Happy Weekend before Christmas! How is it going? This is usually the time when the LIST of things to do gets longer, not shorter and the expectations we’ve had for the “perfect” holiday have to be re-evaluated and need to be thrown out the window. If you work at a church or live with someone who does, that holiday feeling may not be what you wish it was! In fact that holiday feeling is probably exhaustion! As I type this I am sitting with a half decorated Christmas tree and a very messy dining room. Both must be dealt with swiftly so I can go pack for trip to celebrate the holidays with Rob’s family.
Two of his sisters have late December birthdays and his youngest decided to throw a party at the beach this weekend. A lovely gift but it takes work to travel anytime, but especially at the holidays. And it takes a little brain floss for me to think warm when I’m sitting in winter temperatures. I finally got my suitcase unpacked from our anniversary trip so I can repack with “summery” clothes.
I love to decorate the tree! For me the tree is Christmas! I have had a tree every year since we got married I say I, because my Grinch husband isn’t a big fan. Some trees we cut down, some we purchased at a tree lot. During the pandemic when the boys were in other states, we found a bargain artificial tree and bought it. Just three pieces and the lights were already on it! What a gift to the Grinch! Plus it was tall and could accommodate all my ornaments. We collect ornaments from places we travel and the boys have gotten ornaments in their stocking each year so that they can have their own trees with decorations that hold memories!
Since the kitchen ceiling flooded while we were away, I got way behind on decorating and I knew I didn’t have time to decorate the big artificial tree. So Grinch Rob said I could get a tree that was as tall as I am. Last week I went to the local tree stand and found a five foot tree that I could carry on my own! And it is now set up on a table in the midst of everything. I finally put the lights on it last night because I really wanted white Christmas lights but they were sold out and my order isn’t arriving til tomorrow! I dug out the old colorful Christmas lights last night and started the process! And boy to I miss the ease of a pre-lit tree.
How do you view the Christmas tree? Is is a gift or a chore? Is it your work of art or just another task on the list of things to do?
I am a huge tree fan in general!. Trees speak to me. We chose our neighborhood in Cincinnati because of the trees and our house had an amazing 100 year old oak tree in the front yard. In this house in Nashville, I have a beautiful magnolia tree that was planted by the builder and an ugly old tree that I wouldn’t let be cut down because it was the only one left on our street! The birds and the squirrels are thankful.
I am thankful for the imagery of trees in the Bible. They are life giving and celebratory!
“So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines— Monuments to me, to GOD, living and lasting evidence of GOD.”
Isaiah 55:12-13 The Message (MSG)
What trees come to mind when you think of trees in the Bible?
The tree in the Garden of Eden, the tree planted by streams in Psalm 1 and the ones I’d forgotten about in Revelation.
Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit…The leave were used for medicine to heal the nations. REVELATION 22:1-2 NLT
And Isaiah reminds us that the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah involves a NEW tree! New GROWTH from an old stump
ISAIAH 11: 1-10 New International Version
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.Roots
What is God’s Word for you today? What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you about? Read again and allow Jesus to speak to your heart.
Roots and New Growth. In what ways have you put down roots in your faith this year? What new growth has taken place?
In what areas would you like to see NEW growth in the year ahead?
How would you like to see righteousness and justice in our land? Spend some time praying about this.
“From Genesis to Revelation…The symbol of a tree in our midst is the promise of sustaining life everlasting. The TREE is always with us. ( Scott Erickson) Honest Advent.
Scott Erickson Art
We put up trees and decorate trees in our yards for Christmas. When you see a Christmas tree be reminded of God’s healing, hope and the PROMISE of EMMANUEL…GOD WITH US!
