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By Carol Dixon —
In the dark days at the beginning of December, I venture out into our garden (usually my husband’s domain) and look out for little green shoots appearing. It may seem an odd time of year in the chilly county of Northumberland in northern England to be looking for new growth in the garden but this small plant with its glossy green foliage for me heralds the start of the Advent/Christmas season. Once I see the dark leaves I know that later in the month a special flower will bloom with pure white petals, described in one of my favourite carols from Germany ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’ (known in English as ‘There is a rose growing’)
I first sang this carol as a teenager at the girls’ grammar school I attended almost 60 years ago and I was fascinated by the idea of a Christmas Rose. We now have one in our garden which blossoms between Christmas and new year – a wonderful memory of our 17 year old niece who was killed on the last day of the year in 1998. Although the hymn and the poem seem more pertinent in the Northern Hemisphere where Christmas falls in midwinter I find it a great consolation to remember in all the wintry seasons of our lives, whatever time of year, that God, who became one of us, is with us at all times, everywhere. One of my favourite versions of the hymn is the version by Nana Mouskouri.
A rose Arose Hymn – From the 15th century Carol ‘Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen’
In the dark recesses
of winter world
a sleeping seed
germinates.
Cocooned within
the womb, a foetus
flexes fragile fingers
tipped with tiny nails;
birth beckons;
a journey begins:
darkness gives way
to light.
Hidden in the humus
of a stable yard,
a simple rose grows
and, on Christmas morning,
blossoms.
Christmas Prayer
You came as a baby, Lord,
as a little helpless child
who relied on a human family
to care for him.
You cried because you were hungry,
because you were homeless,
because you were a stranger
far away from home.
You still cry with hunger, Lord,
in the voices of the many starving;
your tears still flow for the homeless,
the lonely and the forgotten;
you still rely on human families
to care for you.
And so this Christmas, Lord, we pray:
help us to be the kind of people
who look for you in the world,
and joyfully discover you
as we care for one another.
By Lilly Lewin
The season of Advent starts on Sunday and many of us are also preparing for Christmas. We are decorating trees and homes with festive lights and greenery. We get ready with shopping, baking, sending cards and hosting parties. But how do we get our selves ready for the arrival of Jesus? As December begins how are you getting ready for the Baby King?
When you prepare for a baby you have to get a lot of stuff ready…the room, all the diapers, the car seat, all the special gear necessary. Your house changes, you have less space because the baby stuff takes up lots of room. Your focus changes. Whether you are adopting or hatching a baby, you begin to focus your life around this little person soon to arrive. And once that person arrives on the scene, you no longer need a TV because all you want to do is watch what he or she does. When a baby enters the world your time is no longer your own…now you have to think about the needs of someone else. You have to consider how what you do will affect the baby. Even before a baby is born the mom must consider what she eats, drinks and how she cares for herself.
What if we see the coming of Baby Jesus into our lives like this? Preparing for the arrival of a Baby!
Getting ready for a new arrival in our lives. Getting ready for a real baby.
What would this look like?
How do you make space for Baby Jesus?
How do you get ready for his birth into your world?
How do we prepare?
Do you have to get rid of stuff?
Do you need to add special gear?
Do you need to prepare mentally or change your attitude?
What does this look like?
Consider this today.
Talk to God about this.
How can you receive the gift of Jesus as a baby, a baby who needs your time and attention?
Are you and I willing to accept that gift?
What are you willing to do to get ready for Baby Jesus?
How are you willing to change your life in order to give baby Jesus the attention and care he needs?
Consider this today and in the days ahead this December.
Talk to God about how you can receive and prepare for Baby Jesus!
Here are a few ideas to help you Prepare for Him Room!
If you don’t have a baby in your world at the moment as a physical reminder, find something to remind you to make room in your life for Baby Jesus. Maybe it’s a sippy cup or a baby bottle on your desk or bedside table. Maybe it’s a baby blanket or toy. Use this symbol to help you make space in your life for the Baby Jesus this December.
Buy a bottle of baby lotion, the kind that smells, and put some on each day in December to remind you to receive and prepare for the Baby Jesus and his arrival.
