Martin Luther King via wikimedia commons
This next weekend here in the U.S. we will celebrate Martin Luther King Day which commemorates Martin Luther King’s birthday. I will not be here this year – Tom and I head down to Australia on Wednesday, but it is one of those days that I think should be celebrated throughout the world. It is a day used to promote equal rights for all Americans, though I like to expand that to consider it as a day to promote equal rights for all people. Here are three quotes from King’s speeches that I found very compelling this morning
The great problem facing modern man is that, that the means by which we live have outdistanced the spiritual ends for which we live. So we find ourselves caught in a messed-up world. The problem is with man himself and man’s soul. We haven’t learned how to be just and honest and kind and true and loving. And that is the basis of our problem. The real problem is that through our scientific genius we’ve made of the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius we’ve failed to make of it a brotherhood. Rediscovering Lost Values, Sermon delivered at Detroit’s Second Baptist Church (28 February 1954).
Today I would probably say – we have failed to become a global community, but the sentiment is still the same. We are more closely connected than ever yet less concerned about the needs of others.
We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.
Probably my favourite quote of all is this one:
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
When we don’t do what is right and trust our God for provision but rely instead on the values of greed, exploitation and oppression, evil does indeed take over. We have seen it in the enslavement and genocide of peoples. We have seen it in the confiscation of native lands. And we have seen it in the destruction of the earth’s animals and habitats. My home country Australia is suffering from record breaking temperatures that have soared to over 50C or 122F.
Surely there has never been a better time to refuse to look the other way. All of us need to do what is right for those who are still oppressed and marginalized in our world. We need to do what is right to reduce emissions and reduce our consumption to contribute our small bit to the fight against climate change.
As Martin Luther King suggests, our souls suffer along with our bodies and our world when we do not do what is right. And the only way to change that is with the love of God. I pray that today all of us will catch a fresh glimpse of God’s incredible shalom kingdom in which all humanity is set free, creation is restored and we all live together in peace, harmony and mutual concern.
May we dream of a world made new,
Where all of us do what is right.
Where together we shout for justice,
And as one we fight for freedom.
May we dream of a world made new,
Where all of us do what is right.
Where together we seek God’s righteousness
And as one we sing God’s praise.
May we dream of a world made new,
Where all of us do what is right.
Where together we climb God’s mountain,
And as one we enter the promised land.
May we dream of a world made new,
Where all of us do what is right.
Where together we proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom,
And as one we enjoy its peace, abundance and love.
Amen
Today (January 12th) the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. The Church recalls Our Lord’s second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes.
In the Eastern Church this feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan God appeared in three persons. The baptism of John was a sort of sacramental preparatory for the Baptism of Christ. It moved men to sentiments of repentance and induced them to confess their sins. Christ did not need the baptism of John. Although He appeared in the “substance of our flesh” and was recognized “outwardly like unto ourselves”, He was absolutely sinless and impeccable. He conferred upon the water the power of the true Baptism which would remove all the sins of the world: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who takes away the sin of the world”.
Many of the incidents which accompanied Christ’s baptism are symbolical of what happened at our Baptism. At Christ’s baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him; at our Baptism the Trinity took its abode in our soul. At His baptism Christ was proclaimed the “Beloved Son” of the Father; at our Baptism we become the adopted sons of God. At Christ’s baptism the heavens were opened; at our Baptism heaven was opened to us. At His baptism Jesus prayed; after our Baptism we must pray to avoid actual sin.
— Excerpted from Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas
A prayer of proclamation!
John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.
The Baptist protests; Jesus insists.
He is the lamp in the presence of the sun.
The voice in the presence of the Word
The friend in the presence of the Bridegroom
The greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation.
The one who leapt in his mother’s womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb
The forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again.
John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water. (From Micha Jazz)
A Ukranian Theophany hymn.
