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Written by Shirley Hobson Duncanson, a contemporary pastor.

MEDITATION:

Wise men, astrologers, magi – all names for those men who went searching for a king with only a star to guide them and a prophesy to direct their way. It seems a strange quest, this following a star, this search for a newborn king. Yet, follow they do. These magi search where the star will lead. The journey will cover a thousand miles with an uncertain destination. Yet they set out in a search not only for a king, a promised messiah, but a search for meaning and purpose. They will be surprised as they discover their destination is not a palace, but a humble home in Bethlehem. Arriving in Bethlehem, they lay their treasures down. Being warned in a dream – they return home in another way. There is a sense that all of us, having gone to Bethlehem and arrived at Christmas, dare not return by the route we have taken. Christmas ought to change us, ought to cause us to be like those who are wise and be different from whom we were before we met the Christ. It ought to bring us to a place of changed lives. Christmas, encountered in all of its fullness, does change us. It causes us to take stock of our lives. It asks us to look at the values we are living by and rid ourselves of those that have neither merit nor value. Christmas ought to cause us to return home a little kinder, more generous . . . less fearful and more faithful. For if it doesn’t, we haven’t truly encountered the Christ The star continues to lead seekers to God’s truth, to kneel at Bethlehem’s child and leave as new people . . . People who have been set free from yesterday’s sins, failures, fears and doubts. Set free to live and love more graciously with a generosity of spirit and with hope in their hearts.  Brian Wren’s Christmas Hymn shares the message of a changed life.

“There’s a spirit in the air,
telling Christians everywhere:
‘Praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working, in our world!’

 When believers break the bread,
when a hungry child is fed,
praise the love that Christ revealed,
living, working, in our world.

 Still, the Spirit gives us light,
seeing wrong and setting right:
God in Christ has come to stay.
Live tomorrow’s life today!”

PRAYER:

Written Shirley Hobson Duncanson, the author of today’s meditation.

God of the Christmas Star, guide each of us as we follow the stars you set in our skies. Lead us again to the Christ, give us dreams to follow and the courage to follow them. Lift our spirits and our eyes to see more clearly your vision for us.  Help us to  trust you to take us where you want us  to be.  May our lives be a blessing.  In the name of the Christ Child we pray. Amen.

Written by F. B. Meyer (1847-1929), an English pastor and evangelist involved in ministry and inner-city mission work in both England and the U.S.  This is an excerpt from his book “Elijah.”

MEDITATION:

God’s servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: “There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself by the brook–hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber, or in the Cherith of bereavement, or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away.” Happy is he who can reply, “This Thy will is also mine; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Hide me in the secret of Thy tabernacle, and beneath the covert of Thy wings!” Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible unless we can hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some deep gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God; as vegetation through long ages absorbed these qualities of sunshine, which it now gives back through burning coal.  Bishop Andrews had his Cherith, in which he spent five hours every day in prayer and devotion. John Welsh had it–who thought the day ill spent which did not witness eight or ten hours of closet communion. David Brainerd had it in the woods of North America. Christmas Evans had it in his long and lonely journeys amid the hills of Wales. Or, passing back to the blessed age from which we date the centuries: Patmos, the seclusion of the Roman prisons, the Arabian desert, the hills and vales of Palestine, are forever memorable as the Cheriths of those who have made our modern world. Our Lord found His Cherith at Nazareth, and in the wilderness of Judea; amid the olives of Bethany, and the solitude of Gadara. None of us, therefore, can dispense with some Cherith where the sounds of human voices are exchanged for the waters of quietness which are fed from the throne; and where we may taste the sweets and imbibe the power of a life hidden with Christ.

PRAYER:

Written by Laura Georgakakos, a contemporary editor and writer. This is an excerpt from her book “Grace Notes.”

Sovereign Lord, I get busy and harried and pretend not to hear it, but please keep knocking at the door of my heart. Insist on our time together. Alone with You is where I am supposed to be and I know it. That is the place of greatest blessing and peace; only there will I get the proper perspective on all that is demanding my attention. Thank you for all You are waiting to bestow. My heart says of you, “Seek His face!”  Your face, Lord, I will seek. Amen.

