In the rush of these days, O God,
To get to Bethlehem
Or to wherever it is I might be headed;
Slow me down, just enough
That I might lift my head and open my eyes
To see the faces of those I pass by;
And, for a moment, to pay attention to whatever it is I see in their eyes.
And, in doing so, to allow something of the Holy
To wrap itself around our
Very ordinary;
Very human;
Most blessed lives.
Advent Continues – December 5
Years ago I played on a town softball team made up mostly of young men who were town employees. More blue collar workers than the white collar folks who make up the congregation where I am the pastor. Following each game the team would go to the local bar for a beer or two either to celebrate our victory or to lick our wounds. When possible I went with them. On more than one occasion, sitting around that table in the bar, one of my teammates who probably would never walk in the doors of a church or into my office, would lean over and ask me a question or ask if I would pray for a family member who was sick or struggling. 30 seconds and then we were back to the conversation that had continued around the table.
Something of the same thing happened this afternoon.
Today was our annual Senior Citizen Christmas luncheon.
Sixty of us gathered around tables to laugh and to talk and to remember and to share a wonderful meal. Each year, as I wander around the room someone pulls me aside to ask a question or to share a concern or to ask for a prayer.
All of that is pretty normal, right?
After all, I am a pastor and that is what pastors do.
But, as I thought about it later I wonder if something more is not happening in moments like that. At times like that, does God come close? Not because I am a pastor or have some special contact with or relationship to God, but because for an instant two human beings turn towards each other and towards that which is most important in that moment. Care. Concern. Hope. Sorrow. Dreams.
Incarnation, I think, all over again.
When and how does that happen in your life?
Advent Continues – December 4
This morning I came across this line in a poem by Ann Weems:
Watch…
For you know not when God comes.
Watch that you might be found…
Whenever
Wherever
God comes.
I had to stop and read the line twice to be sure that I read it correctly.
In religious circles we usually think and speak about our finding God and what we need to do or what you need to do or what others need to do in order to find God, but rarely do we speak about God finding us.
But as I think about it, in reality, we are more lost than we are searching.
Lost in our list of things to do.
Lost in our sense of privilege and importance.
Lost in busyness that blinds us to those whose lives intersect ours.
Lost in a confusion between what we think is important and what is REALLY important.
I don’t know about you…
Sometimes I hardly know about myself,
But the truth is I am often lost in all those places and more.
And, the good news may be…
The promise of Christmas may be…
That it is into the midst of that craziness that God comes to find me…
Again.
Advent Continued – December 3
I will take my stand to watch and station myself on the tower,
And look forth to see what God will say to me concerning my complaint.
And the LORD answered me:
“Write the vision.
Make it plain upon tablets,
So the runner passing by in the valley below can read it,
For the vision awaits its time;
It hastens to the end – it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
It will surely come, it will not delay.
– Habakkuk 2: 1-2
This passage always makes me stop and think.
Here is the scene.
The watchman is positioned in the tower built on top of the hill.
Built high enough so he can see who is approaching in any and every direction.
A messenger appears, running down the length of the valley, looking up to see if there is any sign or message from the tower.
“Right the vision,” the prophet says.
“Write it large enough…
Write it billboard size…
So the runner can see it and read it without stopping or breaking stride.”
Rereading these words always makes me stop and wonder what vision, if any, I am writing with the daily actions of my own life.
If I believe in peace is peace written large across the my daily life?
If I believe in equality do my everyday actions reflect my words?
If I believe that all should have enough and all should have a place, do I practice what I preach?
I wonder…
As I move through these Advent days which lead to Christmas my prayer is this:
May I be brave enough and faithful enough to write the vision of God’s Grand Dream, meant for us and for all, large enough and bold enough across my life that another, even in or especially in their busyness and haste, might catch a glimpse and so be reminded of values other than the ones splashed across our televisions and daily news. Reminded again of meaning and purpose and providence and hope.
Advent 1
We call this season Advent;
Which means coming;
Marked by the four Sundays which precede Christmas.
As the days around us rush by too quickly;
And become filled with heightened expectations;
For those of us here these Advent days are makes by words like…
Waiting.
Watching.
Pondering.
Expectation.
May these be the words which guide us towards Christmas.
A Prayer for Advent
Come, once again, O God.
Meet us this day wherever we are;
Find us on whatever hillside we wait or in whatever wilderness we wander;
Send a star, an angel, the note of a song, the smile of a child, the greeting of a friend…something. Send something or someone to help us find our way back towards that promise for our lives wrapped up in the promise of Christmas.
We pray for the world in which we live.
Those named and unnamed;
Those known to us and those not known to us.
We pray for those in need…may they find healing and hope.
We pray for those who give thanks…may their gratitude deepen their compassion.
We pray for all those who search…may they find their way.
We pray for those who work for peace…may their voices grow until the song of their lives sounds as clearly as the song of that heavenly host of old.
As we make our way towards Christmas, O God…
We offer these our prayers.
Amen.