The Olive Branch

The Daffodil Dance

2012-02-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

You will see them popping up along streets, around mailboxes, naturalized in ivy beds and at entrances to neighborhoods. They begin their arrival as early as late January and continue to dance through the season even into April. Yes, the daffodils are opening their faces every day to the sun! The slender green shoots begin to break through the soil while the earth shivers. Bravely they stand in the wind and cold temperatures. And just when you think it will be a long time before the blooms start to swell, they pop out to delight us with color and fragrance - and hope.
Daffodils, the brightest sign of springtime hope, were a favorite flower of a young woman in Atlanta who died from a rare disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. In memory of this young woman, the Club Estates Garden Club in Atlanta's Brookhaven community began to sell and plant daffodils in the fall of 2008. The project became known as "The Daffodil Dance." Planting wonderful varieties such as St. Keverne, Asphasia, Pipit, Smiling Sun, Golden Echo, and Accent, the neighborhood now flourishes with over 12,000 bulbs planted throughout the neighborhood. Daffodils, dressed in hope, dance through the season bringing sunshine and hope for weary,winter hearts.
Is your heart weary from winter? A a winter of unemployment, discouragement, or fear? Look outside. Look around and you will be amazed at the lessons we can learn through the strength and agility of daffodils. Take some time to stop and simply admire the details. Draw even closer and you will see perfection and rich aroma. Look beyond the planted beds and see determination and growth along untended paths of rural highways. Where homes have been abandoned or torn down, daffodils continue to multiply and live on, sometimes flourishing in wild abandon. Who doesn't want to flourish in wild abandon? Hope is our answer, reviving and restoring the soul through the beauty of a dancing daffodil. And we, like Wordsworth, can join his verse that says "My heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils."

Limousine for Sale

2012-02-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

I was leaving at the close of a two-day silent retreat. It was early and the world was still. Pulling out to the main road, I waved good-bye to a weekend rich in spiritual growth, simplicity, and meaning. Cresting a hill through a residential community of grand estates, I passed a mailbox with a sign attached that read, "Limousine For Sale."

It quickly jolted me back to reality and reminded me of the tremendous material wealth we experience as a community and as a nation. It pointed out quickly the extravagant lifestyle so many of us live day to day. There is a daily deluge of dollars doled out for things that are not necessary. I wonder how much money was spent on the half-time show performed by Madonna during the Super Bowl. Of course we know she was paid nothing, but her backup dancers and pyrotechnics probably cost in the millions. All for sheer entertainment and wow. I wonder how much money each person on average spent to purchase one ticket to the football game. Probably not so much compared to the advertisers who paid millions to secure a few seconds of time. Volkswagen alone paid a record $3.5 million for their 30-second spot. I saw that ad. Incredible throwing of dollars to eager viewers. It did not make me want a Volkswagen.

But I must bring it closer to home. I live in a really nice house with three bedrooms and bathrooms seldom used. I have three sets of china - not counting the everyday stuff. I tried to wear every piece of clothing in my closet this past year and failed. Not enough days. (My car is now full of those clothes who are moving to a more needy closet in town.) My refrigerator is full of too much food and the garage is lined with shelves holding half-used promises of greener grass and weed elimination.

Too much. We have too much. And it requires storage and maintenance and dusting off. But amazingly, we miss our own extravagance and fail to realize that there is so much we truly do not need. I am reminded of this when I go on retreat. Having less offers freedom to remember who we are in Christ and why we are here. Doing less in the world opens the door to new activity in the spiritual realm. That is the whole purpose of retreat - reflecting with humility and selflessness for the sake of our spiritual life. One leaves retreat with energies redirected toward fulfillment of a higher purpose in life.

But oh, how quickly we are brought back to the material world. Just steps from the retreat house gate, the sign glared at me - almost in mockery. But I remembered what Jesus said in Mark 6:30 to "Come away with me to a quiet place and get some rest." No need for that limo. All I have to do is open the door to my heart.

Listening for Truth

2012-01-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

This morning my husband and I were talking about the State of the Union address last night, wondering what the commentary would be the morning after. What we heard will be interpreted a wide variety of ways, to say the least. As we said good-bye for the day, he said, "We live in a world of half-truths."

