And Now...Run

 

 Christmas Day arrived, gifts were opened, a whole lot of food was eaten and now we sit in the post-Christmas clutter.  Some of us may have already taken down decorations, started diets and moved on to plans for 2021.  However, for me these days are a bit slower, a bit more relaxed, even lazy.  I'm relishing the memory of my 

5-year-old grandson running through my house...the little pound, pound, pound of his feet.  I'm recalling the joy in his face at a surprise.  I laugh to myself when I recall his sweet giggles.  Those joy-filled moments speak to me, remind me of love, and invite me to love in the same way.

I want to love like my grandson.  It's an all-out love, unconditional, pure, and offered to everyone.  And in his exuberance for life - he runs.  I mean everywhere, he runs.

When we were on the beach last summer, I noticed that children constantly run.  And run for no reason.  The parents walk down the beach, but their kids run ahead, run around them, run into the water.  Just running in joy, I guess.  But when you get older, you stop running.  Or running becomes part of your to-do list, right after, cleaning house and laundry!!!  

I want to run with the joy and love of a child.  Run wide-open, all out, with unbridled enthusiasm, offering such joy to everyone.  At least I want to run like that in my spirit.   Don't you?

Christmas invites us to run.  Now that we've heard the news of this Baby King it's time for us to lace-up and prepare to run.

31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.

They returned AT ONCE to Jerusalem.  Hours before these travelers had walked slowly, disappointed and in despair down the dusty road.  But now, with a burning in their hearts they RAN back to Jerusalem to tell their story.

I noticed with our grandson that when he loved a gift, he wanted to tell everyone one about it!  Have you noticed that after you receive an extra-special, most desired gift, most anticipated gift that a lot of the joy is telling others about that gift?  Yes, certainly we feel joy in ourselves but it's in the telling another that spreads our own joy and gives that person joy.  And gives the Giver joy.  It's suddenly a crazy circle of joy!

The Christmas story is this type of gift.  Were not our hearts burning within us in the last few days?  In the quiet moments of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, did you not recognize that intense experience inside your body?  The love, the acceptance, the hope revealed to each of us?  That is Christmas.  The hope of a new beginning, a healed land, a healed earth, love unending.  It is the gift of all gifts.  And it is the gift that compels me to run and tell others.

In my quest for purpose and meaning, I've come to understand that the true purpose for my life and I believe for all our lives, is that the Christmas Joy fills us to such a limit that we overflow.  We overflow into the lives of people around us who are searching for bread, clothes, a hug, a special treat.  It's this running into people's lives to tell of the special gift that gives us our greatest fulfillment.  We received Good News this Christmas...a Savior was born into our world.  So many people need to be reminded of this gift, many people have never heard of this Gift...let's start running to tell.

Justice, Mercy, Humility--Mission Possible!

 

Advent is over, and Christmastide has begun!  It would be so nice to keep the Christmas tree up all year and continue to enjoy the beautiful music and the sounds and smells of the season. 

But we are not called to camp out in the coziness of Christmas or the quilted comforts of home.

Mary and Joseph didn’t stay in Bethlehem.  Before long, they were high-tailing it to Egypt.

Likewise, the two Emmaus travelers didn’t stay locked in the safe and familiar confines of home after Christ’s appearance to them over the table.  “They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem,” Luke writes.

2021 is just around the corner. We too have a world to return to.  How will our encounter with Christ—Christ the newborn King and Christ the Risen Savior—how will that encounter shape our path forward?

For these past weeks, Nouwen has taken us on a journey he calls the Eucharistic life, and he makes an important point:  “Communion is not the end.  Mission is.”

This idea of mission can be overwhelming.  “I’m just one person. What can I do?  What difference can I make?”

The prophet Micah provided a good template for planning our re-entry:  “What does the Lord require?  Three things:  do justice…love mercy…and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8)

These three qualities—justice, mercy, and humility—provide the structure for answering the call to mission for ourselves, those closest to us, and our communities.

Justice.

At the “community” level, we have justice.  Jesus always calls us to a kind of justice that restores those who have been cast out, those at the edge, on the margins, those suffering under the oppression of illness, poverty, or empire.  Our first question is, “Who or what needs to be restored?” 

Once you’ve answered the “what,” you can begin to consider the next question:  “How can I operate within my circle of influence to bring justice to my community?”

“Hunger is too big,” you might say.  But you can contribute to your food bank, or volunteer at a food pantry.

“I’m worried about the environment, but I’m not a scientist.”  That’s ok.  Maybe what’s in your circle of influence is making some conscious decisions about how much you consume, or how much you throw away.

“I’m troubled by so many in generational poverty or without healthcare or in dysfunctional family systems or caught up in addition…but what can I do about that?”  Start with being informed.  Maybe the first step in going back into the world to bring about a little more justice is educating yourself about the history and structures that keep oppressive systems in place.

Any one of us may not be able to change the world…but what if all of us did our part to restore those on the bottom and the outside?  I think Jesus was counting on all of us doing just that.

Mercy.

Doing justice is the work of restoring our communities.  Loving mercy is the work of restoring our personal relationships.

Mercy is mission with those closest to us.  Laying down one’s pride…taking the first step…choosing relationship over being right… isn’t this what mercy is about?  To whom can you reach out in 2021  to forgive and start rebuilding a relationship?  I know I have a couple in mind. 

The Sufi poet Rumi gives us words to consider when it comes to “mercy”:  

Mercy is inviting someone into that field.

Humility.

If justice is community work…and mercy is relationship work… then Micah’s call to humility is personal work.  Humility means admitting that there is more to learn, being teachable, not having all the answers and being gracious enough to admit when you are wrong.  Our teachers could be the natural world, our children and grandchildren, or an unexpected stranger.  The key is looking long and hard enough and being willing to be taught.

