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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Kathleen Loftman

Last year, as I was going through a difficult time with my mother passing away unexpectedly, I heard a breathtaking new carol for the first time, written by American composer, Christopher Rouse,  who had also passed away during the same timeframe as my mother. The music spoke to my heart. Karolju is a suite of original Christmas carols for choir and orchestra. The work was first performed November 7, 1991 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Here are the words of the composer, describing the music: “Two paths led to the composition of Karolju. The first was the great body of Christmas carols written over the centuries, a collection I value as highly for its spiritual meaning as for its glorious music. The second was Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, which made an unforgettable impression upon me when I first heard it in March of 1963.  As I wished to compose the music first, …I decided to compose my own texts in a variety of languages (Latin, Swedish, French, Spanish, Russian, Czech, German, and Italian)… It was rather my intent to match the sound of the language to the musical style of the carol to which it was applied. I resultantly selected words often more for the quality of their sound and the extent to which such sound typified the language of their origin than for their cognitive ‘meaning’ per se. I also elected to compose music, which was direct and simple in its tonal orientation, music which would not seem out of place in a medley of traditional Christmas carols. Karolju is … one which I hope will help instill in listeners the same special joy which I feel for the season it celebrates.” Traditions are handed down from one generation to another. Christopher Rouse established a new tradition when he composed Karolju to celebrate his daughter’s first Christmas in 1990. This music can now become a tradition for all of us.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 5:11-12

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;  let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield.

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PRAYER:  Written by Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch priest, professor, writer, and theologian.

Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day, We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us. We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom. We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence. We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light. To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!’  Amen.

Click on the link to see and hear the music video.

MUSIC VIDEO:  Christopher Rouse:  Karolju (submitted by Kathleen Loftman)

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Vickie Stone

It was our annual tradition. My neighbor Sue and I toured the Point Loma homes all prettied up for the All Souls Episcopal Church Holiday Home Tour.  We loved seeing the homes, many with stunning views to the San Diego Harbor below with tiny sail boats and the downtown skyline in the distance. Several years ago on the tour, Sue noticed a nativity scene with a missing baby Jesus at one of the homes.  Sue volunteers at several local thrift stores and noticed when an exact matching baby Jesus was donated; the perfect, unique one that would complete that home’s creche! The following December Sue was under the weather and did not make the tour that year…then last December, Sue again had the baby Jesus ready.  We walked up to the gate at the home on the street that we visited 2 years prior and rang the buzzer.  A woman came out the front door and walked down the sidewalk to open the gate. Sue introduced us and explained why two strangers were standing at her gate.  The lady listened intrigued and fascinated.  She was clearly touched.  She opened the bag and unwrapped the delivered baby Jesus and gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.  Her eyes started to tear and then said her creche was her mother’s who put it out every year.  Her mother had died 17 years ago. During the woman’s childhood, it had never had the baby Jesus. Her mother had fashioned one from a round button and some cloth, so the manger would not be empty.  But this baby Jesus was indeed an exact match to her set.  She said her mother was certainly smiling down from heaven! She was touched and said it was the kindest thing she recalled someone ever doing for her.  She said she would continue to keep her mother’s hand-made Jesus but would now also add this real, matching one so she could tell everyone the special story of how it arrived to her nativity set.  Witnessing this generous act of kindness was perhaps my favorite gift last Christmas season.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 25:4-5

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

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PRAYER:  Written by Donald J. Shelby (1931-2012), an American pastor, writer, and speaker.

Lord, the calendar calls for Christmas. We have traveled this way before. During this Advent season we would see what we have never seen before, accept what we have refused to think, and hear what we need to understand. Be with us in our goings that we may meet you in your coming. Astonish us until we sing “Glory!” and then enable us to live it out with love and peace. In the name of your Incarnate Word, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Simon Khorolskiy:  I Wonder As I Wander

