Blessed are the ready

Posted on by livinggodsmission
Photo by Benoît Deschasaux For Unsplash+
Photo by Ka Ho Ng on Unsplash
Photo by Brad Barmore on Unsplash

by Demi Prentiss

Jesus’s Beatitudes – known by some as the “be”-attitudes – help us recognize that, surprisingly, the marginalized, the despised, and the supposedly powerless hold a special relationship with God: the power of incarnating God’s relational power to transform a position of vulnerability to one of transcendence.  Authenticity, single-heartedness, and humility are the hallmarks of the blessedness that Jesus celebrates as signaling “the kingdom of God.”

Christians mark Advent as the season of hopeful expectation of the in-breaking of God’s reign, anticipating the counter-intuitive blessedness of those who suffer – the poor in spirit, mournful, meek, seeking, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted.  Advent reminds us that being equipped to proclaim the coming of the kingdom obliges us to cultivate another blessedness – being ready.  Ready to perceive God at work. Ready to stand with those who suffer. Ready to be brave. Ready to be open.

Poet Steve Garnaas-Holmes joins Matthew in reminding us to be ready:

                       Be ready

       You must be ready, for the Human One is coming 
       at an hour you do not expect.
                               —Matthew 24.44

Grace flits in, a butterfly in winter.
Forgiveness dismantles gallows.
A child, frightened, stands anyway.

The minds of the dulled 
are on other things.
Heaven passes unnoticed.

The naive keep waiting
for the white horse, the sword.
Foggy opera glasses.

Cynics, fearing the mystery, 
can always prove otherwise.
The lock snaps shut.

The faithful are not sure
but open,
watching for the luminous.

A spirit, wholly given,
emerges 
like a song among many.

Blessed are the ready, watching,
over and over, 
for the world made new.

Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
__________________ 
Steve Garnaas-Holmes 
Unfolding Light 
www.unfoldinglight.net

We waited

Posted on by livinggodsmission

by Pam Tinsley

…and may the blessing of God Creator, Liberator, and Sustainer be with you this day and forevermore. Amen.

We decided to wait. I’m so glad that we did. We were at an assisted living residence to break bread together – communion. And it seemed as though one thing after another was trying to prevent it from happening. First Michael, who had arranged for our worship space – for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels – was delayed. Somehow his electric wheelchair managed to get wedged against a table leg. We had to wait for help.

Then, a familiar face greeted me in the library. A familiar face in an unexpected location. Hillary from Seattle was now in our local assisted living residence! And Doris was there, too! It was a joy to see Doris after, what, at least six years!

But where was Don? Michael had invited him. Both Hillary and Doris knew that he had planned to join us. So, Hillary went to search for him.

So, of course, we waited! When Don finally arrived, he was beaming! I hadn’t seen Don since before the pandemic. Between the pandemic and his immobility, he’d been unable to physically worship in church for years.

And then, when I ran into Don’s son several days later, he said to me, “Dad called me after your visit and exclaimed, ‘Guess who I saw this week!!’”

All of this reminded me of how important it is to take time to nurture my relationships by spending time with others. Yes, sharing communion together was sacred. But so, too, was our time of fellowship.

And it happened because we waited. We waited for Don, and who knew how much it had meant to him to receive communion with this little group? Who knew what it had meant to him to reconnect – if ever so briefly – with me? Don, who welcomed my family and me so warmly and enthusiastically so many years ago when we found our way to his parish. Don, who would receive his heavenly reward only twelve days later.

All because we waited.

As we approach the season of Advent, how might you embrace waiting as a spiritual practice?

What are we to do?

Posted on by livinggodsmission

by Fletcher Lowe

A key player in our Advent season is John the Baptist.  In Luke’s Gospel, after their Baptism, several people come to him asking what, as the Baptized, are we to do: the crowd, some tax collectors, soldiers.  John’s answers are specific, connecting their Baptismal faith with their real life. (Luke 3: 10-14)

That same question, as the baptized, is ours: What shall I do?  In the parishes where I have served, it has been my privilege to visit members in their workplace – yes, with my clerical collar.  The conversation goes: what do you do here? What is the Sunday connection – the Faith connection – with what you do here?  For most it is the first time that question has been raised – and often it leads to an aha moment where the worker sees that what he/she is doing is ministry – empowered by Baptism.

So, in the spirit of Advent we need to join those coming from the Baptist’s time and pause to consider: How does my Baptism connect with my daily life.  What am I doing in my everyday life to live into my Baptism?