A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taizé. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. Also there will be a live Taize style service at St Andrews Episcopal Church at 5pm December 4th. See you there.
“See I Am Near”
Words, Music by Taizé copyright © 2008 GIA/Les Presses de Taize. All rights reserved.
“Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus”
Written for The University Of Notre Dame Folk Choir by Steven C. Warner, released on the album “Prophets of Joy” / Copyright 1996 World Library Publications, all rights reserved.
“Maker Song”
Music and lyrics by Kester Limner, 2019
Shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“The Lord is my Light”
Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
by Diane Gagné
Appearances seem beautiful. Even if sometimes it’s attractive and other times not so much, we’re powerfully magnetized by appearances.
In appearances, there’s movement, inconsistency, unconsciousness. There can be a lot of knowledge, hints of intelligence and benevolence, but rarely regularity and stability.
Life is constantly moving and changing. We can follow it, observe it, distance ourselves from it or participate in it. Speed and precipitation invite us to dive into it, but rarely to drop us there to let ourselves float. And it’s unfortunately when we find ourselves drowned or engulfed by life, that we sink and find ourselves in its depths.
In our depths.
There’s a treasure at the bottom of each of our personal little oceans. Going to discover it can seem difficult to us, make us dizzy or even frighten us. But there’s practically no danger in visiting them. The abyss is bottomless and the water in it is rejuvenating.
There’s no danger in facing and fully living the emotional register of life. Nobody dies at the end of their tears, and we will never suffocate by dint of expressing ourselves too much. Of course, in appearance, emotional outbursts remain frowned upon. In society, losing self-control is a sign of weakness and there are many spiritual teachings that still convey today that it’s necessary to know how to control oneself. But one can only truly control oneself after having fully experienced and expressed what has been repressed. And the art of adequately expressing one’s emotions is the only real spiritual teaching to transmit in a world that doesn’t yet know what to do with them. Who doesn’t understand their meaning any more than their usefulness.
If some prefer to remain with the idea that the spiritual path has a destination called enlightenment, they will also have to keep in mind that if we’re going somewhere, it’s because we have also started from a starting point. Therefore, there’s an itinerary made up of roads, crossroads and places to visit. However, these places can be found nowhere else than in our depths. In all that hides and lurks in the person who wants to remain in control of what he or she intends to project as an image of him or herself, for the appearances.
Otherwise, Truth has nothing to do with appearances. Truth will always seek to go beyond these, to pierce the secret hiding in stories we love to tell, when the time comes to make claims of intention. Truth has nothing to do with perceptions and will always seek to attach itself to facts. It doesn’t care whether you were hurt or harmed, when it comes to whether you participated in the offence. How responsible are you for your actions and how much are you willing to commit? What are you looking to protect? Or who…
Truth wants to go beyond appearances. It doesn’t seek to make anyone guilty of anything, because the Truth knows that by acting against it, it’s against yourself you have acted. Truth knows you’re already punished before you even admit your wrongdoing.
Because the Truth lies within each of us… And when we don’t act in accordance with it, it’s only a detour we take on a path that doesn’t really exist. Time gives us the illusion we’re on a journey and that’s why we take so many detours in life: To escape, to go faster, to go where we shouldn’t go or on the contrary, because we think that is where we must go. Because we stick to appearances, we prefer to run towards the next destination, rather than fully embracing what needs to be visited in the moment.
When this profound truth is seen, in all its depth, we realize there’s really no journey. No destination to reach, no appearances to safeguard, nothing to protect. We can then begin to truly live and really understand the role of emotions in our life. All the richness they can teach us about ourselves, about others and about life.
So, if you want to stick with the idea there’s a journey to take in your life, to get you somewhere or to achieve some goal, you have set for yourself, so be it. You will then have to understand that emotions are your instructions, your itinerary on the path, the information you must understand and decipher in order to move forward. You cannot hide or ignore them, just slowly learn to understand this kind of map inside you. Learn that certain places will be to visit, from top to bottom. Learn you can’t stay on the highway forever, to go faster or because it’s more convenient. Appearances will always cause you to go faster, stay on the surface, or not really listen or see what is behind them.
However, it’s when we finally decide to go beyond appearances that we finally realize how much they have deceived us! How, behind them, there’s something so much more beautiful, vast and rich than this linear highway that everybody prefers to take.
by Lilly Lewin
The radical nature of the Christmas Story.