IMAGE: Virginia Wieringa; Advent Starry Night

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Ruth Grendell

One of my mother’s many favorite psalms was Psalm 139. She reminded me many times that we are created as unique individuals.  There is none exactly like each one of us.  I remembered her words as we were caring for young women in a clinic in a rural village in India.  As the day progressed, we noted an elderly woman standing outside alone and watching the young women as they left the clinic. She looked at each one, but no one approached her. We learned that she wanted to see the American nurses who were helping the women in her village. I wanted to speak with her, but our different languages prohibited any communication.  She looked so frail, that I wanted to hold her in my arms, but I knew she would back away.  So just our smiles would have to suffice.  Later, I talked with the hospital personnel who were aware of this village problem, but they noted that ancient traditions that included the label as “unclean” are difficult to change. They hoped the continued presence of the Christian health care contacts would help.  As I reflected upon this experience, I remembered that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Leprosy had robbed her of her feet and hands—but not of her mind and spirit.  I wished I could learn more about her life.  I wondered how long it had been since anyone in her family had hugged her. Then, I realized that she had received her Christmas gift.  Her wish had been granted.  She had wanted to see that the young women in her village were receiving the care they needed.  I have mourned for her knowing that long term medication therapy can alleviate the bacterial disease.  However, I know nothing was available for her.   My Christmas gift was when I wondered what more I could learn from this experience. What more could I do to provide body, mind, spiritual care?  Then, I thought of an old familiar hymn, Open My Eyes That I May See that directed my thoughts and informed me what to do (listen below).

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 139:13-14

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

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PRAYER:  Written by Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), a Christian cleric and writer.

Correct our eyesight, we pray you Lord, with the gift of faith that, as we see you in the baby of Bethlehem, so may we see and hear you in those who speak your word and so may we serve you by serving those in whose distress you are disguised. As at Christmas you came among us to love the unlovable, so teach us to love with the love by which we are loved by you. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Clara H. Scott:  Open My Eyes, That I May See (submitted by Ruth Grendell)

IMAGE: El Greco: Christ Healing the Blind

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Juan Carlos Acosta

Advent is a time in which, with Joseph and the pregnant Mary, we journey to Bethlehem in anticipation of the birth of Jesus. Pregnant is a word that we most often associate with human conception, but it of course has other meanings. There can be a pregnant pause, or we can be pregnant with grief.  I love thesauruses. I keep a slightly yellowed paperback thesaurus within arm’s reach of me at my desk, and I don’t grasp for it as often as I should. The synonyms of pregnant speak so much to the season of Advent. Significant, weighty, potential; fertile, inventive. This year our expectation and longing for change are heightened. At forty years of age I am not young (likely older than both Mary and Joseph) and yet I am aware that these anxieties and issues are not new in history. I think of the civil and social unrest of the sixties or the pandemic a century ago that shut down churches, schools, and whole cities.  The trappings of Christmas are charming, but I often feel that if we get wrapped up in those (pun intended) that we might miss the significant, weighty, potential, fertile and inventive that are represented in Jesus the Christ being born into this world as very fragile and precious human infant.  Despite all that we are facing I have hope. Hope because I believe that the ways of Jesus can truly change the world if we let them change our own hearts first.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 67:1-3

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

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PRAYER:  Written by Luci Shaw, a contemporary American writer of poetry and essays.

Oh my Lord, keep me from frustration and impatience when I see little evidence of your living and growing in me. Reassure me that waiting time is not wasted time. That your purposes for us all are large and all-embracing enough to hold firm and prevail, no matter the obstacles or distractions. You have told us that “now is the accepted time…now is the day of salvation.” But perhaps your “now” is different from ours. You see our lives from the infinite perspective of eternity, of kairos. We want immediate action, change, growth in chronos, in “real time.” We want to see our problems being resolved. Now. Help us to realize, as those who love and believe in you, that we, too, are pregnant with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that day by day we are being enlarged. Augment our hope, widen our imagination, and nourish our anticipation that the astounding fact of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” will turn true in each of us in your good time. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Sacra Profana:  O Come, Emmanuel  (submitted by  Juan Carlos Acosta)

IMAGE: Painted by Connie McCoy of our church

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Jan Caldwell

We wait…for information about the virus that is sweeping the world, to see if we, or a loved one contracts the virus, for Zoom calls, for Amazon deliveries, for tomorrow…We remember…what our lives used to be like, going to restaurants, traveling, visiting friends in their homes, hugs…We pray this next year will be one of preparing….with vaccinations, continued care to keep ourselves and each other safe and well, how to return to our public and busy lives, how to tell our hearts to beat again…We rejoice always in the knowledge God is with us and He will never leave us.  In this season of uncertainty, we turn to Him for courage, discernment, peace, love.    “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you”.  (Deuteronomy 31:6)

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 118:5-9

Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me;  I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

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PRAYER:  Written by Emilie Griffin, a contemporary American author who writes about religious experience, prayer, and spiritual life.