To summarize:

• ·       The Eucharistic Life ends not with Communion…but with Mission.
• ·       Mission is something each of us is called to do, and something we can do.  Micah gives us a simple template to use…
• ·       Our mission in the community is justice—who or what needs restoration in our communities, and what part can I play?
• ·       Our mission with our closest relationships is mercy—who needs forgiveness, and what can I do to start building or rebuilding a bridge?
• ·       Our personal mission is humility—what do I still need to learn, and who or what can teach me, if I am humble enough to admit it.

-Scott Elliff

S

 

The Christmas Beginning

Tis the season and I hope you are ready.  I hope I'm ready!  Gifts wrapped, menu planned, perfect gifts chosen, pies made, the freezer full!  However, it feels weird in many ways, doesn't it?  It's a down-scaled Christmas celebration this year.  There are far less programs, less gatherings, less social contact, less of a lot of things we hold dear.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that kids are still asking Santa for what they want!  And our young children want to know how much longer until we get to open presents?  Can Christmas ever arrive?  So, what do you ask for this Christmas?  Are you excited and anxious for the day to arrive and for the festivities to begin?

We all look forward to December 24 and 25, but I believe the giving of Christmas is in the beginning.  This month I've been contemplating that Christmas is today not some awaited day.  Christmas is seeing and accepting what God is giving.  Christmas is God's hand extended, offering us new birth, a new way, new understanding.  It's all occurs in the beginning.

In the beginning, He created the earth

In the beginning, Mary chose to trust and believe

In the beginning, Joseph chose to trust and follow

In the beginning, the shepherds saw and rushed to worship

In the beginning, a stranger offers us bread...

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”  Luke 24:30-32

He BEGAN TO GIVE IT TO THEM…it was in the beginning of them accepting the bread that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

•Not after the meal was over

•Not after they were completely full

•Not after they fully understood

 

It’s when HE BEGINS in us that we start to truly see him.  It’s the beginning of new belief.  The beginning of a new step of faith.  When Moses began to walk toward and went over to see the burning bush, God spoke. When Moses began and stretched out his hand over the Red Sea, it parted.  It's in the beginning of our faith steps that God moves.

 

I tend to live my life not satisfied with what He is offering me or beginning in me. I want the whole loaf!  Please Lord, don’t piecemeal me along.  What’s the outcome?  Answer my prayers today!  Let me see you, fully see your plans and understand everything in this moment.  I’m tired and I’m tired of trying to understand.  Often my faith waits to see the whole picture before I finally trust and accept His leading.  That’s not faith; that’s my good ole control.

But maybe we can remember it’s in the first small step of accepting that one piece of bread.  Accepting the small, gracious gift.  The small beginning He offers me is actually the whole, complete gift.  He begins, I accept, and then I see.

What am I asking for Christmas?  The new beginning.  His new beginning in me.

kathyhayes

Bread, Bread, and More Bread

Bread satisfies us in a way that nothing else can.  It is true that “man cannot live by bread alone,” but it’s also true that bread can fill an empty stomach and fuel our bodies for action.

Jesus understood the power of bread.  He also understood Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 1900 years before Maslow did.  For Jesus and the people of his social class, bread was a matter of life or death. When a person is hungry, he’s not looking for a sermon.  He’s looking for food, and nothing else matters.  Jesus got that.  Let’s look at three examples.

Feeding the Multitudes (Mt. 14:13-21). Jesus could draw a crowd. On one occasion, when the gathered multitudes had grown hungry, Jesus knew better than to let them stay that way.  A hungry crowd can become an angry mob, no matter how great the headliner is.  He didn’t dispatch his road crew to provide assurances.  He found a way to meet their need for food with loaves, fish, and generosity.

The Upper Room (Lk. 22:17-20). Once fed, Jesus could use bread to make his point.  The bread could be a stand-in for something greater.  Think about Jesus’ retirement dinner in the Upper Room.  The menu was set—it was Passover, after all.  Flatbread, bitter herbs, and wine were on the menu—nothing extraordinary. 

Yet, Jesus seized the moment and used those essential elements of bread and wine to make a bigger point.  Their physical hunger having been met, Jesus drew them deeper into his story, their story, our story.  “This bread and wine about which you never give a second thought?  From now on, whenever you sit down together and do this mundane, routine, every-day thing…just think about what’s going to happen to me tomorrow. Don’t forget it.  And don’t forget why.”

Emmaus (Lk. 24:30-32). Then Nouwen opens up yet another Jesus story with bread as a central plot element:  having arrived in Emmaus, Christ breaks bread at the table and—voila!—the two travelers recognize him for who he really is.  In an instant, in an act so unremarkable…so seemingly insignificant…so like a thousand thought-less actions every day…they were transformed.

These three “bread stories” seem to illustrate two important lessons that Jesus is teaching about himself and laying out as examples and expectations for us:

Lesson #1: Meet people at the place of their need.  Don’t give people a lecture when they need food.  Don’t pass judgment when what someone needs is healing.  Give people what they need, not what you have a need to give.

Lesson #2:  We’re not built to be alone.  These stories tell us that it isn’t just about food filling our physical need.  The food was always shared in the context of a community…sometimes large, sometimes small. But Jesus seems to recognize that we need each other.  As much as we like to think of ourselves as independent and self-sufficient, we are a social species.  We want companionship.  We need a witness to our lives.  With technology, found a way to connect despite everything the virus has done to set us apart.  So, let’s ask ourselves: How are we reaching out to others, even in this time when connecting is so difficult?

