I have been reading this beautiful Advent poem by Walter Brueggemann every day this last week and wanted to share it with you. It is published in his book Awed to Heaven, Rooted to Earth.
In our secret yearnings
we wait for your coming,
and in our grinding despair
we doubt that you will.
And in this privileged place
we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we
and by those who despair more deeply than do we.
Look upon your church and its pastors
in this season of hope
which runs so quickly to fatigue
and this season of yearning
which becomes so easily quarrelsome.
Give us the grace and the impatience
to wait for your coming to the bottom of our toes,
to the edge of our finger tips.
We do not want our several worlds to end.
Come in your power
and come in your weakness
in any case and make all things new.
Amen.
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by Christine Sine
Yesterday I lit the joy candle on my Advent wreath. This is the only pink candle, surrounded by three purple candles in my wreath. It glows with light and life even when the other candles seem a little dim. And behind it stands my jade plant, just beginning to flower with pink tinted blossoms also a symbol of joy.
I have really been craving light this Advent season and have thoroughly enjoyed my morning practice of lighting each of the candles in my circle of light this week. They connect me in a special way to my family, friends and neighbours near and far as well as to special places and God’s beautiful light filled created world. They fill me with joy yet there is still something lacking. What is this joy I am celebrating as I enter this third week of Advent I find myself asking?
Let the Colours of Joy Flame.
Nativity by He Qi
As I sit in my circle of light I am reminded that white light is not really white at all, it is made up of all the colours of the rainbow. And it reminds me that in Jesus too are all the colours of the rainbow. That it why over the last couple of days I have found myself hunting for images of Christ and Christmas music from different cultures. I have looked at Ethiopian icons, and black madonnas, He Qi‘s Chinese images and Hanna Varghese’s Malaysian images. I have reflected on beautiful scenes from the Cameroons. I have browsed Paul Neeley’s site Global Christian Worship for Christmas music and images from around the world. This has connected me in an even deeper way to the coming of Christ and the richness of God’s children “from every tribe and nation”.
Hanna Varghese – Unto Us A Child Is Born
Now I sit and meditate on John O’Donohue’s words in his book The Invisible Embrace of Beauty
the very breath of life breathes into things until their individual colours flame. Such is the generosity of air, self-effacing and unseen it asks nothing of the eye, yet it offers life to the invisible fields where light can unfold its scriptures of colour. We dwell between the air and the earth, guests of that middle kingdom where light and colour embrace (84)
As I ponder the different images of Christ’s birth I have looked at this week I sit in awe of the rainbow hues that make up the light of Christ. I do feel I live in that place between the air and the earth, guests of that middle kingdom where light and colour embrace. I realize I will never appreciate the light of Christ until I fully embrace the colours of God’s rainbow of joy that are all the tribes and nations and cultures of our earth.
What Is Your Response.
Watch the video below (my apologies for the age and poor quality) or visit Matt Stone’s website and browse his collection of Asian and African Christian art. What impresses you about the Jesus you see depicted in these images? What do these images teach you about the coming of Christ into our world?
Here is another song I could not resist sharing. Get up and dance to it and as Alex Boye challenges us to think about at the end, think about what you can give not what you can get.
by Lilly Lewin
It’s that time in the Season of Advent that we can lose hope and lose heart and get discouraged that we’ve had great expectations for celebrating Advent but not many of them have come to into being. It’s ten days til Christmas and that means a lot of tasks still need to be done and the do to lists are getting longer rather than shorter. At my house, we still need to get the tree and decorate it. I’ve got a stack of packages to get in the mail so they actually arrive before the day, and I’ve still got some shopping to do for the family.
One of my Advent practices was to take a walk everyday and get outside and be in nature, that hasn’t happened. Today, I posted the wrong word for @Adventword, the practice I’ve been doing of posting a photo on Instagram and facebook. The word for today is TRUST and I posted TRUTH…both start with TRU and my brain only held that much information! Thankfully I’m seeing the humor and not beating myself up over that! But if you are like me, when my to do list gets long and my sleep isn’t enough, and the things I’d hoped to do haven’t happened, I can get really discouraged and even forget the good stuff that has happened this month, this Advent.
So let’s take a deep breath and start again!
Happy Advent! Happy #almostChristmas Happy Middle of December!
We are getting ready to light the JOY candle in the Advent wreath this Sunday. I started lighting my JOY candle today since we lose a week of Advent with Christmas eve falling on a Sunday this year and because I need the reminders of JOY, PEACE and HOPE of the three candles right now! I need to reboot my practice, I need to find new joy and reboot Advent.
I’m grateful for the signs of Hope, Peace, and Joy I’ve seen this week: in Alabama, in hosting a Christmas Sacred Space at our home, the squirrels not totally dismantling the birdfeeder and allowing the birds to actually have some of the seed and the beautiful sunsets we’ve had in Nashville.
