Be Still

I have noticed that the best way for me to get a few minutes of solitude at the end of the day is to start washing the dishes. And a few minutes of solitude is something I need frequently. A time to be alone. A time to reflect.

There is a difference between alone-ness and loneliness. Aloneness is necessary for the soul to thrive -- even to come alive!

German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually hanged for opposing Hitler. While in prison, he wrote letters to his fiancée. The last letter she received was dated Christmas 1944.

Speaking of the war that separated them, Bonhoeffer wrote this:

"These will be quiet days in our homes, but I have had the experience over and over again that the quieter it is around me, the clearer do I feel a connection to you. It is as though in solitude the soul develops senses which we hardly know in everyday life. Therefore I have not felt lonely or abandoned for one moment."

We can be alone without being lonely. In fact, those times of solitude are necessary respite for our beleaguered souls, set upon by the pressures of life. We need to take those moments to "get away" and just be still. "Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted," says Hans Margolius. "Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."

Be still....

Awakening the Christ Child

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 

and we have seen his glory, 

glory as of the only Son, from the Father, 

full of grace and truth.

 ~ John 1:14

The power of Christmas is not automatic. It can't be taken for granted. It has to be given birth, nursed, coaxed, and lovingly cajoled into effectiveness. The baby Jesus doesn't save the world, the adult Christ does and our task is to turn the baby Jesus into the adult Christ. We need to do that in our own bodies and with our own lives.

As Annie Dillard once put it, the Christ we find in our lives is always found as he was found at the first Christmas, a helpless infant, lying in the straw, someone who needs to be picked up and coaxed into adulthood. To make Christ effective, we need, ourselves, to become "the body of Christ".

To put it metaphorically, the Christ-child has to be awakened by us. We need to go to the manger and awaken the child.

We awaken the child by inducing it to smile. How's that done? Where is the Christ-child? In terms of an icon, the Christ-child is in the crib, but, in terms of spirituality, the Christ-child appears in our lives in a different way.

When Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit - defined as charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, longsuffering, fidelity, gentleness, and chastity - then obviously the child she gestated will radiate those qualities. We awaken the Christ-child when we smile at charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, longsuffering, fidelity, gentleness, and chastity until they begin to smile back. What comes back is the power of Christmas, a baby's power to transform a heart, divine power hidden in human weakness.

We have to help make Christmas happen.

4th Sunday of Advent

Here we are, it is the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas begins tomorrow evening.  Since December 2 we have been on a spiritual journey towards the fulfilment of God’s reign.  Our companions on this journey were Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, John the Baptist and St Paul the Apostle.  But don’t think for a minute that the journey ends on Christmas Day.  This journey began thousands of years ago and will continue until the end of time.  Many travelers smoothed the road for us and we are smoothing the road for those who follow us.   Jeremiah reminded the people of Israel, Judah and us that God’s promises will be fulfilled.  Baruch reveled joyfully because the people of Jerusalem were “remembered by God.”  God does not forget or abandon His people.  Zephaniah reminded the people of his time and us that “The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your (and our) midst.”  He is a “mighty savior” and we have nothing to fear.  Today the Prophet Micah tells the people of Israel and us that out of obscure Bethlehem a ruler will emerge “whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.”  This ruler will “stand firm and shepherd his flock.”  His “greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.”

John the Baptist had already encountered the Messiah.  His job was to proclaim that “all flesh shall see that salvation of God.”  “All flesh” includes us, our families, our neighborhoods, our towns our country and our world for generation after generation.  By the time St Paul arrived on the scene, Jesus had already gone to heaven.  But St Paul knew He was coming back and so his work focused on preparing us for the second coming.  In his Epistles St Paul teaches us how to get ready.

In today’s Gospel, Luke 1:39-45, we hear about a very significant part of the journey toward the fulfilment of God’s reign.  Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visits her cousin, Elizabeth, pregnant with St. John the Baptist.  The joyful greeting of these two unpretentious and humble women marks the beginning of a new age.  All the prophesies of the Old Testament are about to be fulfilled.  Something monumental is about to happen.  God in His goodness, His mercy and His love for us sends us his son, "Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).  

The birth of Jesus transformed the world.  The people of Israel waited thousands of years for this event.  The long-awaited Messiah was not announced with great fanfare or royal proclamations but in a simple exchange of greetings between two ordinary, faithful women “And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.”

As we enter into our Christmas celebrations remember that the real meaning of Christmas, of Emmanuel, God with us, is that God loves us so much that He became one of us.  God did this so that we can understand that holiness does not reside in a faraway heaven we cannot see but here, now, in Peachtree City, Georgia.  My prayer for each of you this Christmas is that like Elizabeth, you will recognize the presence of the Lord in your everyday lives.  “Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” 

May your Christmas journey be full of joy and peace!

Our God and Father,
we are eagerly awaiting
the deeper coming of your Son among us.
Prepare us to recognize and receive him
when he comes in his own astonishing way.
We expected him to come with great power
and he comes in poverty and humility;
we looked for him in far places
and he stands by our side;
we waited for extraordinary signs
and we discover him in the simplicity
of everyday life and everyday people.
Accustom us to your Son and his ways
that he may change our lives to conform to his,
for he is our Lord and Savior forever.