Through his examples, Jesus taught that “The Way” was more than a warm, fuzzy feeling or a mountaintop experience—it was loving action to meet people’s needs without question or judgment.  And in ordinary daily experiences like the breaking of bread, Jesus shows himself as the Christ, continuously reborn in a world with many great needs.

--Scott Elliff

A Room

 The countdown is happening.  Whether we're counting down to Christmas or the Covid vaccine, I'm not too sure.  The news cycle is filled with covid updates and political updates.  Yet my mind and house are filled with Christmas packages and the UPS man!  These two worlds collide as we wonder who actually will be in our homes on Christmas morning.  I confess that I'm wondering why I'm going to all this Christmas trouble when the only celebrants at my house will be me and the hubs. I have rooms to fill but no one coming to fill them!  Are my rooms to remain empty?

There is an old story about a couple of travelers who were told, 'there is NO ROOM for you'.  Mary and Joseph instead turned to a cow stall and made room.  This couple who had gone through their own nine months of shock, of an unexpected life event.  How did they make room?  How did they prepare a place?

The countdown to Christmas is about a room in a cow stall that was suddenly prepared and filled with Glory.  A Glory that was born to die for us.  A prepared room full of hope and renewed life.

How does one prepare a place, prepare a room?  Many of the rooms in my physical house are filled with trinkets, books, memories and dust!  Under the beds are high school pictures, awards, and art projects.  In the closets, I find my mother's hand-me-down trinkets, camping gear, old brass, baby clothes and on and on.  In other words, I find a lot of unneeded and forgotten objects.  My rooms need a cleaning.  Maybe this is the year that I finally understand that no matter how many rooms in my physical house are filled with people, Christmas trees, gifts, and food galore, there is truly only one room that needs to be filled.  And that's the small secret room inside of me.

I've come to understand that this private room needs my utmost attention.  It has a lot of stored hurt and pain, a lot of disappointment and failure and a lot of dust that needs a good sweeping out.  But a miracle is also buried deep inside the secret room and it is a fragment of Glory.  This is the room we each are to celebrate this Christmas Day.  

And, yes we may be alone in our multi-room houses but the only important fact is that the Baby King will join us in our private room.  He came to prepare a place for us.  He came, has come and will continue to enter this secret place in each of us.  Our celebration inside our own hearts and totally alone in His presence, is that He came to earth get us, to show us a way, and He has prepared for us a home filled with many rooms and filled with His Glory.

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. John 14:1-3

kathyhayes 

The Invitation List

 

Hospitality is one of the things I miss most about the pandemic.  For several years, we’ve regularly enjoyed having groups of new and old friends in our home for food and conversation.  We always want to make those evenings special!

Preparing for that sort of hospitality takes some planning…what to serve, when to have it ready, and, of course, who to include.

The two travelers on the road didn’t have the luxury of making plans.  Their hospitality for the Risen Christ arose out of a spontaneous encounter.  They felt compelled to include him.

But we are more likely to have the opportunity to contemplate who we want to invite into our circles…our spaces…our lives.

This week’s chapter from Nouwen and this little turning point in our Emmaus story—that moment of invitation, of inclusion—really made me think.  Two different questions kept coming up for me, different questions that resulted in similar answers.

1.       Who would Jesus tell me to include—or, more precisely, to not exclude?

2.       If I invite and include Jesus, exactly who am I including and what am I getting into?

Relying on scripture for the answers, both the narrative of Jesus’ life and the specific lessons he taught reveal a great deal.

When you take the long view of Jesus’ short life, there’s a thread that runs through it, from the annunciation to birth, through his life and up to his death.  The thread is this:  The nature of God is revealed to and through the people on the margins. 

Jesus wasn’t born wealthy.  The heavenly chorus announced his birth to shepherds with their smelly sheep in a pasture, not to the emperor’s gated community.  Jesus’ didn’t have a powerful, elite board of directors; he had a band of uneducated, working class men and women (don’t underestimate Mary Magdalene!) who were following him closely and working the crowds.

Next, take a look at who Jesus always included.  Jesus wasn’t focused on elevating the popular, the pure, or the priestly.  He wasn’t absolving the pious of their shortcomings.

Instead, Jesus was a health care provider, and he didn’t discriminate against the poor or anyone with pre-existing conditions.  Jesus was including, elevating, centering from the margins people with terrible, fetid skin diseases; tax collectors who were regularly shaking down the poor folks; whores and blind and deaf people; people who couldn’t get around; and people with apparent mental illnesses or emotional disturbances.

He included people who were way outside his religious community and ethnic group, folks declared to be unclean and unworthy. 

And who did he call out?  People who were at the center of the circle, real “insiders,” religious leaders who themselves excluded those who did not pass their purity tests. In fact, Jesus flouted those religious rules and purity tests himself (Matthew 12).

He called out people with a lust for money, power, and importance.  He didn’t damn them; he just condemned their attachment to money and material wealth (Matthew 19:16-30).

We’ve all experienced what it’s like to be excluded, to not be on the invitation list, to not be always at the center of the center, the inside of the inside.

But I know that I’m more of an insider than most, and I exclude others with my judgements, my assumptions, my scarcity view of the world, my attachments to what I have…or what has me.

What about that second question that I couldn’t shake this week:  If, like the two Emmaus travelers, I invited Jesus, exactly who would that be and what would I be getting into?

Well, neither the physical, historical Jesus, nor the person or apparition who was with those two Emmaus travelers in the breaking of the bread is with us now.

So where is Jesus today, and how do I get that invitation in his hand?  Who am I including and what am I getting myself into?