I closed the door and thought, "But I don't want to live in a world of half-truths." If I live in a world of half-truths, then I also live in a world of half-lies. Which half is true? Which half is not? I don't need to be any more confused than I already am and possibly that is why I settle for just half.

Why would I settle for just a half-truth? Because in a fast-paced world of information, we are daily bombarded with hearing and hearing a half-truth is easier than taking the time to listen to whole truth. And there are other reasons like: because I don't have to think so much; because I can "settle" and have some kind of false peace about the way things are and I can continue in my life without coming to terms with myself. Now there's a challenge for most of us.

Maybe then, we should ask ourselves, "Where do I listen for truth and who do I listen to?"

When I go into a friend's business I can always tell when he has been listening to talk radio. I hear his opinions without asking and remind him about other sources for information. We laugh and joke, but ideas are planted that take root and grow - which half is truth? Which half is not?

I like the way another friend speaks often of working on her listening skills. And I discovered that while I am a good listener, attentive and quiet, what I hear often runs through a destructive type of self-filter that wants to make me insecure and doubtful. Of course, self. How we work at trying to be good enough, strong enough, powerful enough. And it's never enough. It's a half-truth. Deceived by the half-lies.

But I have discovered a great whole truth. When I go to scripture, there it is - the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Hearing truth in scripture is referenced almost 2000 times in practically every book of the Bible. Those are facts. These verses are just three examples of hearing and listening with a most reliable source. They won't draw much political commentary, but they might help us listen.

Matthew 13:9 "He who has heart to hear, let him hear!"

Luke 8:18 "Consider carefully how you listen."

Psalm 95:7 "Today, if you will hear His voice."

Come To The Table

2012-01-04T15:35:00.000-05:00

I received a bird feeder as a Christmas present. It's a real one. It is a cedar house with a tray and holds lots of bird seed. Birds can sit on four sides and dine in style. And just for the season, I splurged and bought some food with things that even I like to eat - pecans and raisins. The bird feeder came with what is called a "baffler." A baffler is designed to keep the squirrels from running up the pole to devour the tasty nuggets. It is supposed to baffle them. I admit, I will love watching a baffled squirrel.

Once the feeder was installed, we sat inside on the cold afternoon and just watched - like two old people - waiting for the first visit to this new snack haven in my back yard. It was late in the day and cold and there were no takers. But this morning the sun is out and the visitors are one-by-one showing up: cardinals, tit mice, wrens, jays, red-winged blackbirds. There is a feast for the finding and I am enjoying the show.

Nothing like a New Year to get a fresh opportunity. Even the birds like it. Oh, they still visit their little plastic feeder in another part of the yard, but this new one is "five star" and worth returning to often. What new opportunities are just waiting out there for you and me? Opportunities in our workplace. Opportunities in our community. Opportunities in our personal life.

I love it that Christmas comes just before the New Year. You see, every Christmas I get it right. I slow down, enter into Advent with a heart for clearing the clutter and making the way for the Christ child. He comes and I hold the candles high in worship, singing and praising that yes, Joy has entered my life once again. I vow to start fresh in the New Year. I get a new calendar and clean out the basement of my failures , motivated to start fresh because of the renewed joy that the Christmas message brings.

Why is it that a simple birdfeeder is such a visual reminder of God who brings in the New Year, offering up a variety of opportunities at His table of abundance. All delivered down by grace, mine for the receiving. I just have to fly to the feeder of my faith, take in the nourishment , gather strength and rest, knowing that the table is prepared for me.

I'll be watching the birdfeeder to see who visits. I suppose God will also be watching for me.

Small Signs of God - First Light

2011-12-26T08:04:00.002-05:00

" Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

And today, peace is still here. I can see small signs of God the day after Christmas. Why? Because I am looking and will continue to look as the first rays of light appear through the winter trees. I reflect on a day of service and silence, quiet and gratitude, peace and plenty. It's true. Christmas is believing that God makes all things right, not me. What a Christmas gift. The birds confirm this thought as they wake and discover the same truth with me. We worship a God of order who makes all things right in a broken world. I play such a small part.

The toy just seemed so exciting and perfect choice for energetic nephews. But it simply did not work. Faulty in construction it was returned to the store before Christmas day and another toy quickly made the substitution. I wonder when Jesus will become the perfect gift and cheap substitutions will no longer vie for first place. I wonder how many small signs I can continue to spot along my journey in a world of broken toys to help me never allow a substitution for the Son of the Most High.

