Friends,
Christine and I Wish You a Joyous Christmas and A New Year Filled With Hope!
You can smell the Scottish Short Bread Christine is baking to celebrate this season with members of our Mustard Seed House Community and many good friends in the Seattle area. One of our favorite things is hosting friends and family over the the holidays for the rich range of Christmas yummies that Christine prepares. Our holiday punch will be made from the apple cider she made from our over 400 pounds of apples this year.
As Christine and Goldie and I race into a new year we have so much to celebrate. First we are grateful to God that we seem to be growing in both our appreciation for one another, our gratitude to God for the opportunity extend hospitality to others. We are celebrating 27 great years together and our life together just seems to keep getting better. We suspect one of the factors is taking a two day retreat four times a year to review how we are doing and to set new goals. Would appreciate prayers for our next retreat right after Christmas.
I am personally celebrating that Christine’s new book, The Gift of Wonder is helping so many people reporting that it is helping them find a very fresh approach to prayer. For those living in Denver and Southern Cal Christine will be coming your way:
Denver- The Refuge– January 12, 2020 2:30-4:30
Los Angles- Mary & Joseph Retreat Centre – February 15, 2020
Torrance- Life Covenant Church- February 16, 2020
San Diego – Cultivate Conference- February 20-22, 2020
I am also celebrating a growing relationship with a good friend this season Dwight Friesen who is a professor at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. We appreciate your prayers as we are exploring some ways to collaborate together.
Dwight and I are both increasingly concerned, as we gallop into this new decade of the 2020s that we are not just living in normal changing times but that the rate of change seems to be accelerating at a concerning rate. We are also growing divisiveness in so many of our communities as well. We are looking for new innovations that offer a little hope in times like theses. Can you send us your ideas?
Looking Back
I (Christine) am grateful for the wonderful opportunities we have had this year to enjoy friends and family around the world. I have particularly enjoyed the thrill of becoming a great aunt for several new arrivals starting with Lucy Aroney, born to my nephew Matt and his wife Kass just after Christmas. This was rapidly followed by twins to Matt’s sister Lauren and May born to my good friend Cheryl’s son Wade and his wife Abbey. Though I am not an official aunt to May, my close bond to Cheryl certainly makes me feel like one.
As a very special treat Matt and Kass brought Lucy to visit us in June and then we were able to travel to Australia in November, not just to meet the new family members but to have time with all the family. It was a very special time with much laughter, fun and celebration. Like Tom I am grateful for the joy of our relationship that I think increases the joy and delight in celebrations like these.
In April we also had a special visit to Beacon New York to spend time with Tom’s family. Unfortunately the celebrations revolved around a memorial for his younger brother Jack who died earlier in the year, but it as is so often the case, it takes an event like this to bring the whole family together.
In August we spent a wonderful week on Vancouver Island at Tofino and Ucluelet with our good friends Tom and Kim, little realizing that their lives were about to change forever. In September Kim had a heart transplant and is still slowly recovering.
Advent is about waiting for the coming of Christ in whom one day all will be made whole again. As we celebrate the joy of new life in the midst of illness and death we hold onto this hope with a deep longing.
Tom and Christine and Goldie
by Christine Sine
I have been walking through Advent against a backdrop of horror at the fires devastating large portions of Australia. Friends and relatives in Sydney are wearing respirators to filter out the toxic smoke. Schools are cancelling outdoor sports. Koalas are burning probably to the point of extinction. And the pall of smoke is seen as far away as South America.
Who will protect this country I love I wonder? I so admire the fire fighters, many of them volunteers who risk their lives daily to try and bring the flames under control. Even the embers can be deadly. They can travel up to 30 miles on the wind and start a new fire. Such backbreaking work and without them the situation would be far worse.
Mary waited for the birth of her baby as a very vulnerable expectant mother as I talked about last week. The violence of Roman occupation must have been very real for her. The possible violence of her own culture who stoned adulterous women must have been even more real. Who protected her? Who made sure that she was safe throughout her pregnancy and the days after Jesus birth?
Icon — Mary and Elizabeth
First there was Elizabeth. I really think that she was Mary’s safe person to visit after she found out she was pregnant. But more than anyone there was Joseph. I talked about him in my post last year Is Joseph the Unsung Hero of the Advent Story. I thin that my changing emphasis on Joseph has been so important for me this year that I thought I decided just to repeat a lot of that post this year. I hope you don’t mind.
