by Christine Sine
Last week I cleaned out a cupboard that has not been touched since Tom and I were married over 30 years ago. It was a trove of long forgotten treasures. Amongst them was this beautiful plaque inlaid with mother of pearl. It is written in Arabic and says Christ/Messiah Saviour of the World. A couple of days later I met with a friends who spent several months working on the West Bank amongst Palestinian Christians. I too remember meeting many Palestinian Christians during my own visit to Israel/Palestine, especially in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
My heart aches these days for the Palestinian people and this plaque has triggered not just many prayers for the horrors of what is going on in Gaza at the moment, and for the Palestinian Christians caught up in the conflict but also a strong desire to know more about the people of Palestine and especially the Christian heritage of the area.
According to the Palestinian Portal, a site that I find is a great meeting place and resource for the churches organizations and faith-based communities – local, regional, national and global – committed to the justice movement for Israel/Palestine:
Palestinian Christians are often called the ‘living stones’ of Christianity as they can trace their history to the birth of the Church in this land 2,000 years ago. Ancestors of some families have been in the Holy Land ever since, while others migrated there in later centuries. Therefore they should be understood to be indigenous people of the Holy Land, not immigrants and not recent converts. In fact, they are the oldest Christian population on earth.
Unfortunately many Christians in other countries do not even know there are Christians in Palestine and view the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a religious conflict between Muslims and Jews, rather than the struggle over land it truly is. Yet Christians around the world owe much to these indigenous believers and their faithful stewardship of the holiest sites of Christianity.
That is what I remember from our time in Jerusalem and Palestine. The Christians we met with, mainly Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican, are very sincere in their faith and proud of their amazing heritage and the impact it continues to have on their lives and in our lives as well. They have often been the ones who helped maintain and protect the most holy sites including the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and other sites in Bethlehem. Many of us have olive wood Christmas ornaments and creches made in Bethlehem by some of these Christians. Bethlehem is on the West Bank, and is freely accessed by Palestinian Christians, however:
One of the most painful restrictions of the occupation are the limits on their freedom to worship. Tourists from around the world can visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, believed to be the site of Jesus’ burial tomb, yet Palestinian Christians who live only a few miles away cannot reach it without a special permit that they can rarely obtain, even during the Easter season.
Christians in Palestine now only constitute 2% of the population, down from almost 10% in 1922. There are also many Palestinian Christians who are descendants of Palestinian refugees from the post-1948 era who fled to Christian-majority countries and formed large diaspora Christian communities. Worldwide, there are nearly one million Palestinian Christians. I well remember meeting with several here in Seattle and hear the stories of injustice, not from the Muslim Palestinians who supported and encouraged their presence, but from the Zionists who pushed them out of their homes and their country.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do not condone the violence that Hamas perpetrated at the beginning of this current conflict, but the ongoing atrocities and violence, the devastation caused by the Israelis is just as bad, if not worse.
Interestingly, St George, the patron saint of England, was a Palestinian. Palestinians also reverend celebrate the early Christian martyr. For them he is a local hero who opposed the persecution of his fellow Christians in the Holy Land. “We believe he was a great martyr for his faith who defended the Christian faith and values,” says Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna. St George was a Roman soldier during the Third Century AD, whose mother was Palestinian. It is said that he once lived in al-Khadr near Bethlehem, on land owned by his mother’s family. The saint is remembered for giving away his possessions and remaining true to his religion when he was imprisoned and tortured before he was finally executed. There are many churches in the West Bank and Israel that bear the name of St George – at al-Khadr, Lod and in the Galilee.
As we gather in church each week, we share a call to worship followed by the lighting of a Peace Lamp and a prayer before passing the peace. A couple of weeks ago Peter Lagerwey at our church composed the liturgy below. It is my prayer for all of us as we move towards Advent and Christmas and live in expectation of the coming once again of Christ/Messiah, Saviour of the World. It is my prayer especially as we look at Israel/Palestine and the many other place of violence today. It is a prayer of longing and hope:
As we gather this morning,
The Mighty One invites us to be quiet; to come near.
As we witness yet another week of unrelenting violence in a broken and fractured world,
The Mighty One invites us to remember we are beloved.
