As we look toward new year’s resolutions, my hope is that the Christian church might be able to utter just three simple words in 2019. These are words that would change the course of history, foster civil dialogue and perhaps even bring skeptics back into the church. But they are hard words to say: “We were wrong.”
— Read on baptistnews.com/article/3-words-for-the-church-in-2019-we-were-wrong/
A powerful and humbling lesson for all who claim to be Christians… Eccesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda… the motto of my Denomination… Church Reformed, Always Reforming… and yes, this includes our understanding of the last portion of the phrase — secundum verbum Dei… according to the Word of God… the Spirit is always at work if we would but open the windows and let it blow!
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
The first day of the New Year is almost over
It did indeed feel as though time stood still
A time of rest and reflection
A time of laughter, food, and fellowship
What a blessing when God brings dear friends into your life
Even though the temperature was cold outside
The warmth of friendship was wonderful
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…
“Rather than just sitting back and hearing them read to us from a lectern at church, we are called to dive into the story fully and see what we discover. There is acknowledgement of the truth that can arise in our imaginative engagement with sacred texts.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD Watershed Moments in the Hebrew & Christian Scriptures: An Online, Self-Study Retreat
Another take on Tennyson & Ring Out, Wild Bells… thank you, Malcolm!
Image by Linda Richardson
For New Year’s Day in my Anthology from Canterbury Press, Waiting on the Word, I have chosen to read another section of Tennyson’s In Memoriam, the famous and beautiful section about ringing out the old and ringing in the new which finishes with a vision of the true Advent, ‘the Christ that is to be’.
You can hear me read this poem by clicking on the title or the play button. The image above was created by Linda Richardson. She Writes:
I have to confess that I don’t remember ever enjoying New Years Day. I always have the feeling that I am an unprepared host for this important guest, who, instead of finding my house with the bed made up and a roaring fire, discovers me amid the accumulated dross of previous revelry. The image I made does not reflect the hope of the…
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Circle us, Lord, on this New Year’s Day
Circle us with the light of your presence, bright in a world going dark
Enable us to overcomer fear and temptation
Enable us to have courage to overcome despair and apathy
Enable us to become that which you would desire
Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle us with the light of your presence…
— Read on aquietwalk.com/2019/01/01/new-years-day-prayer/
Today is the launch day of my good friend Michelle DeRusha’s new book, True You (Letting Go of Your False Self to Uncover the Person God Created).
As a new year opens before us, Michelle is offering a wonderful opportunity to slow down and do something other than make resolutions. With her trademark humor and insights, she invites the reader to pause and engage with her book and her own personal story. Taking a deep look at your life, she invites you to be open to the rewarding challenge of allowing the Master Gardener to declutter and open your heart and life to its deeper meaning and purpose.
Questions at the end of each chapter invite you to sit with the chapter and go deeper in reflection. I highly recommend this book to you as an opportunity to be still and discover God’s purpose for you.
Ring in 2019 with a Truer YOU | Michelle DeRusha
— Read on michellederusha.com/2019/01/ring-in-2019-with-a-truer-you/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
On the cusp of the New Year
As we reflect upon the year soon ending
As we contemplate the blessings and the challenges
May we see the light of your presence, Lord
As we look to the new year
May we be guided by that same light
As we seek to be instruments of your peace
Lord, guide us
As we seek to share your light
Lord, sustain us
As we lift this humble prayer
Lord, hear us
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“The way God speaks is not linear, however. It does not lend itself easily to a world used to sound bytes or determined to analyze its usefulness. God’s voice is the language of dreams and landscapes, of art and music, of dancing and poetry.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year- A Self-Study Online Retreat
A powerful and timely song/blog from a new (to me) artist, Alana Levedosky. I could barely make it through (reading it to Denise)… the emotions are raw… the feelings deep… to think that Tennyson wrote In Memoriam over 150 years ago, yet the words are as timely today as they were when he first penned them…
For the complete Blog, follow this link: https://www.alanalevandoski.com/sundaysongandrumination/ring-out-wild-bells-a-new-year-prayer?fbclid=IwAR3-XECjiLUj4n30z868FEx-otVFhZRQjdugnHDsyOuUFhnR1MAt93tKSxM
The part of In Memoriam that I chose to put music to, is from the 106th Canto, that stands in and of itself, as one of the great New Years hymns of hope. Here, he is walking toward another chapter of life that would dig back into earth, release his friend, and step back into the world of matter. To work towards more fairness, deeper love, as he longs to “ring in the Christ that is to be” here on this planet…
My Sunday Song and Rumination theme for the past few weeks has been taking a look at stepping into the circle of symbiosis (the circle of subsistence, the life to death to life to death to life cycle) in a way that sees Christ inside of it, while still honouring the shortest verse in the New Testament, that “Jesus wept” when he felt the grief of Lazarus’ death. A truly human experience not to be escaped from, even by the Christ.
Even so, as this year dies and we prepare to ring in a new year, may those of us who are able, find peace in new beginnings. May we find trust in the Big Picture. And most of all, may we not be driven by scarcity and fear of death.
As I watch greetings from around the world
Those who have already crossed into 2019
Those who await the change of the calendar
We all seem to have much in common
For the harsh lessons of 2018
We pray that God’s Grace might bubble up
For the blessings of 2018
We give thanks for the light of God’s presence and love
For those we have lost this past year
May memories be healing
And, where needed, may they be healed
As we look to the New Year
My prayer is for each one of you
A prayer for God’s light to transform and heal
God’s grace to renew weary souls
Despite the negative headlines and realities
Let your Light shine in the darkness, Lord
May hatred be transformed into love
May fear be transformed into love
May warfare be eradicated
May we learn to transform swords into plowshares
May we learn to transform spears into pruning hooks
May we make a conscious decision to study the way of Peace
May we no longer have the desire to study war anymore
Lord, as the darkness of night descends
Let your light shine as a guide into the New Year
Finally, Lord, make us instruments of your peace
Hear this humble Padre’s prayer
Dona Nobis Pacem et in Terra
Grant Us Peace on Earth
May we indeed be that Peace
