Advent Word 16 - Rest
The sending one once said, “Come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest.” If this is you, Go to this one, Not for shame Not for more...
Advent Word 15 - Go
When Natalie Merchant sings, “Children, go where I send thee,” My bags are half-packed before she finishes “go.” If you don’t know who Natalie Merchant...
Advent Word 14 - Honey
For a people reared on tales of a land of milk and honey, there is a Mayan blessing to add to the recipe: Long life, honey in the heart, thirteen blessings... The landscape of the heart is movable. And, the heart is born of place. If you’ve ever made...
Advent Word 13 - Word
One word. That’s all you’ve got. What would you choose? Freedom? Hope? Peace? Joy? Love--there’s the obvious one, but love...
Advent Word 12 - Baptize
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Two reflections for today. From Bethany ... Do you remember when you were baptized? Many of us do not, because we were baptized as babies. Though I don’t remember my baptism, my parents like to tell me about it regularly – especially the detail about me crying the...
Advent Word 11 - Mercy
If Christmas, at least for some, connotes gifts, then is there really any greater gift than mercy given? Not mercy coerced or even pressured, freely given. To have every reason to exercise the punitive, to exact revenge, to enter into a zero sum contract, mercy emerges like a wave...
Advent Word 10 - Patient
I trust today’s word is about being patient, but it’s hard right now not to think of being a patient—English is such a funny language. These are not funny times, with the numbers of patients rising so high it’s hard to keep pace with the care needed and all...
Advent Word 9 - Comfort
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One of the most well known Advent hymns begins, “Comfort, Comfort you my people,” drawing on the words of the prophet. We want God to meet us in our pain. Do we recognize that acknowledging pain can be the entry point into relationship? Have we suppressed our own pain? Have we...
Advent Word 8 - Speak
When in the beginning God created, God spoke... God didn’t pick up a hammer God didn’t whip up a chemical stew with beakers and test...
Advent Word 7 - Glory
When I hear the word glory I think of gold, purple flowing robes, majesty. But have you seen the majesty of an anthill, of a granite rock face, of a parent being patient with a child who has not learned their own patience yet? There is glory everywhere. It is not reserved for thrones...