Verse of the day
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
– Hebrews 11:1
Voice of the day
We live in hope — that life will get better, and more importantly that it will go on, that love will survive even though we will not.
– John Green, “The Anthropocene Reviewed” (2021)
Prayer of the day
Thank you for the promise that love will go on, even when we leave this earth.
Verse of the day
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
– Luke 2:10-11
Voice of the day
When the song of the angels is stilled, / when the star in the sky is gone, / when the kings and princes are home, / when the shepherds are back with their flocks, / the work of Christmas begins: / to find the lost, / to heal the broken, / to feed the hungry, / to release the prisoner, / to rebuild the nations, / to bring peace among the people, / to make music in the heart.
– Howard Thurman
Prayer of the day
As we begin the work of Christmas, may we not be afraid, for you, Emmanuel, are with us.
As I opened the news this morning my heart sank as I saw the news from Bethlehem… the attacks on October 7th by Hamas were absolutely horrific… yet so too is the response by the Netanyahu government and the IDF. The following quotes from Pope Francis and Thomas Merton speak to the anguish that I feel as we remember the birth of the Prince of Peace.
Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world. — Pope Francis
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst. — Thomas Merton, “The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room” in Raids on the Unspeakable, pages 51-52
This verse from the Creation story in Genesis 1 came to my heart as I reflected on these quotes: So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
Even though this world doesn’t seem to want to make room for God’s Peace / Shalom / Salam, may it still break into the world… I have to believe that there is always hope.
“In Bethlehem we say: as long as one person still is searching nothing is totally lost. And we are searching for peace with many.”—Jihan Anastas
For [the Christmas Season], we affirm our solidarity with the whole human race in its long struggle to come humane and to reveal divinity in which all [humankind] shares… Christmas is the brooding Presence of the Eternal Spirit making the crooked paths straight, rough places smooth, tired hearts refreshed, dead hopes stir with newness of life. It is the promise of tomorrow at the close of everyday, the movement of life in defiance of death, and the assurance that love is sturdier than hate, that right is more confident than wrong, that good is more permanent than evil. — Howard Thurman (The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations, pp. xii, xiv)
Verse of the day
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
– Luke 2:20
Voice of the day
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
– Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” (1843)
Prayer of the day
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of your Son, may we celebrate the coming of God to earth, all year long.
Verse of the day
A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.
– Proverbs 17:17
Voice of the day
Friendship is the place in which a great majority of us have our first glimpse of redemptive love and caring community.
– bell hooks, “All About Love: New Visions” (1999)
Prayer of the day
God, we thank you for friendship: for close friends who are with us in times of joy and trouble, and for friends who become as close as family.
Verse of the day
Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone?
– Matthew 7:9
Voice of the day
When people were hungry, Jesus didn’t say, “Now is that political, or social?” He said: “I feed you.” Because the good news to a hungry person is bread.
– Desmond Tutu
Prayer of the day
To love you, Jesus, is to feed the hungry, heal the sick, clothe the naked, and give homes to the homeless.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that.
Because what the world needs is people that have come alive.”
—Howard Thurman
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”—Alice Walker
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