Written by John Wesley (1703-1791), an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader in the revival movement known as Methodism.  This is an excerpt from his book “Christian Perfection.”

MEDITATION:

I caution you to beware of antinomianism, which is the belief that there is no need for laws in the life of the believer. That great truth that ​“Christ is the end of the law” may betray us into this belief if we do not consider that Christ himself adopted every point of the moral law! Beware of thinking, ​“Because I have the love of God I do not need holiness,” or ​“Since I pray all the time I have no need for set times of private prayer,” or ​“Because I am spiritual I have no need for self-examination.”  Instead, let this be our thought: ​“I prize thy commandments above gold or precious stones. O, what love I have found in your laws! All the day long I will study in it.” We must beware of self-indulgence, or of mocking self-denial, fasting, or abstinence. We cannot cry out, ​“Only believe, believe!” and call others ​“legalists” who are trying to live as Scripture teaches. We must remember that ​“by works our faith is made perfect.” 

Written by Anna E. Rossi, a contemporary Episcopal priest, liturgist and interfaith advocate.

God of Justice,

as a city, and nation, and world,

we live outside your law:

the law that precludes double standards

and prospers second chances,

the law that shelters the homeless poor

and maintains inalienable rights for the stranger.

Show us power, and wonder, and signs.

Not you, breaking the laws of nature,

but us, breaking open the nature of our laws,

so that the possibility of abundant life

would unseal our covenant with death,

through Jesus Christ, the Crucified and Risen One.

Amen.

Written by Trevor Hudson, a contemporary South African pastor, author and speaker.

MEDITATION:

We must receive God’s compassion for it to flow through us. Seeking to express the divine compassion without receiving it leads towards “compassion-fatigue.” Often, caring Christ-followers end up weary and overwhelmed because they neglect to consciously receive God’s compassion. You may be one of them. Certainly, I have been.  We need to ask for the grace to receive God’s compassion more deeply. We must not get too “spiritual” about this. God’s compassion surrounds us, embraces us, permeates us and all creation. It flows towards us each moment of our lives. Through gifts of creation like the beauty of our garden, the faithfulness of our dog, the aroma of an early morning cup of coffee.  Through gifts of people around us like the hug of a loved one, the faithfulness of a friend, the smile of a stranger.  Through gifts of creativity like music that touches our soul, art that speaks to our longings, a book that moves our heart. Through gifts of silence like meditation on Scripture, our time of prayer, the sheer stillness itself.  We need to consciously receive God’s compassion however and wherever it may come to us. This also means shaping our everyday lives to ensure that we have regular practices that dispose us to receive God’s compassion: going for a walk, spending time in the garden, dwelling in Scripture, conversation with loved ones, taking the dog for a stroll, spending time in silence, or maybe just taking the time to breathe in deeply the gift of our own being!

PRAYER

Written by Henri Jozef Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch priest, professor, writer and theologian. This prayer is from “A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee.”

Dear God, as you draw me ever deeper into your heart, I discover that my companions on the journey are women and men loved by you as fully and as intimately as I am. In your compassionate heart, there is a place for all of them. No one is excluded. Give me a share in your compassion, dear God, so that your unlimited love may become visible in the way I love my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Written by Michael Downey, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from the book “Weavings.”

MEDITATION:

What I have come to see is that there is nothing more important to human beings than hope. Certainly, in our own day, many people live without explicit religious faith. And evidence of loveless lives is tragically abundant. But people usually do not survive long without hope. They cannot, because hope is the very heart of a human being…We live in a profoundly disruptive and disorienting age. On every street, behind every door, lives someone who is deeply disheartened, if not actually despairing. This may be brought on by the awareness of massive and meaningless death, the randomness of violence, the onset of early illness, the loss of a loved one or job or sense of meaning and value. Or by the loss of cherished and heretofore reliable ways of thinking and speaking of God. Indeed, even by the loss of faith in God. But this loss too can beckon us to deeper levels of openness to hope, the kind of hope that is absolutely and altogether gift…. Hope is not the same thing as optimism that things will go our way or turn out well. It is rather the certainty that something makes sense, is worth the cost, regardless of how it might turn out. Hope is a sense of what might yet be. It strains ahead, seeking a way behind and beyond every obstacle.

