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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

wednesday, december 31 (seventh day of christmas)

Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve)

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.
        
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Philippians 2:1-13

Reading for Reflection:   
 
     O Jesus, how far down you had to come to reach us.  How small and how low.  Can anyone really comprehend the magnitude of that downward journey?  You, who had always enjoyed true delight, the loving intimacy of the Trinity, were willing to step out of the ecstasy of that intimacy because of your great desire to bring us into it.  You, who were in very nature God, laid aside your Divine privilege and position to become a man of sorrows, despised and rejected by men.  You, the Eternal One, willing to become a mere mortal.  You, the Creator of all, willing to become one of the created.  O the great sacrifice!  O the immense love!  You, O Christ, emptied yourself of more than we can ever comprehend or imagine.  You, O Christ, made yourself of no reputation (Phil 2:7 KJV).  And you, O Christ, have given us an example, that we might do the same.  Lord Jesus, during this season when we celebrate your stepping down out of the throne room of heaven to become one of us, show us what this emptying looks like for each of us in the days ahead.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
Closing Prayer: O Lord, as we come to the end of another year, as we reflect on all that has been and look ahead to all that will be, help us to know what we need to empty ourselves of in order to have this mind among ourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.  For your glory.  Amen.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

tuesday, sixth day of christmas

Tuesday, December 30

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.
         
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Colossians 2:9-15

Reading for Reflection:
 
     God presents himself to us little by little.  The whole story of salvation is the story of the God who comes. 
     It is always he who comes, even if he has not yet come in his fullness.  But there is indeed one unique moment in his coming; the others were only preparations and announcement.
     The hour of his coming is the Incarnation.
     The Incarnation brings the world his presence.  It is a presence so complete that it overshadows every presence before it.
     God is made human in Christ.  God makes himself present to us with such a special presence, such an obvious presence, as to overthrow all complicated calculations made about him in the past.
     “The invisible, intangible God has made himself visible and tangible in Christ.”
     If Jesus is truly God, everything is clear; if I cannot believe this, everything darkens again.  (The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, thanks that in you the whole fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.  Not just in part, not just a piece, but in full.  You are fully God and yet fully man.  O the mystery!  The invisible, intangible God has made himself visible and tangible in you.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Monday, December 29, 2014

monday, the fifth day of christmas

Monday, December 29

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.
        
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Colossians 1:15-23

Reading for Reflection:
 
     At Trafalgar Square in the city of London stands a statue of Lord Nelson.  Resting atop a tall pillar, it towers too high for passersby to distinguish his features.  For this reason, about forty years ago a new statue—an exact replica of the original—was erected at eye level so everyone could see him.  God also transcends our ability to see; the eyes of our understanding cannot discern divine features.  But we have set before us an exact representation, "the image of the invisible God." To know God we must look only at Jesus. (The Trivialization of God by Donald W. McCullough)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
Closing Prayer: O Christ, visible expression of the invisible God, thank you for leaving the glory of heaven and coming to earth that we might see with our own eyes the face of God and hear with our own ears the voice of God.  And that we might truly come to know the heart of God through you.  Amen.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

sunday, fourth day of christmas

Sunday, December 28

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.
         
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, who came to us long ago in the birth of Jesus Christ, be born in us anew today by the power of your Holy Spirit.  We offer our lives as home to you and ask for grace and strength to live as your faithful, joyful children always.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants)

Scripture Reading for the Day: John 1:1-14

Reading for Reflection:

Incarnating
     by J. Barrie Shepherd

Becoming
putting on
clothing oneself
assuming flesh
bearing the bone and blood
mortality that bears us all
through what we call
for better or worse
this life
how did he do it?
Was it like
climbing
clumsy
into
heavy clanking armor
slipping on
a skin-tight wet suit
taking on oneself a body-cast
of stiff unyielding clay?
Or
was there more of
taking off
a shedding
of the iridescent skin
of fair eternity
a love-filled
laying to one side
of glory, majesty and power
before the naked plunge into the
depths to seek a treasure long encrusted
by the sifting sands of night?
(Weavings, Volume XXVI, Number 1)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                       
Closing Prayer:
Come, Lord Jesus!
     You are my righteousness.  You are my goodness, the cause and the reason for goodness.  You are my life and the light of life.  You are my love and all my loving.  You are the most noble language I can ever utter, my words and all their meaning, my wisdom, my truth, and the better part of myself.  Amen. (Preparing for Jesus by Walter Wangerin Jr.)

Saturday, December 27, 2014

saturday, third day of christmas

Saturday, December 27

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 2:36-40

Reading for Reflection:
 
     He works in tranquility and tranquility seldom goes in partnership with speed.  God breaks few records but he always arrives in the end.  One of the best things we can do for our souls is to wait and one of the worst things is to force the issue.  God lets the plant grow at its own pace.  That is why He can bring forth supernatural beauty in and through imperfect instruments.
     All of us need this grace of long-suffering in respect of our own life of prayer.  There, too, we must learn to wait, realizing the degree in which it depends on God’s quiet, creative action, the profound nature of the changes it demands in our whole being.  We have got to become a “new creature,” as the New Testament says, a creature living towards God.  If it takes nine months to make a natural baby, would it be very surprising if it took nine years to make a supernatural baby?  Tarry thou the Lord’s leisure…. (The Fruits of the Spirit by Evelyn Underhill)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                     
Closing Prayer: Lord, during this Christmas season, may we be like Anna, not departing from your temple, but worshipping, fasting, and praying night and day.  May we, like her, be constantly giving thanks for the gift of your redemption, both in our lives and in our world.  Amen.