A young woman who planned for a wedding, not to be a single mom
A fiancee, turned step dad, who wasn’t sure about his role
A pregnant pilgrimage to a new town under government orders
A baby born to a teenage mom in space used by the animals.
The local riff raff showed up on the night of his birth.
They say that angels have announced his birth for all the world.
Then later a group of Gentiles from the East come with gifts to honor this child that they say is a King.
But this King is in trouble before he is two.
And he and his family must flee for their lives.
They become refugees in a foreign land
like so many other like them in our world today.
Today I pray for the teen moms.
The confused dads
The riff raff and the unexpected guests of our world.
Today I pray for all those who feel they are running…too busy to think, to tired to breathe.
And I pray for all those who are truly running for their lives
because of fear, because of war, because of famine, because of abuse, and because of global climate change.
This baby was, and is, born for all of these!
Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
2 The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,[c]
a light will shine.
3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5 The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[d] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
Spend some time praying for the refugees and the riff raff and those running because of all the fear and cares in our world.
Lord Jesus! Thank you for coming into our darkness and filling us with hope and light. Thank you for loving us in our dark moments. Thank you for understanding our pain and frustration. For being GOD WITH US, right now, right where we are! We love you! AMEN
Take time to listen to these three songs.
Liz Vice is one of my favorite musicians. Her song “The Refugee King” is a beautiful song of reflection for this season.
Another of my favorite Advent Songs is Isaiah by Porter’s Gate featuring Liz Vice again.
As we light the second candle in the Advent Wreath, the candle of Peace, we pray for peace for our selves and for our world.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Main painting is by Ukrainian artist Olya Kravchenko.
olyakravcenko nativity
It’s almost time to get those jingle bells ringing – let Godspace be a resource to you as you prepare! We offer many devotionals, gifts, prayer cards, free downloads, retreats, and more. Check it out in our shop under the category of Advent! You will also find many resources for Celtic Advent, traditional Advent, and Christmas under our resource page Advent, Christmas, New Years & Epiphany
by Christine Sine
When Advent began Tom and I started listening to my Advent music playlist each morning. One of my favourite Advent hymns is Come Thou Long Expected Jesus with music by Rowland H. Prichard and lyrics by Charles Wesley. However this year I find myself singing Come thou unexpected Jesus. The Jews were waiting for a Messiah but not one like this. Nothing about the birth of Jesus was what they expected: at the centre is Mary who conceives as an unwed teenager, Joseph who accepts a child not his own and Elizabeth who welcomes and supports her cousin through what must have been a harrowing first few months of her pregnancy. All of them living at the outskirts of the empire unknown by the priests and rulers in Jerusalem, unimportant in the political and religious scene of the day.
Good reason for Mary to be afraid when the angel Gabriel comes to visit. Her world, in fact the whole world, was about to be changed and she was centre stage.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Grace to you, young woman, for the Lord is with you[w] and so you are anointed with great favor.” Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. 30 But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. ( Luke 1:28 – 30.TPT )
Advent disrupted everything in the life of Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth. It should disrupt everything in our lives too as we look in hope and anticipation towards the coming of the One through whom God and the entire creation will one more be fully united.
So often we hope for change in our lives and our world, wanting to see that better world of God’s promises come into being, but when God suggests that we could be the instruments of that change we draw back afraid to step out of our comfort zones. We want the change that results in justice and peace to happen without us needing to do anything. After all we are small and insignificant players in God’s plan. How could we possibly be the instruments of change that God is looking for?
As I wait with Mary for the birth of Jesus this Advent season I look around at a world that desperately needs change. We face a climate crisis that will devastate our world if we don’t make radical changes to our lifestyles. We face political upheaval and economic turmoil in ways that I have not seen before in my lifetime. It is easy for fear and anxiety to rear their ugly heads and hold us captive.
I love to look for the unexpected symbols that unsettle me and keep me ready for the kinds of change that I think Advent challenges us to. The image above, an abbey altar piece know as The Visit of the Angels and painted between 1390 and 1400 is of Mary knitting. It is unsettling because she is doing something mundane and everyday when the angels come to her. Reflecting on this image makes us realize Mary is not some extraordinary woman called by God because she has strange super powers but an ordinary teenage girl living on the margins of the empire – vulnerable, and probably as uncertain as any teenager today.