Amen.

Who Started Christmas

This morning I heard a story on the radio of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year. Overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, making sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way in and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff.

When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot."

From the back of the car everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry we already crucified him."

For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Don't forget this year to keep the One who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think of how different this whole world would be.

10 Christmas Commandments

  1.  You shall not leave ‘Christ’ out of Christmas, making it ‘Xmas.’ To some, ‘X’ is unknown.

  2.  You shall prepare your soul for Christmas. Spend not so much on gifts that your soul is forgotten.
  3.  You shall not let Santa Claus replace Christ, thus robbing the day of its spiritual reality.
  4.  You shall not burden the shop girl, the mailman, and the merchant with complaints and demands.
  5.  You shall give yourself with your gift. This will increase its value a hundred fold, and the one who receives it shall treasure it forever.
  6.  You shall not value gifts received by their cost. Even the least expensive may signify love, and that is more priceless than silver and gold.
  7.  You shall not neglect the needy. Share your blessings with many who will go hungry and cold if you are generous.
  8.  You shall not neglect your church. Its services highlight the true meaning of the season.
  9.  You shall be as a little child. Not until you become in spirit as a little one are you ready to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
10. You shall give your heart to Christ. Let Him be at the top of your Christmas list.

Anyone keeping these commandments is sure to have a blessed Christmas.

3rd Sunday of Advent

Today is the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday and the focus of our liturgy is on rejoicing.  During this time of quiet preparation, today's liturgy reminds us of the joy that accompanied the fulfillment of so many Old Testament prophecies at the birth of Jesus.  We are joyful when we acknowledge that Jesus was born thousands of years ago, we rejoice that the Lord our God is working in our midst here, now.  And we anticipate the joy that is to come when Jesus returns in glory.

So, where is the joy?  Zephaniah, St John the Baptist and St. Paul easily could have asked the same question.  When Zephaniah was called to be a prophet (640 - 609 B.C.), he found Jerusalem to be a "rebellious and polluted tyrannical city" (Zephaniah 3:1).  St. John the Baptist had to contend with the corruption of Herod, imprisonment and, ultimately, execution while St. Paul wrote his beautiful epistle to the Philippians while in prison and in danger of death.  The world in Biblical times was war torn, chaotic and dangerous.  Yet these three brave spokespersons of God proclaimed a time of great joy and rejoicing. 

Zephaniah, St. John the Baptist and St. Paul did not find joy in the world around them.  They found joy in their faith in God and in their trust that God loved them.  They did view their world through a God lens and they lived their lives in a state of continual Advent.  What we hear in today’s readings are words of hope and encouragement.  Zephaniah reminded the people of Jerusalem that “the King of Israel, [was] in their midst.  He reminds us that the same is true today.  The Lord is here in our midst now.  “Shout for joy.” The Lord rejoices over us with gladness and renews us in his love.   “Be glad and exult with all your heart.”  In his Letter to the Philippians 4: 4-7, St Paul tells us that “the Lord is near.” And because the Lord is near, we should not be anxious but give thanks and pray making our needs known.  Then “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds.”   And finally, John the Baptist gave the people of his time and gives us a message of hope.  John and the people were “filled with expectation.”  They were waiting for the Messiah.  The Messiah was already there with them, but the people had not yet encountered him.  John promised them someone much mightier than himself who would baptize with “the Holy Spirit and fire.”  And this is good news. 

God loves us, the people he created, so much he sent his son into to world to redeem us.  His son loves us so much that he sacrificed his life for us.  We are the beneficiaries of unconditional, overwhelming and all-consuming love.  This alone should be enough to make us “shout for joy,” “sing joyfully,” “be glad, and exult with all [our] hearts” (Zephaniah 3:14). In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (John 15:9-11).

On this Gaudete Sunday 2018, let us join with St. Paul and shout out “Rejoice in the Lord always rejoice!” Because the Lord is near.  Emmanuel, God is with us!

God of everlasting love and glory,
from west and east you gather the humble,
leading them with joy
to the glorious light of your kingdom.
Let your joy be our joy,
your love be our love,
your acceptance of us be our welcome
to all our brothers and sisters.
With Jesus in our midst,
may our communities be happy
and be a foretaste, even in trials,
of the lasting joy you have prepared for us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen

In Search Of Our Kneeling Places

In each heart lies a Bethlehem, 

an inn where we must ultimately answer
whether there is room or not.
When we are Bethlehem-bound
we can no longer look the other way
conveniently not seeing stars
not hearing angel voices.
We can no longer excise ourselves by busily
tending our sheep in our kingdoms.

This Advent let’s go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that the lord has make known to us.
In the midst of shopping sprees
let’s ponder in our hearts the Gift of Gifts.
Through the tinsel
let’s look for the gold of the Christmas Star.
In the excitement and confusion, in the merry chaos,
let’s listen for the brush of angel’s wings.
This Advent let’s go to Bethlehem and find our kneeling places.

Ann Weems