BIG TREE last Christmas
JUST A REMINDER: When Rob and I both worked on a church staff, at two different churches, we often had a half decorated or even an undecorated tree at this point in the season. We just didn’t have the bandwidth to do all the church things required, and school parties and community events AND have the house the way we’d hoped. So this is our annual reminder that CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON! We are still in ADVENT and Christmas doesn’t begin til Christmas Day and runs until January 6th, Epiphany! So you have lots of time to celebrate and get the things done that are still on your list. With the way the postal service is going both here and in Canada, I think Epiphany presents are totally in order this year! Epiphany is the celebration of the Magi bringing gifts to Jesus and the LIGHT coming to the entire world, not just the Jewish nation. So honor this church calendar this year and celebrate Christmas for the real 12 days of Christmas that fall after the 25th! Give yourself permission to bake the cookies or share a meal with friends, AFTER the 25th! Keep listening to Christmas music, take the time to watch your favorite Christmas movie that you haven’t had time to see. When I lived in Seattle, January was so grey and dreary, that I would leave up my decorations replacing Santas with snowmen and refreshing the greenery from our yard. And leaving up the Christmas lights a little longer brightens everyone’s day!
Merry Christmas from me and the grinch
Let the Christmas Tree remind you of the NEW things Jesus wants to do in your life even from what feels like a dead tree stump! AMEN and Happy Christmas!
by Laurie Klein
Once upon a yard, I collected maple samaras. Ladybugs. Pea-sized mystery-spheres I found under shrubs — until Dad explained bunny droppings.
To this day, I still watch for meaning amid the miniscule.
Friends, here we are again, between Noels, past and pending. I’ve been reading about creatures, even tiny ones, that might have shared that long-ago Holy Night.
But little things are a mixed bag.
For instance: Years ago, after our daughter returned from a mission trip tormented by hatching head lice, Dreamer and I spent hours combing sticky nits from strand after strand of her thick hair.
Parental love to the rescue — liberating one cherished, vulnerable scalp.
Aesop said, “No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.”
Do our grown children remember our past, painstaking efforts? To paraphrase Blaise Pascal, When little things afflict us, even small actions can console us.
Two sisters in Holland, arrested for rescuing Jews during WWII, were remanded to Ravensbrück concentration camp. In Barracks 28, the ten Boom girls slept on reeking pallets swarming with fleas. Their prayers of gratitude for being alive and together included repeated pleas for relief from the infestation.
The vermin, however, thrived.
And those blood-sucking parasites? Turns out, they repelled sadistic prison guards. No inspections. No beatings. No rapes.
Compassion to the rescue — paradoxically — via pestilence.
So, consider the likelihood of itch mites infesting Bethlehem straw: Some types bite; others burrow beneath the skin and lay eggs, causing a contagious, festering rash.
Did they forgo their nature and leave baby Jesus in peace? Oh, I hope so! And if not, do mites possess any redeeming qualities?
I Google . . . and find:
no crucial link in the food chain
no rare source of protein
no secret component to help cure disease
And yet. The utterly despised were granted proximity to Emmanuel, God with us. Compassionate, cherishing Love vulnerably offered to all creation — no matter how repellent or negligible.
Sometimes, it really is the little things. Head lice, fleas, itch mites — one Creator, three ordeals. Head-scratchers, all. Like the teachings of Jesus: If you want to be first, embrace being last. Find yourself by losing yourself.
Truth nips: It gets under our skin and bides its time, hatching later perhaps, as revelation.
Merciful, mysterious God, thank you for your enduring forbearance and endless largesse — embodied for us through, and in spite of, so many little things.
Friend, where might a dash of compassion take you next?
“Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.” —The Dalai Lama
Flea story here
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
The Church’s Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, also know as Vespers, always includes the Magnificat. Each day, the Magnificat is preceded by a short verse or “antiphon” that links the prayer to the feast of the day or the season of the year. In the last seven days of Advent (December 17-24), the antiphons before the Magnificat are very special. Each begins with the exclamation “O” and ends with a plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes increasingly urgent. The symbols around the circumference of the image above are designed from the traditional images for the O Antiphons. In past years, I attended the O Antiphon service at St Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. It was a very moving experience.
It is in the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” that most of us are introduced to the seven traditional “O Antiphons”. However the seven traditional “O Antiphons” are actually more than a thousand years old. They have long been used at the very end of Advent (Dec. 17-23) Each Antiphon highlights a different title of the Messiah and also refers to the prophecy of Isaiah foretelling the coming of the Messiah. The great “O Antiphons” became very popular in the Middle Ages when it became traditional to ring the great bells of the church each evening as they were being sung. If you are unable to attend an O Antiphon service, you might like to watch this series of videos which go through each of the daily O antiphons. You might also like to download this O Antiphon Prayer Companion to help guide you through your exploration of these important prayers.