PRAYER

Today’s prayer is from the Sarem Primer, a book of prayers and Christian worship resources from the 1500s, collected at the Salisbury cathedral.

O glorious and almighty God,

all the spirits of the blessed

place their hope in you.

Grant us that, by your help,

we may always serve you with a pure mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Written by Arthur J. Schoonveld, a retired minister.

MEDITATION:

On the first day of a new year many of us wish each other a “Happy New Year!” But as we begin a new year, we need more than a hopeful greeting from the people around us. We need to listen to what God told Joshua about 3,400 years ago. As Joshua was about to lead God’s people into the promised land, he had reason to be afraid. He had an enormous task ahead of him, and he was well aware of the dangers that he and the people would soon be facing. He needed God’s encouragement. A new year brings lots of questions: Will our health hold? Will our marriage last? Will I be able to hang on to my job? Will I get into the right school? Will I live to see the end of this year? Will the economy improve? Will there be a terrorist attack or some natural disaster that takes me or my loved ones? The Creator of the universe comes to us and says, “Don’t be afraid; don’t be discouraged.” What happens in this coming year is not left to chance. God is in charge, and he promises to stay close: “The LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Many years later, the Lord Jesus made the same promise when he said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). That’s the reason we can wish each other a “Happy New Year!”

PRAYER

Written by Arthur J. Schoonveld, author of today’s meditation.

Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of a new year and for your promise to stay with us. We ask for your guidance and wisdom each day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Today’s meditation is from the Senior Living Ministries website.

MEDITATION:

Each year at this time, thousands of people stand in the cold in Times Square, New York. No big event beckons them. No ballgame is being played. No rock concert is getting underway. It’s simply a huge, lighted ball that drops from a tall building. And within a few seconds, hardly worth fighting traffic and crowd pushing for, it descends marking a new year. Why has this nonevent turned into a huge, money-making holiday? Most other holidays celebrate a reputable person, famous birthdays, document signings, or a noted event. But New Year’s Eve only celebrates the passage of time—something that most of us would rather not recognize. We make a huge deal out of it because it signals the end of an old era and the start of a new one.

The old year’s problems, heartaches, and struggles seem to vanish and become a faded memory when we think of getting the chance of a new year and a new start. It must have been the same way for the Israelites when they stood with Joshua looking forward to a new era ahead of them. They had wandered for 40 years in the desert, and finally they could see land flowing with milk and honey ahead. Better yet, they had God’s promise that He would never leave or forsake them. As you stand with your back to the old year and look forward to the new one, you can have hope in the promises of God. You will certainly face both trying and joyful times ahead, but you can rest assured that He “will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). That promise is enough to celebrate the new year ahead!

PRAYER

Today’s prayer is from the Mozarabic Breviary, a liturgical rite of the Latin Church once used generally in the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania), in what is now Spain and Portugal.  Developed during Visigoth (Arian Christian) rule of the Iberian peninsula  in the 500s AD.

O God, your days are without beginning and without end. We dedicate this coming year to you. Give us such prosperity as you know is good for us, and make us abound in doing whatever is pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Written by Costa Stathakis, a contemporary Australian minister and author. This is from his work  “God’s Purpose for Our lives,” which was published in “The Upper Room Disciplines in 1999.”

MEDITATION:

We live in an age of instant answers; we want the Lord to reveal God’s plan for us immediately in response to our prayers. The psalmist suggests just the opposite. The psalmist speaks of waiting on God: “I waited patiently for the LORD.” The psalmist, like many of us, was probably not very good at waiting. The psalm;s last words indicate a desire for immediate relief: “O my God, do not delay” (Psalm 40:17). God’s purpose for our lives unfolds gradually as a tree grows into fullness. It cannot be forced or achieved overnight. Jesus himself pointed out that the beauty of lilies does ont result from their own efforts,  for “they neither toil nor spin.” Their growth comes about by their yielding to the friendship of the sun and the rain in purposeful waiting.

PRAYER

Written by Kimberly Matthews, a certified lay minister and author.

Creator God, who stretches a hand across the heavens and spreads the stars in the sky, meet us in our waiting.

Loving Son, who came and comes and will come, come today and meet us in our waiting.

Abiding Spirit, who waits with us, speak to us in our waiting.