As we feel surrounded, suffocated, and seduced
by the false promise of security through military might,
The Mighty One invites us to remember we are indeed God’s own.
We cannot worship both the Mighty One
and the false gods of consumerism, militarism and nationalism
We must choose.
The Mighty One is our God. The mighty One is our God.
(Here we pause to light the Peace lamp. You might like to light a candle too.)
We long for a just peace, we pray for a just peace, we choose to live for a just peace. Peace be with you, and also with you.
The theme of this year’s World Kindness Day is simple. Yet making kindness the norm is not. I am not a fan of truisms that become catchphrases, as we tend not to consider them as deeply as we should. So let me start here: kindness is not an option. It is a covenant requirement.
1 Peter:4-7
…by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; to virtue knowledge; 6 to knowledge self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance godliness; 7 to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love. (NKJV)
As people of faith, we are called upon to give “all diligence” to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Notice how what leads to love is kindness The greatest commandment in Matthew tells us we love God first and then Man. Again, this is not an option or suggestion. We are called to kindness.
How well are we doing?
Isaiah 54:10
“…For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you. (NKJV)
Kindness is directly linked to the covenant of peace. We need to think about that. We need to pray for that.
Jeremiah 2:2
Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord:
“I remember you,
The kindness of your youth,
The love of your betrothal,
When you went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown. (NKJV)
God remembers and reveres kindness. Kindness in the wilderness we find ourselves in. We are to show this not only to those we know, who are our friends but everywhere in lands “not sown.” He sent his son into the world to sow the seeds of true faith which Jesus showed us through kindness.
Jesus’ last act was to leave us with his Spirit, sown into our very being so that we might have the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Kindness is at their center, it holds them all together within the bookends of love and self-control. All bequeathed to us by Jesus himself, so we might follow and represent his Father on earth.
Mark Twain wrote: “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Jesus modeled this literally.
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness,” penned Seneca, born four years before the death of Christ, who died aged 65 in Rome. He was a philosopher, statesman, orator, tragedian, and Rome’s leading intellectual figure in the mid-1st century. When Paul was in Rome, Seneca would most assuredly have heard of his message of kindness.
I love what the Dalai Lama is credited with saying: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” Of course, it is! However, as Maya Angelou cautioned, “it takes courage to be kind.”
Courage to stand up, as Jesus did, against racism, antisemitism, bullies on any playground, and hatred, wherever it exists, even when shown by those who claim faith, moral or ethnic superiority, and who seem to thump a Bible very different from our own.
The covenant of kindness is not a one-sided gift to us. It is a commandment and is to be dispensed on behalf of a loving God through us.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop
Explore the Advent resources that Godspace Light has been collecting over the years. Liturgies, activities, music… all gathered to help you add meaning and beauty to your Advent season, Christmas and New Year.
I have talked to several people recently who aren’t really ready for Thanksgiving this year. It feels hard to get excited about celebrating when things feel so heavy and people are suffering. It’s not that we aren’t grateful, it’s the reality of all the grief.
The news in our world is so dark and the conflicts are so violent and controversial. My heart breaks and I pray for peace. I pray for a ceasefire and an end to war in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. I pray for our congress who cannot figure out compassion and condemn people for speaking their truth. I pray for the people who are adding to their stock portfolios because weapons of war make tons of money. I feel that war is always about money and power, not about what they say. And killing people breeds more violence and incites more revenge, not less. Not too mention the looming election and the campaign for president next year. I am honestly pre-dreading it all.
I need Jesus to remind me of his love.
We had another senseless killing in Nashville this week due to gun violence. A person shooting randomly at a car critically wounded a college freshman out taking a walk in a park near her campus. It’s easier for someone to get a gun than to get a passport in this state. It’s easier to get a gun than to get a drivers license. And the shooter was incompetent to stand trial for another gun violence incident but could still be out on the street and have access to guns LEGALLY! My friend author Bonnie Smith Whitehouse said yesterday on her instagram that she hadn’t worn mascara since March 27, 2023 because she never knows when she might start weeping. March 27th is when the Covenant School Shooting happened here in Nashville. Bonnie is a professor at Belmont where the college freshman who died was a student. These two places are with in 3-5 miles of my house. I drive by these places every week.
