe and Holly
"Embedded deep in our hearts is a need to be together, to be included, to
be seen and known and to be loved. We want this (and if we're really honest - we
expect it) most intensely from our families. Christmas tends to bring out
these deep needs and expectations. And when they are not met as we had hoped it
can really trip us up together. The beautiful thing about family is also that
these arguments or tripping points do rise up - showing us the exact
places within us and between us where we are in the most need of love. Lean in
hard to these places. You see- the mess of family arguments really is not
the bad news of Christmas - but can point out precisely and directly to the
good news of Christmas!
The good news of Christmas is that there, in a back-water village, in an
animal shed, surrounded by the poor and outcast, God came to be with
us. God had pitched a tent next to ours, moved into our neighborhood,
took on our skin and struggle. God didn't come into a perfect world full of
perfect people. Because that world wouldn't have needed him. He came into a
very broken and messy world. He wasn't afraid of the mess in the world then and
he certainly isn't afraid of the mess in our lives now. In fact, that is right
where he longs to be. God came for each of us. We are seen. We are known.
We belong. We are included. We are loved entirely.
So when we gather with family and we struggle to be seen or understood
by one another - let us remember the perfect gift of God's love for us. Let us
steep in the love that we have already been given so completely. And with the
fullness of being seen and known and loved so perfectly - let us do our
imperfect best to show that to those around us. Let us invite God's love into
these struggles between us, the mess and the brokenness is just what he came
for - so that our hearts can be healed."
-Becky Tucker
In this season….."may we be honest about the darkness and
more perceptive about the light…." –Renee Sundberg
At Christmas we traditionally welcome the infant Jesus. But how much more does he long for us to come to him, so that he can embrace us. –Nigel Halliday
"…..holding you and this
tormented, brilliant world to the Light as best I can."
–Loretta Ross
Thank you, God, for the things you heal, the things you redeem, the things you refuse to leave just as they have been for what seems like forever. -Shauna Niequist Cold Tangerines
Pictured above are some of the dear children in our Children of the Kingdom in India at their Christmas pageant.
Let us light a candle for the Christ child, for the infant Jesus,
the Word made flesh. let our hearts glow with that light that was in him, so
that we become candles through which his light shines still. For Christmas is a
process as well as an event. Your heart and mine can become the little
town, the stable, the manger... even now. Let a new day, a new creation, a new
you, and a new me, begin. Let there be light. -Brian McLaren
