I just love outdoor festive lights. There is something about them twinkling in the darkness of winter days, when the earth seems to be sleeping and the new life of spring seems so far away. Two years ago, I persuaded my husband to leave them in place, because although the days had become longer, driving home from late meetings they made for such a cheerful homecoming. Which was fine until a bout of over-enthusiastic pruning saw me accidentally cut through the wires, and the lights were no more.
This year, with all the trauma and uncertainty, which has been its tragic hallmark, I wanted the lights to return. They did, until a local fox, seeing the food bag in which I had protectively enfolded the batteries and assuming it held – well, food – chewed through the wires. Back to square one. We bought more, managed to mend the first set, and not only restored the lights but doubled them.
These lights are only tiny, but they make a huge difference, a tangible reminder that ‘the Life-Light blazed out of the darkness, the darkness couldn’t put it out’ (John 1:5, The Message). Sometimes they become obscured by a falling leaf, but the others still shine. Yet if one becomes totally disconnected, the others too may fail, a reminder of the interconnectedness which is both reassuring and challenging. It is something we are even more aware of as we wear our protective masks or pay the price of physical distance to protect those we love. It does mean that if for a season, for whatever reason, my inner light is dimmed, I can trust others to shine for that season.
There are so many dark places, in the world where injustice, poverty and violence can threaten to overcome the light, and sometimes in our own internal worlds whether through our own actions and inherent selfishness or from the woundedness over which we have no control. Yet, still the One who brought light from formless dark chaos comes, offering with grace to shed light in the darkest of places, and reminding us that one day, when all is made right, God the Master will be all the light we need. (Revelation 22, The Message).
Until that day comes, we lean into the light when and where we find it, and hold on to hope for ourselves and others that it will indeed never be overcome.
Christmas is quickly approaching but we don’t want to miss this last week of Advent. Take time to breathe, relax and enter the silence of this beautiful taize style contemplative service. A big thank you to St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle for allowing me to post this.
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below.
“Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus” – was 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.
“Nada Te Turbe” and “In the Lord” are songs from the Taize community. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
“Kyrie for December 20” – music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers, text by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a metrical paraphrase of the plainchant “O Antiphons” that come from the antiphons before the Magnificat during evening prayer on December 17-24). This translation is from John Mason Neale, 1861. Public domain.
www.saintandrewsseattle.org
Wishing You a Joyous Christmas & a 2021 Filled with Opportunity for Compassionate Change-making!
Greetings in the midst of a very different Advent with a very different Christmas looming on the horizon. It has been a strange and challenging year, but in the midst of the heartbreak, we have still found much to give thanks for and as I watched the first vaccine shots being given this week, I realized that it is also a Christmas filled with much hope.
We have never appreciated the joys of community more than we have this year. Tom and I have been well supported both by those who live in the Mustard Seed House and by our next door neighbours who have faithfully shopped for us each week.
We are also grateful for the ability to keep connected to friends and family via Zoom and for Christine, there has been much joy in launching my first online courses, something that has been a dream in my heart for many years. Lean Towards the Light in Advent & Christmas has been another blessing. We are all craving light this year, and this devotional obviously hit a chord that has ministered to many. The Gift of Wonder has also continued to bring joy and I have been told that it is in many ways a book for such a time as this, as it has helped to sustain peoples’ spirits through the challenging times.
2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change is a timely new book that Tom has just published with his good friend, Dwight Friesen, who teaches at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. Take a look and visit our webinar: 2021 R U Ready? on www.newchangemakers.com. Welcome your feedback.
Many of us that have been house-bound are looking forward to discovering what a new normal will look like. As Tom describes in 2020s Foresight, we need to remember that an alarming number of our neighbors don’t have enough food to feed their families as well as the growing possibility of the eviction of their families because of the COVID-19 Recession.
Above all, 2021 is an opportunity for us all to reach out locally and globally in Jesus’ name. We survived our last major global crisis, during WWII, by people in the US pulling together regardless of their political affiliation. To defeat this COVID-19 pandemic and recession as quickly as possible, we need to do the same.
We urge people of all political views to support President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris and their team in order to both defeat COVID-19 and turn our economy around. Christine and I join those wearing masks, social distancing, and receiving the vaccine when it becomes available. Perhaps our concern for protecting the lives of friends and neighbors will motivate us to defeat COVID-19 as one mutually supportive community!