This is a beautiful image to reflect on as we think about the unexpectedness of the Advent story. What catches your attention? What unsettles you? In what ways does it help prepare you for the unexpected ways that Jesus will be birthed in your heart and your life this Christmas?
God comes to all of us in so many unexpected ways asking us to be the change the world needs to see. I think that Mary, in some ways, represents all of us – unsettled by what God’s messengers have said, yet needing to embrace our call to be instruments of change without yielding to our fears. We do indeed need to make room for Christ to be born afresh in our hearts and in our lives this year in ways that can help change our world.
So what do we do during this season of waiting?
- Listen to the angels. We may not have heavenly visitors come to us but there are other messengers that God is sending to help us find our way to the Messiah – environmentalists like Greta Thunberg, activists like Jim Wallis and contemplatives like Richard Rohr who know that there needs to be change in the world and call us to be the instruments of that change. Who are the angels who are messengers of change and new birth for you?
- Look for the Elizabeths. When God calls who do we run to? All of us need supporters like Joseph and Elizabeth who can help keep God’s dreams alive during the seasons of hard waiting that we face. Who are the ones that support you and encourage you when God’s call comes and you are afraid?
- Don’t be afraid of the unexpected. Like Mary we need to be willing to be instruments of change without yielding to our fears and anxieties. God finds delight in all of us and promises us a special gift – not necessarily a baby born in a manger but a fresh touch of the divine presence born in our hearts and in our minds. Are we willing to let go of our expectations for this season and allow God to reveal something new to us?
What Is Your Response?
Sit quietly and prayerfully reflect on what you read today. Now close your eyes and listen to the song below. Instead of long expected Jesus read unexpected Jesus. What comes to your mind? Is there something unexpected that God is wanting to give birth to in you this year? What is one action step you could take as Christmas approaches to make this possible?
Are you ready to rekindle the WONDER of the season? Join Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin in this virtual retreat as they walk you through practical and fun activities focused on Advent Wonder. Sign up for 180 days of access to work through enriching discussions and engaging exercises at your own pace. Or give it as a gift! If you have purchased courses from us before or plan on purchasing in bulk, email us for a discount code.
Originally published on EvoFaith blog here. Links to a video and audio version can be found at the bottom of the post.
Have you ever experienced a ‘thank you’ that didn’t leave you feeling appreciated? Or perhaps you’ve seen someone use thanksgiving as a way to show everyone else how specially ‘blessed’ by God they were? Clearly not all thankfulness is created equal.
Many years ago, back in my Pentecostal fundamentalist days, I attended a healing conference that was hosting a well-known international evangelist and healer. During the first session we were encouraged to mill around and meet the other delegates. I ended up talking with two other young men (I was a young man back then). The one was rather quiet, but his friend was extremely vocal, launching in to a monologue about the giftedness and God-blessedness of his quiet friend, who was clearly embarrassed. He also kept mentioning how blessed and thankful he was to be able to minister with his quiet and gifted friend. The not-very-subtle implication was that he must clearly also be gifted and favoured by God to have been placed in partnership with such a gifted spiritual giant. His words expressed thanksgiving, but his attitude and tone revealed something very different. Again—not all thankfulness is created equal.
There is a lot that is written about the power of thanksgiving. There is no question that a habit of thankfulness increases our sense of contentment, deepens our experience of pleasure and happiness, and builds better relationships. I wholeheartedly support anything that empowers us to be more automatically thankful in our lives. It is for good reason that children are taught from the moment they can speak to say thank you.
But there is also a limit to thankfulness. Especially when it comes to spiritual practice. In a much-misused parable in Luke 18:10-14, Jesus describes two different prayers. This is what it says:
Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
While this parable might justifiably be used to show the dangers of self-righteousness, it should not be stretched—as it often is—to promote self-loathing as a Christian virtue. Such ‘worm-theology’ does no one any good and misses the point of the parable, which is that religious people can often seem righteous outwardly, but in their arrogance, judgment of others, and lack of compassion they are further from God’s Reign than those who recognise their need to grow.
But there is something else that is illustrated in this parable—and this is where it begins to speak into our evolutionary spirituality. The Pharisee’s prayer expresses a strong thankfulness. But he is thankful for the wrong things and in the wrong way from Christ’s perspective.
