The Real Work of Christmas

This is my favorite "post-Christmas" poem ...

When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,               The real work of Christmas begins.

To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoners
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among brothers
To make music in the heart.

The author, Howard Thurman (1899-1981), was an ordained Baptist minister and influential author, philosopher, and educator. He was Dean of Theology and of the chapels at Howard University and Boston University for more than two decades, and he wrote 20 books.  The best-known of these, Jesus and the Disinherited (1949), deeply influenced Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders, both black and white.  In 1944, Thurman and a white pastor, Alfred Fisk, were the founding co-pastors of the first racially integrated, multicultural church in the United States, the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples.

O Christmas Tree (and other trees, as well)

THE TREE
by Madeleine L'Engle

The children say the tree must reach the ceiling,
And so it does, angel on topmost branch,
Candy canes and golden globes and silver chains,
Trumpets that toot, and birds with feathered tails.
Each year we say, each year we fully mean:
"This is the loveliest tree of all." This tree
Bedecked with love and tinsel reaches heaven.
A pagan throwback may have brought it here
Into our room, and yet these decked-out boughs
Can represent those other trees, the one
Through which we fell in pride, when Eve forgot
That freedom is man's freedom to obey
And to adore, not to replace the light
With disobedient darkness and self-will.
On Twelfth Night when we strip the tree
And see its branches bare and winter cold
Outside the comfortable room, the tree
Is then the tree on which all darkness hanged,
Completing the betrayal that began
With that first stolen fruit. And then, O God,
This is the tree that Simon bore uphill,
This is the tree that held all love and life.
Forgive us, Lord, forgive us for that tree.
But now, still decked, adorned, in joy arrayed
For these gread days of Christmas thanks and song,
This is the tree that lights our faltering way,
For when man's first and proud rebellious act
Had reached its nadir on that hill of skulls
These shining, glimmering boughs remind us that
The knowledge that we stole was freely given
And we were sent the Spirit's radiant strength
That we might know all things. We grasp for truth
And lose it till it comes to us by love.
The glory of Lebanon shines on this Christmas tree,
The tree of life that opens wide the gates.
The children say the tree must reach the ceiling,
And so it does: for me the tree has grown so high
It pierces through the vast and star-filled sky.

from "A Widening Light: Poems of the Incarnation"
Luci Shaw, editor

"Breath of Heaven" with video from "The Nativity Story"

A Prayer for "Joy"

The key word for the third week of Advent is joy.  But whenever I hear the word "joy," I think immediately of my daughter, Tish, whose name means "joy" or "delight."  And because she was killed in an accident in 2002 and and her birthday coincides with this week of Advent, for me it is a week filled with emotional conflict.

This year was no different.  On the one hand, I am deeply grateful for the 21 years we shared with her here on this earth.  She taught me more than any other person what it meant to be full of joy and to bless others with your laughter.  On the other hand, I still miss her terribly and can't help but wonder what she would have been doing as she turned 30.

Jesus said, "I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:11).  What things?  About how he is the vine, and we are the branches (15:1-8).  About how if we obey his commands, we will learn how to abide in his love (15:10) and to have our joy completed.

And I'm still learning how to do that. 

Father, help me to learn the "lessons of Jesus" so that I may become a joy-filled person who brings joy to others.  Remind me of Jesus' promise, 'Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy' (16:22), and help me to apply that to both Jesus and Tish.  For surely in this life, none of us gets exactly what we want, but we receive a taste of the "life to come" where your glory radiates unending joy.  Thank you for the Joy you have given to me -- in Jesus . . . and in Tish.  Amen.

Peace in a Storm

When are lives are roiled by circumstances beyond our control, how can we find peace?

Robert Louis Stevenson once told about an experience his grandfather had on a sailing ship in the midst of a terrible storm.  When the storm was at its fiercest and the danger was greatest, his grandfather carefully walked out on deck to see how bad things really were.

What he saw brought him comfort.  There was the captain of the ship lashed with ropes to the wheel, holding the vessel off the rocks.  The captain looked up and smiled, and his smile completely reassured the frightened passenger.  Going back to his cabin, he said to himself:  "We shall come through; I saw the pilot smile!"

When we sail troublesome seas, we need to remember who the Captain is.  Christmas reminds us that our Captain is at the wheel and is smiling.  Isn't that what Immanuel means -- "God is with us"?

Sara McLachlan's "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyPMDD8fGeA

A Prayer for a Quiet and Listening Spirit

François Fénelon said:  "How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak."  Things haven't changed much, have they?  The beloved carol is profound in its wisdom . . .

How quietly, how quietly the wondrous gift is giv'n! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav'n.  No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him, still, the dear Christ enters in.

"Father God, during this busy week and month, help me to be patient enough -- and to pause long enough -- to hear your voice.  Help me to turn off the TV and to tune Your Spirit.  Help me to receive anew Your best gift of all, Your Son, Jesus, in my heart and in my soul.  To You be all glory and praise!  Amen."

Another Prayer for Advent (Or a Prayer as We Grow Older)

An antidote for being circumstantially directed (see my previous post) can be found in a prayer from the diary of Samuel Logan Brengle.  Brengle was a well-known Salvation Army preacher, but, as an adult, he continually battled depression which began with a head injury when a homeless man hit him with a brick.

Keep me, O Lord, from waxing mentally and spiritually dull and stupid.  Help me to keep the physical, mental, and spiritual fiber of the athlete, of the man who denies himself daily and takes up his cross and follows Thee.  Give me good success in my work, but hide pride from me.  Save me from the self-complacency that so frequently accompanies success and prosperity.  Save me from the spirit of sloth, of self-indulgence, as physical infirmities and decay creep upon me. 

                (Clarence Hall, Portrait of a Prophet: The Biography of Samuel Logan Brengle, 1933)

His biographer commented, "Thus praying daily and hourly, the prophet kept his passions hot and his eye single, even as he came down the decline."

Lord Jesus Christ, save me from self-complacency and free me from the spirit of sloth and self-indulgence.  Help me to be pure in heart and single-eyed in my commitment to your purpose.  "Your Kingdom come, and your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Amen.