Thine Advent Here

Yesterday I finished my last Advent worship script for this year. I have always liked Advent, but this year, I found the ancient words of Isaiah and Luke deeply moving. Sitting in the predawn hours reading Isaiah proved to be a practice I think I want to continue. The prophet's continual reminder to trust God even in the midst of a marauding empire was humbling. This Sunday my small in number congregation will sing "People Look East" and hopefully as we sing we will remind one another that Love will come as Guest. Love will also come as a Rose, a Star, and  the Lord. Love just continues to come. That is who God is and what God does. The earth is bathed in this love. However, too often, we dismiss love.  In the midst  of earthly violence, despair, and greed, love can seem to be a quaint idea from another time, and Christmas is just another item on the calendar to be checked off come December 26. Let us not be foolish.   

Tyler and I did not put up a Christmas tree this year, but as usual I set out my twelve small gnomes on the speaker by the front window (Well, one figure is actually not a gnome but a small boy who has been with the gnomes for so long that any year now I expect to unpack their box and see that he has grown a white beard.)  I also decorated the mantle. I brought out two small creches, and I found fresh batteries for my candles that sit in the living and dining room windows. I purchased these candles just after 9/11. They automatically come on when darkness arrives, and turn off when there is sufficient light. For some reason, when the batteries expired the last time, I did not replace them. Maybe I needed to get a sense of the darkness of unlit candles - I needed to be reminded  how much a small light matters.  

I am an older pastor. I almost retired last year, but the election brought home to me how  important community is in times such as these.  There are health and mobility concerns  in the congregation now that were not so apparent in past years. One beloved member passed.  About three years ago we sold our much too large for us property. The proceeds have been invested, and we donate any interest we receive to 501c3's who are actively engaged in serving the hungry, the unhoused, and our beleaguered environment. We worship on Sundays in a small historical chapel  on a busy street. I am convinced that when we sing, angels come and listen. Not because we sing particularly well. They come because the acoustics of the building are so good that not only are our voices amplified, but also our hearts.  

 Look for the love; it can always be found, often in surprising places. Listen to the angels who always seem to say, "Be not afraid.". Listen to your heart. I preached all this when I was younger, and I am grateful I can still stand and preach it today.  

I am grateful for all of you.        

        

    

 image:  Gnomes and One More,  2025   

SpiritCare Weekly Meditation, July 9, 2020

During the pandemic I have been sending a weekly meditation to the activity directors of the communities I used to visit in person.  Some include these meditations in their weekly newsletters, and some read the meditations out loud to their residents.  Some, no doubt, sigh, roll their eyes and simply delete.  However, I receive enough thank you notes that lead me to believe they are being received in the spirit that they are sent: that is, of course, love.  

The text below seems quite timely for us all, so I thought I would send it to you.  Blessings in this time.   At the moment I am listening to some wonderful African music.  The attached image seems to be dancing along.  Not exactly the green hills strewn with colorful flowers that I envision in Isaiah, but close enough. 

 

Love to you all in this time and always.     

---------- Forwarded message --------

Hello Everyone, 

July is underway. I pray this note finds you well, and everyone is staying cool during the warm afternoons.  Blessings on your work, and may you be finding time to enjoy the summer season while tending to your work and caring for your families and yourselves.  You are in our prayers.  Please let us know if there is a need we might be able to help with. You are loved and held.    

   

Scripture:  Isaiah 55:12-13    

Yes, you will go out with celebration and you will be brought back in peace.
Even the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you;

all the trees of the field will clap their hands. In place of the thorn the cypress will grow in place of the nettle the myrtle will grow.
This will attest to the Lord’s stature, an enduring reminder that won’t be removed.

     

Meditation:  

This afternoon I found myself in the text of Isaiah, and pondering its beautiful words of encouragement.  This text speaks to those who may be in isolation or feel exiled from those they love. Here we hear God's assurance that we have not been forgotten.  We also hear that we can look forward to being gathered together in celebration and peace. Furthermore, we will not be celebrating alone; all of life will rejoice with us. Even the trees will be clapping and there will be music everywhere.  Aren't these beautiful images?  I wish I were a painter.  I would paint dancing trees, emerald green hills, and a beautiful river.  I would include all kinds of flowers, and yes, the blooming myrtle.  I just read that the myrtle is the Hebrew symbol for marriage.  God is declaring that his relationship with us will endure the test of time. We belong to God and to one another forever.    

We are often impatient for our time of exile to be over.  However, in chapter 55:8, we hear God telling us that our ways and not God's ways.  What I am hearing is that God is telling us to be patient, and to let God be God.  We are often tempted to plead and demand our case with God. We feel we know exactly what we need.  Yet, it is not God's way to always give us what we think we need right when we think we need it. That is the way of a child.  We may be fussy now, but we will be brought back in peace.  Let us not waste time in doubt and worry, but rather in prayer and preparation for the time when all will be revealed in song and celebration.  Let us have the courage to believe these wonderful words of life.        

    

Prayer:  

Holy Eternal God, we thank you that you speak to us of encouragement.  You know at times we struggle with patience, even to the point where our faith begins to fray. We thank you for your forgiveness, and your steadfast love that never lets us go.  Holy One, continue to stir our hearts in this time.  We thank you for those who tend to our care.  May we remember that we all wait together.  Yet in this waiting, you give us the bread of life and the cup of salvation.  You offer us reconciliation at the table of Christ that is always set before us. May we be content, knowing that your vast love is unlimited, and such love can fill our hearts to overflowing if we say yes to the invitation to rest and trust completely in your love.     

 In Christ we gratefully pray, Amen.