"It is not over,

this birthing.

There are always newer skies

into which

God can throw stars.

When we begin to think

that we can predict the Advent of God,

That we can box the Christ

in a stable in Bethlehem,

that's just the time that God will be born

in a place we can't imagine and won't believe.

Those who wait for God

watch with their hearts and not their eyes,

listening, always listening for angel words."

(Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem)

Small Signs of God - A Child's Birth

2011-12-26T08:03:00.000-05:00

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

The powerful silence of Christmas morning says "Peace, I am here." I smile and rest in that knowledge. Somehow, the world rests as well. Even as the day comes alive, people are kinder, quieter with the knowledge that today something is different. I feel it. Maybe because I believe it. I believe that peace begins with me. I believe angels sing and stars dance. I believe in Wise Men and a virgin birth. I believe Jesus is the coming of God to earth. Today is Christmas and I welcome it and I reread the story:

^"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." (Matthew 1:18-25)

"Christmas is saying 'yes' to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying "yes" to a hope based on God's initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel. Christmas is believing that the salvation of the world is God's work and not mine. Things will never look just right or feel just right. If they did, someone would be lying...But it is into this broken world that a child is born who is called Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, Savior."(Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak)

Savior who has been born to us,

draw us to you this day and all days

until we see you face to face.

Small Signs of God - The Companion

2011-12-24T08:55:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve. A day to celebrate our journey of Advent. Even before getting out of bed, the gift of the train's whistle arrived through the quiet winter air calling me, saying, "Get ready. The journey is complete. Just get on board. Just thank the Lord."

It seems everything I read this morning has the theme of the journey. Wise men traveling their slow journey across the desert. Shepherds following a star. Family members arriving to be welcomed home. And we, too, have traveled together, writing and reading, as our hearts have journeyed to prepare for this Coming - this Advent. And I must ask myself as you must, "Am I different this year?"

Listen to Henri Nouwen's thoughts:

"God Came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving towards the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent us his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us...

Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and let him - whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend, be our companion." (Gracias! A Latin American Journal)

I love the thought of Jesus walking with us on our life journey. I love the idea that this is our greatest gift - a gift of love offered freely to all who will receive it. I love this annual "renewed invitation" for opening the gift again, receiving it with greater acceptance and deeper humility with each passing year.

As with any journey, we must gather up our traveling things and prepare for our destination. Today, tonight, let us make room for this wondrous event. Let us witness angels singing and stars dancing in the night sky.

Into this silent night

as we make our weary way

we know not where,

just when the night becomes tits darkest

and we cannot see our path,

just then

is when the angels rush in,

their hands full of stars.

(Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem)

Small Signs of God - Quiet Presence

2011-12-23T09:54:00.000-05:00

"I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20

This morning, I sit by the tree that has adorned my living room for three short weeks. I light some candles and sit in this peaceful spot of quiet and greenery and flickering light. I want the clock to stop. I want this season of Advent to stay.

Our Advent journey of preparation is almost complete. It is getting quiet. There is less traffic. Parties are over. The air is still. Travelers are headed home for the holiday. Wrapped presents wait to be opened. The stores are showing signs of change, preparing for the "after Christmas" sale. Time - almost - to clean up and put away. Time to be still and know that even as the signs of the season will one by one disappear, Jesus is here to stay.

Christmas is the first lesson of faith. Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. Soon we will be considering Lent. We will leave Jesus in the manger and follow him into his very brief three-year ministry and walk with Him to the cross and resurrection. And we will again acknowledge that as that season comes and goes, Jesus is still here to stay.

Month by month, we will move through our new year and be reminded through spring, summer and fall that life moves and we move with it. We will say good-bye to those we love. We will experience illnesses and trials of varying sorts. We will make mistakes. We will celebrate. We will laugh and we will cry. We will ask "why" and retreat at times to ponder things too hard to understand. We will have to work to remind ourselves that Jesus is still here to stay.

