Verse of the day
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.”
– Matthew 6:19
Voice of the day
In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human successes, but on how well we have loved.
– Attributed to St. John of the Cross
Prayer of the day
Lord, may our guiding question throughout our days be: “How have I loved?” and not “What have I obtained?”
This Advent season has been a challenge for us on multiple levels. Yet today was truly a blessing. This morning’s worship service was filled with music and prayer. This afternoon was the second half of our Officer Training at Swift Church. Tonight we have had a delightful soup supper and are chilling with Christmas movies and wine.
As we draw closer to the eve where we remember the birth of Jesus, I find myself pondering the gifts of this season. The gift of quiet… the gift of the beauty of nature… the gift of solitude… In the midst of the insanity which is this commercialized season we need to stop. We need to stop and get off of the carrousel of consumerism and greed.
Tonight I am thankful for the meaning-filled things that make up this life. The love of my sweet wife who is my partner in life, love, and ministry. The blessing of our sweet Stella who rescued us as much, if not more than we rescued her.
With all of that being said, the sun has long ago set but the Vesper lights continue to flicker and glow.
Thankful for the blessings of this day
The blessings of love, life, grace, and peace
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
We are midway through Advent and Christmas will soon be upon us. It will have been a year on December 26th that I tested positive for COVID and began a year of challenges and struggles that I still find myself dealing with on a regular basis. I have been feeling worn down and worn out as a result of all that has gone on in the past twelve months.
Finding the energy or the inspiration to write/blog on a regular basis has been challenging. Today, Denise and I attended a midday Zoom class through the Abbey of the Arts that was led by Sophfronia Scott who is the author of a wonderful book entitled, The Seeker and the Monk. The title of her presentation was “Thomas Merton and the Transformative Power of Love.” Sophfronia’s presentation was an opportunity for me to do some reflecting during this season in my life.
One of the Merton quotes she shared came from his autobiographical novel My Argument with the Gestapo. If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing that I want to live for.
If you want to identify me… I think about the identities that I have had through the years. Chaplain, Pastor, Reverend, Rev, Padre, Mike, Michael, Mikey… who am I? The first four names are titles describing what my profession has been for the past thirty-five plus years of ministry. The last three are more personal with each one having its own specific story. Within them is contained part of my identity.
Tomorrow the scripture reading that I will focus on for my meditation during the Christmas program at church is Luke 1:46b-55. The reading is the song of Mary which is traditionally called The Magnificat. She offered this powerful song in response to the incredible news that she would become pregnant via the Holy Spirit and that she would name him Jesus. All of a sudden, her world had been turned upside down. Her identity would no longer be Mary, the wife of Joseph the carpenter. She would be known as the mother of the son of God! Even in the midst of all that, Mary never lost her identity as Mary, beloved child of God.
I am Michael, beloved child of God. You, dear reader, are a beloved child of God. In the midst of the chaos of life and the challenges life throws our way, we can be sure of that one fact. We are beloved children of God and I am thankful for your companionship on this journey.
In the early 80’s I was still a grad student and teaching my very first intro philosophy course. Some class sessions went pretty well. Others not so much. On one particular morning my lecture had plunged the students into a terminally bored stupor. I spent the rest of the day muttering “stupid, stupid, stupid” to myself.
— Read on jakeowensby.com/2022/12/09/really-being-here/
Here in Washington, D.C., we Pax Christi USA members are surrounded by strange bedfellows. Those contractors who profit from war and their powerful lobbyists who sit in the same pew as those in non-profit organizations who work for peace. We share neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Can we ever imagine legislative hawks on Capitol Hill nesting with congressional doves? Can people of faith who are sworn ideological enemies build the same beloved community?