Darn it if he doesn’t tell us that he’s on the list of outcasts I just ran through.  He’s poor, he’s hungry, he’s naked, he’s sick, he’s a criminal in prison (Matthew 25:35-40).

Including the Baby Jesus, or the clean, white, northern European Jesus doesn’t ask much from me, or even take much faith.  It’s as comfortable a dinner party with friends who are just like me.

But if Advent is about preparing to really receive Jesus into my life, I’ve got plenty to do when it comes to my invitation list. 

It doesn’t necessarily mean being ashamed of being in the center, but I do think Jesus is calling us to use our power and position to widen the circle.

·         Maybe it doesn’t mean inviting the homeless man into my home…but it could mean using my position in the center to call out an injustice and speak truth to power when the voice of the homeless man cannot be heard.

·         Maybe I’m not called to tend to the medical needs of the person living with HIV, but I could widen the circle of inclusion just a bit by speaking out against bigotry and intolerance.

·         Maybe I’m not able to lead a massive movement to eliminate racism in our country, but I could widen the circle for someone who’s on the outside of it by summoning the courage to say, “I’m not on board” when a friend or relative tells a racist joke.

Including all of who Jesus says he is in the world today could perhaps be as transformative for me as it was for the two travelers.  Perhaps my eyes and (my heart) can be opened.

--Scott Elliff

 

Do You Hear?

Words, words, words! They never stop.  Whether it's a constant news cycle, our kids asking for Christmas gifts, or our work lives demanding more deadlines and time away from our personal lives.  

But most upsetting, I've suddenly noticed that most words come from my daily life.  It's what I've done or not done.  It's what is planned for next week. It's my inner-self talking about all that needs to happen today, tomorrow or next week!  It's so loud in my world.  The focus is now, December, my problems, my excitement, my worry about sickness, Christmas gatherings.

It's also a season that gives me my faith.  But the words of Christmas get so easily drowned out.  How can I hear the real message?  Am I willing to listen; for 'to hear' means I must stop and listen.

One Christmas years ago...in the midst of the hustle and bustle...I received a call to come home.  My mama was dying.  I remember driving to Jackson, Mississippi with my flashers on and driving way over the speed limit.  I arrived but she was sleeping.  The sleep before you pass.  I could touch her though.  I could see her sweet crooked fingers, see her beautiful face.  I could sit with her and remember the days, the tears, the celebrations, the love.  Her earthly story ended on December 24.  As I look back today, I'm so very grateful I listened and heard a call to go home.

We see a similar occurrence in the Christmas story.  Mary heard, Joseph heard, the shepherds heard a call. The heard a voice saying, life is not how you expect it but trust me, hear me, have faith in me.  My perspective is bigger than yours.  I have a plan and it's being fulfilled.

This Christmas season, I want to hear.  I want to listen for the call.  I want to acknowledge the bigger plan.  The plan that life overcomes death.  The plan that glory comes in a little Baby King.  To believe the unbelievable.  

Do you hear??

KathyHayes.blogspot.com

Presence (December 5, 2020)

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.   (Luke 24:25-27)

Last week, I read a Facebook post that made me chuckle.  My friend posed a question:  “Are there any of you who regularly talk to yourself?”

I thought that was funny because it seemed to me the better question would be, “Are there any of you who don’t regularly talk to yourself?”

There’s always a lot of crosstalk and noise going on in my brain.  In fact, if my mind were a television, I think it would look like this…

...several programs playing at once, some are re-runs, some are previews, all are playing at full volume.  The result is that I’m distracted, not only by what’s going on around me, but by what’s going on within me.

Just like the two travelers on the road to Emmaus, my eyes are prevented from seeing because I’m distracted by my story, my suffering, my life.  I’m not present.

What does that mean, to be “present?” When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart…all of your soul…all of your mind…and all of your strength.”  To be completely there emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and physically…fully attuned and attentive with every aspect of my being.

I think this is hard to achieve and takes practice.  It’s hard to stop the many programs playing in my mind…but necessary.  It’s difficult to eliminate the distractions…but essential.  It’s seemingly impossible to get out of my story…but I must!

This means practicing a new way of showing up with God.  It means prayer is no longer just a time for making announcements to God.  It means opening a quiet, listening space for the heart.

And once that space is open, the word we hear can transform us.

What does “word” mean in this context?  Maybe it is an actual written or spoken word in our native language, but I’m going to invite you to imagine something bigger.

Think of  word as it is used so mystically to open the Gospel of John:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Used this way, word (“logos” in Greek) refers to the means by which God expresses God’s self.  How does God to that? Where is that “word” found?  And how is it experienced and understood?

An obvious answer to those questions would be scripture, and there are many who believe that the Bible is the only means by which God speaks to us—in New International Version English and translated by Americans, of course!  But that makes me wonder…what word was God using before the printing press?

Of course, we know “the word” – God’s expression of God’s self – is “spoken” in many ways:

• ·        through the words and experiences of others written across the centuries…
• ·        through the stories, questions and answers of other seekers who today are probing and questioning and wondering…
• ·        through the lives of faithful social justice activists who continue to show us that achieving the "beloved community" comes at a great price…
• ·        through beautiful music and poetry that reaches down into your wounds, all the way down to your heart…
• ·        through nature. It was Saint Francis, living long before the written word was widely available, who taught that the "word" was found in creation, our first "Bible."

These are all ways that I am experiencing the word of God…but only if I’m aware…attentive…present.

If I am mindful of Jesus' teaching that God lives within each and every one of us, perhaps the place to start the practice of presence is with those who are closest to us…by loving them with our whole hearts, souls, minds and strength…and that we are loving God by doing so.  What a good Advent practice, to be completely present to others.  We just may hear the word of God in a brand new way.