First of all, he credits God for his station in life. He believes that he has been chosen by God for special favour which ensures that he is morally, personally, religiously, and probably economically better than others. To use the language of today’s toxic religion, he considers himself ‘blessed.’ But these are the wrong things to be thankful for. They are not signs of God’s blessing or favour. They simply represent that in an unequal world he was lucky enough to have been born into a situation where he could enjoy greater comfort, status, and respect than others. Notice that Jesus specifically points out that, when he prays this prayer, he is standing by himself. His thanksgiving has not won him any friends, it seems—probably because it has been nothing more than empty words that he spoke to build up his ego. His thankfulness has not changed him or inspired him to any kind of action that could touch or benefit anyone else.
In my experience, prayers of thanks are often like this. We look for good things in our life, attribute them to God’s divine intervention, and then give thanks as a way to confirm for ourselves that we are the recipients of God’s favour, God’s blessing.
And, if we can ascribe human feelings to God for a moment, how might God be feeling about this kind of thankfulness? I can’t say for sure, but my instinct suggests about as impressed as God was by the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable.
You see, true thankfulness can never be words alone. Thankfulness should always be a cause for us to pause and think—to become more thoughtful. Firstly, we should be far more thoughtful and honest about why we might enjoy good fortune, and be much slower to attribute our ‘blessings’ to a God who is impressed with us for any reason.
But secondly, authentic thankfulness usually makes us more thoughtful about what we should do with our good fortune. And the answer, while it may take many forms, is really only one thing: we should share it. There’s an internet meme going around that speaks to exactly this point: “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.”
In an evolutionary spirituality, there is no Divine Judge to impress with our obedience, righteousness, and religious purity. There is no benefit to legalistically following religious rules and convincing ourselves that whatever good fortune we receive is God’s reward for our purity and holiness. The evolutionary God does not bless some and curse others.
Rather, whatever good fortune we may enjoy is a call to thoughtfulness and generosity. It is an opportunity to recognise that we have received an advantage for no reason other than that this is how an evolutionary universe works. In this particular facet of our lives, we find ourselves in a position to overcome life’s challenges and contribute to the growth, connection, and creativity of the world. And with this good fortune comes an invitation—and, in my opinion, a responsibility—to share. To quote the Spider-Man movies, “With great power (or in this case, with great advantage) comes great responsibility.”
No ‘blessing’ is ever given to a single individual or group. Whatever is given is always meant to be shared. There is no exceptionalism in authentic evolutionary spirituality. There is just each of us recognising—through thanksgiving—what opportunities and resources we have to contribute to the common good. And then there is the response, out of this awareness, of thoughtful, generous, contribution to the people and society around us in whatever way we can.
Thanksgiving is a profoundly effective discipline. And it is one that I encourage us all to nurture and develop as intentionally and consistently as possible. But it should never be an excuse to separate ourselves from others—especially those in need. It should never be a reason to consider ourselves better, or more ‘blessed’, than others. It should always lead us to be more compassionate, generous, and considerate—to shift from mere thankfulness to a deep thoughtfulness in which we consider carefully how our ‘blessing’ may become a ‘blessing’ to those around us. And when thankfulness does this, it not only enriches our world. It enriches our lives with an ever-expanding sense of contentment, joy, and connection. And that’s something to be thankful for.
This article can also be found in a YouTube video and for audio on a podcast episode.
John van de Laar is also running a free webinar “How to Thrive as church in the New World – 7 Essential Paradigm Shifts”. Sign-ups for the webinar can be done here.
Celtic Prayer Cards include 10 prayers inspired by ancient Celtic saints like Patrick or contemporary Celtic writers like John O’Donohue. A short reflection on the back of each card will introduce you to the Celtic Christian tradition, along with prayers by Christine Sine and beautiful imagery crafted by Hilary Horn. Celtic Prayer Cards can be used year-round or incorporated into various holidays. Available in a single set of 10 cards, three sets, or to download.
by Carol Dixon
When I was a teenager in 1964 a pop song by Petula Clark soared into the charts in the UK. Although it had slightly different words, the original was a translation of a hymn by a German theologian written in the early 20th century. It was called Thank You For Giving Me the Morning. Maybe some of you remember it.