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According to New Testament theologian Kenneth Bailey, we misinterpret Matthew 1:20 “As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit” He says “he considered this” should be translated “he became angry” and planned not to marry her. Not an unexpected reaction for a righteous man who finds his betrothed is pregnant by another”man”.
The amazing thing is that Joseph changed his mind because of a dream. How easily he could have ignored the angel. His acceptance of Mary and the baby she carried had consequences not just for her reputation but for his too. From the viewpoint of those around either the child was his and he was not quite as just and righteous as they previously thought or the child was someone else’s and he was a fool to accept Mary. He would have been” just” in condoning her stoning. Yet he stood by her. What courage it must have taken to stand against the culture of his day.
I love the way that Kenneth Bailey talks about Joseph. In his wonderful book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes talks about Joseph.
In his cameo appearance, Matthew presents Joseph as a human being of remarkable spiritual stature. He possessed the boldness, daring, courage and strength of character to stand up against his entire community and take Mary as his wife. He did so in spite of the forces that no doubt wanted her stoned. His vision of justice stayed his hand. In short he was able to reprocess his anger into grace. (46)
That Joseph’s extraordinary love protected and surrounded Mary and eventually Jesus continues to be seen as the story unfolds. The trip to Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, his teaching of Jesus to be a carpenter are all indications of his love and care.
Once again Kenneth Bailey helps me understand:
… in the Middle East, men usually represent their families in any official or legal matters. Why did Joseph take Mary with him to Bethlehem for the registration? The easiest explanation is that he was unsure what might happen to her if he left her in Nazareth without his presence to protect her. It behooves us to see Joseph as the hero of the story without whose courage and understanding of the prophets there would have been no Christmas story to tell. (46)
What Is Your Response?
Take a few minutes to contemplate the Rip Carwell’s sculpture above. Pay particular attention to Joseph standing behind Mary. Imagine Joseph as a courageous and loving man, supporting Mary by standing against the law of his culture. What are your thoughts as you gaze on this image? How does it change your impression of Joseph and his place in the story of Jesus.
Now take a few minutes to think about your own father. Some of us have loving fathers and it is not hard for us to imagine them standing in support of our mothers when they were pregnant with us. Others have less loving impressions. The abuse and violence of my own father meant that I ignored Joseph for a long time. I also ignored the loving gestures my father made towards me. When I was premature infant in a baby incubator it was my father who brought the milk my mother expressed to the hospital each day. It was my father who provided a home and food. As I look at this image I can imagine his love for me and my mother, even though he was rarely able to express it.
Who else has been a father to you? For those of us who don’t have loving fathers to look back at, God often provides substitutes, loving friends or relatives who take the place of fathers and help us create healthy images of a father’s love. I suspect that Joseph did this for Jesus. The stories of his conception by the power of the Holy Spirit must have created distant father images for Jesus, extraordinary as his knowledge of God was. Was it Joseph who formed early impressions of a God of love for Jesus before he fully understood who he was? Was it Joseph who provided loving images that made it possible for him to call God “Abba” and became stories of the warm welcome for prodigal sons? Obviously we do not know but it warms my heart to think of these possibilities.
Now watch the video below. What else comes to mind as you think about Joseph singing a lullaby to Jesus? Is there a response that God is asking of you?
Last but not least, consider the vulnerable people in our world today – the marginalized, the powerless, the homeless, the refugees, those living in poverty or being abused, those discriminated against because of race, sexual orientation, religion. Who protects them from an unjust world? Are there ways that God might being asking us to be their protectors at this season of the year?
Prayerfully consider what God might ask you to do at this Advent season to become a protector for the vulnerable.
By Carol Dixon —
My Swedish penfriend and I began corresponding when we were 12 years old and we continue to keep in touch 60 years on (these days usually by email) and it was interesting and exciting to learn about each other’s customs and traditions especially at special times of the year. It was from her I first heard about the lovely tradition of Luciadagen – Saint Lucy’s Day when the light of Christ conquering the darkness is celebrated. This is what she told me about the festival.