Scott Elliff

 

A 2020 Christmas

 It's almost Christmas AND we've almost finished 2020!  We're pretty excited about both of these occurrences.  This month we have the joy of saying hello to an amazing BIRTH celebration as well as saying goodbye to an amazingly strange, difficult, socially distanced, separated, disease-filled year.  But we find that even as we now anticipate the joy of Christmas, we need to find meaning in the lessons of 2020 for we're convinced they are numerous.

The two liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent have both similarities and differences.  They are different in that they bookend the life of the historical Jesus with two very different events: his birth and death

And Advent is usually seen as a time of “preparation,” while Lent is experienced as a time of “penance.”

Yet, they are similar in their invitation to make a retreat…to go inward…to reflect…to contemplate…and, perhaps, to be renewed.

The text that we chose for this Advent experience is neither new, nor is it “Christmasy”.  In fact, it’s over 25 years old and is not a nativity narrative, but a post-resurrection story: the account of two people walking to Emmaus after crucifixion of Jesus.  The book we are studying is entitled, With Burning Hearts.  And Nouwen suggests that we can embody a recurring five-step pattern in our daily lives…

· Acknowledging our suffering and losses
· Being attentive to God’s presence in our story 
· Affirming our belief
· Intimacy
· Taking action

Nouwen writes about the familiar story of two men on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  This story occurs just after Jesus has been hung on the cross, died, and was buried.  Women have gone to the Jesus' tomb but have found it empty.  These two travelers were men who had great hope in the new teacher but alas are now confused, sad, depressed that he has been killed.  The men were experiencing dashed hopes and dreams.  Their expectations for the year had been rudely ripped away from them.  Nothing was what they expected.  They were downcast looking for reason and trying to make sense of all that had occurred.  Luke 24:13-23

Does this sound familiar to you?  It seems very similar to our 2020.  We've been surprised, disappointed, and perplexed with next days.  We might say we've been confused and trying to sort it all out.

Let's also remember the story of Mary and Joseph and the unexpected pregnancy they experienced!  Do you think life as they expected was interuppted?  Were they shocked?  Were their parents disappointed and did they experience a life change, a new way of life?  Could their year have been ANY worse?  They had no eyes to see the future. Certainly, they had tears, questions, and confusion.  Again, just like us in 2020.

There are three things we can learn from these stories:

1. God was with them.  He walked right beside them and listened to all they needed to say.

2. God encouraged them to express their mourning for the life they expected and lost and, in that pain, they begin to SEE with new eyes.  Once they voiced their pain they were able to see God's hand in their lives.
3.  Faith won the day.  They each took steps of faith.  Faith that believes even when it cannot see.

Today, we have the same assurance.  He is with us.  He has never left our side.  He knows the pain of 2020 and he encourages us to voice the mourning of what we lost this year.  And somehow, in that awakening to our losses, our recognition that we need a healing God, we actually begin the process of being renewed.  It's a way of living called Faith.  Faith in who God says He is: the beginning and the end, the Savior of the world, the Hope, the One who loves unconditionally.

Let's join the these fellow travelers and recognize that God is with us.  Let's express our sorrow for the year and give Him all that pain.  And then, express Faith that He indeed is our Savior and He is coming!

Kathy and Scott

Can We Open our Presents Yet?

THIS is the time of the Christmas season that as a young girl I begin to moan..."Can we open our presents?  Please, just one?"  My parents denied this request over and over again until Christmas Eve. Their rule was that we could open only one gift on Christmas Eve; and unfortunately Mama got to decide which gift!!  As I child I hated this rule as I wanted to decide which gift I would open!  I think my children felt the same way as we continued the same tradition...and still do!

Over 35 years ago, on Christmas Eve I was cooking special bread for friends.  I had been cooking all day long.  I was making cream cheese braids and it was a process of mixing, rising, filling, baking, waiting and then drizzling icing.  I was bone tired as we had prepared over 30 loaves of bread that day.   I had on my soiled apron, my face was flour-tinged, my hair was falling out of my pony tail, I had no makeup on and was ready to collapse.  It was around 6 p.m. when my boyfriend, who had helped me all day, told me that I could open one present on Christmas Eve.  Suddenly, I wasn't so tired any longer.

We entered his little den where a small Christmas tree waited with a few gifts underneath.  There was this very small ring-shaped box that I wanted to open!  As I looked at Ray with hopeful eyes, he simply shook his head and handed me another thin, shirt-sized box to open.  Again, I was denied what I wanted.  I took the gift Ray handed me and with hidden disappointment I began to unwrap the gift.  My mind was filled with thoughts of the years I had longed for a ring from this man; the one I loved and hoped to marry.  But, it was not to be on this night.  Chin up, I thought!  You must act pleased.  I unwrapped the box to find long white gloves...the type my mother wore in church in the 1950's.  I was stunned and really had no great exclamations of excitement.  "Oh, how nice I stumbled."  Ray, not to be deterred, hardly noticed.  He encouraged me to try them on so I slipped the right glove on..."it's pretty," I stammered.  Upon Ray's urging I continued to the other glove.  As I slipped it on my hand I felt something in the finger of the left hand.  What??? As I hurriedly removed the glove, there lay a perfect diamond ring.  As I looked at Ray, he simply said, "Will you?"

My heart hammered in my chest and burned with love for him, our future, the love he offered me.  The gift I wanted to open was not the one that was best for me that night.