To Jordan’s water, to Jordan’s water Christ comes to be baptized. John the Forerunner, John the Forerunner, Now humbly steps aside. Christ Our Lord is baptized. Salvation is now realized. Skies of heaven open, God the Father spoken, O’er the Jordan a Dove, Holy Spirit of Love – Revelation from above.
Three Persons in God, Three Persons in God, Are now revealed to us. Father and Son, Father and Son, Holy Spirit – One God. Christ Our Lord is baptized. Salvation is now realized. Skies of heaven open, God the Father spoken, O’er the Jordan a Dove, Holy Spirit of Love – Revelation from above.
Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Baptist, Foretells release today. The Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, Will wash our sins away. Christ Our Lord is baptized. Salvation is now realized. Skies of heaven open, God the Father spoken, O’er the Jordan a Dove, Holy Spirit of Love – Revelation from above.
This prayer was in the Christmas devotional I read Monastery Journey to Christmas. Something for us all to think about as we head towards Lent and Easter too. What makes it possible for us to keep a Christmas heart.
Lord let me keep a Christmas heart,
That, mid the tumult of the throng,
Still hears the echo, clear and sweet, of angels’ song!
Lord, let me keep a Christmas heart,
That hears and sees another’s needs,
And strives each day to follow Thee in word and deed!
Lord, let me keep a Christmas heart,
To light with joy the children’s eyes,
And know the Christ Child, though he come in humble guise!
So may I know the joy within
The wise men, coming from afar,
Knew, when at last, o’er Bethlehem
They saw thy star!
So may I keep thy birthday, Lord!
In ll I say, in all I do!
A Christmas heart of faith and love
The whole year through!
Poem by Grace Bush.
Advent and Christmas are over and we are now into the season of Epiphany but Lent and Easter are not far away. It is time to get ready for our annual Lenten blog series.
For Lent this year we have chosen the theme A Journey Into Wholeness which will compliment the publication of our new Lenten/Easter devotional A Journey Into Wholeness now available for pre-order at a special discount price from the MSA website. As many of you know this book arose out of my frustration with the triviality of most peoples’ commitment to Lent – giving up chocolate or lattes for 40 days just does not seem to cut it.
So lets help people to not only take Lent more seriously but to take the journey of God and the purposes of God more seriously. A recent emailer commented: I appreciate your very “earthy” spirituality, which, of course, translates into heavenly readings! That is a tribute to those of you who regularly write for these blog series. Your reflections help people take their faith more seriously and often establish new disciplines and ministries in their lives.
In the book, A Journey Into Wholeness, each week of Lent has a different emphasis and it is my hope that the daily reflections will help draw people more fully into those themes. In fact it begins a few days before Lent with reflections on preparing for Lent and Easter.
The five weeks of Lent and Holy week emphasis are:
A Journey into the Brokenness of Our Inner Selves
A Journey into the Brokenness of Hunger
A Journey Into the Brokenness of Homelessness
A Journey Into the Brokenness of Creation
A Journey Into the Brokenness of God’s Family
A Journey from Palm Sunday to the Cross
The daily reflections in the book are drawn from previous blog series and I appreciate those of you who have contributed these. Each contributor to this year’s series will receive a free ebook as a thank you for their contribution. It is our hope that this year’s reflections will provide the foundations for a future Lent/Easter devotional. People are looking for practical resources like these that help them get engaged in God’s hurting world. We want to continue to provide creative resources that move them closer towards God. This also provides a creative outlet for those of you who want to get published – contributing to something like this is a small step in the right direction.
So here is your assignment should you choose to accept it:
Choose one of the themes above and write a 600-800 word blog post. If possible include one practical suggestion of something that the reader could do to make this discipline more concrete. Let us know ASAP which theme you have chosen so that we make sure all themes are well covered.
Submit your post by March 5th – If you would like to contribute but do not think you can meet this deadline please let us know when your post will be available.
Provide photos of yourself, a short bio and any links that you would like in the post. Attach jpegs of any other photos that you would like included in the post.