Since Thanksgiving became such a serious spreader event, we also urge people to consider having a virtual Christmas gathering. We had a virtual thanksgiving with Christine’s nephew and niece in Australia by way of Zoom and we will be Zooming at Christmas, too. Give it a try.
Christine and I wish you and yours a joyous and blessed Christmas and pray that we all find ways to reach out to at-risk families not only during the holidays but in the new year as well.
God bless you as we all join together to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and care for neighbors in serious need.
Tom, Christine & Goldie
We are finishing up the third week of Advent and moving quickly towards Christmas! At thinplaceNASHVILLE this week, we listened to, and reflected on, the Christmas Story found in Luke 2. This third week of Advent is about Joy, yet in this season of Covid, Joy is sometimes hard to find. What is your definition of JOY? What is bringing you Joy in this Advent season that is filled with complexities, paradoxes and pain? What symbolizes JOY to you? Start by reading Psalm 97 and then consider how JOY is found in Luke 2.
Psalm 97 The Message (MSG)
God rules: there’s something to shout over!
On the double, mainlands and islands—celebrate!
2 Bright clouds and storm clouds circle ’round him;
Right and justice anchor his rule.
3 Fire blazes out before him,
Flaming high up the craggy mountains.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
Earth, wide-eyed, trembles in fear.
5 The mountains take one look at God
And melt, melt like wax before earth’s Lord.
6 The heavens announce that he’ll set everything right,
And everyone will see it happen—glorious!
7-8 All who serve handcrafted gods will be sorry—
And they were so proud of their ragamuffin gods!
On your knees, all you gods—worship him!
And Zion, you listen and take heart!
Daughters of Zion, sing your hearts out:
God has done it all, has set everything right.
9 You, God, are High God of the cosmos,
Far, far higher than any of the gods.
10 God loves all who hate evil,
And those who love him he keeps safe,
Snatches them from the grip of the wicked.
11 Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people,
Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.
12 So, God’s people, shout praise to God,
Give thanks to our Holy God!
LUKE 2: 1-20 THE MESSAGE
1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.
6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!
Mary and Jesus by JESUS MAFA
READ THIS PASSAGE IN OTHER VERSIONS
What do you notice that you haven’t noticed before?
What questions do you have? What questions come up as you read the passage and/or the psalm? Talk to Jesus about them.
The psalm says, “Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people, Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.” We aren’t planting seeds in the Northern hemisphere during Advent, but our friends in the Southern hemisphere are planting and seeing plants grow! What seeds of LIGHT and JOY do you want to plant in your heart this December?
annunciation to shepherd Pynacker1640
Last week, we talked about the gift of interruption. The Shepherds definitely had their evening disrupted. What do you notice about the Shepherd’s response? How did this interruption change them?
“Shepherds were a despised occupational group. Shepherds could be romanticized, largely due to the status of King David, the once and future shepherd king…However, in social fact shepherds were generally ranked with ass drivers, tanners, sailors, butchers, camel drivers, and other despised occupations. Being away from home at night, they were unable to protect the honor of their women; hence they were presumed to be dishonorable. Often they were considered thieves because they grazed their flocks on other people’s property.” (Malina/Rohrbaugh, 93)
It is interesting who gets the news of the Birth of the Messiah. It’s not the religious leaders or the wealthy, but rather a bunch of shepherds. If Jesus was born today, who would get to hear about it first?
The Birth of Jesus with Shepherds by JESUS MAFA
The sign the Angels announced to the shepherds was they would find a baby wrapped in cloths/swaddled in a blanket lying in a manger, not exactly where you’d expect to find a baby.
Are you willing to go look for Jesus in unexpected places? Are you willing to be willing to go to unexpected places for Jesus and to look for him in places that aren’t the normal places of power and prestige ?
Wear a Scarf
FIND A WOOL SCARF or blanket. HOLD IT IN YOUR HAND. Consider the sheep that gave the wool for this scarf or blanket. Consider all the people involved in making the scarf or the blanket. Everyone from the shepherd/farmer to the person who wove the cloth or knitted out of the yarn from the sheep. Thank God for these people. Thank Jesus that He is in the details of this creation. Then put on the scarf or cover yourself in the blanket. HOW DOES JESUS WANT TO WEAVE OR KNIT his love and joy into your life this December? Talk to him about this.
Use or wear the scarf or blanket or a wool sweater as a reminder that God is still announcing GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY to ALL PEOPLE! God/Jesus wants to wrap you in his love and weave into you his JOY! Allow the itch of the blanket, the itch of the sweater or scarf to help you pray for people who don’t know they are loved today. Who feel like outcasts like the shepherds this Advent/ Christmas.