This Christmas, we will be receiving many gifts from those we love but there is ONE gift that is the very best for you and me.  It's the One we must open to receive all the love offered.  His gift for us awaits us.  Let's not let the ONE gift lie unopened on Christmas morning.  For that's the nature of gifts, we must open them up and receive them.  Surely our hearts will hammer and burn like never before.  This gift of love is like no other.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  They asked each other, "Were not our hears burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"  Luke 24:31

'Twas the Night Before

Mary and Joseph entered a tiny village with no where to bed;

She was very pregnant and perhaps he was filled with dread.

For where would they stay?

This blessed couple on whom the Christ child lay.

They were rejected by hotel and inn; 
but had knowledge that new life was about to begin.

Surrounded by the cold, the hay, the animals, the smell; 

But grateful the day had ended; e're not so well.

The stirrings began and soon came the One;

Who knew what had truly now begun?

Miles away the rough shepherds, like me and you; 

Looked to the sky and were startled anew.

But once they saw, once they heard;

There was no question that life would forever be altered.

They followed the love, they followed the call, they followed what their hearts could see.

He had come.  Finally, finally He had come.  No more hollow hearts, no more tears, no more striving to be more, finally freedom to be, to be who He created me to be.

Where do I find myself this week, this week before the birth?  Am I struggling to find rest?  Am I harried with the cold, dread of what lies ahead...the errands, the cooking, the company, the craziness we call Christmas.  Can I pull away and find the stillness that Mary and Joseph found in the birth place of Jesus?  Can I pull away and find myself as a shepherd in the quietness of a hillside?  For that is where the Glory will appear in this week before.  Choose for yourself today and break away to the quietness of the Christ.  He is coming.

The Fore Telling

We are a people who like to know what's coming next!  As a young girl, I loved going to the State Fair in Jackson, Mississippi.  Foolishly, my girlfriends and I always wanted to visit the palm reader.  We were in middle school wanting to know what was coming next.  Will I find a boyfriend who will like an overweight girl with freckles?  Will I go to college? Will I marry?  Will I have kids?  The palm reader would read our palms and all the answers seemed amazingly similar for each of us but we somehow didn't notice.  For she was telling us what we wanted to hear.  So, we happily paid our few coins and anticipated our futures!

Much more significantly, God also fore told some great news about our lives.  The Christmas season offers us a joyful type of fore telling....Christmas is coming!  Get ready!  Only 17 shopping days left!  Children are anticipating, excited for Christmas morning.  We know what's coming and we anticipate!  But isn't the fore telling pointing to more than gifts, food, lights and ribbon?

Recently, a Chinese friend experiencing Christmas for the first time asked me, "Ms. Kathy, if Jesus was born so many years ago, why do you still anticipate his birth?  I mean wasn't he already born?  Shouldn't people just have a birthday party for him?  It seems like such a big celebration for a simple birth."

What am I anticipating this Christmas, I pondered?  Yes, it was a simple birth but the birth of a complex Baby.  Let's remember that for generations and generations people had been anticipating a Savior King, waiting and watching for His arrival. For a Savior would save them from their difficult lives, they're persecution, the hard times of life.  Two thousand years later, it seems we too anticipate such a savior.  Our worlds sound similar, don't you think?  People are looking for someone to remedy their pain, someone to fill the void.  And this simple baby, complex King came then, comes today, will come this Christmas.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  For no word from God will ever fail.”  Luke 1:30-32, 34-36, 37

Mary received news that she could have never expected.  How could such a fore telling have been expected?  The news was too unreal to comprehend or understand.  And even today, when we hear that Christmas is coming perhaps we too hesitate to truly comprehend the news.  Perhaps we get stuck in the to do list of the season.  Maybe the news of Jesus' birth is taken-for-granted so that it's not even Good News to us but just OK news (Mike Yaconelli).  

What is the big deal, she asked?  He was already born, right?  My answer to the student was, "Yes, He has come, He is coming and He will come again.  The greatest gift of life is coming to find me and you.  He didn't wait for us to find Him; He comes today, tomorrow and yesterday to meet us".  That's the big deal.  That is the fore telling of the Savior.  Anticipate this wonderful, incredible miraculous fore telling of the Savior.  He wrote your story on His hands.  He wrote His story on our hands.

Get Ready!

Some dear friends of ours are expecting.  They're expecting their first puppy!  This pup will be the first "baby" for these friends.  One of these friends has been hoping and praying for this gift, while the other was initially more hesitant but has now come to fully embrace the idea.  Their joy is palpable.  We've seen pictures of the family, heard stories about the naming, learned about house preparation.  And what we see in their faces is pure, delightful JOY.

A new world is about to open to them.  And for those of us who have walked this road ahead of them we know puppy-life is so very sweet...and so very, well..."puppilicious".  It's a world filled with exuberance, excitement, confusion, difficulties, crying (only from the pup) but forever love.  The shoes you love...gone.  Grandmother's hand-made quilt...in tatters.  Newly planted flowers...goodbye.
And yes, we'd all have a puppy again and again.  For there is nothing quite like that new, precious pup.  He forever changes your life.  Our friends are preparing to receive this new love.

It's time for us to prepare too.  For we are approaching a new love ourselves.  A birth that often gets lost in the preparation.  In these next few weeks, we will be preparing many things for many people in our lives.  My question is, are we preparing ourselves? Will we give ourselves this gift of preparation?  Just like my puppy-minded friends, we too, can excitedly be mindful of the gift that lies ahead.

Our Gift will be a gift of great value.  It will be a gift that we hardly understand or fully comprehend.  It will be a gift for this December and a gift of forever.  It will be a life-changing gift.
The worries in my life...He will resolve.
The pain of my past...He will heal.
The questions of tomorrow...He will lead.
The joys in my life...He will expand and renew.
The people I grieve over...He comes as a gift for them too.