At most churches there is a lot happening the week. Many churches have realized that Festivals of Carols, celebrations of Christmas, and children’s pageants do not meet everyone’s needs however. For those who have lost loved ones like I have, lost a job, or home or are struggling financially or with illness this season is anything but cheerful. To fill this gap, churches offer a Blue Christmas service, a Service of Solace or Longest Night. People who are not having a very merry Christmas, along with friends who support them, are invited to come and sit with one another in a liturgy that speaks of the love of God for the grieving. This post, has a number of resources and links for Blue Christmas services that you might like to explore. I am very much looking forward to our Blue Christmas celebration at church as it gives me a chance to grieve not only my brother’s passing but also the death of so many around the world from the violence of war and climate change.
In my Meditation Monday – Stable Or Home Why Does it Matter this week I explained my contention that Jesus was not born in a stable but in a family home. I believe that where we think he was born really affects who we are willing to welcome into our lives and our homes and how we follow Christ in our own lives.
My spiritual practice on Friday was an Advent Labyrinth, a wonderful practice for this season. I also talked about Advent spirals which can provide a great alternative. I have also posted 2 beautiful Advent poems as notes on Substack that I think you might enjoy. One by Jan Richardson and one by Ana Lisa De Jong
On Godspacelight, in her post Freerange Friday – Receive the Gift. Lilly Lewin relates how she returned home from a trip to England last week with a flooded kitchen and her house is still in a mess, so she is giving herself the gift of a slow Christmas. Carol Dixon shared a second post on Rememberings one that is very appropriate as we lament the sorrows of the past year.
What is your favourite event of this last week before Christmas? In what way does it make the coming of Christ special for you?
On this long dark night,
we await the coming of Christ.
We long for the light of his presence,
With us, around us and in us.
When our souls are deeply troubled,
and our hearts break with the weight of sorrow,
may our grief be seasoned with love,
and our sorrow be buoyed by hope.
In our times of God-forsakenness and estrangement,
May we gaze on the innocent One,
made perfect through suffering.
and see in him our vulnerable God,
who saves in weakness and pain.
May our suffering empty us of pride,
and lead us to true joy
our only security,
in Christ in whom we see
the infinite depths of God’s grace and love.
by David Pott
Outside Salisbury Cathedral there is a striking statue showing Mary striding purposely away from the cathedral towards the city. The statue by Elisabeth Frink is called Walking Madonna. When we reflect on the many portrayals of Mary over the centuries, what comes to mind most often is a sitting Mary with Jesus on her knee or her sitting on a donkey, arriving in Bethlehem or on the flight to Egypt. There are also paintings of her standing by the cross, but I can’t recall images of Mary walking.
The first time we hear about Mary walking is in Luke 1:39 where we are told that Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea to go and share her special news with her cousin Elizabeth. The Greek verb used is the same as the one used of the shepherds hurrying to the manger in the next chapter and certainly implies fast walking and maybe even some running! She probably walked around 100 miles and the town Elizabeth and Zechariah most probably lived in was just over 800 metres high. It is clear that God chose a very fit and agile teenager to carry and then bear his son into the world!
Although there is no mention in the Bible of a donkey in connection with the nativity, in those images we are so familiar with, Mary is invariably sitting on that donkey and it’s Joseph doing the walking! So is it possible that Mary could have walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem? It’s a distance of about 90 miles and people in general walked greater distances than we do today. I don’t think it would have taken them more than a week. I suspect that Mary was a vigorous young teenager and many women feel quite a surge of energy in the last days before giving birth and clean the house from top to bottom!
If Joseph and Mary did have a donkey with them it’s quite likely it would have been used to carry their belongings. In this article https://petshun.com/article/do- donkeys-like-being-ridden, it mentions that “most donkeys do not naturally enjoy being ridden and may find it uncomfortable or stressful.” Of course many are trained to carry people, but they are better suited to carrying evenly weighted packs on their flanks. Another factor is that bumping along on a donkey’s back was probably less comfortable for Mary than walking.