Search for and listen to a favorite lullaby or children’s Christmas song to play during December to remind you the infant who is coming soon.
Volunteer to babysit for a friend or family member who has a baby. Give this gift to your friend and allow your time babysitting to remind you of the care and love Mary had for Baby Jesus.
Spend time in a rocking chair, imagining you are rocking the King of Kings as a baby.
All Babies need time and attention. Give Baby Jesus the time, attention and care that he needs this December and prepare Him Room this Advent.
This is one of the prayer stations found in the Christmas Incarnation Sacred Space Prayer Experience. You can download this at freerangeworship.com
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
by Christine Sine
Here in the U.S. it might be Thanksgiving but across the world, Sunday is the first day of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. Many of us will set up our Advent wreaths, light our first Advent candle and begin to read our Advent devotionals. Some of us will buy Christmas trees and decorate them. Here on Godspace we will take a little different approach to the season.
As many of you know I am reading Heidi Haverkamp’s Advent in Narnia this year and have already been deeply impacted by her introductory words Lewis, by placing Christianity into another world, makes it unfamiliar again. He gives us the chance to feel a newfound wonder at the depth of God’s love, the power of Christ’s grace and the totality of his sacrifice and the wonder of a world infused with the Holy Spirit.
I love the idea of making Advent unfamiliar again and invite you to journey with us on Godspace into an unfamiliar story of Jesus birth. So often we look at Advent from the God side of the story – the angel Gabriel’s visit, virgin. birth, the choirs of angels singing at Christ’s birth. Or we think of the cultural images we see on Christmas cards – a beautiful looking stable surrounded by a few animals and very well dressed shepherds, This Advent we want to introduce you to an unfamiliar Jesus – the human story of unwed mothers, supportive cousins, and welcoming surrogate fathers. What does Advent look like through their eyes? What does it look like through Jesus eyes – this vulnerable possibly even despised and rejected child from birth?
We know very little about Jesus childhood and the characteristics he displayed but we do know quite a bit about his birth and those who surrounded and nurtured him. What we know should stir a lot of emotions and raise a lot of questions for us.
Why did God choose such a vulnerable young woman to give birth to the Messiah? How did Joseph feel? What was it like to be a refugee in his day and age? Jesus may have been vulnerable and possibly even rejected and despised from birth, yet he was obviously also loved not just by Mary but also by her husband Joseph who kept both of them safe through an arduous journey as refugees into Egypt. Were they part of a refugee caravan like we have seen moving across Mexico this year? How were they treated in Egypt?
It was writing The Gift of Wonder and and developing resources like Advent gardens that encouraged me to step outside the box into an unfamiliar view of Advent and in fact of the whole gospel story. The story of Jesus conception and birth raises some challenging questions for us. How can we become like THIS child and what his birth tells us about the God that we follow? Fully human yet fully God. Powerful yet vulnerable. Loved yet rejected. What does it mean to you?
Please join us on the journey and if you are still looking for advent devotionals or other resources consider using some of the Godspace resources. Many of them are especially written to help us think outside the box, enter the story as though for the first time and gain a fresh perspective of who Jesus is and who the God that we worship is too.
Last but not least we wanted to let you know that on Monday all our digital downloads will be available at a discount price. Some of these are perfect adjuncts to Advent reflections and I hope you will consider using them.
God bless you in this unsettling season of waiting as we move towards our remembrance of Christ’s birth.
by Christine Sine
Today’s post is written with a little trepidation and struggle. Black Friday and CyberMonday are my least favorite days of the year and I hate watching the rampant consumerism that is at its heart. I also struggle because I know that Consumerism Plays a Huge Role in Climate Change and I hate to see the way that this consumer frenzy takes our focus away from the true meaning of the Thanksgiving and Advent seasons. Yet I realize too that people need jobs to support their families. And I must confess that like most of us it is easy for me too to be drawn in by bargain prices for things that are on my shopping list for Christmas. Though I have noticed that my main purchases at this season are never on sale!