— Read on paxchristiusa.org/2022/12/01/a-reflection-for-the-upcoming-second-sunday-of-advent-december-4/
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1) With those words, the reading from Isaiah 11:1-10 for the Second Sunday of Advent begin a story. It is a story of hope, of redemption, and of peace. On this Sunday our congregation will light the candle of peace on the Advent wreath. The closing prayer for the candle lighting liturgy says the following: Faithful God, you are at work to restore all of creation in its intended harmony. Give us your shalom that we may be reconciled to all enemies in the peace that passes all understanding through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Give us your Shalom that we may be reconciled to all enemies. Wow, that is a powerful prayer request. It is especially powerful when you put it into the context of the reading from Isaiah. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears here; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth… (Isaiah 11:3-4a) The kingdom described is unlike any other kingdom that I have studied.
Isaiah continues to describe this vision in the following verses: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (11:6-9)
I don’t know about you, but the sort of place that Isaiah describes in his vision brings comfort and hope to me. You see, right now we don’t live in a world where judgment is decided with equity. And we certainly aren’t living in a place or a time where there will be no hurt or destruction because the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord. So, how do we get to that holy mountain where shalom isn’t a word but rather a way of living and believing. That is where we come to the gospel reading from Matthew for this Second Sunday of Advent. In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:1-2)
Repent… to turn around. The Greek word for repent is metanoeó (μετανοέω) which means to change one’s mind or purpose for living. You might go so far as to describe metanoeó as turning around one’s life. John the Baptist was calling for the people to turn their lives around. He wasn’t afraid to offer the same challenge to the religious authorities who were in cahoots with the Empire at the expense of the people they had been called and commissioned to serve. Instead of leading the people of God and speaking out on their behalf, they were busy lining their pockets with money and living the high life with callous disregard for the people they were supposed to serve.
So, what does this mean for us today and how are we to respond to the challenge of John the Baptist and bear fruit worthy of repentance. (vs.8) What does this mean for us today as we work to establish the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer? How do we work with God to bring about the peaceable kingdom which Isaiah describes? The prophet Micah offered an answer to doing this sort of kingdom building work. He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God. (Micah 6:8)
The season of Advent invites us to re-examine our lives and how we live out our faith on a day-to-day basis. In his book The Mood of Christmas, Howard Thurman described how such a change can occur. He (Jesus) knew that love was the most completely persistent quality of which the human spirit is capable, because for its sake and under its aegis (humankind) will gladly do what no power in heaven or hell could make them do without love. (p. 7)
Love, the deep Agapé love which Paul describes in I Corinthians 13, is what brings about the repentance John the Baptist called for and the peaceable kingdom that Isaiah described. My friends, it is only with such love which the Spirit can equip us to share that we can do the work of building the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven. I believe that is the invitation that is being offered on this Second Sunday of Advent.
The first week of Advent is almost over
This past Sunday’s reading from Isaiah spoke of the vision of a peaceable kingdom
Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:3-4)
This week has been a week of winter weather delays in flying
It has been a week of winter driving through snow and ice
It has been a week of walking through the valley of the shadows of dementia
It has been a time of reflection
It has been a time of simply being still in the midst of it all with my beloved
Today’s reading from A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals (Dec 1st reading) speaks of Advent and Merton’s thoughts about life.
It is beautiful Advent weather, greyish and cold, with clouds of light snow howling across the valley, and I see it is really winter. I put some bread out for the birds. I feel closer to my beginning than ever, and perhaps I am near my end. (December 9, 1962)
It was definitely winter as we flew from Mobile, AL to Charlotte, NC to Minneapolis, MN before being diverted to Madison, WI and finally Milwaukee, WI where we landed and we’re refueled before finally flying to and landing in Minnesota in the midst of their first big winter snowstorm.
Tonight as we prepare for our flight back home to our sweet Stella and our Swift Church family we are thankful. Given our experiences these past few days, I am also cognizant of Merton’s final words in the quote above. I feel closer to my beginning than ever, and perhaps I am near my end.
In 1962 did Merton have any idea that he would die six years later? Instead of thinking about that, I am pretty confident that he would have thought about that particular day through the lens of the psalmist. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
What did Merton think about on that cold Advent day? He thought about feeding his dear bird neighbors. In addition I believe he thought about the beginning and the end of his life in a different way. Beginning or end, it is the current day in which we live that is important to God and to us.
With that in mind along with the challenges of this week, I realize that this indeed is the day which the Lord has made and we are called to rejoice and be glad in it as we seek to serve the Lord wherever we might be.
