First Reading – Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading – Matthew 2:1-12
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you Lord for the wonder of this day
For the opportunity to Be Still
For the opportunity for reflection
For the opportunity to study
For the opportunity to write
For the time to prepare for tomorrow’s worship
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…
On some mornings I wake from a dream so winsome and vivid that I long to lay my head back on the pillow to recapture it if only for just a moment.
Today is the Eleventh Day of Christmas. Epiphany is nearly upon us. We will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany tomorrow in worship. We will gather around the Lord’s Table where we will break bread and share the cup.
It is also still mid-Winter. The days are still short and the January winds are blowing here in the Rocky Mountains. I continue to walk with Howard Thurman through the Twelve Days of Christmas thanks to Bruce Epperly’s book. Soon we will enter a new season in the church year. The season of Epiphany will last until the season of Lent begins. This season is also called Ordinary Time. Yet as I look at the world around me, the time is anything but ordinary.
There are days when I long to soar above the world as the pelican at the top of the blog was flying when I received this image on Perdido Key in Florida this past November. In TH White’s book, The Once and Future King, a story is told about young Wart (who would become King Arthur) and one of Merlin’s lessons for the future King. Wart was turned into a bird by Merlin and was flying with him (Merlin turned himself into a bird to join Wart in this lesson/adventure). Wart discovered that when he was flying high above the ground he couldn’t distinguish the boundaries between the various counties in England. The borders were created by humans. They were on maps made by humans. Yet in the sky the boundaries disappeared. The land was seen as God had created it. It was one land with one people. Oh the people may have different backgrounds but they were all united as creatures whom God had created.
As I consider the borders that humankind has fought over for millennia, I wonder what God thinks. Surely God must weep over the actions of those who were created in God’s own image (Imago Dei).
Once more, the words of Howard Thurman ring out so very clearly to me. Even though he wrote decades ago, his words (the words of a Prophet in my eyes) ring so very true.
Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; All around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree; the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and [people] have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of the child—life’s most dramatic answer to death—this is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge!
This is the growing edge! This is the basis of hope in the midst of despair. It is to this hope that I will cling. It is this hope which will guide us through these times of darkness. It is this hope that will bring us to the light of a new day. May it be so, Lord! Amen.
We saw this fellow along with a herd of Bull Elk hanging out in Rocky. Rut was over and the guys were once more friends! This quiet seemed to be a gift to him and it makes me think about what gift I bring to Jesus in response to the gift he has given me.
What gift do I bring… what gift do we bring… this question has taken on a whole different sitz im leben (Setting in Life… a German phrase that we became very familiar with in our study of Scripture in Seminary, especially under my Old Testament Professor Art Merrill) since I put the bulletin together in early December.
Initially I was thinking of the Feast of the Epiphany and the visit of the Magi. I was also thinking of it in terms of the passage from Isaiah 60, especially verses one through three.
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Just as the Magi came bearing gifts… just as the Shepherds came bearing the gift of the Angel’s tidings of joy… I was contemplating what we are called to bring to the Lord as Christ-followers. These words of Howard Thurman from his book The Mood of Christmas & Other Celebrations also came to my mind.
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 flock,
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 brothers [and sisters],
To make music in the heart.
I was contemplating all of this until this week. As the bombs fell… as the rockets were fired… as threats and counter threats continue to be made… as sabers are rattled by those who will never bear the cost of their words and actions in their own bodies… I wonder what I can possibly bring to the Lord in this New Year.
I bring my fears… I bring my tears… I bring my hopes… I bring my faith and trust in the Prince of Peace… I come before him with my heart and my head and my hands open…
Tomorrow we will gather around the Table of the Lord to celebrate the first Communion service of this New Year. As a part of this liturgy, I will say the following:
“Jesus says: Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)
And
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” (John 6:35, 37)
Two words that echo in my heart over and over which I repeat in the liturgy are: anyone, anyone who comes to me I will never, never drive away. Perhaps that is the gift I can bring to the Lord in this new year. Perhaps I can bring to the Lord my heart… my tears… my fears… my hopes… my very life!
Perhaps I can make a difference in a world filled with hatred, warfare, greed, and division. Perhaps this is the work of Christmas I am called to do. This and every day I am called to do this work. Will you join me?
Such a powerful blog and reminder… it takes me back to my own Clinical Pastoral Education experience…
This may sound odd,
but one of the most important things anyone ever said to me
when I was still training
to be a pastor was this:“Honey, whatever that is you’re doin’, you gotta put it down
and come hold this baby.”