How is it that our God is here today, yet coming tomorrow, and furthermore, coming in the future?  These are traits to be celebrated and anticipated and prepared to receive.  Mary prepared for His birth. John the Baptist, cried out, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord'.  Luke 3:4 encourages us,

"As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.. "

How do we prepare the way for the Lord?  How do we make the paths of our heart straight for him?
Let's be aware.
Let's be thoughtful in anticipation.
Let's be exuberant about the gift.
Let's rejoice in the change He brings, the wildly exciting experience and the joy of a Savior.
Let's look forward to our lives forever changing.

Help, Who Needs A Savior?

Our precious grandson, Owen visited recently and I have so many memories stored in my heart.  I remember the days we made crafts, made pie crusts and Christmas cookies.  I remember his little feet pattering throughout my house.  I remember his little questions.  I especially remember words he spoke...love you, PapaRay, Kaki...and one more, help.  As he would try to unlock or unwrap or open something, after the struggle he would say...help, help.  And we would jump in to help.  How could we resist such preciousness!

This simple word reminded me of my childlike needs and my cries for help. "Mama, help me iron, Mama, can you sew on this button?, Mama, help me cook, Mama, help me get to school, Mama, help me understand my new baby, Mama, just help me."

Children have no reluctance in asking for help.  In their lives, they have come to understand that they need a helper, a hero...someone to come along beside them to lend a hand, lend a direction, offer a way.  They need a savior.

Do we grow out of this need?  Do you still need a helper or a Savior?  Have you ever wondered why people in the Bible were so intent on looking for a Savior?  In story after story, we find people wondering about a Savior and actively looking for a Savior.  Am I still seeking a Savior?  Do I still cry, help!  Or have I figured it all out?

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  Luke 2:8-11

What is a Savior?  What does a Savior provide?  Webster offers this definition: one that saves from danger or destruction; one who brings salvation. The synonyms are: deliverer, redeemer, rescuer.  If people were looking for a Savior 2000 years ago then surely, we must be looking as well.  I mean, the state of our world is dying for a deliverer, isn't it?  Is that too global a thought?

Ok, then let's put ourselves in this shepherd's role above.  Here was a guy simply doing his job, waiting for his shift to end.  He was probably worried about all matter of things: providing for his family, finances at tax season, maybe he had some health issue...I mean, he was a real guy.  Just like me and you.  Real people who need some help!  We need help because life is real and hard.

Let's make Christmas real for us today.  Let's apply Christmas to our real lives. What are the cares and concerns in your mind and heart?  What do you think about as you're trying to find sleep?  As you lie in bed and your thoughts bombard you?  What can the Savior help you with today?  Your future, your worry, your family problems, your own lost-ness, your need to fit in, to perform well, to please your family...to succeed.

Our own need for help, is the same today as 2000 years ago.  But I'm afraid we've stopped looking for a Savior.  I'm afraid I hide my need to say, help.  It's so difficult to be that honest with myself and certainly with another human.

That's the beauty of children like Owen who so honestly and willingly ask for help.  The elderly ask for help too.  Five years ago, this Christmas Eve, my mama died.  I remember her last years of life.  They were filled with, "help me".  Help me dress, help me stand up, help this pain stop, help me understand my new world.

My mama's end of life taught me to look up.  Look up like the shepherd did.  Look up when things are hard and don't make sense and when you're in pain.  Look for the angel to appear.  Look to the heavens, the Savior has been born.  He was born 2000 years ago and he's born today.

Help...Savior Jesus!

The Static of December

True confession...my list of to-dos has become the boss of my days.  Nary a present is under my Christmas tree!  In fact, we just put up our Christmas tree this week and currently it stands barren!  My house is a wreck and people are coming.  I have so much on my mind I can hardly keep my mind on track.  My brain is like an old radio station that can't quite tune in...full of static and faint sounds of music.  I'm joyful in this season but there is just too much brain buzz going on.  To sit in silence and try to have a reflective thought is ridiculously hard.  I cannot hear anything but the static we call the holidays.  Can I please put on headphones to block it all out?  I really do want to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.  I want to hear the Good News of a Savior's birth.  I want to realize the significance of His birth in my life today.  I want to hear the Savior's voice.  I so want to tune my ears to the true sounds of Christmas.  Is this a new problem?  Or have generations encountered the static?  Did Mary and Joseph have trouble focusing on the birth of their son, the Son of God?

What was that night like in Bethlehem?  Were Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the townspeople hustling and bustling about?  Were they worried about paying taxes, family commitments, and to-do items?  What was Bethlehem like 2000 years ago?

I imagine that Bethlehem was dark in a way we've long forgotten.  Dark with no electricity, no lamps, no street lights.  And sound, there were no city sounds only natural sounds.  The low moo of a cow, the rustling and snorting of horses nearby, perhaps voices in the night.  It was quiet and dark as only a small rural town experiences.  Quiet.

Can we find the quiet of Christmas in these days leading up to the birth of Christ?  Is this birth important enough to us that we'll make an effort to tune out the static and find the quiet?  As I sit in my house right now it is quiet.  I hear the distant bark of a dog, the ding of my phone and the mummer of appliances.  But nothing else.  All is quiet as I strain to hear and wait.  I'm conscious of my breathing and the beating of my heart...And so much more.  In this quiet, I'm aware of His presence. I'm aware of His role in my consistently beating heart.  In this quiet, I...am...quiet and I ...am...aware of the birth of a Savior for me and you.

I encourage you to try this with me...give yourself 10 minutes today just to be still.  Maybe you need headphones.  Maybe you need a legal pad beside to write down all the thoughts that swirl through your mind; write down those to-dos but stay in the quiet place.  Your mind will eventually stop whirling.  And in the wait...His voice, His love will arrive.  I promise.