Verse of the day
In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression; indeed, you shall not fear; and from terror; indeed, it shall not come near you.
– Isaiah 54:14
Voice of the day
We will make no peace … with oppression / … We will march in the streets / No justice no peace / Arm and arm with our neighbor till we all stand free
– The Porter’s Gate, “We Will Make No Peace with Oppression”
Prayer of the day
Almighty God, help us not to be afraid. May we not settle for anything less than a world where the oppressed are free.
Today in the first reading we hear that famous Isaian vision of God’s kingdom to come, which the Quaker artist Edward Hicks so famously captured in his painting The Peaceable Kingdom. “The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest.” It’s basically a return to Eden.
But toward the end of that pastoral scene of former predators and prey making a home together
— Read on www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/11/29/scripture-kingdom-god-scandal-244230
As we begin the new liturgical year, it is also the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is often seen as a time of preparation and anticipation. In his book, Seasons of Celebration: Meditations on the Cycle of Liturgical Feasts, Thomas Merton wrote the following about Advent based on the sermons and writings of St Bernard: …the Sacrament (of Advent) is the Presence of Christ in the World as Savior…Advent does not merely commemorate the Incarnation as a historical event, nor is it a mere devotional preparation for the Feast of Christmas, nor an anticipation of the Last Judgment. (p. 53) I believe that Merton is pointing us towards an understanding of Advent as a mystery to sit with rather than a puzzle to be solved. This is especially true as I consider the Gospel lesson for this Sunday.
In Matthew 24 Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and a whole host of tribulations that will occur. I know for me, by the time I make my way through the first thirty-five verses, my head is spinning over such gems as verse 28, Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Is there any hope to be found, Lord? After giving the wild description of the apocalyptic vision, It appears to me that Jesus seemed to pause and offer several reminders throughout the remaining verses. But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (verse 36) Jesus says in verse 42, Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming and in verse 44, Therefore you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
I think about how many times I have heard people get lost in the weeds trying to “predict” when the end days will begin. To paraphrase what Jesus said about the scribes and Pharisees, people are often so busy straining out gnats that they swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:24) What do I mean by that? We get so lost in the woods of the minutia of the apocalyptic stories that we miss the main point of the message. The people in the time of Noah knew what was going on and chose to ignore Noah and his warnings to wake up and serve the Lord. Unlike the people in Noah’s day, the two women had no idea what was about to happen and neither did the homeowner.
So, what is the message Jesus is offering in these stories? I believe that the clues are found in his trifold warning that nobody knows the day or the hour of his coming. He invites us to keep awake in verse 42 and to be ready in verse 44. Okay, Lord, so what do you want us to do as we watch and wait? It is at that time when the main message of Jesus comes into play. I can almost hear him saying instead of straining gnats, why don’t you listen to the Law… you know, love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself… yes, that means every neighbor.
In the reading from Isaiah (chapter two: verses one through five) for the First Sunday of Advent, I believe we see another way of “filling the time” until the Lord’s return. Even though the people have been exiled and the temple has been destroyed, Isaiah offers hope to the exiles. Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. (verse 3b) How can they walk in the Lord’s paths? They can make a radical change in the way that they look at the world. They can join in the work of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. They can transform their lives and the world by not studying war anymore. Perhaps they can live into the charge given by another prophet (Micah) who invited the people to do justice, love kindness (mercy), and walk humbly with God.
As I circle back to Merton’s invitation sit with the mystery that is the sacrament of Advent, I realize that I really don’t have any answers to the apocalyptic questions. However, I do believe that God has given us something to ponder as well as giving us a way to live our lives. As we wait for the return of the Lord, why don’t we drop the tea leaves and live as Jesus and the prophets taught. Love God and all of our neighbors… seek ways to build bridges of understanding, love, and compassion… seek to follow the way of God that Micah revealed: do justice, love kindness (mercy), and walk humbly with God and I would add walk humbly with one another.
If we spend our time doing that work, we won’t be surprised when the Lord returns and I am pretty sure that the Lord will smile.