I need Jesus to remind me of your love.
Maybe you do too.
Yesterday when I was walking Jake, I found a random rose bush still in full bloom, filled with PINK ROSES. Pink Flowers are gifts from Jesus, reminders to me that God loves me AND is still in control! I sure needed this reminder!
Do you have a symbol or a thing that Jesus uses to remind you of his love for you? In Bonnie’s book Seasons of Wonder, she talks about Rainbows being her sign. She has friends who will call and text her when they see a rainbow and she will run outside to see it too! In Seasons of Wonder , Bonnie invites us to let the month of November POINT us to LOVE!
Seasons of Wonder
What are things that can remind you of the LOVE OF JESUS this month?
Who are the people who remind you of God’s great love for you?
Maybe make that phone call or go have lunch with that person this month and reconnect.
Maybe host Thanksgiving anyway and invite some extra friends.
There is a great song, it’s a Christmas song, but I ‘m listening to it ahead of time called “Lord Remind Me! ” It’s helping a lot. Here are the words and here are two versions of it to listen to.
I pray that you will find LOVE this November in the midst of everything.
Bonnie starts her November chapter with this quote from Wendell Berry
“Love is what carries you, for it is always there, even in the dark, or most in the dark, but shining out at times like gold stitches in a piece of embroidery.”
LORD REMIND ME
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
christmas sacred space cover
Check out resources for ADVENT and CHRISTMAS Sacred Spaces at Freerangeworship .com
by Laurie Klein
Every November 11th, across the world, ancient, autumnal festivities honor St. Martin the Merciful. Gatherings may include lantern parades, bonfires, stories, wine tasting, and more.
Born in the 4th century, Martin radiated kindness lifelong. For a time, he served Emperor Constantine in the Roman army. One legend tells of the winter he met a man in rags, begging near the city gate. Martin drew his sword. The shivering outcast must have crumpled, expecting a death blow.
Instead, the saint-in-the-making slashed his military cape of wool, then wrapped half of it around the freezing man.
That night, Jesus appeared in Martin’s dreams wearing the poor man’s cape, telling the angels that Martin had clothed him, too.
Increasingly, Martin’s faith conflicted with soldiering, so he resigned his post. Denounced as a traitor, he was thrown into prison. Finally released, he moved to France, where his merciful care for those in need drew notice. Eventually, local townsfolk insisted he become their bishop. An old story claims he hid in a pen of geese to escape being tapped for holy office.
But those flustered honkers gave him away.
True or not, history confirms he became bishop, beloved by all.
Another popular account depicts Martin resting one evening among the dunes—where his donkey abandoned him. Local children, seeing the bishop limp back into the village, armed themselves with lanterns and gave chase. Finally, exultantly, they returned with the animal. In gratitude, so the story goes, Martin miraculously transformed the donkey’s droppings … into sweet rolls.
To this day, volaerens (Flemish for buns shaped like donkey turds) deck the shelves in Dunkerque bakeries.
Celebrants worldwide also light bonfires or roast a goose or bake gingerbread men. Some communities stage contests for the best “root print”: entrants carve beets, then ink and print the patterns to mark the year’s final harvest.
School children make lanterns to commemorate the rescue of Martin’s runaway donkey, then parade with them from house to house, singing carols about light.
Laterne, Laterne
Sonne, Mond und Sterne
Brenne auf, mein Licht,
Brenne auf, mein Licht
Aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht.
Lantern, Lantern,
Sun, moon and stars,
Burn, my light,
Burn, my light,
But not only the light of my dear lantern.
Words like these suggest the radiant love of Christ among us, both today and long ago—the same love that moved Martin to intercede for the poor, viewing them as equals.
In 2007, on St. Martin’s Day, Pope Benedict XVI, perhaps reflecting on the Legend of the Cape, said this:
May St. Martin help us to understand that only by means of a common commitment to sharing is it possible to respond to the great challenge of our times: to build a world of peace and justice where each person can live with dignity.
I long to impart this ideal—along with some fun—to my family. And so I imagine my grandkids re-enacting the wintry beggar scene: the bitter cold, a light saber, small hands tearing an old sheet in two.