Here at Godspace we need income too so that we can continue to create the resources you appreciate on a daily basis for your ongoing faith walk. And that income comes from your purchases either through the Godspace store or through our being an Amazon Associate through which we receive a small amount for each book you purchase through a link to Amazon.
So as we celebrate Thanksgiving and prepare for the coming days of Advent I wanted to remind us of the resources that we have available through the Godspace store or on Amazon. I think that many of them make great Christmas gifts and resources.
And just a heads up – all our digital resources will be available at a discount price on Monday.
Obviously at the top of my list is:
The Gift of Wonder – both book and cards which several people have already told me they are giving to their friends and relatives this season. I hope you will consider joining them. I continue to be encouraged by feedback I get on the book. This week I heard from a pastor who has been using it in a small group study. One participant shared with her how much it has helped her notice the world around. It has also motivated her to paint rocks and leave them as encouragement for others
I also regularly use our prayer cards especially the Celtic cards (great stocking stuffers!!!)
Gifted Ana Lisa De Jong’s new book of poetry would be a great gift for those like me, who are fans of hers too.
Also we have some old, but still popular resources available:
To Garden With God continues to attract garden enthusiasts.
And Return to Our Senses the book that began my journey into creative spiritual practice still attracts attention from many of you
As does Rest in the Moment for those who are looking for a series of daily or weekly reflections for their devotional life. (This will be available last as a discounted pdf download on Monday too)
John Birch’s Advent Resources are also worth a look. Available through his store not Godspace. After reading about the power of music in our lives I am particularly attracted to his new book Singing the Story.
American Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I thought that it was time to update my list of Thanksgiving prayers.
I love the prayer above and the ones below but there are lots of others out there that are rich and powerful for this season
For more thanksgiving prayers and resources and for some great thanksgiving songs check out our Thanksgiving resource list.
Last year I posted My Favourite Thanksgiving Prayers with my favourite thanksgiving scriptures and prayers from Christian, Jewish and Native American heritages.
Earlier this year, I posted resources for thanksgiving and harvest with a rich array of prayers, litanies and links to other websites with yet more resources for harvest and thanksgiving.
You might also like to check out this Thanksgiving Litany (which I also posted yesterday but with some updated prayers and scriptures)
Not surprising I have found a whole new array this year. I love this prayer by Samuel Pugh:
O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.
-Samuel F. Pugh
Paul Neeley at Global Christian Worship is one of the best collectors of beautiful seasonal music and litanies that I know including:
Thanksgiving playlist from liturgy of life.
Recording of Songs for Thanksgiving
Litany with Responses from the Psalms
I also wanted to focus on songs that I think make a good reflective focus for the season.
Here is a wonderful thanksgiving prayer sung by Johnny Cash on an episode of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.
And another beautiful one by Karen Chapin Carpenter
A celebration of thankfulness in this lovely thanksgiving song by Brianna Haynes
by Christine Sine
Today’s litany is adapted from one I wrote in 2014 and looking back I felt that I could not improve on it (at least not much) so am reposting it. I have changed the translation used for the scriptures to The Passion Translation and the Lord’s Prayer to the prayer from the New Zealand Prayer book as I wanted to give it a sense of freshness in keeping with my call to read life differently not just as we approach Advent but in every part of our lives. Enjoy!
The photo is of my friend Kim who just celebrated the one year anniversary of a heart transplant. She has made incredible progress but is still very restricted in her activity. I first posted this just after she was able to raise her arms for the first time – what a gift. So as you read through this liturgy this morning lift your arms and praise God for the gift of muscles, and nerves and strength.
(This litany was updated in 2020 with special suggestions for an at home celebration)
A Thanksgiving Liturgy
God eternal and righteous One,
Who created the heavens and the earth,
we gather to give you thanks.
For breath that fills us with your life,
For love that softens our hearts,
For beauty revealed at every turn.
Christ redeeming and forgiving One,
Who is always faithful and merciful.
We gather to give you thanks,
For renewal, transforming our lives,
For peace calming the chaos of our souls,
For hope restoring our faith.