Dear Lord, there are signs of trouble and anxiety all around me. Give me confidence to trust in your incarnate presence in a fearful world. Help me know that I am a child of God. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Animated Faith:  Fear, Fear Not Mary

IMAGE: Painted by Connie McCoy of our church

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Barb Hoekstra, a contemporary Christian author. This is an excerpt from her devotion Advent: Lessons in Waiting.

In the case of waiting, experience does not generate expertise. We all have experience waiting. We endure short-term waiting in lines, at stoplights, or for commercials to be over. We endure long-term waiting for decisions to be made, diagnoses to be given, and events to occur. With all this experience, we think we should be good at it. Unfortunately, we aren’t usually very good at waiting. We wait in a variety of unhealthy ways: passively, helplessly, anxiously, and angrily. Waiting is so pervasive and encompassing it moves beyond being a mental act, causing bodily responses such as thumb twiddling, hand wringing, nail biting, and fist pounding. I can remember feeling physically sick as my husband and I waited for our son, Max, to come to our family from an orphanage in China. Thirteen months felt like an awful endlessness. During this very uncomfortable wait for Max, I was driven to consider waiting in better ways. I was led to an Advent reading by Henri Nouwen, titled Waiting for God (1993). Nouwen showed me that the Bible is full of “waiters”—Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon and Anna—and these people are representative of the remnant of Israel. Nouwen asks and answers the question, “How are they [people of the Bible] waiting, and how are we called to wait with them?” Nouwen’s conclusions are insightful and practical: 1) People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait; 2) while waiting, we are to be fully present in the moment; 3) a waiting person is a patient person who believes something hidden will be evident to us; 4) waiting is open-ended, filled with hope for what God desires to bring us beyond our imagination; 5) we wait together; and, 6) we wait patiently in expectation. While we wait for the mundane or the Magnificent, let us wait like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon and Anna: attentively and expectantly.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 33:20-22

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Pause and meditate on the Scripture.

PRAYER:  From the Gelasian Sacramentary, a book of Christian liturgy, which is the oldest western liturgical book that has survived.  The book is linked to Pope Gelasius I. It was compiled near Paris around 750.

O Lord our God, make us watchful and heedful as we await the coming of your Son, Christ our Lord, that when he comes and knocks, he will find us not sleeping in sins but awake and rejoicing in his praises; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Cherokee Hills Church: Beauty in the Waiting

IMAGE: Bethanie Sulleza: Waiting

If using an advent wreath, light the first purple candle and the second purple candle.  The second candle represents faith and is called “Bethlehem’s Candle.” Micah had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, which is also the birthplace of King David.

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Larkie Cook

This praying mantis on our gratitude rock (see picture below) reminded Jim and me of how grateful we are for our health, a loving family, and a loving God. Even during these trying times, we consider ourselves thankful to be living in such a beautiful location with perfect weather and with support from wonderful friends from our church and community.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 138:1-3

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.

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PRAYER:  Written by Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), a Christian cleric and writer.

Liberate us, we pray you, Lord, from the getting and grasping to which we are prone. Teach us the royal way of the law of the gift, that in giving not only things but ourselves we may know even now the life abundant you promise to bring to perfection in eternal life with you. Increase in us gratitude for your gift of yourself, and let that gift of gratitude inspire us to the greatness of living our lives as love in in response to love.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Celtic Women: Joy to the World

IMAGE: Photo submitted by Larkie Cook

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Valerie Weaver

It was Christmas, 1968. I had just joined my husband who was in the Navy stationed at Cubi Point, Naval Air Station in the Philippines. We were waiting for a place on base and living in a small apartment in Olongapo City. Our personal shipment had not arrived and our small apartment was bare and Christmas was almost upon us. We felt far from home and family, alone and adrift in a strange culture and land. Just before Christmas Day we learned that the Navy had shipped in a load of Christmas trees from Japan. We rushed to get one and quickly set it up in our empty living room, but we had no decorations. At a local market we found some small Chinese lanterns that became the only decorations for our little tree. Finally, our temporary shelter felt like home. It wasn’t really the tree or the small lanterns but the act of starting our celebration. We realized that we could celebrate the birth of our Lord no matter how far we were from our geographical home. He was with us and we were indeed home wherever we were. I use those lanterns still every Christmas as a reminder that He is with us always and wherever we may be.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 24:1-2

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.

