Dear Friends in Christ -
Not just one but all twelve of the days of Christmas are now over (almost - today's the last day).
What will the season of Epiphany hold?
Time. Second longest season of the year after the "Ordinary Time", the long summer/early fall season.
Time to think about fresh hopes and important ideas. Time to begin to live into "The Work of Christmas . . ." (poem by Howard Thurman)
"When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner,
To teach the nations,
To bring Christ to all,
To make music in the heart."
In the days and weeks to come, may God pour into you all His goodness, that it may pour through you to the places you go and the people you meet.
Blessings,
Janet+
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
THE SIGNS LEAD ME TO . . . PRAISE!
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. - Psalm 34:1
Dear Friends in Christ -
As we stand on the prow of the year, we strain to see what lies ahead, seeking a sign. This year, whether we peer into the annals of history or the pages of the NYTimes or the words of the pundits and politicians, all seem to bear the same message: 2012 promises to be a momentus year. The winds of change are blowing, and fiercely so. There will be great challenges in weather, in war, in politics, in economics.
In the face of dire predictions, some may be tempted to fear, but I'm opting to take the advice of yesterday morning's preacher, Deacon Knute Hansen, and meet the year with praise. Praising God and His world's goodness lifts my eyes from this present moment to the glories of the past and the hope of the future. Praising God and His world's goodness sets the current press and rush in the context of the grand flow of time, reminding me that what has been will be again, and what has not been may yet occur.
I invite you to join me in praise, and I offer to you a poem, from another troubled time, the days following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. May it nourish your spirit today and in the days to come . . .
Faithfully with you,
Janet+
Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June’s long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You’ve seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.
—Adam Zagajewski
(Translated, from the Polish, by Clare Cavanagh.)
From THE NEW YORKER issue of September 24, 2001.
Dear Friends in Christ -
As we stand on the prow of the year, we strain to see what lies ahead, seeking a sign. This year, whether we peer into the annals of history or the pages of the NYTimes or the words of the pundits and politicians, all seem to bear the same message: 2012 promises to be a momentus year. The winds of change are blowing, and fiercely so. There will be great challenges in weather, in war, in politics, in economics.
In the face of dire predictions, some may be tempted to fear, but I'm opting to take the advice of yesterday morning's preacher, Deacon Knute Hansen, and meet the year with praise. Praising God and His world's goodness lifts my eyes from this present moment to the glories of the past and the hope of the future. Praising God and His world's goodness sets the current press and rush in the context of the grand flow of time, reminding me that what has been will be again, and what has not been may yet occur.
I invite you to join me in praise, and I offer to you a poem, from another troubled time, the days following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. May it nourish your spirit today and in the days to come . . .
Faithfully with you,
Janet+
Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June’s long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You’ve seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.
—Adam Zagajewski
(Translated, from the Polish, by Clare Cavanagh.)
From THE NEW YORKER issue of September 24, 2001.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A NEW YEAR'S PLEA FOR 2012
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! - Psalm 8:3-4,9
Dear Friends in Christ -
There's no more faithful way to start the New Year than to humbly come to God with prayers of praise and pleas for help. My own prayers this day are guided by one that was written by Edgar Guest, an immigrant who came from England to the US as a young man, and who worked as journalist and writer through two World Wars. I invite you to join me in Guest's prayer for courage, discernment and faithfulness.
Wishing you a blessed New Year,
Janet+
A New Year's Plea
Lord, let me stand in the thick of the fight,
Let me bear what I must without whining;
Grant me the wisdom to do what is right,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
Let me be true as the steel of a blade,
Make me bigger than skillful or clever;
Teach me to cling to my best, unafraid,
And harken to false gospels, never.
Let me be brave when the burden is great,
Faithful when wounded by sorrow;
Teach me, when troubled, with patience to wait
The better and brighter to-morrow.
Spare me from hatred and envy and shame,
Open my eyes to life's beauty;
Let not the glitter of fortune or fame
Blind me to what is my duty.
Let me be true to myself to the end,
Let me stand to my task without whining;
Let me be right as a man, as a friend,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
By Edgar Guest
Dear Friends in Christ -
There's no more faithful way to start the New Year than to humbly come to God with prayers of praise and pleas for help. My own prayers this day are guided by one that was written by Edgar Guest, an immigrant who came from England to the US as a young man, and who worked as journalist and writer through two World Wars. I invite you to join me in Guest's prayer for courage, discernment and faithfulness.
Wishing you a blessed New Year,
Janet+
A New Year's Plea
Lord, let me stand in the thick of the fight,
Let me bear what I must without whining;
Grant me the wisdom to do what is right,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
Let me be true as the steel of a blade,
Make me bigger than skillful or clever;
Teach me to cling to my best, unafraid,
And harken to false gospels, never.
Let me be brave when the burden is great,
Faithful when wounded by sorrow;
Teach me, when troubled, with patience to wait
The better and brighter to-morrow.
Spare me from hatred and envy and shame,
Open my eyes to life's beauty;
Let not the glitter of fortune or fame
Blind me to what is my duty.
Let me be true to myself to the end,
Let me stand to my task without whining;
Let me be right as a man, as a friend,
Though a thousand false beacons are shining.
By Edgar Guest
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