Welcoming Hope (Advent Week 1)

Download jpg here. As we begin the season of Advent, you may want to create a small sacred space for prayer and quiet. Each week I'll suggest a small "everyday" item you can add to your space (or carry with you!) to help you reflect on the week's theme. LINK TO THIS WEEK'S SCRIPTURE TEXTS. …

Living the Advent: Receive

Advent 4 texts at http://www.textweek.com Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 ... an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid... Matthew 1:20 This is the season of wishes... and wish lists. With our inboxes overflowing with advertising and our …

Living the Advent: Proclaim!

Advent 3 texts at http://www.textweek.com Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalm 146:5-10 Luke 1:46b-55 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. Matthew 11:4 In …

Living the Advent: Prepare

Advent 2 texts at http://www.textweek.com Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' Matthew 3:3 When my grandparents retired, they moved to a mobile home on a big plot of wooded land in the Missouri …

Living the Advent: Watch

Advent 1 texts on http://www.textweek.com Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Matt. 24:42 Living the Advent: Watch By the time you're mumble-mumble years old, like I am, "keeping awake" is not a good thing. Generally it means you've …

The Most Powerful Words

Today's reading: Matt. 13:31-35, 44-52About three and a half years ago, we found out we’d be moving to Beaufort, South Carolina... and I started reading Pat Conroy.This is what we readers do: we use books to go places, the places we never expect to visit and also the places we have to learn to think …

Advent, Day 27: Conception

Today's reading: Matthew 1:18-25We believe that the Christmas event--the pregnancy of a young woman, the angels' assurances, the Bethlehem road, the God With Us born into human flesh--was a singular, unique event in history.But so much resonates with me from a Bible story like today's... I wonder if perhaps the Christmas story has to do …

Advent, Day 21: What did you go out to see?

Today's reading: Matthew 11:2-11What did you go out to see?Was it the Santa in the streets,his red hat bobbing and bells jingling,velvet bag bursting with giftsfor all the good little children?Was it the parade floating by,mammoth balloons flying,marching bands oom-pah-ing,celebrities beaming?Was it the lights glittering,shapes of trees and snowflakes,elves, Frosty? Was it the electrictwinkle that …

Advent, Day 11: Children of stones

Today's reading: Matthew 3:1-12God,raise us up to be childrenof the stoneslet us not presume ourselves to bethe righteous onesjust because we're the regular attenders,or the brightest scholars,or the rule-followers,or the law-makers,or even because we're the progeny ofthe faithfulremind us that ourreligious ancestry alonedoes not clinch our belonging,but is the foundationupon which we must build if …

Advent, Day 4: Before the flood

Today's reading: Matthew 24:36-44these are the daysbefore the flood(we know rain is coming,keep testing the air for moisture,watch the barometer readings,feel our joints stiffeningin warning of the changingweather)we hold our weddingswhile clouds darken the horizonwe toil in the fields of our work,keep our houses, plan our menus, feed our families,put our children to bed, andclose …