Experience Advent...& Christmas!: Ninth Day of Christmas

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Ninth Day of Christmas

Take the Gift of Christmas with you...

Read Isaiah 63:7-9

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=224132622

"I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, ..."

The gift of God's presence sustains us today. It feels like a long time since Christmas. The new year has begun, and we haven't heard Christmas music on the radio in over a week. People around us seem to have forgotten their holiday generosity; folks have already resumed old habits.

But God is still with us, blessing us with signs of presence and love. We are still alive today; thank you, God. We are blessed with the things we need to live a full life; thank you, God. And we are walking side by side with God, who showers us with steadfast love.

As we play Christmas music today in our home, car, or office, we remember the joy and gratitude of Christmas Day. We give thanks for the many gifts of the past few weeks. Our gratitude generates action: a call to a lonely friend, an e-mail of thanks to the church staff, a personal psalm of praise in our journal.

Thank you God, for your gift of presence that sustains me today. If I am too weak or broken, lift me up and carry me as you did in days of old. Amen.

--Beth Richardson, An Uncluttered Heart

God, let us count the ways you never leave us. Your light of Day greeted us this morning. The smell of life filled our nostrils with the crisp, chilly air of a new day. The melody of gently crackling leaves whispered your love in our ears. These are among the Good Morning gifts we thank you for. You have given us another day in your Precious Presence.

Come what my this day: angry traffic, angry words, paved roads, paved ways, we will praise your Holy Name! And so we greet you this day with shouts of joy and thanksgiving. Amen.

--Sherie Dobbs Johnson, The Africna Worship Book

How can we tell that we have really begun the new year? Yep, you guessed it, the morning shows all featured ways to lose weight this morning! (ha!) How did they know how many chocolate chip cookies and pound cake pieces I consumed this year? Oh, well...

But, today is only the ninth day of Christmas. There is yet time to give the real Gift of Christmas a bit more space in our hearts and lives before we move back into the world. What part of Christmas do you need most to take with you into the new year?

As you pray this morning and throughout the day, praise God for the gift of life and a new year. Invite the Holy Spirit to show you how best to take the Gift of Christmas with you every day into the new year that all might know and be transformed!

Rich

No comments:

Post a Comment

Christmas is Born!

Fourth Week of Advent: Joy

The fourth candle on our Advent wreath is the candle of joy. As we enter this last week of Advent, we allow ourselves a little celebration--the Savior is coming, alleluia! We've been waiting, and we must wait a bit longer, but God is coming--soon!

The invitation to rejoice during the season of Advent reminds us to consider the joy that awaits the end of Mary's pregnancy. Mary must have felt joy in carrying a child, in anticipating the birth of her son, the birth of the Savior. Her hymn of praise, the Magnificat, praises God for the great deeds that God has done. The God who proclaims righteousness and justice, who has fed the hungry and sent the rich away, this same God looked on Mary with favor and blessed her with the gift of service to the world.

Our joy calls up visions--what gifts can we expect from the Mighty One who has blessed us and looked upon us with favor?

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart (edited)

God of joy, may we dream dreams and share tales of hope as we enter these final days before Christmas. I praise your mighty name. Amen.

Third Week of Advent: Love

The fourth candle on our Advent Wreath is the candle of Love. That seems so appropriate as we begin the last week of Advent, the final days before we receive God's greatest gift to us--divine Love wrapped in swaddling clothes,lying in a manger.

Joseph's place in this drama is one of love. Engaged to Mary, he discovers that she is pregnant. Even the visit of an angel probably does not answer all of his questions or calm all of his fears. But Joseph, I like to think, acts out of love. Love and trust make up for any doubts he might have about his role in this matter. Joseph takes Mary as his wife and makes room in his heart for her son, whom he names Jesus.

We certainly don't play such a dramatic role as Joseph in God's story, but we are, nevertheless, important to the whole. Every action we take, every small or large task we perform, is woven in love into God's cosmic story.

God of love, may everything I do become an expression of your love. Amen.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart

Second Week of Advent: Peace

The second candle on the Advcent wreath is the candle of peace. When we light the candle of peace, we affirm Isaiah's vision that peace will come on earth. As we move closer to the birth of the Prince of Peace, we are acutely aware of all the places in the world, in our families and relationships, and in our hearts that have not achieved peace. Peace is a vision, a hope, a promise made by the Holy One--that there will be a time when peace will prevail.

Peace, in the global sense, is the cessation of violence between peoples and nations...in Israel and Palestine, in Darfur, in Iraq and Afghanistan. We people of peace hold the vision that God's spirit will rest on the leaders of the world and will whisper wisdom in their hearts, wisdom that will guide their actions toward paths of forgiveness, compassion, and peace.

In our own hearts and lives, peace is the calm in the midst of chaos. Each day, may we hold the vision of peace, seeking times of rest and prayer when we open our minds and spirits to God's powerful, gentle peace.

Let peace be our vision.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart

First Week of Advent: Hope

The first candle on the Advent wreath is the candle of Hope. When we light the candle of hope--in the Advent wreath or in our hearts--we kindle a flame of expectant anticipation that something rich, something special, is on the way.

As we enter into this Advent journey, we already know that the something special at the end of Advent is the birth of Christ, God's great gift to the world. But much of the richness of this season comes with the anticipation, the waiting, the deferral of the celebration until the appropriate time.

During Advent, the first season of the church year, we relive the story of Jesus, the wonder of how he came to be, the story of his birth. We don't yet know what God has in store, but we trust God's promises of righteousness, justice, and peace for the hurting world and our discouraged spirits. We live in the hope, that despite our current struggles, God has something good in store for us.

Jesus, the hope of the world, is coming to an unsuspecting world.

Beth Richardson, The Uncluttered Heart