Oswald Chambers says, "We mistake the joy of our first introduction into God's kingdom as His purpose for getting us there. Yet God's purpose in getting us into His kingdom is that we may realize all that identification with Jesus Christ means." (My Utmost for His Highest, December 23)

And so when the twinkling stars are shielded by clouds and singing angels cannot be heard, we will know they are there - somewhere. Because we trust in the One who came that night in Bethlehem. We study and search and continue to learn to trust this amazing truth - Jesus is here to stay.

Emmanuel, you are with us and you are here to stay. Can I say that of any other earthly thing? But, of course, you are not earthly - you are God .

Small Signs of God - The Innkeeper

2011-12-22T06:30:00.000-05:00

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." (Revelation 3:20)

We were traveling in Maine and it was late and we were tired and hungry. When the innkeeper opened the door, I knew it was where I wanted my family to spend the night. It was clean and inviting and good smells were coming from the kitchen. But the innkeeper said, "I'm sorry, we are full tonight." She must have seen the disappointment in my face. As we turned away, she called, "Wait, I do have one room that might work. Your children are small and it is late." We accepted quickly, thinking we could all sleep on the floor if we could just have a little space for the night. She said to go get dinner and when we returned the room would be ready.

Pleased at our good fortune, we returned to find our "one room that sleeps five." The door was opened and we walked into a sight for tired eyes. It was basic with one bed. But on the floor were three small "beds" that had been created out of cushions, pillows and quilts. The sheets folded back, holding small stuffed animals waiting for three sleepy new friends.

The innkeeper in the Nativity often gets looked down upon, but there was something that made him stop and reconsider. Maybe he saw the tired weary couple and was moved to help. Those were common people and that was the way babies were born in Bethlehem. Surely there was a spot for Jesus. Basic warmth and safety could set the stage for surprise visits of angels singing and stars dancing.

This Advent, I wonder what kind of innkeeper I am. Can I find room for others? Or will I turn them away? Can I be creative in "making do" when I don't have enough beds, enough time, enough money, enough energy or patience? Can I go beyond the basics of warmth and shelter to offer pure hospitality and love with a few dancing stars as a perk?

Jesus is looking for hearts that will open the door to make room for him this Christmas. Like Joseph, He must be so weary of knocking on hard-to-open doors, just hoping this year, there might be a small place for him to rest his head. Would it be in your heart? Do you hear Him knocking? What will you say?

Everlasting Father,

Yes, there is room this Advent. Enter my heart and I, too, will hear angels sing.

Christmas 1989

2011-12-21T22:18:00.000-05:00

I can't help it. It's been 22 years ago and it is still my favorite Christmas photograph.

Can you see the excitement? Can you tell which one just found the Santa stash, which one knows a secret and which one is about to pop with giggles? Where did those days go?

Someone said I became a writer the year I wrote my Christmas letter and described the blue lights high up on a snowy hill on our farm in Kentucky. That was a hard year. My mother had died and I was missing her Christmas traditions that I now try to keep going in my own home. I was sad and nostalgic, letting my heart travel to new places, unfamiliar places. A new depth entered my realm of thinking. I could embrace the pain and in embracing it, something transformational happened. When I decided to share my sadness and loneliness with others through writing, it became a fragrance for others to receive. Little did I know I was being prepared for other events that would take me even further in my journey of life. Gifts come in mysterious ways, that is for sure.

I guess I would ask you this Christmas: Have your life events moved you in a direction of transformation? Oh, I love hearing about your experiences: births, weddings, trips and accomplishments, but I wonder more about your thoughts and how you love your family and friends. Tell me what is was like when you lost your job and your neighbors rallied round. Tell me what is was like when you were told there were no more treatment options. Tell me how you long for your son or daughter to return from war or estrangement. See, what happens to most of us is this: when the hard days come we shut down, retreat, worry and refuse to share our hurts. Pride closes the door to transformation while others wait for your story. There is always someone who needs to smell the fragrance of human life by simply sharing a memory, remembering a special time, talking over a concern or maybe, just being silent together.

May these days of our coming Jesus explode in wonder and grace as you ponder his gift. May you find hope when you think there is none, peace when you feel unsettled, and love always abounding. Just for you. May you share the excitement of Christ in your lives and rejoice with laughter like children anticipating Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas, Marcia, Mike, Owen and Blair

Small Signs of God - Valleys and Mountains

2011-12-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
      ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
   every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
   the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all people will see God’s salvation. ( Luke 3:4-6.)