I’ve already bought lanterns with battery candles at the Dollar Store. Before parading through the neighborhood park, we’ll don mufflers and crazy hats, then belt out “This Little Light of Mine” and “I Saw the Light.”
Maybe I’ll teach the English version of “Ich geh mit meiner Laterne”
I Walk with My Lantern
I walk with my lantern,
And my lantern with me.
There above, the stars shine,
And we shine here below.
My light is off,
I go home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm.
Because . . . who wouldn’t want to sing Rabimmel, rabammel, rabumm?
My little ones will love the miraculous tale about donkey turds! I could even bake volaerens. After our procession at dusk, I just might win over the beet-averse with this great recipe: “Beet, Goat Cheese & Honey Tart” (directions below). For backup, I’ll also bake gingerbread men. The kids can decorate them with raisin eyes, a halo of lemon zest, and a crimson, half-cape of icing.
In this life we cannot know how much we owe to saints we have never heard of,
or to saints who live with us unrecognized, but there are a few saints
whose light sends such a beam through the darkness of this world
that the darkness not only cannot extinguish it
but is forced to recognize it and cannot forget it. —Elizabeth Goudge
Fellow celebrants, let’s light up a life. A family. A culture. The long, cold night.
***
Libby’s Exquisite Beet, Goat Cheese & Honey Tart (6 servings)
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten
6 oz. spreadable goat cheese (or cream cheese)
1 can Libby’s Sliced Beets, drained
¼ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
1 T. crushed pistachios
3-4 T. honey
1 T. chopped chives (or green onion tops)
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Gently unfold pastry on baking sheet, brush with egg.
Spread cheese over egg wash. Layer beet slices on top. Add seasonings and nuts.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove and drizzle with honey. Garnish with chives.
Make a lantern https://www.theomaway.com/children/st-martins-day-lanterns/
Find the songs (with simple animation) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Nl0beM6pc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6StA8aduE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_yBTKBxZiI
Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash
As this season of gratitude, holidays and holy days begins, don’t forget to explore the resources here on Godspace. You can find liturgies, children’s activities and more seasonal resources here.
by June Friesen
Time – what is time? The online dictionary defines it as “the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.” As I consider time I am intrigued at how we as a human race embrace time in so many different ways. For some time is accepted rather easily, for others they wish that time would stand still for a while so that they could just be, still others wish that time would move more quickly as they want to get on to new things or experiences in their lives and then others just wish it would slow down. So I ask the question, ‘Is time any different than it was at the time when God created the universe?’ And maybe even a more important question to ask oneself is ‘what should I do with my time to make it more useful or more productive, etc.?’ But given all this discussion I have opened here I want to specifically address that as in the photo below it is time to bow one’s head from time to time and show gratitude and respect to God for everything it is that we have to enjoy, whether it is in abundance or just adequate or at times maybe it seems a bit inadequate.
I must admit that when I observed this bird for a while I was challenged as well as intrigued – what is he doing? Why is he sitting there with his head against his chest? I was not close enough to see if his eyes were closed or not, but he was sitting very still – as if showing respect and honor to his Creator. During autumn in the United States and Canada we find ourselves focusing on being thankful. It is the season of autumn or fall which is also our season of harvest. The produce of the labor and working of the farmers and farm laborers is gathered or being gathered and the land and plants are prepared for the season of winter rest which is ahead. Let us look at a couple of Scriptures as we direct our attitude towards gratitude.
O my soul, bless God! God, my God, how great you are! beautifully, gloriously robed, dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent. You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings. You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever. You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters; Then you roared and the water ran away— your thunder crash put it to flight. Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them. You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded. You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills. All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst. Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard. You water the mountains from your heavenly reservoirs; earth is supplied with plenty of water. You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, wine to make people happy, their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty. God’s trees are well-watered— the Lebanon cedars he planted. Birds build their nests in those trees; look—the stork at home in the treetop. Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks.
Jeremiah 5: 23-24 – ‘How can we honor our God with our lives, The God who gives rain in both spring and autumn and maintains the rhythm of the seasons, Who sets aside time each year for harvest and keeps everything running smoothly for us?”