Help us spread the word:
For everyone even if you don’t contribute a post:
Before Lent begins let your friends know that you are participating in A Journey into Wholeness and send them a link to this post. If you would let friends know about the Lenten book A Journey Into Wholeness that would be appreciated too.
If you do provide a post, when your post goes live share the link to your post with your Facebook, twitter and other social media networks.
For those of you that blog:
Before Lent begins do a short post letting people know about the series and that you will be contributing or following. (We will do one in the next couple of weeks that you might like to repost). If you would mention the Lenten devotional that would be much appreciated too. On the day your post goes live please post a paragraph from the post on your own blog and then link to the post on godspace.
A couple of times during Lent we will do a “the series so far…” post. Please post this on your blog too.
As the popularity of what we publish and post increases I realize the increased responsibility that goes with what we do. I hope that you will continue to participate and invite others who may be interested to do the same.
This prayer came to me in the middle of the night last night when I could not sleep. Visualizing God within and without me relaxed and calmed me so that I was soon able to fall asleep.
One of the comments on this post mentioned Dan Schutte’s song Christ Circle Round Us, which I just listened to on you tube. It is beautiful and well worth the listen.
We are pleased to announce that our new resource A Journey Into Wholeness: Soul Travel From Lent to Easter is now available for pre-order at a special price. E-book will also be available early February. This book is based on our popular Lenten guide A Journey into Wholeness but incorporates daily reflections, updated resources and weekly litanies.
Keith R. Anderson, D Min President , The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology says:
Devotional texts are often hard to take because they lack substance or range of thought or depth of writing. The title of this writing, A Journey into Wholeness, makes a bold claim. To offer daily reflections into wholeness will require substance, range, and depth, if it is to be richly whole itself. The readings in front of you now offer all of that in an accessible way.
Al Tizon, Co-president of Evangelicals for Social Action adds:
Journey is not spirituality for spirituality’s sake, as if to encourage some kind of evangelical-mystical navel-gazing. On the contrary, we’re invited to go deep within ourselves where Christ transforms us in order to become agents of transformation in a desperately needy world.”
We hope that you will join us on this exciting journey through Lent and Easter.
Create Your Best Life in 2014
Our first workshop at the Mustard Seed House in Seattle will be held this coming Saturday January 11th. In Creating Your Best Life for 2014, Tom Sine will challenge participants to develop a sense of calling for the year and encourage them to create a one year plan that integrates spiritual growth and creative new possibilities for their lives. We hope you can join us for this exciting event.
To create our best life for the entire year we need discipline and regular renewal. March 1st I will facilitate our pre-Lent retreat, Return to Our Senses in Lent and November 15th a pre-Advent retreat, Return to Our Senses in Advent. Like the retreats that Tom and I take several times a year, these days are designed to help all of us keep our lives focused on God’s purposes and not allow the secular culture to distract us. Without this type of intentionality we will never become the people God intends us to be.
An Integrated Series on Faith and Sustainability
Though each of our retreats and workshops are stand alone events, we are also drawing them together as an integrated series on sustainable faith and sustainable life. It is our desire to provide a year long process that moves us on a journey of discovery towards both a more sustainable life and a more sustainable faith.
Our integrated series includes:
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We hope you will also save the date for our annual Celtic retreat August 8-10 on Camano Island. Our theme for this year is, St Brigit and the Hospitality of God. Come be inspired and renewed to create new possibilities for your life.
By the end of 2014 we expect that some of these events will also be available as online offerings so that those who do not live in the Seattle area can join us in the journey. We also expect to have a new Advent/Christmas resource available so that at the very least we can all journey together through the reflective seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas.
On the Godspace and Mustard Seed blogs we will host several series on sustainable life and sustainable faith throughout the year. If you would like to become part of one of these blogging teams please contact us for more information.
Join Us For An Exciting Year
We have an exciting year ahead and welcome your participation. Above all we appreciate your prayer, encouragement and support.
