Advent 2009

"And the angel said unto them,

Fear not; for behold,

I bring you good tidings of great joy,

Which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day

In the city of David

A Savior,

Who is Christ the Lord"

The words of Luke's gospel echo through the ages.

In this season do we hear that echo?

I fear not.

Carols fill the halls and malls of commerce

Until we no longer comprehend the words.

Today,

I will listen with my heart to Luke,

And know Christ excludes no one from his love

For he came "to all people."
There is no exclusivity,
No unique faith,
Just the manifestation of God
In a baby
And"great joy."

That is the message of Advent.

Photo by aharden

Celebrate Advent

Christmas approaches
With the burden of our traditions.

The city is covered in glitter and lights.

We search for gifts amid the crowds.
Shouldn't we read the prophet's words?

Shouldn't we search for the Bethlehem babe?

Shouldn't we listen for the angel's message?

"Peace on Earth."

Let us remember
That a child born two thousand years ago

Changed the world.

His message is simple and unadorned.

Love God

And Love your neighbor as yourself.
Listen for His words.
"I am come."

Photo by daveiam

Prayer for Deliverance

Creator who dwells beyond time and space
We worship you in our dimensions.
Merge all reality into one,
So your plan is consummated
In all your infinite expanse.
Impart to us the energy of existence.
Help us when we fall short
As we reach out to those who disappoint us.
Keep us safe within the fold
Where evil cannot reach us.
For you are our deliverance,
Here and
Beyond the horizon of the universe.
Now and
Beyond eternity.

Photo by Clearly Ambiguous

Rejoice in Meanness

A message came today.
This missive rejoiced that
The number of Muslims
That worshiped on September 25
Was less than the number hoped for.
Grief overwhelmed my soul
When the sender took credit
For this result.
She proclaimed control of God
Although she did not know it.
Because she thought her prayer answered
She took credit for harm
To those in worship.
Prayer is a mystery.
Jesus told us to pray
And gave us a model.
He told us to pray in private
Yet churches pray in mass.
I believe God wants us to focus on Him.
Prayer is a way to do so.
God is a father
Who wants to hear his children babble.
God is love
Not magic.

Photo by jaxxon

Fear Not

A message came today
From a member of my church.
In stunned awareness
I read a missive of intolerance and fear.
A call to prayer the message claimed
A deeper meaning beneath the words of faith.
Others seek to have a day of prayer
That we must counter
Lest the evil hidden in their belief prevail.
Are we so unsure of our God
That we must demonize those
Who call Him by a different name?
Jesus told us to love God
And our neighbors.
Who is our neighbor?
Christ's example was the Samaritan,
A man of a race most despised by Jews.
Perhaps today the Word would choose a Muslim
Instead of a Samaritan.
Love those that gather
In Washington, D. C.
Pray that their entreaties be answered.
God knows the hearts of men.
He will not answer prayers that harm.
Pray that we gain understanding.
God's angels told us to fear not
When Christ was born.
His coming was for all men.
We need to remember those words.
God is omnipotent.
Christ is the message:
We have already won.
Fear not.

Photo by MonkeySimon

Listening for God

Lord, I need to know Your will.

I pray,
But do not hear the echoes of Your voice.

Perhaps I am so busy babbling

That I am not aware of Your presence.

I will try to listen for Your answer
To my prayers,
To my entreaties.
I will seek to be still and hear.

I know that Your answer may not come in a great wind,
Nor through the trembling of the earth,
Nor in words of fire,

Nor even in whispers of smoke,

But through the actions of those around me,

Or a chance encounter with a stranger.

O God, Creator, Comforter, and Word,
Make me aware that You answered.

Photo by James Cridland

Prayer for Civility

God, who reigns in eternity,
Praise your everlasting patience.
When we in person bow before you,
Accept us, please.
Give us the temperament to receive your bounty
And acknowledge that it comes from you.
Let us treat others with civility,
So that you will treat us well.
Teach us the etiquette of belief,
So that we are examples to others.
Rudeness is the gift of Satan,
Stay our souls from accepting that gift,
For you care how we treat our fellows.
Politeness is the child of your lovingkindness.
You are love in all its glory.
Your grace is there for all.
Forever.

Photo by derek7272

Hoping for Nothing Again

"For as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them.

For if ye love them who love you, what thanks have ye?
For sinners also love those who love them.
And if ye do good to them that love you, what thanks have ye?
For sinners also do even the same.
And if ye lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks have ye?
For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;
And your reward shall be great,
And you shall be children of the Highest;
For he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."

Why if you need money are you unworthy of help?
Since I have been poor,
I have found this to be true.
I tithed for many years without expectation of return,
Just as well for there has been none.
I know God's answer is that He will be with us,
Not that He will reward us.
Yet I need so little,
But even that is begrudged me.
I long to feel God's lovingkindness,
But it is absent from my life,
All I taste is my own tears.
Those who profess to be Christians do not lend;
They only admonish.
I will turn my attention to those outside the fold,
So that they do not feel alone.
God be near.

Photo by tao zhyn

Moses and Ted Kennedy

The last of the Kennedy brothers is gone.
Ted Kennedy struggled for years
For health care for all.
Yet he died before his goal was reached.
Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt
Into the wilderness.
He died without entering
The promised land.
The Israelites wandered for forty years.
The uninsured and poor have suffered
For at least forty years.
Joshua became leader.
Obama became President.
Has the struggle been placed in Obama's hands?
Is he Kennedy's heir
In health care reform?
Let it be so.
Let Obama be Joshua
For those who suffer.

Photo by Lilachd

Blessings?

