Incarnational blessings! (or Merry Christmas!)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of god.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

John 1.1-14

Annunciation

This Advent reflection is offered by Hank.
The eighth lesson from our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols comes from the gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26-35, 38) in which the Angel of the Lord appears to Mary to announce that she is pregnant with a child who she will name Jesus. This baby will be called Son of the Most High and will inherit the throne of his ancestor David. It is one of the most beautiful passages in all the Bible and also one of the most curious. In Matthew's gospel, the angel appears not to Mary, but to Joseph, assuring him that even though his wife-to-be, Mary, is already with child he is not to divorce her. Again, isn't it fun to recognize how different Biblical writers describe essentially the same event in such different ways? The beautiful thing about Luke's story is in Mary's response. She doesn't question or second guess the Lord (as Joseph does in Matthew). Rather, she simply responds, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your world." O that we could all be so faithful in our own response to God.
(stained glass from Chartres Cathedral in France and painting, The Annunciation, by Fra Angelico)

Tasty morsels

Every day, when I take my dog for a walk, I carry a stick and I keep watch for coyotes and other critters that might find my dog a tasty meal on a hungry, cold evening. We have had several encounters with coyotes and, in my neighborhood, a handful of pets have been lost to the coyotes who roam our arroyo looking for something to fill their empty bellies. No coyote has ever really threatened us, but I am still cautious.

In the seventh lesson from our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols, taken from Isaiah 65.17-25, we hear of a new heaven and new earth where all of creation lives peaceably, including polar bears and huskies in the photo to the right, as well as coyotes and domestic pets in the hills of Oak Park. In this new creation, there will be no more crying or suffering, people will live long lives and will find fulfillment and joy in their work. Wolves, lambs and lions will eat together (vegetarian, of course) and the serpent, symbolic of our sin in this case, will no longer have power. This peaceable kingdom, the new heaven and new earth Isaiah proclaims, is symbolic for the peace in our hearts when we know and experience Emmanuel, the God who is with us.

On Micah

This reflection is offered by Hank
The sixth lesson we shared at our Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols came from the writings of prophet Micah (Micah 5:2-4) promising that the Lord of Israel and of Peace shall be born, like the great King David, in the town of Bethlehem of Judea. It is in fulfillment of this important prophecy that in both Matthew's and Luke's gospel accounts, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. It is interesting to note that there are many differences between Luke and Matthew, however. For instance, in Matthew, Jesus' family already lives in Bethlehem and is forced to leave after Jesus is born, fleeing to Egypt to avoid Herod's wrath. In Luke, however, the family lives in Nazareth of Galilee. They travel to Bethlehem in order to comply with the requirements of a government census. After Jesus is born, the family travels to Jerusalem. (click here for a great map of ancient Israel!) Isn't it fun to notice how different Biblical writers describe the same events in such different ways?

promises, promises...

This reflection is offered by Hank
Our fifth lesson in Advent Lessons and Carols was taken from the Apocryphal Book of Baruch (Baruch 4:36-5:9). The Apocrypha refers to those books of our Old Testament canon which are included in the most ancient Greek Bible (the Septuagint was used by, among others, St. Paul) but which the Hebrew canon of Holy Scripture does not include. The books of the Apocrypha are included in some Bibles today, and not in others. In Roman Catholic Bibles, the books are interspersed throughout the Old Testament. In the Bible we use in the Episcopal Church, they are included in a special section between the Old and New Testament, while in many Protestant Bibles, the books of the Apocrypha do not appear at all.

The writings of Baruch come from about 100 years before Jesus' birth, but are set and describe the time during the Hebrew people's Babylonian Exile six centuries earlier. In the passage we read for Lessons and Carols, the people are seen rejoicing as they return in glory to their Promised Land. An unfulfilled prophecy, to be sure, but when taken metaphorically and not literally, the prophecy offers much today as we too prepare for the time when God's promise of fulfillment will be made real through the ministry we all share in the risen Christ. In Baruch, we are assured of God's everlasting care for us and all God's people.

Landscapes

I remember a very rainy, So Cal winter a few years back. There was enough rain, in fact, for the desert to bloom. A desert that blooms was a new concept to me and so I drove out to Joshua Tree in the high desert and Anza Borrego further south and saw with my very own eyes how stunning the desert it is when it flowers. The landscape I had once experienced as barren and dry was bursting with life!

In So Cal, we know what it is like to experience drought, heat, and fires. Likewise, we know how life-giving a good rain is in our desert landscape. In the fourth lesson from Advent Lessons and Carols, the prophet Isaiah uses images of the desert in bloom and streams flowing through the parched desert lands as metaphors for God's salvation. Through Isaiah's proclamation, God promises that our hearts will be refreshed and life brought to the thirsty landscapes of our souls.

An apple a day...

In the third lesson from Lessons and Carols, the prophet Jeremiah proclaims God's message of forgiveness for Israel and Judah through the new covenant established between God and God's people. God will write the law upon our hearts so that our very being will becoming the embodiment of God's promise!

The concept of a covenant between God and God's people is central in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Christian scriptures. Covenant necessarily implies a relationship between God and humanity. It is the promise of God to love and care for us and the promise of humanity to love and obey God. The God who covenants with us is not a God that is unaffected by our suffering but rather it is a God that is in intimate relationship with all of humankind.

In Lessons and Carols, each lesson is accompanied by a musical reflection. Epiphany Schola, offered Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, a poem set to music as the reflection on Jeremiah's proclamation. In this poem, the mystical apple tree became another image for the covenant of God with God's people. The apple has quite a symbolic history in the Christian tradition, most notably as the forbidden fruit in the garden that caused our fall. Yet, in the same garden is also the tree of life. Christ as our apple tree, our tree of life, is the other option for us in the ancient and ancestral garden symbolizing the new covenant of Jeremiah's proclamation - a promise of transformation from sin and suffering into wholeness for all of God's people and all of creation.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
the trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

quotables

In the past week or so, I have had three quotes come across my desk which I share with you below. For me, these quotes have been a source of comfort as well as thought provoking. I hope they will be the same for you!

Bidden or unbidden, God is present.
Carl Jung from Desiderius Erasmus

When there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.
Zen saying

Every human thought, and every human action, is based in either love or fear. There is no other human motivation.
from Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch