O Come Let Us Adore Him

Ask a small child to arrange a nativity scene and you might get something like this…

My daughter did something similar to this during her first “active” Christmas Holiday season. That's the 1.5 year old Christmas where she was making meaning and learning faith stories as fast as her church family and I could tell them to her. She helped me set up our family nativity set minus Jesus; we did this because we wait until Dec. 24^th after church to find Jesus in the manger. She looked at each piece and named them. Explaining the story as she went through the box of precious figures, she placed each one with care. When she finished all I could see were the backs of the shepherds, sheep and camels. I couldn’t see Mary AT ALL! It was all wrong.

As a young mother is want to do, I explained gently that the set should be set up in a “V” so we could see each individual piece. As an almost two year old/who thinks she is an adult will invariably do, my daughter explained with exasperation that they are not important. They are looking for/at the manger where Baby Jesus goes. That's the important part.

Yep, she got it. The child whose lullabies were “Amazing Grace” and “What Child is This” reminded me of what is important during this holiday season. It is not about us, how we look, whether the stable is clean, nor how many lights are on the tree; it is the expectation and the gift. What is important is remembering that at Christmas we humbly, joyfully, and reverently sing

“O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him. O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.”

"O come, let us adore him.
O come, let us adore him.
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord."

Comments

And on the seventh day...

Figure 1 http://www.montreat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Mountains-2-400x250-300x187.jpg We think of “Sabbath” as a time to NOT DO something. We stop. We wait. We rest. We sit. However, that is a lot of work! I think of Sabbath as “making a space.” It is an active choosing, remembering, and prioritizing a holy space for God. It is less about “letting go” and more about “leaning in” to the Breath of the Holy Spirit. In this context Sabbath is a return to our making. You see, in the beginning “the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). It is the breath of the Lord God that stirs dust into human. It is the breath of the Lord God that makes us living and gives us a life. Therefore, “Sabbath” – a time for rest and renewal, is an opportunity to reach for that breath of God which gives u...

Where is the Love--Guest Blogger Rev. Caroline Dennis

(Spiritual Practices for Families: Giving Thanks) Where is the Love? In December, amidst the wrappings and the shouts of glee, we found a quiet time to come to the manger and contemplate the great Love that God sent, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Here, as sparkling Christmas lights give way to snow and rain and ice, as gathered family gives way to bill paying and schedule keeping, how might we hold on those manger moments when we embraced the Love that embraces us? In these more ordinary days, can we still see the light that leads us to Bethlehem, to the ordinary extraordinary places where Love shows up? Here is my invitation to you, and to your children: Pause... in the middle of your "what's next" life... to see, hear, touch, smell, taste... all the amazing that is right here and now. Point it out to one another like we might point out the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree. Give thanks... for the warmth of the sweater, the wag of the do...

“For a time such as this…”

The book of Esther is a difficult one, but it is important. It speaks of power! There is personal power, royal power, and providential power. It is a book that can be difficult to discuss with children and anyone who has been voiceless; however, it is not a book exhaulting the victim. Esther is not a submissive girl who gives up. She has inner strength and power. She lives her life and draws on her community. When the time comes, she uses her wisdom to be a vessel for the will of God. Her uncle tells her, “perhaps you have been made royal for a time such as this.” We often skip the “royal,” in our attempt to make the message universal. However, we forget that we are children of "the king of all creation" and therefore “royal.” I cannot help wondering how the Rev. Becca Stevens hears the book of Esther? Rev. Stevens works with women who have been commercialized and abused. She teaches that "#LoveHeals." ...

Second Church Steps

Search This Blog