As you read these verses what caught your spirit up in gratitude? Mountains, water, animals, trees, birds, the order of the universe, …… Or did you find yourself reading through the verses in anticipation of what was coming after the verses? So often I find myself reading things yet afterwards I cannot really remember what it was that I really read or at least what the full meaning of it was. For me that means that I need to take the time to slow down, the time to concentrate on what it is that I am reading, or maybe what I am praying. A number of years ago I was challenged to pray with a prayer diary. I faithfully wrote out my daily prayers as letters to God nearly every day for several years. Yes, I admit that I stopped doing it, picked it up for a while from time to time but have not been doing it consistently. One thing that was very meaningful to me in that practice is how and when God would answer my prayers. I have started a prayer diary again, not quite as extensive but none the less it is a discipline to get me to be conscious of my time sitting with God in prayer. You may want to try it – start slow at first – find someplace comfortable – or sometimes do it in nature (weather permitting), sometimes nestled snug and warm, sometimes at a table to stay alert….. Or another practice is a gratitude journal. It is a practice I did for several years and it literally changed how I looked at my life and the world around me.
TIME TO BE GRATEFUL
As I ponder the world around me today God
There is so many gifts that You have given to humanity (and I am included) –
Thank you for Your favor on all –
For some it is more and for some it is less – but we are grateful for what we have.
Thank you for the creation around us –
The universe out in space –
Well, we are kind of out in space as well
Just that we inhabit one of the planets You created to support human life
And so much more.
Thank you for the plants –
So many kinds that we are unable to count them all –
And for most of us we have not even seen them all –
But they are so helpful to sustaining our lives.
They help give us protection in the storms of life,
They give us shade from the heat of the sun at noonday,
They provide the atmosphere with extra oxygen in the night time,
And many of them provide nourishment for humanity and animals.
And then of course there are the bushes and plants –
Oh what a glorious abundance of things they gift to us –
Flowers of so much beauty,
Seeds that nourish the animals as well as humanity –
Vegetables and fruits –
So much variety – and ways to enjoy –
Right from the harvest, some cooked, some made to juice, and so much more…
The trees provide shelter, they provide shade,
They are a wonder at how they grow and give sustenance
And so much life.
God today we have been challenged to take time –
Time out to appreciate Your gifts to us in so many ways –
Help us also learn from creation around us the gift of taking time –
Just as the bird at the beginning with head bowed in the fullness of day
Saw it necessary to pause in ‘bird gratitude’ –
May we take the time to remember that You created each of us
To take time out to be grateful to You as well –
Just because……
photos by June Friesen, Scripture from The Message Translation.
Explore the Advent resources that Godspace Light has been collecting over the years. Liturgies, activities, music… all gathered to help you add meaning and beauty to your Advent season, Christmas and New Year.
Welcome to November and the mad race towards Advent and Christmas. I like to celebrate Celtic Advent which begins November 15th. Orthodox Christians celebrate a similar 40 days of Advent. As I mentioned last week, I love this extended period of celebration because it enables me to focus on the real meaning of Advent and Christmas before the consumer culture reaches a crescendo. This year I plan to make a special Advent wreath for my corner with a candle to mark each of the 6 weeks of Celtic Advent. On Godspace we have lots of resources, activities and suggestions of books available for the season which you might like to check out here. I also pulled out my set of Celtic prayer cards which I will use as prayer prompts each morning. As well as that I intend to revisit Brenda Griffin Warren’s wonderful online pilgrimage Celts to the Creche that provides a Celtic saint to walk us through each of the 40 days of Advent. I plan to use 2 books for the Advent season this year. Jean Andrianoff’s Pondering Nativity, a delightful set of Advent and Christmas reflections, each of which focuses on one of her incredible collection of nativity sets from around the world. The other is Drew Jackson’s God Speaks Through Wombs a set of poems based on the first few chapters of Luke. Some of these poems are incredibly profound and provide rich reflection for the season.
