Run the course…
And when you trip,
stop and catch your breath.
Run the course…
And when you fall,
Pick yourself up and dust yourself off.
The first semester has come to a close. The last day of classes are now just a memory. New bonds of love formed in the crucible of academic rigor bind me deeper into the Anglican community.
In the past three months I have pushed through volumes of material, much of which is still working to inform my ministry and calling to the priesthood.
I have experienced the grace of being held in prayer by my community at St. Timothy’s and many others who have been a part of my pilgrimage of faith. I thank God for each of you, because, your prayers and encouragement have sustained me through the very toughest days. There have been a few days where I ate the bread of tears mingled with the bread of life.
This morning as I was walking I remembered that, and the substitute I song I offered in my sermon on the first Sunday of Advent. We need one more verse to bring full understanding in this song.
“It’s okay to pout, it’s okay to cry
That is reason Jesus came to live and die.
Jesus Christ knows our fears and our pain.
Still, Jesus loves us with our frail ways.”
Advent, the time of looking to Christ’s glorious reign on earth, is soon to be replaced with the glorious recitation of His First Coming once again.
Soon we will be gathered to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation. We will marvel again at the gift of Godself to us. We will recall the blessed event of the nativity of Jesus, and find hope for our weary souls as we watch children take such delight on Christmas day.
I pray that each of you will feel God’s presence in new and profound ways. The great mystery of the incarnation is God’s wonderful self disclosure.
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Advent Song..Hmn Hmn Hmn is coming to Town
Parousia
You better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, I’m telling you why
Jesus Christ is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re waking
He knows when you’re asleep
He knows when you’re behaving
Like an onry stupid sheep.
You better watch out, you better not lie,
Always love your neighbor, this is why
Jesus says he’s present in them.
I want you to know there’s nothing to fear
Jesus loves you, he’s holding you dear.
Jesus Christ is present always.
We call upon our Father
in Heaven as we pray.
We ask him to pour blessings
On the bread and wine and us.
When we eat the bread, and take from the cup
Jesus Christ comes into our hearts
So trust in him and do your part.
I want you to know there’s nothing to fear
Jesus loves you, he’s staying quite near.
Watch for Jesus everyday.
You better watch out, you better not cry
You better not pout, I’m telling you why
Jesus Christ is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re waking
He knows when you’re asleep
He knows when you’re behaving
Like an onry stupid sheep.
You better watch out, you better not lie,
Always love your neighbor, this is why
Jesus says he’s present in them.
I want you to know there’s nothing to fear
Jesus loves you, he’s holding you dear.
Jesus Christ is present always.
We call upon our Father
in Heaven as we pray.
We ask him to pour blessings
On the bread and wine and us.
When we eat the bread, and take from the cup
Jesus Christ comes into our hearts
So trust in him and do your part.
I want you to know there’s nothing to fear
Jesus loves you, he’s staying quite near.
Watch for Jesus everyday.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Holiday Cometh- An Invitation
The holiday songs playing are beautiful, cheerful, silly and amusing. By now we’ve all heard about poor old grandma getting run over by the reindeer, the kid who wants a hippopotamus for Christmas; and ALVIN! There are probably 100 renditions of Santa Claus is coming to town, one of which I really like and still don’t know who it is. I’ve tried to restrain my angst but I’m tired of the commercialization of a really special religious season. So much so I’m just borderline green- Grinch green. My failsafe against the barrage of Jesus-less songs while journeying the hour into Idaho Falls, is to slip in a personal favorite, the one true holiday album, Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. This takes me back to my childhood. *
One particular Christmas season was made special while I lived with my aunt in Los Angeles. We had television, but it was black and white. That year Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer was being broadcast in color. I can’t honestly tell you if it was the first year ever, because I was only in the third grade. I just remember the trek my aunt planned using the city bus, to one of the shopping areas where a Television Store had turned all the sets to the station and ran them night and day to garner sales. We took a seat out front, and spent the next thirty minutes to watch the show. I was entranced. In those years, I hadn’t really fully educated into the hidden significance of the meaning of Christmas. But I do recall that the Carols of Christmas were much more prominent over the airwaves of radio and television, even if I didn’t understand that the angels’ who sang weren’t actually named Harold.
By the seventh grade my mother had started attending the Episcopal Church. I sang in the youth choir and went to a junior high youth group each Sunday evening. In that year, I was finally learning about the real story of Christmas through the church. Advent as a season of preparation was introduced to us by the priest.
In all my years as a child I know I never went without some gifts under the tree. The tree rarely came into the house before December 15th. That was probably as a matter of financial constraints for my parents. My step-father was a disabled veteran of world war II able to work an unusual profession as a clown which meant money was often tight, although I never was really aware of that fact either until many years later. Our Christmas gifts often included generous benefactors who signed the cards “Santa.”