The meltdown came. I thought I had done everything so perfect this Advent. I had slowed down and made time for true worship. I had kept my home modestly adorned and in order. I had given to the poor and served the needy. I had baked the family favorites, seen the people I love and filled the birdfeeders with a Christmas blend. And yet, hot tears came streaming down my face at the kitchen sink - somewhere between blending the pate and mixing the fruitcake. I couldn't identify their source. Was it brokenness or was it sheer Christmas joy?

My analyst- husband suggested I think in terms of an investment article he had read earlier in the day about Aristotle (he reads Aristotle?) and his ancient theory of The Golden Mean. The Golden Mean is defined as " the desirable middle between two extremes, one of deficiency and the other of excess."

This Advent frame of mind took me directly to Jesus who came right in the middle of the history of time. The world had been deficient, struggling, looking for the One who would set the world straight. And that night, 2000 years ago, God's "Golden Mean" arrived. And since He came, that same world paused and wondered for a night, and since has gone on looking, unsatisfied and excessive.

I ask you - how deep are your valleys this Christmas? My valleys are deep. And my mountains are just as high. My life spills over with the fullness of life - gathering and giving away, embracing and letting go. It is what Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes. A time for everything. And then, one day...one day it will all be smoothed, straightened and made straight.

Great God who sets my world straight,

I rest in your promises and consider your tears for your world,

My tears join with you in Advent worship.

Small Signs of God - Humility

2011-12-20T09:55:00.000-05:00

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

Stop, not so fast, Christmas!

The quiet of the morning says the frenzy for another year is about over. Children are home from school and sleeping late. The parties are over. The Christmas tree lots are almost bare and there are signs of clean-up and closing up shop. I catch myself looking into my January calendar. But wait - I want this Christmas to linger. This peaceful watching and waiting has done what Advent is supposed to do. It has suddenly filled me with quiet joy and humility. I want time now to simply stand still and just behold the experience. All I want is to enter this home stretch to Christmas Day in s-l-o-w time and just be in Advent - one with God. One with Jesus.

Maybe it is why we love the sheep so much in the Nativity. They don't have a speaking or acting role. They just come, watch and wait for their shepherd to guide them, feed them and care for them. When I was young I got to hold a baby lamb in my arms and feed it from a bottle. The mother had rejected the lamb and it would have died had my father not known what to do. My sister and I got to care for that helpless lamb and it grew and became a pet that we nurtured and cared for and loved with all our hearts. Hearts that broke when "Lamby-Lou" grew up and left us.

Could it be that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, thinks of us as his pet? Has He nurtured us this Advent as we have waited and watched for his coming? Dependent? Helpless? Needy? Has he cared for and loved us with his heart - so much that he has entered into our own hearts and we are one? If we can answer "yes" then we have the greatest gift of Christmas.

Faithful Shepherd,

You watch over me and you stay by my side.

I shall not want.

Small Signs of God - Seven Days

2011-12-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

Seven days until Christmas. The days are full of good things and well wishes as we make our final Advent steps to Christmas Day. Like you, I have my list of things to do. It will be enough. It's not so big when I think about what God did in seven days:

Monday - Light

Tuesday - Sky and water

Wednesday - Land, seas, vegetation

Thursday - Sun, moon and star

Friday - Fish and Birds

Saturday - Animals; man and woman

Sunday - God rested and declared all that he had made to be very good.

Not only the gift of creation, but throughout time God has given gifts to His world. Ann Weems in her poem "Gifts from God" reminds me of these additional gifts: a garden, knowledge, things, rainbows, manna, prophets, children and then the ultimate gift of love in the form of Jesus.

Talk about a lavish gift giver! My little wrapped gifts can't begin to compare - unless they are wrapped in the same love that has been shown to me from Heaven above and given unconditionally. When this, my final Advent week, is over I, too, want to declare that all I had done this week was very good.

"There are some that don' t open their eyes

or their ears or their hearts

and they still say, that's not quite enough.

They wander through the stores looking for Christmas.

But others open their whole being to the Lord, bending their knees to praise God.

carrying Christmas with them every day.

For these the whole world is a gift!"(Kneeling in Bethlehem, pg.70)

Great Giver of Gifts,

I want to be among the ones

who bend their knees to you.