Last night, in preparation for Celtic Advent, at our community meeting, we lit our beautiful oil lamp and small tea lights (adapted from Lilly’s Corporate Advent Wreath idea), and shared some of our Celtic prayers and why we are attracted to Celtic Christianity. I will perform a similar ritual each week throughout the Advent season, possibly adding some Celtic drawing or rock painting one week. I look forward to this fun way to celebrate our extended Advent season.
The garden continues to thrive with an abundance of greens, leeks, and broccoli and the tomatoes we picked green are slowly ripening. Last night I cooked one of my favourite recipes for this time of year – Phad Thai. This time, because one of our community members is allergic to all nuts except almonds, I used ginger, almond butter and almonds instead of peanut butter and peanuts. It was delicious. If you have a favorite recipe for this time of the year we would love for you to share it with us.
My Meditation Monday – Thriving on Connections talked about the importance of friendships, especially at this time of the year when we are craving companionship. It is a great time to reconnect and strengthen friendships. As I said in my post, there is nothing like a friendship revived after many years. Once you read the post sit and think about your own friends. Are there some you need to renew connection to this year?
This week on Godspace we are blessed with two beautiful reflections by June Friesen. In Nature Embraces Autumn Change she asks: Have you ever wondered as I have how it is that nature moves so smoothly through the different stages of life – spring generates new beginnings and new life while autumn brings death and rest? Great questions to ponder as you welcome autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern. In her second post God’s Gift of The Moon she asks another important question: How often does one consider that the moon plays an important part in the creation plan of God? Don’t forget too that June posts daily in the Godspacelight Community Group on Facebook where she shares more of her beautiful photos and profound thoughts.
John Van de Laar writes about the Quest for Contentment, I love his suggestions that contentment is not a destination but journey and that one of the best ways to move towards contentment is through thanksgiving. In her Freerange Friday – Welcome to November, Lilly Lewin asks us to write down 5 things we want to remember from October. What a great practice to consider for each month of the year.
Again I want to remind you that Godspacelight has lots of Advent and Christmas resources available including our Advent Devotional Lean Towards the Light. Two of my favourites are the Advent Bundle with our Advent Devotional, Journal and Prayer Cards. They all cover the 6 weeks of Celtic Advent. Or if, like me you plan to start Christmas baking soon you might like the Godspacelight Community Cookbook available alone or as part of a special Advent bundle. We also have a number of free Advent resources including the ever popular Advent in a Jar
Don’t forget too that it is time to sign up for the Advent Quiet Day December 9th. If you prefer, consider purchasing one of our 2 Advent retreats from previous years Walking in Wonder Through Advent with Lilly Lewin and myself, a personal favourite of mine and Lean Towards the Light.
So much to think about at this season. So much to get ready for and in the midst of all the turmoil both of the season and in the horrors of what is happening in the Middle East, remember that God is a God of love so I offer to you the prayer that I wrote at the weekend:
I sit surrounded by God’s love,
It is in the air I breathe
The food I eat.
The water I drink.
I see it in the face of strangers,
I embrace it in the care of friends.
Love circles and sustains me.
Love holds and comforts me.
God is always in me, around me,
Beside me, behind and before.
God is with me wherever I go.
I sit secure in God’s love.
May God’s love be with you.
Christine Sine
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Explore the Advent resources that Godspace Light has been collecting over the years. Liturgies, activities, music… all gathered to help you add meaning and beauty to your Advent season, Christmas and New Year.
by Christine Sine
Last week, Tom and I were in San Francisco and I am still living in the glow of the friends we visited. Some of them we have known for over 50 years. The gaps in time melted away as we pick up where we left off 10 or more years ago. There is nothing like a good friendship revived after many years. Ii is a little like enjoying an expensive vintage wine that has been bottled and kept in the dark until it is at its best. All these friendships are special and their impact on our lives is profound. As we chatted to some of the younger people we got together with however, I realized how lucky we are. They crave close friendships but find them elusive and often frustrating.
We all need friends. Close connections to others give us joy, comfort and support. They provide companionship as we walk the twists and turns of life and help us grow into the people God intends them to be. Celtic Christians called special friendships that were both friends and spiritual directors “soul friends” or “anamcara” In her book Friending: Real Relationships in a Virtual World, Lynne Baab gives one of the best definitions of friendship I have heard. She equates the characteristics of friendship to those of love described in 1 Corinthians 13.