PICK an Object or a Photograph that brings you JOY or reminds you to be joyful and keep it out on your desk or use it as your screen saver this week to help you receive the GIFT OF JOY from JESUS!
WATCH this video on what JOY means in the Bible
READ this article on what is happening with shepherds in contemporary Israel.
As we head into the holidays, set aside a specific time each day to find JOY ! Do something that brings you JOY, watch something funny create something, sing a song, take a walk, create something, call someone, play, dance, read an old favorite book or story that you love. Make time to practice and plant the seeds of JOY this Christmas!
“Take Joy in this! God is with us! That is what his name means…Emmanuel” Scott Erickson
by Rodney Marsh, all images and video by Rodney Marsh, photo above shows an ancient red tingle tree in the Valley of the Giants, Walpole.
Can you see…. The light is leaning toward you?
I live 35 degrees south of the equator on the south coast of Western Australia. By December, the whales have headed off home to Antarctica and the Spring flush of wildflowers is fading. The sun is rising earlier and setting later. More warmth and light herald hot dry summer months when only “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” (Noel Coward).
The Godspace theme, “Leaning toward the light”, has made me notice this year the intensity of the sunlight in our part of the world. The sun is moving south and the light is leaning toward we who live in the “Great South Land of the Holy Spirit” (the first name given to Australia in 1606 by Portugese explorer, Capt. Pedro Fernandez de Quiros). The early European settlers noted the “harshness” of the Australian light and found it impossible to incorporate the intense light (or the strange trees and animals) into their art. They had eyes but could not see. When we speak about “leaning toward the light”, we speak of the light by which we see all things coming to us. We do not look at the light source to see, we use the light to see. But what do we see?
This morning, as I write, the sunlight is strong, “like shining from shook foil” (Hopkins). Soon the Summer noonday heat will mean that we will seek the shade and avoid the sun. A few weeks ago, I walked 80 km of the Bibbulmum track, a 1000km track from Perth to Albany. That took me four days. Life was all around me, but during daylight hours most of the bush animals are resting. Several times, I disturbed kangaroos having their ‘nana nap’ under a bush near the track. When disturbed, they stand, take a few hops, and then turn and watch and listen to me. I stand and and stare back. Eventually I will always lose the staring game because I have to get to where I am going. I am too busy and distracted just to stand and be still. The roos have no such concerns, I presume, to disturb their day. A roo has become my teacher, “You and I are here, together now. Be here. Do not think where you have to get to or how you are going to get there. Just be.” At other times I came across snakes sunbaking on the path. They, too, are unconcerned about my approach and are usually reluctant to move. I have no intention to anger these very venomous snakes. So now, I must wait and impatiently tap the ground with my walking pole asking them to let me pass. After a while, they oblige. The snake speaks, “Do not fear. Just be.” I was delighted on this trek to hear frogs in a waterhole I passed. I heard at least three varieties. Many other water holes I had passed had fallen silent with an eerie absence of the usual cacophany of a frog chorus. A fungus has been destroying many unique Australian frog species. The frogs tell me, “We are here too. Let us be.” During my walk, the baleful cry of the red tailed black cockatoos were a constant and comforting reminder that I was not alone. I even saw an emu dad with about eight stripy chicks in tow. He says, “Like these chicks. I care for you. You are also the one who cares for others.” Besides the animals, I felt privileged to walk through the beauty of the delicate, sometimes bold, flowers of the sandhills where every shrub bears its unique emblems which say “I am beautiful. To God, you are beautiful, too”. The awesome rugged coastline and the immense red tingle and karri forest proclaim, “Look, the world is charged with the grandeur of God” (Hopkins) and you are part of all this glory.” It is the light of God in Christ leaning toward us that enables us to see the charged, real, enchanted world as it is.