I want to carry Christmas with me every day.

Small Signs of God - Gifts

2011-12-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

We were doing some Christmas shopping and got stuck in a traffic jam. Waiting to move forward, my husband looked to me and said, "And what about you? What would you like for a Christmas gift this year?"

I extended my hand to his nose to see what he thought about the new perfume I had sampled in the store. He liked it. Then I suggested maybe a bird feeder or some gardening clippers. He nodded. Or a new sauce pan. He perked up. I couldn't get very enthusiastic about wanting anything and then the traffic moved and thankfully, we moved on in our conversation.

I kept thinking about the question: what do I really want? Oh, I can always give out a list of material things. I can find pleasure in the material world. But it never satisfies me. My daughter witnesses this short satisfaction every day in the department store where she works. People frantic to get just the right one - the one that just came out in the catalog. But a new catalog arrives every two weeks and the styles change. We keep on temporarily fixing ourselves with the temporary. It's like the perfume that smells so good and then it fades away and we need more.

The real list lies somewhere down in my heart and wants to cry out, " I want a broken life to mend. I want a family together. I want an end to the names of fallen soldiers called out each Sunday. I want my heart to feel strong. I want no more cancer for Shirley and Jack and Diane and Ed and Mary Claire. I want a miracle for little Patrick and 2-year-old Maggie. And I want a peace about all of this and I want it to begin with me."

But wait. It is one week until Christmas and I have already received the best gift I could ever receive. It's Jesus. He is the one who can take my heart's list and check off each one to perfection. My job is to keep receiving His wondrous gift. It is a sweet aroma that will never fade or change.

A Twinkling Star

2011-12-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

"We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2)

Something draws me to gaze at the night sky. Last night there was an opening in the clouds with one very bright star twinkling down. In my quick and limited research, I have concluded that it could be Vega, the brightest star in the Lyra constellation. Lyra, according to Greek mythology, is associated with the myth of Orpheus, the musician whose music was so sweet that Zeus placed Orpheus and his harp in the night sky. Lyra has been known as Kind David's harp. But did you know it is also known as the Manger of the Infant Savior? That's all the research I needed for my Advent journey.

Why do stars bring tears?

Looking into the night sky is a discipline I learned during a time when nothing made sense in my life. I would go outside during the night and feel the darkness suffocating me. As I struggled for breath, I would turn from the darkness and look up. Tears would fill my eyes. Strength would flood my soul. Courage would pump into my depleted heart. As I looked up, grace came down and filled me until the next night when I would return depleted and needy.

To look up and "see" the Manger of the Infant Savior shining down - oh, not shining, but dancing and twinkling, strong and pure, fixed and secure in all of time and space - well, tears are fitting. Tears of joy. Tears of gratitude. Tears of awe and wonder.

I love the way one pastor talks about star-gazing:

1. The Star leads to God.

2. Only those who look, see.

3.Only those who follow, find.

4.Not every one follows.

5.Those who follow, always find.

Jesus, You who are the Bright Morning Star,

when I look I see you,

when I follow, I find you and I worship you.

Small Signs of God - Lost Sheep

2011-12-16T12:38:00.000-05:00

It happens every Advent. I begin peaceful and calm, resting in the start of the season of joy and peace. I pace myself. Then I look at the calendar and realize the time is passing and I still have things to do. A few presents to purchase. Cookies to bake. Letters to write. I begin to wander off in my rush and the frenetic pace to December 25th beckons me to stray. Even in worship, I still have things to do. Things to think about more deeply. Things to ponder over and over in my heart.

I turn to Isaiah 53. It is about the serious role Jesus would play in our lives. There is nothing about silent nights or peace or beauty or calm; instead Isaiah points to the future about an unattractive man who people will despise. Isaiah writes about people who will hate so much they will kill the man and sell his clothes. Even friends will desert him. Isaiah brings it closer to home and points to the reader and says that all of us, like stupid sheep, wander off and this man - this Jesus will be the one who will take our wanderings and stupidity, forgive us and perfect us.

Hard things to think about at Christmas time. We'd rather bake the fruitcake and wrap presents than consider the cost of Christmas in God's economy. And yet, He came. He took thirty years from His reign in Heaven and humbled himself to be Jesus, the one who would love perfectly. The one who would offer his life so you and I might live forever. He comes today as the good shepherd looking for his lost sheep.