What do we believe are the benefits
Of becoming a Christian?
Wealth?
Happiness?
Health?
I have no wealth, only sadness, and many ailments.
Am I a Christian?
I say I am a follower of the Word.
Would my fellow churchgoers agree?
I think not.
In their world, God blesses Christians now
With material goods, a happy life, and a healthy body.
In their world, intercessory prayer controls God.
If true prayer warriors pray for you,
You will be blessed.
I believe that Christ demonstrates God in action.
That he is the highest, truest revelation of God.
Therefore, I must believe in Him.
He did not promise
Riches,
Happiness,
Health.
He did not promise to do our bidding.
He promised to be with us
In an imperfect world.
He promised to be with us
Through suffering, grief and death
As well as
Through peace, joy and life.
He promised another existence
Beyond this world.
He portrayed God's Love for all.
So I must try to love as he did.
Try.

Photo by Hamed Saber

Bank of America Imitates the Unforgiving Servant

My dealings with the Bank of America
Remind me of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.
The Master forgave the servants debts,
The United States gave Bank of America funds
When the Bank was in trouble.
The servant did not forgive another's debt to him
And treated him harshly.
Bank of America froze my deposit for eight days
When I needed that money for medicine
Because the week before my account was overdrawn.
There was no help when contacted.
"It is legal" was the answer.
Legal, yes,
Moral no.
Banks given help
Now punish their customers because they can.
The Master threw the Unforgiving Servant in prison.
Who will punish the Banks?

Photo by Zevotron

Summer Heat

Summer came early
Stealing spring.
The heat builds.
Now every day is extreme.
Is this heat our doing?
Is this the first step to extinction?
We do not know,
But science points to our missteps.
This Earth was God's great gift.
We must not squander it.
We must protect it.
Give us the strength and wisdom
To nurture the water,
To cherish the earth.
Make us meek
That we may inherit this creation.

PhotobyUncaMikey

Prayer for Survival

My Creator, beginning of all.
I revere You in all Your splendor.
Eternity looms and stretches into imagination.
You under gird existence.
Nothing stands apart from You.
Provide sustenance to our spirits
And protect us from ourselves.
Lift the judgment of nothingness
As we recognize our brethren are everywhere.
Guide our path with Your wisdom.
Protect us through the Comforter.
For You are Life for the ages.
And the infusion of spirit in all.

Photo by diongillard

The Beginning

"In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God."

For me this verse is the heart
Of Christianity.
We worship only one God
And Jesus is not separate from the Creator
Because Jesus is the Word.
He is God in action.
Too often we speak of him as separate from God:
"Sitting at the right hand of God."
Better to think of him as the right hand of God.
Through his manifestation of God we enter Heaven.
We may call him different names,
Worship him in different ways,
But when we die,
Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Other,
The Word welcomes us.

Photo by Felipe Venancio

For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible

"For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible."
An angel speaks these words to Mary.
Do these words speak to me?
Do I believe?
This is the battle within.
Learned as a scientist,
Can I reconcile knowledge and faith?
I must.
I can.
Science tells me how.
Faith tells me why.
God stands outside of time.
All is one for him.
Nothing is impossible.

Photo by carulmare

Prayer for Beginning

Creator of all Life,
Who fills the Universe,
Your existence fills us with awe.
May all creation bow to you.
Nourish us with knowledge.
Protect our lives
As we protect the lives of others.
Deliver us into eternity
As our mothers delivered us into this world.
Do not let our science lead us astray,
Let the knowledge that you impart,
Deliver a world free of disease, of suffering.
For you are the Infinite Mind,
All knowing, all powerful,
All Love.

Photo by Venom82

Betrayal in the Capitol of Texas

I have walked the corridors of power
In the state of Texas.
I have found untruth and betrayal.
A senator, a Methodist, promises
A new alliance.
Help her and she will do nothing to hinder our cause.
Behind closed doors,
She betrays the alliance.
We offer our support for her legislation.
She accepts with words that indicate no malice.
Days pass.
Her perfidy is found.
Her goal is our defeat.
Her methods as low as Judas'.
Christ said to love God
And love your neighbor as yourself.
Where is love in betrayal?

Photo by Bruce Turner

Life Begins

When does life begin?
This question defines our age.
Do we protect a fertilized egg
With all the might of government?
Do we wait until that egg
Implants in a woman's womb
To provide the protection of the law?
The psalmist tells us
God knit us together in our mother's womb.
If that is true, then life cannot begin in a petri dish.
Science tells half of all fertilized eggs do not implant.
If a soul is present when sperm meets egg,
Then half of all souls are lost before they can live.
I do not believe the Creator is so capricious.
I must believe that life begins within a woman.
Without the union of fertilized egg and womb,
There is only tissue.
When life begins,
Then science and faith must unite
To protect God's most precious gift.

Photo by Clearly Ambiguous

Promise for Tomorrow

We are created in God's image.
How can that be?
We look so different
One from another.
The image is within.
Our minds are shadows
Of the one great Mind.
Our intelligence
A tiny reflection of our Creator's.
Our challenge:
To use our mind to do God's will.
To aid our fellows
As the Good Samaritan
Aided a stranger.
What are our limits?
Good can turn to evil.
Hope can turn to despair.
Our minds can open the way to God
Or the path to oblivion.
Let our minds discern God's promise,
The promise of a tomorrow without suffering.

Photo by jeffk

Illness

Malaise creeps over me without notice.
My body has changed,
But I am only vaguely aware.
Night comes and with it fever.
My joints cry out.
Warmth is gone.
I shiver.
The fire returns.
The cycle begins again.
Life seems fragile.
Illness reminds us we are not in control.
"A strange flu," the doctor says.
An antiviral given.
The fever never returns.
Slowly as a creeping tortoise,
Wellness regains control.
A gentle reminder that health is to be treasured.
We must value every day.
Thank you God.

Photo by kretyen