Our Advent theme this last year, Coming Home: Uncovering Our Roots in the Advent Story. The topic was so popular that not only did Godspace provide daily reflections and podcasts but other websites too contributed to the series. All of us long for home, and whether we realize it or not, that longing is for more then the physical home in which we grew up. As Frederick Buechner says:
The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it.
I hope that you have enjoyed the series. We would love to hear how it impacted your life this year. And in case you missed any of the posts here are all the links to the posts related to the topic.
Podcasts and Advent video:
First week of Advent with Tara Ward and Chelle Stearns listen here, Second week of Advent with Aaron Strumpel, Dwight Friesen, and Donna and Jim Mathwig listen here Third Week of Advent with Karen Ward, Tacey Howe Wispelwey and Mary September listen here Fourth Week of Advent with Lacey Brown and Tom Sine, listen here Advent Mediation Video Coming Home to the Story of God.
Also if you are still looking for resources for Advent and Christmas check out our Advent, Christmas and New Year resources and the Prayer cards and free downloadable Advent in a Jar available through our store
And if you missed any of the daily posts from Advent and Christmas:
- Stable, Inn or Welcoming Home, Where Was Jesus Born and Why Does it Matter?
- Peace Dancing by Esther Hizsa
- Mary and Mindfulness by Kristin Carroccino
- Advent is All About Light by Kate Kennington Steer
- A Summertime Advent by David Bayne
- Pancha Rathas by Amanda Geers
- Is there Room for Jesus to Find a Home in My Heart – Christine Sine
- Wait, Hope, See by Kimberlee Conway Ireton
- Tis the Season of Joy or is It – Christine Sine
- Coming Home by Alex Tang
- Finding Home and Homes by Lynne Baab
- What is the Future You Want to Come Home to by Tom Sine?
- Where’s Home by Andy Wade
- Coming Home to the Kingdom of Love – Will We Be Comfortable – Christine Sine
- Bearing the Joy Light by Kimberlee Ireton Conway
- Coming Home by Paula Mitchell
- Coming Home – the Story God is Giving Me Through Infertility Andrea Frankenfeld
- …And Moved Into the Neighborhood by Jeri Bidinger
- It Has Come to this by Dave Timmer
- Coming Home to the One Whose Face the Whole World Longs to See– Christine Sine
- The God Who Is Come by Beth Stedman
- Welcome Home by Margaret Trotman
- Homesick For A Place We’ve Never Been by Sean Gladding
- A Prayer for Christmas Eve
- A Litany for the Christmas Season
- Let Sing and Rejoice – Christmas is not Over Yet
If you have just started to follow this series may like to watch our Advent meditation video too. The theme for this year’s Advent series Coming Home was also picked up by the December synchroblog which adds another great series of posts that you might like to check out.
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- Jeremy Myers – It Sounds Like Christmas
- Nathan Kitchen – Coming Home
- Michelle at Moments with Michelle – Home
- Mallory Pickering – I’m Kind of Homesick
- Bobi Ann Allen – Coming Home
- J.A. Carter – Going Home
- Glenn Hager – Where the Adventure Begins
- Marta Layton – Can You Ever Come Home Again?
- Peggy at Abisomeone – Abi Has Finally Come Home For Christmas
- Amy Hetland – Coming Home
- Coffeesnob – Home
- Carol Kuniholm – Advent Three: Redefining Home
- Liz Dyer – Advent 2013 The Way Home
- Harriet Long – The Body and the Sacred: Coming Home
- Edwin Pastor Fedex Aldrich – Who I Was Made to Be
- Emkay Anderson – Homemaking
- Anita Coleman – At Home in the Kingdom of God
- Kathy Escobar – Mobile Homes (Not That Kind)
- Jennifer Clark Tinker – My Itinerant Home
- Doreen Mannion – Heart is Where the Home is
- Sarah Quezada – Coming Home with Tamales in Tow
- Loveday Anyim – Home is Where the Heart Belongs
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