Friday, December 26, 2014

friday, second day of christmas

Friday, December 26

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 2:21-35

Reading for Reflection: "
 
And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:35

     Surely as Simeon spoke these words to Joseph and Mary, telling them all of the incredible things about their newborn baby, our Savior, this couldn't just have slipped by unnoticed.  Can you imagine how disturbing these words must have been?  Can you imagine how disturbing they would be now if someone uttered them to you this very day?  “What do you mean a sword will pierce my soul too?  What in the world does that look like?  And how will it happen?  How incredibly painful that sounds.  It would be painful enough for a sword to pierce my body, but piercing my soul sounds even worse, like another whole level of pain and suffering altogether.”  Just ask those who have experienced it.  They know it all too well. 
     And too.  What do you mean by too?  Is my newborn baby's soul going to be pierced by a sword as well?  Please, just pierce me and leave this precious little one's soul in one piece.  To have the heart and soul of the one we love pierced is more than I can bear; way worse than if it merely happened to me.  But, then again, nobody knows that more than the Father, the One from whom all Fatherhood derives its name.  If our souls can be pierced by tragedy, or loss, or desolation, imagine His very own...pierced to the core.  Why on earth would God allow his own heart to be pierced? Or even more, his own Son's?  Something beautiful and life-giving must happen in the midst of the piercing: his, Joseph's, Mary's, and even ours.  But that certainly doesn't take away the depths of the pain.
     So, as excited as Mary and Joseph must've been with angels and shepherds and stars, and wise men and gifts and prophesies and such, somehow this one little line must've stopped them in their tracks.  Surely this strange and awful phrase must've lingered in the backs of their minds and disrupted them, at least a little.  So as we celebrate the gifts of these twelve days of Christmas, and the incredible Gift given both to us and for us, let us recognize, and embrace--as did Mary and Joseph--the notion that maybe, just maybe, this terribly disrupting little word is somehow meant for us as well.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
Closing Prayer: Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace as You have promised: for with our own eyes we have seen the Saviour, the One You prepared for all the world to see, the Light to enlighten all the earth, and to bring glory to Your people for evermore.  Amen. (Daily Prayer by Robert Benson)

Thursday, December 25, 2014

christmas day

Thursday, December 25 (Christmas Day)

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Luke 2:1-20

Reading for Reflection:
 
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6-7)

     Room is a very important thing in the life of the Spirit.  As a matter of fact, new birth seems to require it.  Unfortunately, and ironically, during this season, just as in the time of Mary and Joseph, it is so easy for life just to fill up.  And when life is over-filled there is simply no room for something new (of the Spirit) to be born in us; the pace and demands of the season are at odds with the room and reflection necessary to pay attention to how, where, and when God might be entering our lives/world.
     Maybe that’s why the words of the old Christmas carol remind us, “Let every heart, prepare him room.”  It seems that the writers of those wonderful songs of old knew well the secret that unless we work diligently to make room for him, it will not simply happen on its own.  It will not just “fall on our heads.”  Making room takes effort and intention and prayer and planning.  And unless we are willing and able to put forth the energy and effort to pay attention, it is likely that when He does eventually come, we will miss him too.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                    
Closing Prayer: The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and crowns another year with peace and good will.  Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.  Close the doors of hate and open the doors of love all over the world.  Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.  Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.  May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our bed with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.
                                                                                    ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

christmas eve

Wednesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve)

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 9:1-7

Reading for Reflection:
 
     The only worry children have about Christmas is whether or not they can possibly wait for it to arrive.  Perhaps this is because only kids seem to understand the secret of Christmas: It isn’t really about giving; it is about receiving.
     According to the Gospels, the only person giving at Christmas is God.  Everyone else is simply receiving this silent, holy miracle that breaks into the night.  Much later a few wise men show up with gifts, but their giving is only as an act of worship in response to what God has given us.
     Christmas is a poignant illustration of a dynamic we live with every day of our lives: we spend most of our lives trying to make things happen for ourselves and for the people we love.  But life is not reduced to what you give or know or achieve.  Nor is it reduced to your mistakes, your failures, or your sin.  Life isn’t even defined by whom you love.  Rather, it is defined by the God who loves you.  In other words, you are not the central character—not even of your own life’s story.  This is not meant to demean you; it is meant to set you free. (Sacred Thirst by M. Craig Barnes)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                     
Closing Prayer: Gracious, loving and merciful God, on this Christmas Eve, as the light of your Word penetrates our hearts, as we are reminded of the gift of life and faith, as the glories of the heavenly hosts are echoed in our church, we open ourselves up to your Spirit and give you thanks.   We are grateful, Lord Jesus, that your story has become our story, and we celebrate your birth. 
     Continue, we pray, to instill in us a profound sense of your abiding presence, and help us to take to heart the wonder of your love, that we may walk in your ways and delight in your will.
     Help us, Lord God, to be the faithful, gracious, loving, giving and forgiving people you would have us be
                                                                                    ~Rev. Dr. Sean B. Murray