I love getting the letters from friends and family that tell of the year’s highlights. When Tim and I first married I sent out cards to lots of family and some friends. Then we moved to Denver and had to expand to a letter every year to more distant friends and family. There was the annual Christmas picture of our son, then both boys together in 1982, 83, 84. The list has grown over the years but my time hasn’t expanded to keep up with it. I’m absolutely not able to get a letter out before Christmas Eve. Fortunately the Church Calendar calls for 12 days that FOLLOW Christmas Day as the season of Christmas. So now my goal is to have a letter that arrives before Epiphany, which is January 6th.
So it’s 26 hours, 30 minutes before the Christmas Eve service which will be held at 7:30 PM. I’m mulling the message and thinking about Max Lucado’s Cosmic Christmas and letting my mind wander to other places. I’m missing my family California and now being distracted by text messages from our son who’s serving in Iraq. Technology has certainly shrunken the time for feedback, even if it hasn’t been able to eliminate the distance.
There’s no Christmas tree in the parsonage, because Tim and I chose to dispense with the ritual since there aren’t children to gather around our tree. Instead, the tree in the Sanctuary is our focal point. Thankfully the lights are now working on the tree. The candles will be ready for our guests, complete with the handy plastic holder to protect our worshippers from the dripping wax. If you are wondering where you can go to hear the reading of the nativity with carols sung by the congregation, Join us at the United Methodist Church as we commemorate the incarnation of Christ, the light of the world. To quote a hymn, “Come and worship, Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king”**
There are so many blessings for us this year. While the world is definitely in a state of uncertainty, we have one sure thing to rely on. Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God, the Word that became flesh, offers us a rock solid relationship to hold us through thick and thin. I pray that you too will be able to claim this as the most prized gift you unwrap for Christmas 2008.
*Especially “Adeste Fideles”
** “Angels from the Realms of Glory” (James Montgomer, 1816)
One particular Christmas season was made special while I lived with my aunt in Los Angeles. We had television, but it was black and white. That year Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer was being broadcast in color. I can’t honestly tell you if it was the first year ever, because I was only in the third grade. I just remember the trek my aunt planned using the city bus, to one of the shopping areas where a Television Store had turned all the sets to the station and ran them night and day to garner sales. We took a seat out front, and spent the next thirty minutes to watch the show. I was entranced. In those years, I hadn’t really fully educated into the hidden significance of the meaning of Christmas. But I do recall that the Carols of Christmas were much more prominent over the airwaves of radio and television, even if I didn’t understand that the angels’ who sang weren’t actually named Harold.
By the seventh grade my mother had started attending the Episcopal Church. I sang in the youth choir and went to a junior high youth group each Sunday evening. In that year, I was finally learning about the real story of Christmas through the church. Advent as a season of preparation was introduced to us by the priest.
In all my years as a child I know I never went without some gifts under the tree. The tree rarely came into the house before December 15th. That was probably as a matter of financial constraints for my parents. My step-father was a disabled veteran of world war II able to work an unusual profession as a clown which meant money was often tight, although I never was really aware of that fact either until many years later. Our Christmas gifts often included generous benefactors who signed the cards “Santa.”
I love getting the letters from friends and family that tell of the year’s highlights. When Tim and I first married I sent out cards to lots of family and some friends. Then we moved to Denver and had to expand to a letter every year to more distant friends and family. There was the annual Christmas picture of our son, then both boys together in 1982, 83, 84. The list has grown over the years but my time hasn’t expanded to keep up with it. I’m absolutely not able to get a letter out before Christmas Eve. Fortunately the Church Calendar calls for 12 days that FOLLOW Christmas Day as the season of Christmas. So now my goal is to have a letter that arrives before Epiphany, which is January 6th.
So it’s 26 hours, 30 minutes before the Christmas Eve service which will be held at 7:30 PM. I’m mulling the message and thinking about Max Lucado’s Cosmic Christmas and letting my mind wander to other places. I’m missing my family California and now being distracted by text messages from our son who’s serving in Iraq. Technology has certainly shrunken the time for feedback, even if it hasn’t been able to eliminate the distance.
There’s no Christmas tree in the parsonage, because Tim and I chose to dispense with the ritual since there aren’t children to gather around our tree. Instead, the tree in the Sanctuary is our focal point. Thankfully the lights are now working on the tree. The candles will be ready for our guests, complete with the handy plastic holder to protect our worshippers from the dripping wax. If you are wondering where you can go to hear the reading of the nativity with carols sung by the congregation, Join us at the United Methodist Church as we commemorate the incarnation of Christ, the light of the world. To quote a hymn, “Come and worship, Come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king”**
There are so many blessings for us this year. While the world is definitely in a state of uncertainty, we have one sure thing to rely on. Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God, the Word that became flesh, offers us a rock solid relationship to hold us through thick and thin. I pray that you too will be able to claim this as the most prized gift you unwrap for Christmas 2008.
*Especially “Adeste Fideles”
** “Angels from the Realms of Glory” (James Montgomer, 1816)
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