I remember the music of Handel's Messiah proclaiming the very words:

"And He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; and He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those that are with young." (Isaiah 40:11)

Great Shepherd,

You have experienced

more than I can comprehend,

and here you are this Christmas -

feeding me, gathering me, carrying me.

Lead on, Gentle Shepherd.

Small Signs of God - December Sky

2011-12-15T08:35:00.002-05:00

The sky is beautiful in December. It has something to do with the shortening of the days and the distance of the sun as the earth spins on its axis. Funny how the busy colors of the season and the shortness of the days can prevent me from ever looking at the sky during Advent.

But last night I did. We were traveling south on the interstate at rush hour. Both directions - a sea of candy cane red and white lights moving ever so slowly for home after a full day. Lucky for me, I was the passenger and kept watching the western sky with the strong pinks and corals that seemed to put on a show just for me. At one point, it was as though an umbrella was over all of us, calling all sojourners to look up and see the wonder of this December night.

Looking up is hard to do when there is bumper-to-bumper traffic. Looking up is hard to do when cars are shifting lanes suddenly. Looking up is hard to do when focusing on the immediate is more important than focusing on the exquisite beauty and calm of a December sunset. But it's there.

Morning comes and the sky is just as beautiful. Pinks and lavenders dapple the blue. Still, there is much to do. Appointments, phone calls and work all create a new kind of traffic and can steal the opportunity for looking up. Oh, it only takes a second - just a glimpse is reassuring. Just a quick wide view calms and refreshes and renews. Try it.

Luke 21:28 says to "Look up and raise your heads." We are asked to become new people at Advent. Look up when your gaze if fixed on earth. Look up when you are disappointed. Look up when your eyes are heavy with tears. Look up and be filled with the wonder and nearness of God.

God who remains constant with us through Advent - always looking down from sunrise to sunset and through the beauty of the starlit night - all we have to do is pause and look up and we are made new. Thank you for making it so simple.

Small Signs of God - Tiny Hands

2011-12-14T11:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I set aside my morning Advent readings to help my young friend pack her car with suitcases and preschoolers for the long drive home to Texas. I took the two-year old to the piano and we sat and played and sang songs together. At one point, the curly-headed toddler placed both of her tiny, pink hands on my hands and for a few moments, we were one - playing music together.

I looked down at those little hands resting on mine, felt the warmth of young tender flesh depending on me to play the notes, and I experienced Advent worship.

How can it be? She is speeding west in her car seat, but those baby hands still linger, resting on mine, comforting my soul this Christmas. Like the baby's hands in the manger that rest on a world of hurting experiences, that soft touch of God presents itself through my tiny houseguest for my own personal Advent experience. And to think I could have missed that if I had remained upstairs in Advent worship.

Warren Wiersbe in his book Real Worship says:

"There is today such an emphasis on Bible knowledge that we are in danger of ignoring, or even opposing, personal spiritual experience. While we must not base our theology on experience, neither must we debase our theology by divorcing it from experience. If true worship is the response of the whole person to God, then we dare not neglect the emotions."

Today, I challenge you to allow yourself a personal touch from God. Might they be the tender hands of a baby? Might they be the aging hands of a homeless person? Might they be the hands of a friend, or a teenager, or a sales clerk?

Who will depend on you to play the music for Christmas?

"The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14

Small Signs of God - Alertness

2011-12-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

If Advent is a time of waiting, then shouldn't we always be alert to that for which we wait? The silly song we hear on the radio reminds me that I, too, need to focus on the one right thing. Alvin, the chipmunk, has the same trouble that so many of us have each Advent. The director is preparing his group to sing their Christmas song. Simon is ready. Theodore is ready. But then we hear, "Alvin....Alvin.....ALVIN!" Alvin is looking off, busy with other things, maybe good things, maybe not. Time is spent getting him back on track to sing his Christmas song. (The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) 1958)

How much time do you spend getting yourself "back on track" to sing your own Christmas song?