Spirit sustaining, and compassionate One,
Who calls us into relationship with the living God,
We give you thanks,
For caring when our hearts are aching,
For friends supportive in times of need,
For generosity lavish and overflowing.
God who created the earth and the heavens,
Eternal, Redeeming and Sustaining One,
We gather to give you thanks,
We come with hearts full of gratitude,
For all things good,
We give you thanks for You.
(Pause to express gratitude for your own areas of thanksgiving)
For the universe immense and unknown,
For the earth on which we live,
For humankind made in your image.
Thanks and praise to God our creator.
For the way you entered human history as one of us
For the sacrifice you made for all of us,
For dying that we might live.
Thanks and praise to Christ our redeemer,
For the wonder of your indwelling presence,
For the comfort of your guidance and direction,
For drawing us together as one body.
Thanks and praise to the Holy Spirit our sustainer.
Through your will we are made whole,
Through your love we are renewed.
Through your abiding presence we become one community.
Thanks and praise to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer through all eternity.
Psalm 105 1-8 (TPT) (Evidently this was sung as the Ark of the Covenant was brought up to Jerusalem)
Go ahead and give God thanks
for all the glorious things he has done!
Go ahead and worship him!
Tell everyone about his wonders!
2 Let’s sing his praises! Sing, and put all of his miracles to music!
3 Shine and make your joyful boast in him, you lovers of God.
Let’s be happy and keep rejoicing no matter what.
4 Seek more of his strength! Seek more of him!
Let’s always be seeking the light of his face.
5 Don’t you ever forget his miracles and marvels.
Hold to your heart every judgment he has decreed.
6 For you are his servants, the true seed of Abraham,
and you are the chosen ones, Jacob’s sons.
7 For he is the Lord our God,
and his wise authority[b] can be seen in all he does.
8–9 For though a thousand generations may pass away,
he is still true to his word.
He has kept every promise[c] he made to Abraham and to Isaac.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Let your heart be always guided[a] by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ live in you richly, flooding you with all wisdom. Apply the Scriptures as you teach and instruct one another with the Psalms, and with festive praises,[c] and with prophetic songs given to you spontaneously by the Spirit, so sing to God with all your hearts!
17 Let every activity of your lives and every word[e] that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you!
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Then he raised a cup and gave thanks to God and said to them, “Take this and pass it on to one another and drink. 18 I promise you that the next time we drink this wine, we will be together in the feast of God’s kingdom realm.”
19 Then he lifted up a loaf, and after praying a prayer of thanksgiving to God, he gave each of his apostles a piece of bread, saying, “This loaf is my body,[b] which is now being offered to you. Always eat it to remember me.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pray together now in the words Jesus taught us.
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is Heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your Heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on Earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever.
Amen. (From New Zealand Prayer Book)
Gracious and generous God we give you thanks,
For the gift of life for we are made in your image,
We think of all those in whom your divine image is still distorted.
We pray for your mercy and love to rest upon them.
God in your mercy be with them.
Caring and providing God we give you thanks,
For our homes that shelter and protect us,
We think of those without shelter and water and protection today.
We pray for your generous provision to be poured out upon them.
God in your mercy be with them.
Abundant and giving God we give you thanks,
For our food that nourishes and strengthens us,
We think of those without adequate food and nourishment today.
We pray that you will feed them with the bread of life.
God in your mercy be with them.
Loving and compassionate God we give you thanks,
For our friends and family who love and comfort us in times of need,
We think of those who are alone and feel abandoned.
God comfort and surround them that they may sense your presence.
God in your mercy be with them.
(Pause to offer your own prayers)
Gracious and generous God,
We remember all the gifts you have given us,
We remember how lavishly you have provided.
We remember how lovingly you have cared,
We remember especially that greatest gift of all,
Jesus Christ our Saviour,
And we give you thanks.
Amen
If you are looking for Thanksgiving prayers here are some of my favorites – prayers from all traditions including beautiful Jewish and Native American prayers.
And for more Thanksgiving resources check out our resource page on Thanksgiving and Harvest.
Feature photo (c) Tom Balke
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