For Joy You can prepare but still it will come to you by surprise crossing through your doorway calling your name in greeting turning like a child who quickens suddenly within you it will astonish you how wide your heart will open in welcome for the joy that finds you so ready and still so unprepared. — Jan Richardson Jan Richardson is an artist, writer, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. She serves as director of The Wellspring... Read more
“In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.” (Isaiah 40:3) From Hallelujah Broadway, a music special recorded in the Church of St Simon & St Jude in Prague in 2010. Featuring the vocal talents of Anthony Kearns, Rodrick Dixon and Alfreda Burke, and guest star leading lady Linda Eder. Hallelujah Broadway showcases the inspirational songs from your favourite broadway musicals. Read more
This is incarnation season. This is the time we remember that God lived in a womb, floating in amniotic fluid, fed through an umbilical cord. Christ would have been kicking about now; a look at Mary’s swollen stomach would have revealed the flutter of the Messiah inside. He could see at this point, the glow world of light through skin, punctuated by subcutaneous blood vessels. The voices were familiar, his mother singing her subversive songs, his father caring for this... Read more
Pray an Advent breath prayer. Breath prayers are one-line prayers with a name for God and a request. The prayers are said over and over again until they become as natural as your breath. It is a way to move toward “praying unceasingly.” Some people pray one line on the inhale, one line on the exhale. You can grab your breath prayer whenever you need to pray — especially when you can’t think of what to say — and pray... Read more
“We are all mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.” – Meister Eckhart Both of my children were born well past their due dates. I spent those last weeks in a constant state of expectation, knowing they could come at any moment and that once they decided it was time, there was no turning back. For months I had prepared, not only my home, but my heart and mind as well, for this stranger to arrive... Read more
Something must be horribly wrong here. It’s December. I’m a minister. And yet, on my calendar, there are broad expanses of open space. WHOLE DAYS with nothing written in the little boxes. Sure, I’ve got a few evening meetings. The usual weekly stuff, plus some special Christmas worshippy-and-programmy-things. And yes, there are some festive ‘extras’ thrown in, like my preschooler’s Christmas program, a Kindergarten holiday party (Lordinyourmercy), my husband’s birthday, and some get-togethers with friends. But for the most part,... Read more
Prepare Strange how one word will so hollow you out. But this word has been in the wilderness for months. Years. This word is what remained after everything else was worn away by sand and stone. It is what withstood the glaring of sun by day, the weeping loneliness of the moon at night. Now it comes to you racing out of the wild eyes blazing and waving its arms, its voice ragged with desert but piercing and loud as... Read more
Very little in our culture encourages us to slow down, simplify and modulate our desires. Even magazines devoted to “the simple life” have an uncanny way of drawing us into advertisements so we will desire more and different possessions. The season of Advent, then, is counter-cultural. While Main Street sees Advent as pre-Christmas sales season, the Christian tradition sees Advent for what it has been over the centuries—a time to let the cold weather draw us inward, slow us down... Read more
One of my favorite things about this time of year is the Holiday Nap. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that nap you are powerless to resist after inevitably eating too much at a relatives’ house. It’s the nap that just can’t be helped when stomachs are full of turkey and potatoes in a house full of warmth and good cheer. Folks, there are few greater luxuries in this world than taking a very long nap on someone else’s... Read more
Seasons of the Church
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