born

Opening Prayer: O God of the new thing, allow yourself to be born anew in me this day and this season.  Make a way in my wilderness; for only you can.  Amen.

Scripture: Isaiah 43:18-19

Journal: What new thing is God doing in you these days?  What former things do you need to forget?

Reflection: The time for the baby is getting closer!  The stirrings of new life give hope to the world.  The real surprise of Christmas is being able to experience yourself as gift—experiencing yourself as pregnant with new life.  We love babies because a baby is a sign of possibility.  We look at a new-born baby and think—even if only for a moment—that there is a chance that the human race might make it after all!  The baby, who cannot yet speak a word, is the Word of God!  It’s absurd.  Yet there is the deepest of truths here.  It’s true.

     What will you do in the next few days until Christmas Eve?  Visit the Crèche—with the gifts of your heart’s hunger?  Allow Joy to be born in you.  Allow yourself to be loved and adored.  Come as you are.  Accept the gracious work of God to turn us into a family; yes, even a sort of holy family. ~Alan Jones

Prayer

Closing Prayer:

Holy preparation,

counterweight of surprise,

plum line of hospitality;

you are fresh hay quickly strewn,

soft linen bands newly torn,

to hold the One who is to come.

O Preparation, catcher of the off guard,

leveler of all things high and low;

you are the smoother of rough edges

and bearer of good news.

Come, reveal our webs of apathy

with holy, sweeping light.

Amen. (Behold! By Pamela C. Hawkins)