“Tradition has it that Lucia is to wear “light in her hair”, which in practice means a crown of electric candles in a wreath on her head. Lucia wears a white gown with a red ribbon around her waist. Each of her handmaidens carries a candle too. The star boys, who like the handmaidens are dressed in white gowns, carry stars on sticks and have tall paper cones on their heads. The gingerbread men bring up the rear, carrying small lanterns. There is always a special atmosphere in the morning of Lucia day when the lights are dimmed and the sound of the singing grows as the Lucia procession enters the room. Schools and old people’s homes and other institutions have a Lucia procession. All Swedes know the Lucia song by heart and the many Lucia songs have the same theme:
‘ The night treads heavily around yards and dwellings
In places unreached by the sun, the shadows brood.
Into our dark house she comes, bearing lighted candles, Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia. ‘
St Lucia lived around 280 AD and came from Sicily. She was known for her charity to the Christians hiding in the catacombs to avoid persecution. Lucy wore candles in her hair to leave her hands free to carry food to those in need. Missionaries to the Vikings brought her story to the far north and her feast day is celebrated in both the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches. St Lucia’s day was originally celebrated on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year as a reminder that even in the deepest darkness the light of Christ shines. “
I discovered too that when the elderly people in the village who live alone receive a visit from St Lucia and her attendants they are often given a special surprise, a small gift of food – ginger biscuits and sweet saffron flavoured buns ‘Lucia katter’ in the shape of curled up cats with raisin eyes and are invited to join in the singing.
This reminded me of the lovely old hymn ”Surprised by joy’ by William Cowper.
“Sometimes a light surprises
the Christian while s/he sings;
it is the Lord who rises
with healing in his wings:
when comforts are declining,
he grants the soul again
a season of clear shining,
to cheer it after rain.”
The 18th century poet and hymn writer, William Cowper suffered from mental illness and went through many periods of spiritual darkness yet his writing speaks of God’s love shining through. A poem of his (which became the hymn ‘ God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform’ ) was written after a suicide attempt and is entitled ‘Light shining out of darkness’.
In Advent we read many encouraging passages from the Bible concerning the coming of light and hope. Isaiah surprised his fellow exiles in Babylon with his words of God’s promise ‘ The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’ (Is 9 v2) and John in his Gospel (Chapter 1 v 4-9) tells of the fruition of the promise in the coming of Jesus, a reading we often hear in church at this time of year.
Jesus himself told the people of his time who walked in the darkest of foreign oppression ‘ I have come into the world so that no-one who believes in me should remain in darkness.’ (John 12 v46) and St Paul in times of persecution wrote to the Corinthian Christians (in 2 Cor 4 V6) ”For God who said “let light shine out of darkness” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ’.
Advent gives us a wonderful opportunity to share the light of Christ with those around us, to surprise our friends and neighbours with the message of the light of Christ in dark times as one of my favourite childrens’ hymn reminds us.
1. Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light,
like a little candle burning in the night.
In the world is darkness, so we must shine,
you in your small corner, and I in mine.
2. Jesus bids us shine, first of all for him;
well he sees and knows it if our light grows dim.
He looks down from heaven to see us shine,
you in your small corner, and I in mine.
3. Jesus bids us shine, then, for all around;
many kinds of darkness in this world are found:
sin and want and sorrow; so we must shine,
you in your small corner, and I in mine.
A couple of years ago I wrote an Advent prayer after hearing Bernadette Farrell’s beautiful song ‘Christ be our light’
Festival of Light – Advent
Come, loving God,
into our worship and into our world;
Come with the light of love,
Come with the light of peace,
Come with the light of hope.
Come, loving God,
into our worship and into our world
and banish the darkness of night
with the dawn of your coming.
by Lilly Lewin
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one of a kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John 1: 14 The Message
Life is messy in so many ways… Our lives are filled with bills to pay, dogs to walk, kids to care for… illnesses, loss, suffering… sleepless nights, conflict in relationships, political disagreements….death, violence, abuse. And the messiness of Christmas!
Everything from dirty dishes in the sink, to wrapping paper piled in the corner…from simple messes ,to horrific ones we cannot fix or comprehend. From the forgotten phone calls, to missed flights, Jesus is with us. Immanuel.
Jesus is Born Into the Mess. Into the Middle of Real Life.
Jesus wasn’t born in a sanitized hospital.
He was born in a dirty stable, perhaps even a cave, where the animals were housed. Or as recent scholarship suggests, Jesus was born in the messiness of the household, in the midst of the messiness of community.
Into the mess of real life, the God of the universe became flesh to dwell among us.
Jesus gets visited by dirty shepherds, the outcasts of Jewish society, not the cream of the crop. Jesus doesn’t grow up in a palace, but rather the son of a carpenter doing manual labor.