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

new, tuesday

Tuesday, December 23

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Revelation 21:1-7

Reading for Reflection:
 
     The years that lie behind you, with all their struggles and pains, will in time be remembered only as the way that led to your new life.  But as long as the new life is not fully yours, your memories will continue to cause you pain.  When you keep reliving painful events of the past, you can feel victimized by them.  But there is a way of telling your story that does not create pain.  Then, also, the need to tell your story will become less pressing.  You will see that you are no longer there: the past is gone, the pain has left you, you no longer have to go back and relive it, you no longer depend on your past to identify yourself.
     There are two ways of telling your story.  One is to tell it compulsively and urgently, to keep returning to it because you see your present suffering as the result of your past experiences.  But there is another way.  You can tell your story from the place where it no longer dominates you.  You can speak about it with a certain distance and see it as the way to your present freedom.  The compulsion to tell your story is gone.  From the perspective of the life you now live and the distance you now have, your past does not loom over you.  It has lost its weight and can be remembered as God’s way of making you more compassionate and understanding toward others. (The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
Closing Prayer: O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.
     As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness?
     I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace.
     Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come.  Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Monday, December 22, 2014

new, monday

Monday, December 22

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 43:16-21

Reading for Reflection:
 
     Most often in the scriptures it seems like we are called upon to remember, and rightly so.  We are called upon to remember how God has moved and how he has worked on our behalf.  We are called upon to remember how he has provided for our needs and how he has guided our paths over the course of our lifetime, as well as that of our ancestors.  We are called upon to remember how he has protected us from our enemies, defended us from peril, and fought for us when we were too weak, or powerless, or exhausted to fight for ourselves.  Remembering is a very good thing.
     But, interestingly enough, in this instance we are actually called upon to forget.  Forgetting, it seems, is also a significant part of the spiritual journey.  Especially when we are being called upon to forget one thing, in order that God can begin to do a new thing.  Because somehow not forgetting the former things actually keeps us from being able to perceive the new thing that is being born within us or among us.  But how are we to know when we are to do one versus the other?  What does it mean to forget the former things?  And what things are we really talking about here?
     Maybe what God is really trying to get at in this passage is the idea that, at times, we have the tendency to hold onto the old at the expense of the new.  And when I say old, I am not just referring to the old in a negative sense, I am also referring to old in a more positive way.  We seem to have the tendency to think that just because God acted in a particular way, at a particular time and place, that he will always act in just that way.  We tend to expect and demand, and even try to determine, how and where and when God will show up in our current story.  The problem with that is it keeps us from being open to the new thing God seems to be birthing within and among us.  If we hold too tightly to the way things "have always been," or to the ways that God has always come thus far, we shut ourselves off to the new thing that he is trying to do.  Therefore, we must forget.  But forgetting the former things does not mean forgetting what God has done, maybe it means only forgetting the way in which he has done them.  We should not come to expect, or demand, that he always do things in that particular way from here on out.  In that sense don't dwell on the past might actually mean don't live in the past.  Do not limit your vision for, or your openness to, what God might be up to and how he might be up to it.  Don't always expect that he will show up exactly the same way as he did before, or in exactly the same form.  If you do that, you will likely miss the new that he is trying to bring about. 
     The season of Advent is that time where we are encouraged to always be ready for however and wherever and whenever God might choose to come.  Because he will come.  A friend of mine reminded me once that, "We come into Advent this year different than we did the last.  We are different people, in a different place, with a different set of circumstances.”  A lot of water has passed under our bridge since we last came to the season of watching and waiting.  So, if we are different people, wouldn't it make sense that God would want to come to us in a new and different way?  In a way that addresses the time and the place and the season in which we now find ourselves living? 
     Therefore, we must not stubbornly cling to our old ways and demands and expectations, but must be open to receiving this new thing that we, thus far, have not perceived.  In some way, we must become a blank page, waiting to be filled.  The problem is that being a blank page is vulnerable and uncomfortable.  Thus, we have a tendency to try and fill our pages at any and every opportunity.  Therefore, during this season, it might actually take some emptying before we are able to perceive, and then receive, this new thing.  That's where the forgetting comes in.  It could be that the story of the nativity has grown so familiar to us that we have forgotten that one of the essential elements of the story in the first place is that God came in a way and a form and a place that no one expected.  Should we expect that this Advent and Christmas will be any different?

 Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                    
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.  We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.  We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.  We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.  We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.  We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.  To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"  Amen
                                                                                    ~Henri J. M. Nouwen

Sunday, December 21, 2014

new, sunday

Sunday, December 21 (Fourth Sunday in Advent)

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)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah42:1-9

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.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
    
                      
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.