Being still and silent in God’s presence (can I be anywhere else?) has taught me that just being in and with nature, I am in heaven. Heaven, in the Bible, is not some other world I experience after this life, rather life lived in the presence of God is heaven, here and now. The Gospel assures us that we are with the Lord now and will be “with the Lord” forever (1Thess 4:17) but this does not mean that we are headed off to some other ethereal place. The promise is that all will be renewed, the dead will rise and what is real and true will be revealed. As “heaven”, so the word “spiritual”. We invest these words with an ‘otherworldly’ character they do not possess in the Bible. So when we engage in ‘spiritual practises’ we come with expectations of heightened feelings or visions. If these fail to ‘appear’ we feel that either we or God has come up short. We blame our own sins or God’s shortcomings for the absence of experiences. I have learned, however, that it is my expectations which are defective. Not me. Not God. Rather, it is truly spiritual/holy for us to just ‘be’ who we are as the person God made us and then we can let God be, and let nature be. When we do this we feel at peace with what is and who we are. When we are still and pay attention to what is, we see the world, others and ourselves filled with grandeur/glory. This is what is really real, not the artificial world we create with our defective and limited consciousness. The key is not to look out or in, as if we are the centre of all things, but simply to be still where we are and pay attention to what is. Then we come close to who God is; already close to us. The God in whom “all things exist and have their being” (Acts 17:28).
Back to the light. C S Lewis wrote “I believe in Christ(ianity) as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” The growing intensity of the summer light of Advent where I live is a metaphore for the opportunity we all have to see God is all things. Spiritual practices are the means through which we are given this sight. For many years, I have been committed to my principal daily ‘spiritual’ practice of two, thirty minute periods of silence and stillness of mind and body. I never achieve the goal of stillness and silence for extended periods, but I stay on the journey and each day my commitment grows. And I sense that also I am growing. I grow in my ability to pay attention and see the world God made and to pay attention and see the image of Christ in others. I grow in the joy I have in seeing. But I can see nothing without light nor without eyes to see. Someone must have prayed for me that “the eyes of my heart (may be) enlightened” (Eph 1:18) for me to see at all.
We may have eyes and not see, because either our eyes are defective or we are in the dark (same thing = sin). So we need every moment of our lives a double gift of God’s grace: eyes that can see and light to see by. The coming of the Light of Christ is that double miracle. The coming of the light of Christ enlightens the eyes of our hearts to see, by the light of Christ, God’s glory in all things.
This was one way Paul defined the followers of Jesus: “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” (1 Thess 5:5). He goes on to day that if we “belong to the day” we must live by and in the light. When, by spiritual disciplines and practices, we learn to live in the light, we can see the world of heaven on earth. We are in the light, we become “light in the Lord” (Eph 5:8). We can see because God’s light has shone “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. Lean toward the light. Everywhere and at all times. Open the eyes of your heart. The Lord is present to you, in you and with you where you are now. No exceptions.
The waterhole with frogs. When Noongar people approach such a ‘sacred’ place, they remain in silence until a bird or other animal acknowledges and welcomes their presence. Into water bodies, they will throw sand to let the Waugul (Creator Serpent) know they are there.
by quest writer Laurie Klein,
Yearning never phones ahead. No heads-up email, no text. No forwarded ETA. Amid tinsel and fudge and LED stars, yearning appears in unguarded moments. Sometimes it manifests in a long, deep-in-the-bone foreboding.
For many of us this year, wearied by grief, frustration, and fear, we find ourselves hosting a mix of feelings we scarcely know how to name. Combined into a single entity, one awkward soul guest haunts and entreats us: hungry, displaced, wordlessly hoping for explanations. A gesture of kindness.
Maybe yearning wants a hand to hold. Or a handout. Or a hand up, away from past disappointments—because it aches in our marrow, this ongoing inward sigh.
Do we forget sometimes that God ever-yearns over us? That this uncomfortable, confusing longing we carry may be, in fact, heaven’s gift?
I suspect yearning sometimes arrives as the Christ Child did, so long ago sent among us. Unexpressed longing, fear, even frustration—perhaps, these same emotions impelled Mary to visit Elizabeth.
Picture the scene with me: Trembling, Mary nears her kinswoman’s door. She’s footsore and parched, perhaps a little bit dreamy, having walked so far. Having carried such secrets.
Elizabeth’s work-worn hands draw her across the threshold. How breathless, the older woman’s greeting. How gently she kisses that youthful face lit with hopes and dread and a hundred questions.
As their days together unfold, there might be shared singing and sighing and prophesying. There’s probably soup. And honey, drizzled across warm bread.
The women work and worship and rest together. They stroke the taut skin of their bellies as night comes on. I imagine John as a kicker, a roller, a swimmer of rivers. Jesus, on the other hand, perhaps has yet to fidget or flip-turn. So quiet. Considerately balanced. Contained. The two women gaze at each other, and maybe they think:
Something never-before this Real wants to be born . . . through us.
