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Showing posts from December, 2019

A Christmas Poem

‘Twas a week before Christmas and all through the land The Church reminded us that the Savior’s birth was at hand. The season is not about the perfection of glitter But about a loving God who would not leave us bitter. And so God sent us the Son wrapped up like a present In the garb of our mortality, the human flesh of a peasant. The cookies may not be made, the decorations may not be hung, The cards may not be sent, the lights may not be strung. Yet let us all make the true preparations for the coming of our Savior And open our hearts and lives to the Lord’s loving favor. No more precious gift has ever been received. It is up to us to remind the world what we truly believe. Not in jolly old elves, talking snowmen or reindeer in flight But in God, who loves us with all of God's might. So stop for a moment and take a deep breath, As we await the Christ, the true conqueror of death. Let go of the need to fulfill a secular call to perfection

The Pink Candle

This coming Sunday is the third week of Advent, sometimes referred to as “Rose Sunday,” or “ Gaudete (Latin for “rejoice”) Sunday,” for those really wanting to connect to our Roman Catholic roots.   Unfortunately, the Advent Wreath we have in our Sanctuary does not have a pink candle (which I do hope to rectify for next year), but the tradition continues and hopefully the Advent wreaths you have at home do have a pink candle. I recall the old Sesame Street song, “Which one of these is not like the others?” when I look at the Advent Wreath.   It is such an obvious difference that it immediately draws our attention.   I know many an acolyte who was delighted that it was the week to light the pink candle because it was “special” just because it was a different color.   But why? There are several explanations, and, as with most Church traditions, I think the truth lies in the amalgamation of them.   First, Advent is considered by some to be a mini-Lent, a time of reflection and

Messiah

I thank Tiffany Myers for her diligence in offering a daily reflection from #adventword, a ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary.   The practice is meant to be thought provoking as we continue on our Advent journey and prepare ourselves for the welcoming the Christ child.   This got me thinking about some other words, like Messiah .   It is one of those “churchy” words that we use thinking everyone knows what we mean by it, but perhaps not. It is the transliterated English word for the Hebrew term meaning “anointed one.”   It is the term used in the Hebrew Scriptures to describe David after he was anointed by Samuel to replace Saul as King of Israel. Through God’s selection of David and directing Samuel to anoint him with oil, David became the Messiah. The term “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew term for Messiah, and hence why we call Jesus the Christ, as Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the anointed one of God to be the Savior of the world. The G