It’s likely that the flight to Egypt was months after Jesus was born and she would be fit to walk the 150 to 200 miles to Egypt. I remember how well my daughter Katie walked on the 180 mile Thames Path Prayer Walk in 1996 carrying eight week old Esther! After a few years in exile, the longest journey was from Egypt back to Nazareth and I reckon that was at least 300 miles as they had to avoid Judea to get there. That would have been great practice for young Jesus who of course became the great walking rabbi who invited people to follow him. The Greek word for follow in the New Testament (ἀκολουθέω akoloutheó) means “to be in the same path with” and those first disciples responded in a literal fashion by walking after him. Maybe the stirrings of the walking Jesus were happening in Mary’s womb on that memorable walk to Bethlehem?
by Carol Dixon
Photo: Laura M Goodsell Unsplash
Our most solemn remembering takes place on 11 November – Remembrance Day (known as Veterans’ Day in some places) and the sombre tone of poems written by those involved in war and by those left to mourn are heart wrenching.
POEM: Anthem for Doomed Youth – Wilfred Owen
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
[Written September-October 1917. Wilfred Owen was killed at Ors, near the French Belgian border, on 4 November 1918, aged 25.]
Song: Where have all the flowers gone? https://youtu.be/-lJw0Y2BJfI?feature=shared
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them,
every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
……….
Here’s to the heroes
Who change our lives
Thanks to the heroes
Freedom survives
Here’s to the heroes
Who never rest
They are the chosen
We are the blessed
Here’s to the heroes
Who aim so high
Here’s to the heroes
Who do or die
Here’s to the heroes
Who aim so high
Here’s to the heroes
Who do or die
Here’s to the heroes
Who do or die
Remembrance Day 2000
She stands in the cold
Her black cloth coat
Suits the occasion
But fails to keep her warm
Despite the gleam of silver
At her breast.*
Her thoughts circle round:
“Why did we have another war?
Didn’t we lose enough men already?
Why did my sons have to die?
O God, keep me upright.
Help me not to scream
Out their names.
“What will we have for dinner tonight?
What would Joey and Bill have wanted?
It’s so hard to have faith…
It’s so hard to have hope…
Why did my sons have to die?
Jesus, you comforted your mother
As she stood and watched you die.
If I pray hard enough
Will you bring comfort to me?
“If that preacher says ‘Noble Sacrifice’
One more time I’ll scream…
I’ll scream out their names
So hard the dead will hear me.
Only this time, I’ll scream out loud
Instead of in my heart.”
But she doesn’t scream…
She stands beside the Honour Guard
Who are older than her sons
Were when they died.
The people nearby watch her,
Wondering how she can stand
So still, so calm,
Knowing she lost two boys,
Thinking she has lost her grief
After all these years
When to her it might
Have been today. © Clare Stewart November 2000
Photo: mwangi gatheca Unsplash
* “Gleam of silver.” Clare Stewart, who is a Canadian, explains: “Every year, a Silver Cross mother is invited to lay a wreath on Remembrance Day at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on behalf of all mothers. The Memorial Cross is depicted in bronze with the three different cyphers, at three of the four corners of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, unveiled in May 2000. There is also a large replica of the Memorial Cross hanging above the door of the Memorial Chamber in the Peace Tower of the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, where the Books of Remembrance are kept.” Clare Stewarts also hosts a Remembrance Art Show on the web every November for the entire month. Here is the link. http://www.cscomps.on.ca Click on Clare Stewart and follow the links.
And finally, Dylan Thomas’s defiant poem of hope…..
AND DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan’t crack;
And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.
PRAYERS (from Roots worship)
God of justice and peace,
we pray for those who have been injured
or disabled through war.
For those who have lost homes
and security through conflict;
for those who have lost loved relatives in wars;
for those who face danger and take risks for peace;
for all those, especially children,
caught up in current conflicts;
for refugees and all those in need of aid and other help.
God of encouragement
and Saviour of the despairing,
comfort those who remember past sacrifices
and guide us in building
a just and peaceful community for all.
As one family, we reflect today
on the horrors of the past that continue
to haunt humanity and darken our world.
Lord, where pain still overwhelms, bring healing.
Where hearts are still breaking, bring comfort.
Where peoples are still oppressed, bring liberation.
Where communities are still victimised, bring justice.
Where children are still brutalised, bring compassion.