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PRAYER:  Written by Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), a Christian cleric and writer.

Awaken, O Lord Jesus, our hearts and minds to your presence in the world of your love’s creating. Forbid that we should stumble through this day oblivious to the wonder in the ordinary. With your grace, startle us into faith’s perception of your continuing creation in our lives. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  From A Christmas Carol: A Place Called Home

IMAGE: Christmas Lanterns photo submitted by Valerie Weaver

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Vickie Stone

In 2014 I was updating my kitchen.  I very much wanted to create a mosaic backsplash for above my stove top. But I struggled on what to create that I would be happy with how it turned out, since I had only created one other mosaic and was quite new to this art form AND this backsplash would be in my kitchen for a long time! One Sunday while sitting in church and gazing at our lovely Rose Trinity window behind the church altar, it occurred to me — I could find a similar design that had meaning to me and it would be the perfect addition to my remodeled kitchen. After some online research, I settled on a design known as a four point or Quaternary knot; a traditional Celtic design. For me, the design’s outer circle represents the continuity of family love.  And the four interlocking ‘petals’ represent myself and my three siblings in my family.  I am very happy with how it turned out and to this day I also enjoy the knowledge that our church’s window was the catalyst for my design.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 22:27-28

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

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PRAYER:  Written by Emilie Griffin, a contemporary American author who writes about religious experience and spiritual life.

Dear God, my life is a maze of ordinary things: work, family, church, correspondence, bill-paying, filling out forms. Help me to see that in fulfilling my obligations I am serving you. Let me be open to the grace of the random encounter. Give me glimpses of  your reality in the middle of things. Let me recognize the Messiah, as Simeon did. And help me to live by your commandment of love, no matter what the cost. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Tim McGraw: Mary and Joseph

IMAGE: Photo submitted by Vickie Stone of our church

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Close your eyes, breathe, and clear your mind. Be still. Center your scattered senses on God’s presence.

REFLECTION: Written by Joanne Melton

Knowing that many of you have a similar memory, I would like to share mine with you. As a young family, Christmastime was the highlight of our year. The children’s choir rehearse sweet carols such as, Away In A Manger,” and What Child Is This….” Along with the children’s choir, there was practice for the Christmas Eve presentation of the journey of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem, and ultimately, the birth of the Christ Child. It is a time when church staff, moms and dads, and grandmothers and grandfathers begin the process of casting who will be Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Magi, and of course, the angel. The stable needs to be built, costumes need to be sewn, hours of practice take place so the children will feel confident in their telling of this wonderful story. There are smiles, laughter, and tears. Always some last-minute glitches…tummy aches, or reluctance to take that first step, say that first word. It is the sweet innocence of the retelling of this special story, that we all know by heart, that means so much. The narrator begins the story. Mary and Joseph find no room at the inn.  They find comfort in the humble stable with all of God’s creatures who witness the birth of the baby, Jesus. The star shines brightly in the sky! The shepherds bring their sheep. The Magi bring their gifts. The children present this precious story as their gift to the congregation. It is given with love, innocence, kindness, and humbleness to remind us of the greatest gift…The Christ Child.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 89:1-2

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.

 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

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PRAYER:  Written by Emilie Griffin, a contemporary American author who writes about religious experience, prayer, and spiritual life.

Lord, give me hope. Let me see your providential hand at work in every corner of society. And let me be refreshed by the innocence of children, Lord Jesus. Let me be amused by their antics, their sudden laughter, their glee. Help me to be touched by the naivete of the Christmas narrative, the angels bringing word to humanity, Mary and Joseph escaping with their child into Egypt. May the light of the Incarnation flood my heart. Help me bring your peace into the world. Amen.

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MUSIC VIDEO:  Over A Thousand People Came Together To Break a Record And Bring This Moving Christmas Hymn To Life:  Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

IMAGE:

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