1st Thursday in Advent

1st week in Advent -- Thursday                            Isaiah 9:2-3

                                 Long, Dark Night

"Did you see that star,"

the crazy woman said

in her 3:00 a.m. phone call.

"Do you think Jesus is coming back tonight?"

Crazy.

Out of touch.

Inappropriate.

Yet all she was seeking

was what we all seek:

Peace in the dark corners of life.

The darkness can be so frightening,

so overwhelming,

so all-consuming.

And Isaiah's description

is as accurate today

as it was centuries ago . . .

"The people who walked in darkness."

Yet Isaiah's words --

God's word --

did not end,

does not end.

Hope is promised,

God will come.

The crazy woman was right

to search the night skies

and to reach out.

O God:

We long to reach out, to search for hope in the darkness that seems to surround us.  Give us sure signs of hope in the every day things that we see, and in the quiet hours of night that we experience; in Jesus' name.  Amen.

1st Wednesday in Advent

1st week in Advent -- Wednesday                          Isaiah 7:14

                                      Incarnation

Every lover of dinosaurs knows:

Herbivores eat plants,

Carnivores eat herbivores,

and other things with meat.

Carnivores love the carnal,

that which is flesh and bones.

Thus Jesus is God who has become

intimate with the carnal --

become flesh and blood,

just like us --

The Creator has become the creature.

Why?

So that we know,

for a certainty,

that God Almighty now knows

the real struggles we know,

living in this less-than-perfect world.

More than that,

we now know,

for a certainty,

that God will never leave us alone.

For God has become one with us,

Immanuel.

Lord:

Thank you for coming to us, for coming to be one with us.  Thank you for standing beside us, this day and all the days of our lives.  Remind us of your loving presence with us; in the name of Jesus -- Immanuel -- we pray.  Amen.

1st Tuesday in Advent

1st week in Advent -- Tuesday                                John 1:6-9

                                    Candle-Power

Advent --

the season of light,

season of candles.

Candles, once lighted,

fill the room

with gentle, tender light,

pierce the darkness,

and cause shadows to dance with joy.

Candles fill our churches,

flicker from our Advent wreathes.

Candles somehow find a place in our hearts:

a place for joy,

for love,

for dancing,

for God.

Lord Jesus,

Light of the world:

Rekindle in our hearts

the candle of your love,

And let it burn long,

and warm,

and strong.

Forever.

Amen.

1st Monday in Advent

1st week in Advent -- Monday                        Galatians 4:4-7

                        Waiting:  An Advent Prayer

Waiting . . .

Lord, I=m tired of waiting:

waiting for the next appointment

waiting for school to get out

waiting for the 4:30 time-clock

or the 6:02 to the city

waiting for Christmas finally to get here.

It seems that waiting

is what I most often do -

waiting to feel closer to You,

waiting for my prayer life to mature,

waiting to be Aspiritual.@

I wait for others to do what they should,

even when I cannot do what I know I must.

I am tired of waiting, Lord.

I have become impatient with my impatience!

So, during Advent,

slow me down, Lord.

Let me drink deeply the sweet water

of your love, your presence.

Let me rest awhile

in the sea of your grace.

And let me patiently learn

the art of waiting; knowing that,

In the fullness of time,

your will will be done.

Amen.

A Tale of Contrasts

Scene #1 -
For the past three days, I have had the privilege and joy of serving as the parliamentarian of the Immigration Issues Committee of the 2012 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  54  teaching and ruling elders spent concentrated time in prayer, dialogue, and discernment about 11 different matters that were proposed for action by the General Assembly.  Okay, so this was not as controversial as how one defines marriage (another committee dealt with that one), but immigration is not an uncontroversial issue in our country.  Right?  Yet these 54 commissioners and delegates, from across the country and around the world, worked together... together... to address these issues.  Two things happened at the close of the committee's time together.  First, one of the leadership team members said, "I know that the members of this committee come from different theological perspectives, but I honestly could not tell you who was on which side of the theological spectrum.  Everyone worked respectfully and well together.  It was amazing."  Second, at the end of the committee's time together, the Young Adult Advisory Delegates on the committee presented me and the other members of the leadership team with flowers.  They had gone out at lunch and spent their own money to bring us flowers.  They felt so valued and so heard that they wanted to express their appreciation.  This, too, was amazing.