— Read on lonnielacy.com/what-we-hold/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
As we enter the New Year
As we look at the world you have created
As we see the violence and saber rattling
We seek your Spirit’s guidance
Lord make us instruments of your peace
May we not descend into darkness and despair
Lord give us the ability and opportunity to make a difference
As we enter this New Year
Hear our humble and heartfelt prayer
Dona Nobis Pacem et in Terra
Grant Us Peace on Earth
Make us once again instruments of your peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
It is January 3rd and the 10th Day of Christmas. Ten days after we remembered the birth of our Lord. What was the song of the angels on Christmas Eve? The angels who appeared to the Shepherds shared this hope and promise. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”–Luke 2:14
And on earth peace… ten days after many congregations sang these words bombs have dropped and the call to war is shrill and noisy. The lines are drawn as politicians echo soundbites and tweets for and against the bombing and killing in Iraq. Sadly I have seen this before. Politicians rattle their sabres while the ones who serve and the innocents caught in the line of fire will die. A heavy decision with incredible consequences was made behind closed doors without hearing all perspectives.
And on earth peace… I just picked up Bruce Epperly’s book, The Work of Christmas: The 12 Days of Christmas with Howard Thurman, which has been my companion on this time between Christmas and Epiphany. Imagine my shock when I read these words of Howard Thurman for today:
Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes,
And the heart consumes itself, if it would live,
Where little children age before their time,
And life wears down the edges of mind,
Where the old person sits with mind grown cold,
While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,
Where fear companions each day’s life,
And Perfect Love seems long delayed.
CHRISTMAS IS WAITING TO BE BORN:
In you, in me, in all humankind.
Epperly continues in his commentary to discuss the heartache Thurman referenced in the above poem.
Christmas comes to those with their backs against the wall, as Thurman asserts: working-poor shepherds, a family having to migrate to satisfy a dictator’s need for riches despite a mother’s pregnancy, infants murdered by a local ruler in his quest to destroy the Holy Child and his way of peace.
And as we celebrate the twelve days of Christmas, we too witness wars and rumors of war. Swords are not beaten into plowshares but fashioned into drones, automatic weapons, and missiles. Nations continue to study war and encroach on their neighbors’ territories. Whole communities are annihilated, often inspired by religious ideology that separates faithful from infidel and “saved” from “unsaved.” (Epperly, pp. 72-73)
My heart is heavy this day. To be honest, I am seeking light in this time of darkness. I am seeking the Spirit’s guidance as I attempt to walk the way of peace.
In the conclusion of his thoughts on the 10th day of Christmas, Epperly shared the story of the poem Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote following news of his son’s serious wounding in the Civil War. This portion of the poem, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, struck me:
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
I pray that I can follow my friend Episcopal Bishop Steven Charleston who shared these words with our community this morning:
I will not submit to the tyranny of despair or surrender to the threats of fear. Whatever I face in this life I face with the strength of the Spirit by my side. I am not afraid. I am not alone. Not even death itself can cause my heart to waver, for I have seen the far side of that river and I know I can cross it by the bridge of an everlasting mercy. Love is my shield and hope my expectation. Therefore, as long as I draw breath I will speak the words of welcome to any who will join me in the search for peace. I will strive to give as much as I can for the sake of those who have so little and I will rejoice in the happiness of others. I am a believer: a soul awake to its calling and a spirit alive to its full promise.
Will you join with me in prayer, dear reader? A prayer that involves words and action. Perhaps then we can make the final words of Longfellow’s poem come to life.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep,
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
In the words that close many of my Evening Prayers, I will close this blog:
Dona Nobis Pacem et in Terra
Grant Us Peace on Earth
To read more about Longfellow’s poem, please follow this link: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It is the second day of the New Year and Decade
It has been a good day of work
It has been a good day to reconnect with co-workers
It has been a good day to serve you, Lord
It has been a good day to soak up the beauty of your creation
It has been a good time to find moments to Be Still
It has been a wonderful evening with my sweetheart
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…
A powerful and timely book by my colleague, seminary classmate, and friend Ruth Everhart
After I began writing about abuse within faith communities, a clergywoman I’ll call Stephanie Green reached out to me with her story.
— Read on www.christiancentury.org/article/features/sexual-harasser-church-soup-kitchen