Where lives are still crushed, bring hope.
Where evil is perpetrated, bring repentance.
Where war still devastates, bring peace.
But most of all, wherever a single voice
cries out in the darkness, bring us to one another,
in the name of the love you bear
in your heart for all people, all nations and all creation.
We pray in silence now for those people and places we know to be in need of your healing love ……….
A Prayer of Brother Lawrence: O God, here we are all devoted to you, make us according to your heart; In Christ make us one, that the world may believe; mould us according to your heart.
The hymn most associated with Remembrance Sunday, set to the haunting tune St Anne is ‘O God our help in ages past’ by Isaac Watts (who died in Nov 1748. Like the psalm it is based on – Psalm 90 – the words are reassuring and uplifting. I like singing it to the more upbeat tune University which is sometimes sung to ‘The God of love my shepherd is’
HYMN o God our help in ages past https://youtu.be/xMBv6onCT5M?feature=shared (words below)
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:
Under the shadow of thy throne,
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away;
they fly, forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guide while troubles last,
and our eternal home! (Isaac Watts)
Blessing: [by Pope John Paul II] Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.
We are in the second week of traditional Advent…between Peace and Joy
Where are you finding yourself these days? How are you experiencing PEACE even in the craziness of the season and the brokenness of the world? What signs of JOY have you noticed?
The journey towards Bethlehem is getting closer. Are you feeling closer to Jesus or are you somewhere out in the fields still waiting for a sign?
Take a breath, pause, BREATHE IN HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE today. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the everyday things of your life and watch for the GIFTS and God surprises along the way.
Happy Friday….this time last week, Rob and I were on a plane flying home from England. We had a wonderful holiday celebrating 40 years of marriage doing lots of touristy Christmas things in London, visiting our dear friends Martin and Sally Poole in Brighton and finishing with a wonderful, romantic stay in Andover at the Jack Russell Inn so we could check Highclere Castle off my bucket list! Another highlight was celebrating Thanksgiving at the American Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral with our friend Maggie Dawn. As Rob said, what kind of imagination does it take to envision such building.
st pauls
I am still in awe that 1984 was 40 years ago. And since I’m 35 in my soul, I’m not sure how it’s possible. We kept saying to folk, we were 8 years old…when we married.
Now it’s back home to reality and that reality includes a flooded ceiling in the kitchen. So my dreams of coming back and decorating for Christmas have been put on hold while we navigate with insurance and try to find people to give us dry wall estimates. Thankfully, our son who was house sitting called the right people to dry everything out and had a lot of the clean up done, but having an open floor plan in our main living space had meant that everything is higgledy piggledy and a mess!
I have been asking…What is the Gift?
When on pilgrimage we ask “What is the Gift from God?” In the interruptions, in the missed trains, in the crying babies on the plane? What does Jesus want me to notice, or to understand? What is the Gift Jesus is inviting us to receive?
Sometimes this takes awhile. Sometimes I don’t want to receive the gift! Sometimes the interruptions are just annoying and anxiety provoking.
But God is with us in the MESS!
Jesus, Emmanuel, came to be WITH US in all the messiness of life! Including flooded ceilings! Which is such a minor thing when compared to sickness and warfare, and the hunger and hate that we see in so many places right now.
So I am receiving the Gift of a slow Christmas. Remembering that it is really isn’t Christmas until Dec. 25th and the Christmas Season is Dec. 25- January 6th.
We are still in the Season of Advent. We are in the week of PEACE almost to the Sunday of JOY!
Can I can choose to OPEN the gift of PEACE this week even though things are not happening the way I had hoped or planned? Today I am answering YES!
Be Open to the Gift
Since everything was a mess inside, I took time to decorate on the outside. Still not finished with that yet, but having a Christmas wreathe on the door and greenery replacing the dead flowers in the pots has helped my spirits greatly.
I am receiving the GIFT OF LETTING GO….letting go of my expectations and perfections. I am choosing to be with, and for people rather than the stuff of the holidays, and I am letting a friend host our annual Ugly Sweater Party instead of me.
Receiving the Gift this Season
What gifts do you need to receive this Season?
Hope, Joy, Peace, Rest, Love, Compassion, Forgiveness,_________?