This time may be the best gift you could give yourself.  Do you hear what I hear?

Read the words below from two dear friends of mine.  They will tell you their own stories of waiting and hearing.

My name is Qian.  As a new believer, my Christian life is younger than two years, officially. However, I believe that God has been taking care of me for many years. Even before I clearly saw him, God had kept showing me his love through the breathtaking stars, the magnificent mountains and ocean, the warm smile and helping hands of families, friends, and strangers, and the beauty of science. I had felt the love for many years, and eventually, I found the source of the love.
When I was in Shanghai, Christmas meant Santa Claus and shopping, and I rarely related Christmas with Jesus Christ. A fundamental change happened in the winter of 2017. A friend took me to see a "Christmas Comes Alive" show. In that chilly and silver starry night, I saw the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. The scene of the born of Jesus in the barn was stunning, and it felt peaceful and hopeful --- it felt like a starting point of Human being’s hope and redemption.

------- 

 My name is Mia Zhang, I came from Wuhan, China. When I was in high school, for some reason I started searching for the god that I wanted to believe in. I read a lot about Buddhism, Christian and other religions. I bought my first Bible in a book store in China when I was 16. I believed that there is a god, higher power that is above all human power, a god who has answers to all the ultimate questions I’ve been ask myself like “who am I?” “Why I’m here?” “Where will I be after death?” .... But by then I was not sure who that god is. Then I came to the States five years ago and met a group of wonderful Christian people, from what they say and what they do, I learned more and more about Jesus. From there my spiritual journey begun, I kept going to church and Bible studies and finally was convinced that Jesus is my Savior. I became a Christ follower and got baptized two years ago, on my 30th birthday, with my baby daughter in my womb.

Jesus was born for a reason. He is The God, but unlike every other god (claimed in other religions), he was born not to be served, but to serve instead. How humble this God was to come to this world as a human baby, as fragile as every one of us was. How deeply must God love us to sacrifice his only son to be the ransom, as a mother I can only imagine... 

Before I came to the US and learned more about the truth of Christmas, I thought Christmas was nothing other than lights, Santa, gifts, eating and shopping, all about fulfill our desires and enjoy the happiness. Now I know it’s way much more than that, it’s not even only about us and our families, but about this whole world. History was cut in half ever since. BC became AD. Therefore, to some extent, the whole world today using this Gregorian calendar is in acknowledge of the truth of Jesus the Messiah had come, despite nations, races, religious beliefs. So, this Christmas I pray that we don’t get ourselves stuck in Christmas decorating and plans, but have our eyes on the enormous picture, to celebrate the birth of the Messiah in the name of all human beings and live in His Joy and Glory.
 

Waiting...and Choosing

Are we there yet?  How many more days until Christmas, Mama?  When can I open a present?  How much longer?  Waiting...is...hard...for those waiting...and for those who hear the questions!  We're living in the season of waiting today.  We know a big event is coming, we're preparing, we're excited and we're hoping for celebration and unlimited joy.

But even as we wait for tomorrow and the joy of Christmas, we know that today life is hard. It's hard to find all the money we need, patience we need, cooking skills required, time we need.  It's also hard because real life continues.  The demands of work, the death of a loved one, the child in the hospital, the child in addiction, the disappointment of being looked-over for promotion, the illness of a spouse, the loss of a job.  Real life doesn't stop happening just because we're waiting on Christmas.  In fact, this particular month may be harder than others.  Many, many people struggle in the waiting for a miracle.  As so it was for Mary and Joseph.  Can you even imagine?  They were waiting for something that was unbelievable!

Mary's story: "God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God." Luke 1

Joseph's story: "Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit....When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife."  Matthew 1:1-25

This is a holy story with God's fingerprints all over it.  But let's remember that Mary and Joseph were human.  I don't think it is a stretch to say that this news, given to them from an angel, HAD TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO HEAR AND LIVE.  Imagine going to your parents and sharing this news with them.  Imagine the face of your parents and their great shock, disbelief, confusion, and disturbed hearts.  Imagine your friends, your other family members...oh, the talk and the whispers that had to surround Mary and Joseph.  I feel sure there was giggling, bad jokes, assumptions, and references to their character. It takes nine months for a baby to grow; that's a lot of time to live in a situation with ridicule, no proof of angels, and waiting and trusting.

Mary and Joseph were real people with real struggles and real pain.  But the story shows us how people in pain and confusion make a very real choice.  The choice to believe.  The choice to trust.  A choice to believe in a God that loves and loves only.  Mary and Joseph both made very real and extremely difficult choices.   My difficulties and disappointments, are simplistic compared with the journey of Mary and Joseph, but they are still my burdens and my pain.  And maybe my pain and your pain won't end even as Christmas Day arrives.  They may still weigh on our hearts this season, this day, this week.  My mind may struggle to believe, to understand, to sort out all that life has given and taken.

But while we wait in the midst of our lives...we can also make the choice today to trust, to believe, to keep seeking, to keep doing the next right thing, even in the uncertainty.  Isn't that what faith is?  Believing without seeing?  God never promised Mary, Joseph or you and me that life would be easy to understand, pain free, or anguish free but He did say this....I will save you, I will redeem you, I will take your burdens onto my shoulders, I hear your cry, I know you by name and you are mine.*

While we wait...trust, hope, pray, seek, ask, live, love, laugh, cry, breathe...breathe...breathe.

*Acts 16:31
Micah 6:4
Matthew 11:28
Exodus 3:7
Psalm 139
Isaiah 43:1