Scene #2 -
On Sunday afternoon, teaching elder Tara McCabe was confirmed as the Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly.  She is a person of deep faith, and has been a colleague and friend of the Moderator for several years, even though they hold very different theological positions on many issues, including how one defines marriage.  This afternoon, the Rev. McCabe spoke to the Assembly, and resigned as Vice-Moderator, citing the personal and vitriolic cyber-attacks on her, her beliefs, her faith, and her convictions.  Rather than continue to be a focus of a few groups within the Church, and allow their attacks to become more and more divisive, she decided to resign.  In addressing her resignation, the Moderator, Neal Presa, bemoaned the "poisonous atmosphere" created by those who perpetuate such actions... which things are incompatible with being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Within 24 hours, I experienced these two very different, contrasting things.  May we learn from the folks on the committee I served, and especially from the young adults there.  And may God have mercy on the divisiveness that so many - on either end of the theological or political spectrum - choose to perpetuate.

Help in grieving?

I just finished watching an incredibly powerful speech by Vice-President Biden to families of troops who had been killed.  Now, our VP is known for doing amazing things in speeches... though those things are often embarrassing, right?  However, this speech was as far from that as possible.

Biden spoke to these grieving families about grief, and specifically about how he dealt with his own grief when, as a 29-year-old newly-elected United States Senator, he got a phone call telling him that his wife and daughter were killed in a traffic accident, and they didn't know if his sons would survive or not.  The Vice-President was truly amazing in this speech.  He was vulnerable.  He was open.  He was candid.  He was compassionate.  He was honest.  He was hopeful.

However, he also said something else that grabbed my attention.  He talked about how, even now, his current family gathers every December 18, the anniversary of that tragic accident, and has a funeral mass said for his deceased wife and daughter.  When I heard him say that, my "Protestant brain" began doing what we Protestants always have done... protested!  (Hence the name, yes?)  The whole theology behind a "funeral mass" is certainly biblically questionable, at least from my perspective.  However, in the context of all that Biden was saying, it suddenly occurred to me to look at this practice of our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers in a different light.

Anniversaries of deaths are difficult.  I still can vividly remember March 29, 1962, and all of the events that evening surrounding my Mom's suicide.  I was 10 years old.  Every March 29 I remember... even all these decades later.  It's not painful now, but I remember.  Every July 4 I remember that it was my Mom's birthday. She would have been 97 years old this year if she were still alive.  I remember.  How helpful would it be to have some liturgical means by which to translate those memories into opportunities to express faith?  How helpful would it be to have some vehicle by which to wrap those memories in an act of worship?

Maybe a "funeral mass" doesn't make sense in my theological understandings of things... but it makes sense to me spiritually and emotionally.  Is there something we Protestants might do that is true to our beliefs while still providing some sensible help in grieving?  I think there must be... and I think I'll either find it or write it.

What would Jesus do? No, really!

I'm guilty of at times trivializing people who have a passion for WWJD.  You know - What Would Jesus Do?  It just sounds simplistic, almost gimmicky.  It's too easily put on a T-shirt, poster, bumper sticker, or wrist band.  Maybe that's what feels so much like a gimmick to me.  I'm not sure.

And yet, that really is what we who carry the name of Christ are supposed to do, isn't it?  Aren't we really supposed to focus in on being like Jesus?  After all, the very name, "Christian," means one who follows Christ.  In fact, it means even more than that.  One reference (yes, even though it was on Wikipedia, I looked up the citation) said this:

"The Greek word Χριστιανός (christianos)—meaning 'follower of Christ'—comes from Χριστός (christos)—meaning 'anointed one'—with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership."

So how serious are we if we say we are Christian?  Do we really believe that we "belong to" Jesus?  If so - or even if we are anywhere close to that understanding of what it means to be a Christian - then our goal should be to live like Jesus did... to follow in his paths... to pay attention to the things in which he was involved... to adhere to his teachings.  So, yes, "What Would Jesus Do" really is the key question, isn't it?

I lay all this out because of something that struck me as I read an article today about the Vatican cracking down on the predominant group of women religious (i.e., nuns) in the United States.  The report concludes that the group has "serious doctrinal problems."  It then goes on to list the many "problems" that the nuns have, which need to be addressed and corrected.  Among other things, the Vatican has concluded that the group has focused its work "too much on poverty and economic injustice, while keeping 'silent' on abortion and same-sex marriage."  (See the article in the New York Times:  http://goo.gl/Dmt2V).

So, let me ask the question again:  What would Jesus do?  Well, what did Jesus do?  Let me think... Did he talk a lot about "poverty?"  Yes, absolutely... as does all of the Bible!  "Economic injustice?"  Again, yes.  "Abortion?"  Hmmm.... nope.... not a word.  How about "same-sex marriage?"  Again, Jesus was silent on that one.  So the bishops want the nuns to focus more on issues that Jesus did not address, and downplay issues that he clearly did address.

I vote with the nuns on this one!  But then again... what do I know?  I'm just a Presbyterian.