As my American friends are caught up in the hustle and bustle towards Thanksgiving day I have been thinking quite a bit about being thankful. In the UK we don’t usually celebrate Thanksgiving Day so I don’t really feel qualified to say much about it. But the need for thanksgiving in all our lives is really important which is one of the reasons I have been so encouraged by many of our Godspacelight themes recently. We seem to have been focusing on giving thanks from harvest time, celebrated at the end of September, right through to Thanksgiving day on 24 November (after which we will be looking forward to Advent – another uplifting theme). I loved the post a few weeks ago that was the invitation to ponder daily on at least one thing to thank God for as advised by Meister Eckhart:
If the only prayer you pray in your entire life is Thank you God, that would suffice. Thankfulness is one of the most life-giving thoughts we can have. Let us determine to start each day with positive affirmation such as Thank you God for the gift of life and end the day with thanksgiving for just one positive thing the day has brought us.
Sometimes in our lives when everything seems to be against us it is difficult to be thankful, but if we manage to do so our lives will be transformed. This has nothing to do with pretending everything in the garden is rosy when it isn’t, or not being honest with God about how we really feel, but trying to focus on one gift the day has brought, however small.
The Bible has quite a lot to say about thankfulness and one of my favourite passages is from the book of Habakkuk where the prophet confronts God about the state of the world he is living in. Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah and lived in uncertain times with wars, food shortages, and people in power who didn’t seem to care. Sound familiar? God’s people were divided and those in the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been overrun by the Assyrian army. The kingdom of Judah where Habakkuk lived was also threatened by the Babylonians who were about to capture Jerusalem and take many of the key citizens off to slavery in exile. But instead of turning away from God, as many of his contemporaries had, Habakkuk confronted God with a series of questions. He didn’t get the answers he might have hoped for but as he listened to God’s overview of the situation he began to see the wider picture. And so, he was able to sing his song of thankfulness and praise despite his current difficulties and turned from despair to hope. Here is a precis of their discussion.
Habakkuk Complains of Injustice
2 O Lord, how long must I call for help before you listen, before you save us? 3 Why do you make me see such trouble? How can you stand to look on such wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around me, and there is fighting and quarrelling everywhere. 4 The law is weak and useless, and justice is never done. Evil people get the better of the righteous, and so justice is perverted.
5 Keep watching the nations around you, and you will be astonished at what you see. I am going to do something that you will not believe when you hear about it. 6 I am bringing the Babylonians to power, those fierce, restless people. They are marching out across the world to conquer other lands. 7 They spread fear and terror, and in their pride they are a law to themselves…9 “Their armies advance in violent conquest, and everyone is terrified as they approach…They treat kings with contempt and laugh at high officials. No fortress can stop them— 11 they sweep on like the wind and are gone, these men whose power is their god.
Habakkuk Complains to the Lord Again
12 Lord, from the very beginning YOU are God. You are my God, holy and eternal. My God and protector, you have chosen the Babylonians and made them strong so that they can punish us. 13 But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?
The Lord replied: 4‘Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.’”…7But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest. Enemies will come and make you tremble. They will plunder you! 8 You have plundered the people of many nations, but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities.[c]
9 You are doomed!
Habakkuk finally got the picture and ended the conversation by saying:
‘I will wait in thankfulness and hope for the time to come when God will vindicate his people.
He even burst into song:
17Even though the fig trees have no fruitand no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no grain… 18I will still be joyful and glad, because the Lord God is my savior.“
and he goes on to say –
9‘The Sovereign Lord gives me strength. He makes me sure-footed as a deer and keep-s me safe on the mountains.’
One of the great assets we have as Christians is that in Jesus we can learn to give thanks however we are feeling. One of my favourite hymns in our church hymn book is ‘Give to Me Lord a Thankful Heart’.
A prayer for Thanksgiving day
May God give you – for every storm, a rainbow.
For every tear a smile, for every care a promise,
and a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share,
for every sigh a song, and an answer to each prayer. [Author unknown]
A Celtic Blessing (traditional)
When days are dark,
may the blessing of light be on you,
light without and light within.
When the world is cold,
may the blessed sunshine shine upon you
and warm your heart,
till it glows like a great peat fire.
And the blessing of God, three in one,
rest on you and remain with you forever. Amen.
It’s just about time to celebrate Advent and Christmas. Let Godspace be a resource to you as you prepare! We have many devotionals, gifts, prayer cards, free downloads, retreats – and more – to offer. Check it out in our shop under the category of Advent!
As an Amazon Associate, I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links.
Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
When referencing or quoting Godspace Light, please be sure to include the Author (Christine Sine unless otherwise noted), the Title of the article or resource, the Source link where appropriate, and ©Godspacelight.com. Thank you!