How about you? How is your Advent going? Are you finding signs of Hope, Peace, and Joy this week, this month?
Or do you need to reboot and have a do over? Do you need to take a deep breath and pause? Maybe you need to take time to laugh and find joy in something simple. What would bring you Joy today? What can you do to find Hope, Peace and Joy between now and Deceember 25th?
Here are a few things that can help you reboot your Advent:
1. Watch something funny! Yesterday I saw this great video from a Christmas Pageant where the sheep stole the show! I laughed so hard I cried!
2. Watch something meaningful! One of my favorite Christmas movies is “Millions” it brings me hope! I watched it while folding laundry and doing dishes!
3. Check in with someone who brings you hope! My friends Martin and Sally Poole live in Brighton England. Their church hosts and Martin curates a Beach Hut Advent Calendar using the Beach Huts along the Brighton and Hove seafront. One hut opens it’s doors each night for the community! This is their 10th year Anniversary of hosting this event! We all can follow along here and receive the Beauty, Hope and Joy of the Season!
So once again, Happy Advent! Happy Almost Christmas! Happy Middle of December! Enjoy today, receive permission to reboot Advent and watch for the JOY 
along the way.
As Christmas approaches one of the things I am aware of is how white our images of Christmas tend to be. I very much appreciate Leroy Barber’s help in opening my eyes to this and my need to expand my vision of God and of Christ by deliberately choosing other images, many of which are far more realistic to the gospel story. The beautiful image above and the song below are two that have provided fresh perspectives for me this Christmas.
By Trevor Horn —
“I can’t believe you support those people. They need to get the f*** out of our city. It’s not my problem,” vehemently responded one lady to our team.
Last Sunday, a number of us from Kardia ventured out to continue our More Than Me campaign. The entire central focus of this campaign is learning to live for more than me in a culture that says everything is about me. This is especially true in a season around Christmas that has become centered on materialism and sales versus the true meaning of this season. Our campaign this Christmas season is focused specifically on homelessness in our city.
Recently, our team made signs like you would see from homeless folks but with a twist. For example my sign said, “Family of 4 Provided 4” or we had another girl on the team write, “Always had a roof over my head.” The core idea was that we would write truth statements about our lives but then stand on street corners to raise money for the homeless in our community.
Last Sunday, as we stood on street corners we got a wide range of reactions. Some were upset because they didn’t want the homeless in our city. Some were encouraged that we would be willing to stand for hours outside to bring awareness and raise money. But the greater reaction was one that we all knew all too well…indifference.
The first hour on the streets most of us were full of smiles and joy as we stood on the street with great expectancy. But slowly but surely a strange feeling set in. Person after person would walk or drive by and never even acknowledge that we were there. Like we were some sort of social pariah’s who didn’t belong or less than human. The good and bad reactions were a much smaller margin compared to the thousands of people who went by indifferent, bent on living their normal life without any sort of care for what happened outside of their 9 to 5, starbucks holiday drink runs and shopping.
As several hours went by I started to realize that the real issue wasn’t just all THOSE indifferent people but that I am one of THEM. I am one of the people who gets so locked into my 9 to 5 that I don’t take time to realize the basic humanity of the person on the street corner and fails to even make eye contact. I am one of the people who spends way too much on Starbucks holiday drinks and gifts for my own family. I am the person who lives with great indifference in light of the great injustices around me. I am the person who would say that this homelessness is not my problem. Through the process of being on the street corner my heart began to break for those who actually stood there to get money for their next meal or who stood there for 10 hours a day in the cold to just get by.
With the money we gained by being on the street, the following week in our groups at Kardia Church, we put together care packages for our homeless friends. The intention is for our people to be able to give out these packages filled with gloves, socks, power bars, a special note, hand warmers and treats during this season as they befriend those in their daily lives that are on the streets. A tool for deeper connection and to also have something to give. We also plan on continuing working with the organizations that are already doing so much in our city as part of our monthly group rhythms.
I realize that this campaign won’t end homelessness in the city and that as a new church plant we are limited to what we can do. BUT we can do something. The great failure in our city is when good people do nothing. I have a long way to go like many of us but I know that I refuse to be a person who will be caught in a life of indifference towards the homeless community and for the greater justice issues in our city. I know that I refuse to be a person who will only live for himself this Christmas season. I know that at Kardia we refuse to a community of people who live unchanged by the love of God and will relentlessly pursue practicing the way of Jesus.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey we invite YOU to join us in living More Than Me. If you are in Seattle, we welcome you to check out our church and join a group where we are learning and implementing our More Than campaign. There are many creative ways you can live more than yourself in your own community too. I don’t care how you do it, but ultimately I care that all of us would live a life More Than Me this Christmas season.
As you know Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem is one of my favourites. I have used it in the past for my Monday meditations Today however I came across this rendition of another favourite that I thought you might enjoy during this Advent and Christmas season, his beautiful song Hallelujah.
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