Today, those of us housing a restive soul-guest might look to St. Benedict’s Rule: “Let everyone that comes be received as Christ” (Matthew 25:38-40, NIV).
This Advent—amid the escalating pandemic, political turmoil, and global chaos—what if we set aside a little time to name our yearnings?
What if we choose to embrace estranged parts of ourselves? We are each a temple of God’s spirit. Will we carve out spiritual room in the inn, remember who God has called us to be? Perhaps our talents and dreams have been shelved during nine months of restriction. What personality traits have we dismissed? Exiled or denied?
Like Mary and Elizabeth, let’s choose to work and worship and rest together. Let’s also respect and companion our yearning, sit with it, compassionately, at day’s end.
Welcome begins long before the heart’s door swings wide. Welcome starts small, with the nod of acceptance. Yes, I see you. Tell me what you need. Then, the practical, beckoning gesture: soothing as soup, yeasty as bread, irresistible as the outstretched hand.
photo by Laurie Klein
Bio for Laurie Klein
Laurie Klein, photo credit: Dean Davis Photography
Laurie Klein is the author of the classic praise chorus, “I Love You, Lord,” a poetry collection, Where the Sky Opens, and an award-winning chapbook, Bodies of Water, Bodies of Flesh. A grateful recipient of the Thomas Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred, she lives in Washington State, USA, and blogs monthly at lauriekleinscribe.com.
by Barbie Perks
At this time of the year, no matter how old we are, or how far away we are (physically, spiritually, mentally or emotionally) our thoughts tend to turn towards home. 2020 is no different, even with the pandemic raging across the world. We long to be with our loved ones. We long to share the traditional celebrations we have grown up with, or that we have instituted along the way, as Christmas has become more meaningful to us.
There are many strings pulling my heart homeward this year and yet I have to cut them loose.
Last week’s FreerangeFriday: Prepare the Way of the Lord was a timely intervention for me. I have used it personally and with our Bible study group; I have my ‘wilderness’ tray in my dining room; I have the tea light candles and matches close by. The first time I lit the candles was at 5am one morning, sitting and praying for God to shine light in the darkness that was threatening to overtake me (anxiety, worry, and helplessness can lead to very dark places in my imagination!) As I relaxed and calmed down, I began to notice that dawn was breaking – the darkness outside the window was being replaced by light. It was a powerful picture to me, that God always hears our cries, and responds in ways we can understand. The Light motif for this season of advent is so appropriate!
One of the ‘rocks’ I am choosing to hand over is accepting that I won’t be going home for Christmas. There are many reasons for this decision, and I’ve begun to feel at peace about it.
Another rock is called home. This year I have lived in five different places, and the security of a place to call home has been shattered. I have managed to make a home in each place (at least I haven’t had to start from scratch this year!), but the temporary nature of it does take its toll in terms of trust and security. I have also been more homesick for my original home, and more heartsick, longing to talk with my mother who passed away 4 years ago. I have been encouraged by thinking about the young Mary, who moved from her parents’ home to Joseph’s home, then packed up to go to Bethlehem where she gave birth in a stable (homeless!). They stayed in Bethlehem (Joseph might have found work there) until the Magi came to visit, and then they were on the road again, this time to Egypt – as refugees, running for the life of the precious baby Jesus.
I am choosing to put Proverbs 4:23-27 (Passion translation) into practice in a very intentional way:
So above all, guard the affections of your heart,
for they affect all that you are.
Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being,
for from there flows the wellspring of life.
Avoid dishonest speech and pretentious words.
Be free from using perverse words no matter what!
Set your gaze on the path before you.
With fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignore life’s distractions.
Watch where you’re going!
Stick to the path of truth, and the road will be safe and smooth before you.
Don’t allow yourself to be side-tracked for even a moment
or take the detour that leads to darkness.
I am identifying the affections of my heart, and noticing how they affect my thinking. I know that if I regress into nostalgia and “if only’s”, depression is only a short step away. And you know, pretending everything is OK is really not helpful at all. Close friends can help to share the burdens, the pain, the disappointments, the grief. Prayer is a powerful tool in the hands of caring friends. I am deciding to embrace this journey that we are on, growing in ways we never dreamed of.
May you choose the Light for your path today. May the rocks you are stumbling against cause you to reach out for help, and to lean towards and on Christ.
Chips Ingram’s talks at https://www.bible.org.za/art-of-survival/ are a helpful resource at this time.
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