new, day 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,

     Thou Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, be born into our world.  Wherever there is war in this world, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever there is no hope, come, thou long-expected one, with healing in thy wings.

     Holy Child, whom the shepherds and the kings and the dumb beasts adored, be born again.  Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart, come, thou blessed one, with healing in thy wings.

     Saviour, be born in each of us who raises his face to thy face, not knowing fully who he is or who thou art, knowing only that thy love is beyond his knowing and that no other has the power to make him whole.  Come, Lord Jesus, to each who longs for thee even though he has forgotten thy name.  Come quickly.  Amen. (The Hungering Dark by Frederick Buechner)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 98

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 42:1-9

Reading for Reflection:

New is something we all deeply long for.  In fact, which one of us is not excited about a new beginning, or a clean slate, or a new lease on life, or a brand new heart?  Who among us is not thrilled at the prospect of all the old and the worn out and the broken being done away with in favor of the new, and the fresh, and the whole.  But I’ll be the first to admit that as much as I yearn for all things to be made new, I don’t want it to cost me anything.  I don’t want it to be a process that is slow and difficult, arduous and long.  I want it to just suddenly appear, to be as quick and as easy as possible—like waving some sort of magic wand.

     New birth, however, does not come easy.  In fact, the birthing process is often a long and painful one.  I guess that’s why they call it labor.  And the necessity of this labor is not only true of physical birth, but of spiritual birth as well.  That does not mean that we can somehow work our way into some new state of being or of seeing.  The new thing, whatever it may be, must be conceived in us, and that is something that we ultimately have no control over—no more control than Mary had as the Spirit came upon her. 

     The birthing of this new thing, however, is a different story.  The birthing process, the process of bringing this new thing into existence, requires a labor—a labor that is likely filled with much pain and turmoil and struggle.  A pain and a turmoil and a struggle that is offset, however, by the overwhelming joy of seeing this new thing being brought into existence—being born either among us or within us.  Therefore, it is a labor that is both purposeful and hopeful.  It is a labor that, to borrow a phrase from a popular Christmas song, is a labor of love.

                                                                                        ~Jim Branch

                                                                                   December 2010

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: O Little Town of Bethlehem 

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see the lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

For Christ is born of Mary, And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to thee,
Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.

O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

Closing Prayer
O Lord our God, may something new be born in us this day, as well as this season—this season where we celebrate your birth into this cold and cruel world.  This season where we rejoice over your amazing arrival to live among us; to give us light and life and hope and peace.  We pray this in the Name of Jesus.  Amen. (JLB)