Today I read:

"Be Alert, be alert, so that you will be able to recognize your Lord in your husband, your wife, your parents, your children , your friends, your teachers, but also in all that you read in the daily papers. The Lord is coming, always coming. Be alert to his coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent: life is recognizing the coming of the Lord."(Henri J.M. Nouwen, Gracias! A Latin American Journal)

But you say, "But I don't see the Lord in that person and I look and look, but can never find the Lord in the news." We keep looking for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And guess what, we find the Lord either in rejoicing because of the presence of those things or the lamenting the great need of them. We rejoice with finding the Lord or we search and wait for Him to be found. Either way, we recognize him and our great need for him.

Even the Chipmunks in Christmas Don't Be Late recognize their need for Christmas when they sing:

"We've been good, but we can't last.

Hurry Christmas, hurry fast!"

Try as we might, we just can't be good in our own might. We can't last. We need the coming of Christmas to bring us the perfect Christmas gift - grace, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Pay attention! We have a song to sing!

"Keep awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else me may find you asleep when he comes suddenly."(Mark 13:35-36)

Baby of Grace who comes to us,

give me ears to hear and eyes to see without distraction.

I want to recognize you every moment.

Sing About It

2011-12-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

We left feeling better than we had felt in a while - actually almost giddy with musical notes playing over in our minds and warming our hearts. We had been singing Christmas carols with good friends. One sang the traditional command performance solo, we challenged ourselves with a new duet, and most of us hit wrong notes as we sang and laughed and loved each other.

This morning I still feel better. I feel energized. I smile and remember last night and work today with those songs playing again in my head and my heart. What is it about singing that makes us feel so good? Victor Hugo said," Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." There's freedom in that you know. All the pent up things we just cannot say in speaking, we sure can belt it out in song.

I looked up the health benefits of singing and they are many:

Singing releases the feel-good brain chemicals and pain-relieving endorphins; singing helps us breath better because we improve our posture and our lung capacity increases; singing improves our mental alertness and tones our muscles; singing increases our confidence.

As my Advent journey continues, I imagine when Mary first heard from the angel she needed a very large dose of confidence. Her visit to her cousin Elizabeth encourages her. Mary is strengthened in her faith, recognizing that she will play a part in the change of human history. Overwhelmed, what does she do? She breaks out in song:

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has

regarded the low estate of his handmaiden

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;

for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the

imagination of their hearts,

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree.

He has filled the empty with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.

He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke

to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever."

How does our soul magnify God? No one can hear our soul sing- only God. But if our soul is busting with joy at the news of Jesus this Christmas, it will be impossible, like Hugo say, to be silent about it.
Creator of my soul, fill me with such wonder of you that I cannot keep silent.

Two Voices

2011-12-10T16:09:00.000-05:00

Millions of people celebrate the Holiday season, but not all of them are Christians. They shop and decorate. They attend the politically correct "Holiday" Party and participate in the music of the season. Some will say they are Christian, but just have trouble with a virgin birth and a resurrection - the two, really big mysteries. They say they believe in God and sometimes they go to church. They think there might be something after death - possibly a Heaven, but surely not a place called Hell. How could a loving God send someone to Hell? That's not very Christmas-y.

And then Advent comes and asks us to look again at the message proclaimed. The time is here when prophets warn, stars move in the sky and angels proclaim and those who are unsure in their faith find themselves in another Christmas quandary. They find themselves on the bridge between the sacred and the secular and the choice becomes one of confusion and distraction. Back and forth they go - we go. The immediate often reigns over the important. Sometimes it is the good over the best.

I heard a speaker who made a strong point about this division. She said there are two voices inside of us. Deep inside each of us there is God's Spirit calling. Outside, there is the world calling - usually in the opposite direction. Somehow those voices vie for our attention during the time of Advent. The world pulls us to material pleasures and God's Spirit pulls to one, holy silent night. It becomes a battle and Advent can leave us feeling sad and depressed.

The conversation between Charlie and Lucy in the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas explains our frustrations:

Charlie Brown: I just don't understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating threes and all that , but I'm still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed."

Lucy: "Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem."

Christmas is not the problem. Christmas is the solution. Christmas is the voice that calls to us throughout the year. Maybe it's because during this beautiful season for celebrating, we find ourselves still on that bridge of indecisiveness, still wondering, still watching for some small sign of God.

God whose infant cries

calls me to your holy night,

Guide my steps to your sacred manger,

For You are the solution.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16