He lived with sweat, pain, and disappointment & ultimately betrayal and criminal conviction.
Jesus knows we have pain and brokenness. He gets that we are a mess and live in a messy world.
And Jesus came to be with us in the midst of all the messiness of life.
Jesus is the gift of hope in the midst of the mess.
SIT DOWN and consider the birth of this Baby into the mess of life. If you have a nativity scene, a manger, a baby bed or crib sit down beside it.
Talk To God about Jesus coming to Earth as a Baby in into the Mess of Life.
Or if you are in the midst of doing dishes or laundry, or taking out the trash, or picking up after kids, STOP, PAUSE and consider that Jesus came into the midst of our messy world to be with you and me!
Talk to Jesus about your life right now.
What feels Messy? What feels hard or out of control? Tell Jesus about this.
How does it feel to know that Jesus loves you in the midst of the mess of your life?
How does it feel to know that Jesus understands the Mess in your life & loves you anyway?
Will you let Jesus be with you in the mess? Can you choose to receive his love and peace in the middle of the messiness? Are you willing to be willing to receive the gift in the mess and know that Jesus is with you?
As you clean up messes in your home or office this week, pray for the messy world we live in to see more of God’s love and light. Use the messes in your home as Gifts, rather than frustration. Use them as reminders to pray for friends and family who are dealing with messes much bigger than yours. Ask Jesus to fill them with his hope and love, and even joy in their day and in the middle of the mess.
If you happen to be a someone who is never messy, consider leaving something unclean or out of place, as a reminder to pray for the mess in the world.
Allow Jesus to Love you in the Mess of Life this week! In the midst of all the messiness of the holidays, Let the Love of Jesus hold you! and Heal you! And open your heart to his gift of joy even in the messiness.
The idea of Jesus in the Mess, is from a prayer station in the Christmas Incarnation Sacred Space Prayer Experience at Freerangeworship.com
By Mary Harwell Sayler –
When God Gave Us Jesus
—the One Who would save us—
Heaven could not contain itself.
Light spilled from a star,
heralding His arrival.
The earth burst into life.
Birds called for revival.
And frightened shepherds
trembled like sheep
when angels awakened
their sleep with song
as light as snowflakes,
as powerful as
a tsunami of harmony
pouring onto earth
at Jesus’ birth.
Oh, praise Him!
This poem comes from the book PRAISE by Mary Harwell Sayler
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by Christine Sine
Last week when I created my Advent garden, I commented that I expected it would change and grow as the season progressed and that is just what has happened.
One person commented that the rocks reminded them of the pathway we all walk towards the Christ child. I immediately had visions of a rocky pathway, and and arduous to negotiate. Then it occurred to me – the pathway towards Christ is not all hard going. There are gems and precious stones along the way. There are “rocks” that light up our lives as well as those that make life difficult. So I added some of the beautiful rocks I have collected over the years and now my garden sparkles with color.
I appreciate those who comment on what I write, it is often the inspiration I need for future ideas and posts. Thank you for helping me on this journey through Advent.
By Ana Lisa de Jong —
You can do this without us.
Move the earth through its orbit,
the courses of the stars you keep on track.
The galaxies whose music you orchestrate,
sing from millennium to millennium.
That you can do this without us
we so know.
Which is why we are amazed still
that you don’t.
Have not left us alone,
to navigate through the courses of our lives,
to hold on to this spinning earth which,
but for your gravity, we could not survive.
You can do this without us
we understand,
which is why we stand in awe still
that you’ve chosen otherwise.
That instead, you have not only not left,
but you’ve come as close as we each allow.
In Immanuel, God with us,
our unwrapping forever gift.
Oh, you can so do this without us.
Move the earth through its orbit,
the courses of the stars on track.
The galaxies, whose music you orchestrate,
singing from millennium to millennium.
That you would not just visit,
this one planet out of trillions,
but would form us each in your own image,
and then give to us yourself.
Yes, what wonder is this,
that the smallest treasure laid in a haystack,
is the maker and sustainer of all this,
and made his way to stay with us.
What love that keeps us,
while still in awareness of our solitariness,
in remembrance of a connection
with the One who keeps everything.
You can so do this without us,
and that is why we love you the more,
that you have not,
but rather made a path direct to your heart.
Though the universes circle us all.
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