Loving God, grant us the courage to wait for you and the grace to realize you wait for us.

Amen. 

Written by author Norman Shawchuck (1035-2011), Methodist bishop Rueben Job (1928-2015), and contemporary author Robert Doherty. This is an excerpt from their book “How to Conduct a Spiritual Life Retreat.”

MEDITATION:

The basic foundation for all spiritual growth is God’s loving gift of Jesus. Through God’s promises and initiatives, God assures us that we are already loved just as we are. We don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to gain God’s love. This love is unconditional and unmerited. To fall into the hands of God is to fall into the arms of unfailing love (Micah 7:18-19). There is a divine initiative in our every encounter with God. Even before we knew our Creator, God loved us. Even before we turned to look toward God, God was moving toward us. Our faintest yearning for God is assurance that God is already longing for us. Our first feeble step toward God is possible only because God has already been moving toward us, drawing us nearer by the divine magnet-heart of love.

PRAYER

Today’s prayer is from Irenaeus of Lyons (130-??), a Greek bishop and theologist noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France.

I appeal to you, Lord, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob and Israel, You the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Infinitely merciful as You are, it is Your will that we should learn to know You. You made heaven and earth, You rule supreme over all that is. You are the true, the only God; there is no other god above You.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ…and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, grant that all who read what I have written here may know You, because You alone are God; let them draw strength from You; keep them from all teaching that is heretical, irreligious or godless.

Written by Carolyn Arends, a contemporary author, recording artist, and director of education at Renovare.

MEDITATION:

A few years ago I came across a Latin phrase adapted by Martin Luther from the thinking of Augustine to describe the human condition. We are born, Luther says, incurvatus in se, curved in on ourselves. In his Lectures on Romans, Luther argues that the Bible “describes man as curved in upon himself to such an extent that he bends not only physical, but also spiritual goods toward himself, seeking himself in all things.” It’s a striking picture, every human walking the planet tragically bent, seemingly hopelessly deformed by the self-centeredness we inherited from our original parents. We were made to stand tall, eyes fixed on God, arms open to one another, but instead we are incurvatus in se. When I’m struggling to understand the travesties that checker human history (or why I was terse yesterday with someone I love), I can begin by working out the implications of our incurvation. Luther is not describing our bodily posture, of course, but my battle to stand upright seems an apt metaphor. Usually I’m not even aware I’m slouching. In a similar way we are so habituated to our spiritual deformity that we often can’t detect it. “By fault of the first sin,” Luther laments, we are “bound to darkness in all thinking and feeling.”…My best teachers in the Christian life remind me spiritual formation is the slowest of all possible human movements. Jesus will unbend us, if we’ll let Him, but it will take surrender, practice, and time to become habituated to a new way of moving through the world. But that’s not to say we can’t have breakthroughs.  Recently I worked up the courage to ask a physiotherapist for help [with my posture]. “Most people,” he said, “focus on their backs, but poor posture actually has more to do with tightness in your chest which is pulling you inward. Regularly stretch your pectoral muscles, and you should gradually notice a real difference.” So now, every morning, I stand with my arms pressed against the frame of my bathroom door, opening up my carriage in a stretch that hurts, but helps. It turns out some of my muscles must learn to let go as much as others need to strengthen. And here’s the thing. This morning, catching a glimpse of myself stretching in the mirror, I recognized with a shock that the recommended position is undeniably cruciform. It occurred to me a person stretched upon a cross can’t help but be upright and open, the opposite of incurvatus in se. Maybe this is part of the reason Jesus invites us to take up His cross. He’s unbending us, teaching us to stretch out our lives in a cruciform shape of self-giving. “Nature is not capable of this,” Luther says, and I know he’s right. I was born with rounded shoulders and a bent nature. And left to my own devices, I can’t change either. But Luther doesn’t stop there. “Nature is not capable of this, but only grace is, namely the grace that is given by faith in Christ through the Holy Spirit.” The changes are slow, and the stretching hurts. Still, day by day I am learning to co-operate with the grace that is unbending me.

PRAYER:

Today’s prayer is from the Gregorian Sacramentary, a 10^th century illuminated Latin manuscript ascribed to Gregory 1.

 Almighty God who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.