The characteristics of friendship that have endured through the ages – loyalty, affection, sympathy and understanding – are echoed in 1 Corinthians 13. The patience and kindness of real love undergirds the kind of sympathy and empathy that makes friendships work. Refraining from envy, boasting and arrogance lays a foundation for the find of loyalty and affection that has always been valued in friendship. Rudeness and affection are often opposites, so keeping rude words out of our mouths helps us express affection in a more believable way. To feel and convey understanding for another, we need to let go of our own way, and we need to hold back on being irritable and resentful.
It’s true. Friendship is based on love with good doses of forgiveness, acceptance and gratitude thrown in. And at the heart, I find, is a need for prayer. It doesn’t mean that all our friends need to be people of faith, but it certainly helps when we share this important value.
Recognition of the need for friendship goes right back to the creation of Adam and Eve. God created Adam then realized it was not good for him to be alone and created Eve as a fitting companion. Throughout the scriptures, prominent figures seem to have depended on friendship. Some, like Job are even known as “friends of God” (Job 1:8) As well as that, Moses had his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, David had Jonathan and Jesus had his disciples, though his closes friends seem to have been Mary Magdalene and the apostle John. As we read their stories we are aware of the love that cemented them together and sustained them even after their physical connections were broken.
Probably my favourite biblical verse on friendship is Proverbs 25: 11-13 from The Message
The right word at the right time
is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend’s timely reprimand
is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.
Reliable friends who do what they say
are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!
Friendships are often forged in the midst of hardship. That was certainly the case for me. My closest friends are still the women I roomed with when I first came to the mercy ship Anastasis. Over the years we have shared many joys and sorrows. We have struggled through disagreements and challenges, (yes there have been reprimands) but we have always come back to the solid foundation of love and mutual respect that is at the heart of our friendship. My husband Tom calls them “my sisters in combat” because it was the hardships of times on the ship in those early days that really laid the foundations for us. And we are closer now than we ever were. We come from three different countries and now live in three different parts of the U.S. but we continue to grow together. As I reflect on the specialness of this friendship, Ecclesiastes 4:12 comes to mind A cord of three strands is not easily broken. Every friendship is like a threefold cord. It may only involve two people but always in the background there is that third strand of God’s presence that weaves together the other strands in love and companionship.
A few years ago I wrote this special prayer as a tribute to our sisterhood.
A cord of three strands
Is not easily broken,
And God has made us one.
As sisters we have walked the path,
Through seasons light and dark.
With joy and laughter we have shared,
The warmth of heart and home.
United in the One,
United by the Three,
One strand of friendship,
We enjoy,
Through all life’s seasons blessed.
(Christine Sine 2018)
Other friendships date back to those days too. One of the friends I got together with on my recent trip to San Francisco., together with her husband and myself, formed the medical team on the Anastasis in the early 80s. Our friendship was solidified through many hours of hard work renovating the hospital, and more hours of prayer as we struggled to birth the ministry that is still the heart of Mercy Ships. Other friendships have followed and the best of those too were cemented through the joys and struggles we share. I read somewhere once: Strangers are friends waiting to happen, and I think it’s true. Every stranger we meet has the potential to become a friend.
Today it seems easier to nurture these friendships because of zoom calls, Facebook photo sharing and regular emails. Even when we are far away, we feel close because of these connections. Through my work and ministry I have friends and connections around the world, some of whom I have never met. However these kinds of interactions seem to require more effort, more intentionality to move our interactions from casual acquaintance to friendship sharing events. I love that one of my Canadian friends always takes the opportunity after I have shared some of my photos on Facebook to set up a zoom call for more interaction. That kind of intentionality has really strengthened our friendship.
At this season, writing letters, making phone zoom calls is a great way to stay in touch or renew friendship with friends who may not be as close but who are equally important to us. We need both close and more distant friends just as we observed in Jesus’s life. We need connections to sustain and give us life.
As you prepare for thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas, take time to reflect on your own friendships. Which ones need strengthening? Which ones need renewing? Which ones need nurturing? How could you make sure this happens in the days leading up to Christmas?
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