Author CS Lewis says,” if our hands are full of too many packages, we cannot receive any new gifts.”
So what things do you need to release to God so you can receive a NEW gift?
What “packages” do you need to put down? Will you let Jesus carry the burden for you and let others help you this season….Consider who can you ask for help from today. AND ASK THEM!
“God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving toward the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us.
The challenge is to let God be who he wants to be. A part of us clings to our aloneness and does not allow God to touch us where we are most in pain. Often we hide from him precisely those places in ourselves where we feel guilty, ashamed, confused, and lost. Thus we do not give him a chance to be with us where we feel most alone.
Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him— whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend— be our companion.” Henri Nouwen
As you wrap your gifts this week ask Jesus to remind you of all the gifts he has given you this week, this year. Take time to be grateful When you receive a gift from someone pray for that person to know that they are loved and accepted by Jesus. Ask Jesus to help you be a GIFT to someone who needs help these last days of December. And give yourself the GIFT OF GRACE. You are not behind, you don’t have to be perfect. It all doesn’t have to be done today! YOU ARE LOVED by EMMANUEL! Wrap yourself in the Gift of this LOVE! AMEN
Give yourself the gift of stillness,
Both outside and in.
Reach for the wonder of each moment.
Be transfixed by the beauty,
In a flower, a life, a beloved face.
Love is born afresh in every moment of the day,
If only we have eyes to see,
And ears to hear,
The wonder of it.
Christine Sine
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
GIVE yourself or a friend the GIFT of Pilgrimage! We still have a few spots for our Finding Your Thinplace Retreat Pilgrimage next year. Sept 1-9, 2025. We will start in Oban and travel to Iona and stay at the beautiful St. Columba Hotel for seven nights. Come experience the wonder of God in the beauty of Scotland. More information here!
by Carol Dixon
I’m sure many of us remember the famous rhyme (attributed to John Milton who included it in a longer Latin poem) ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot; I know of no reason why Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot’ that we recited on 5 November. I sometimes struggle with the idea of burning the guy on top of the bonfire – a representation of Guy Fawkes who, with others in 1605 attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London in an effort to end the persecution of Roman Catholics by the English government. Some of my Catholic friends find it distasteful for us still to celebrate the event but if I think of it in terms of a terrorist plot to destroy our democracy then I can see why we need to remember. Building a bonfire and settling off fireworks is great fun for children. I remember from my youth the wonder of drawing patterns with sparklers, the scariness of bangers, the excitement of Catherine wheels (even though I didn’t like dwelling on the story behind them of St Catherine’s martyrdom) and the wonderful whoosh of rockets. This next poem sums up the fun-filled spirit of bonfire night.
POEM: Bonfire Night by Shadow Hamilton
Sky lightening up
flares and flashes
arching high above
Pretty sparklers in
kids gloved hands
waving circling
Loud bangs from rockets
as they explode showering
multi bands of colour
Catherine wheels
spinning round
a visual delight
Guy on top of bonfire
soon is well ablaze
warming cold hands
Display now done
kids head for bed
to dream of it again
© Shadow Hamilton | https://www.poetrysoup.com
Posted 2013
I was surprised to discover there was a hymn about fireworks. Here’s Ian Fraser’s hymn likening the Holy Spirit to fireworks:
HYMN Like fireworks in the night (Tune: St John Havergal – the lord of heaven confess) https://youtu.be/xpLKwnZBSOw?feature=shared (words below)
1 Like fireworks in the night
the Holy Spirit came;
disciple’s fears took flight
when touched by fronds of flame:
and suddenly the world was young
as hope embraced a Saviour’s claim.
2 For Jesus bade them dare
to venture, as they should;
his love taught them to share
their homes, possessions, food:
the mind of Jesus gave them speech
all tribes and peoples understood.
3 Thus God our spirits lifts fresh daring to inspire
as common folk get gifts
to change the world entire:
the tongues of flame at Pentecost
ran through the world like forest fire.
A Bonfire Night Prayer: Lord of Light, your beauty illuminates the darkness of our world. May the celebration of temporary fleeting moments in our lives remind us of the radiance of your love for us in your son Jesus through the exhilarating power of the Holy Spirit.
photo by: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦, Unsplash
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