It’s not as if God empties His heaven of a host of angels and sends them to commune with unsuspecting human beings in every generation. In fact, there is no record of such an event in the Bible except in Luke 2:13-14: Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel (who had been speaking), praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” It was the occasion of the birth of God’s son, and it was a display of celebration in Heaven and on earth, orchestrated by God Himself. No yard ornaments, however bright, will ever equal it. The words of the angels interpret for us the meaning of the events in Bethlehem. They linked the humble birth to God, and confirmed to Mary and Joseph the divine presence in their little son.

Those same words have been the inspiration for countless songs among Christians for hundreds of years. Christmas music has proven to be one of the most unifying gifts to the universal church, and most of the carols are inspired by the angels’ visit to the shepherds. From Silent Night : “Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from Heaven afar; Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,” to Hark the Herald Angels Sing, two of the most popular Christmas songs throughout the world, the presence of the angels inspires devotion and joy. When Pope John Paul II preached to the youth in Central Park, New York in 1995, the hundreds of people attending spontaneously sang Silent Night in many different languages, but all sharing the tune. It was in October.

Surely God knew when He sent His angels that night in Bethlehem to a few shepherds on a hillside, that the impact of such an event would have a lasting effect, and that it would reflect His own joy and participation in the lives of believers. Sometimes the appearance of the angels seems like nothing more than a show, but it has proven to be much, much more, as a lasting bond among Christians when the churches seem to have little else in common. God sent His own house-hold to let us know the truth about the birth of His son. God celebrated and set the example that has never disappeared. It is indeed a joy to contemplate all the goodness He has given us to share His very life, and to sing together as a family.

Love in Him,

Prue

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean . . . nor were you wrapped in swaddling cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. ( Ezekiel 16: 4&5)

In this passage the word of the Lord had come to Ezekiel regarding the nation of Israel. The Lord emphasized the absence of care for His people in their early days of slavery in Egypt, when He first rescued them. He is angry in this passage because even though He did rescue and provide for them, they eventually turned away from their God.

This moment in time is a strong contrast to a moment almost six hundred years later—the moment we celebrate at Christmas: While they were there (in Bethlehem) the time came for the baby to be born, and Mary gave birth to her firstborn. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, for there was no room for them at the inn. (Luke 2:6-7)In those hundreds of years God brought about such a change in Israel that He was able to find in the spirit and life of a young woman, a soul who would say unequivocally, Yes. (Luke 1:38) and mean it enough to bring swaddling cloths to Bethlehem with which to welcome the son she would deliver. Mary’s willing assent to the angel’s message that she would bear God’s son is the pivotal moment of the incarnation.

Hosea attested that in his time there was no such soul in Israel for God to visit with the news he brought to Mary. It was a hard Yes, but one that bore fruit in her son when he wrestled in the garden of Gethsemane, and also answered Yes to his Father God.

Mary’s Yes reverberates through all time, and shapes a relationship between God and mankind, through Christ, the immediate fruit of her Yes. In Mary, God found a partner who would share His plan for humanity, without even knowing or understanding the plan. At a time when Israel had been overcome by Rome, Mary’s faith and perspective were rooted in God’s history with the patriarchs: He (God) has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors. (Luke 1:54-55)

When I read in Ezekiel about God’s anger and pain at being betrayed by the people He had rescued from Egypt, I’m awed at His patience and endless capacity to forgive and renew His people. In His introducing His son to the world, my awe turns to amazement at the plan that unfolds, wrapping the history of Israel in swaddling cloths, first of His own supply, and then of Mary’s willing participation. The mystery of the incarnation always inspires.

Love in Him,

Prue

In leading us to a table at a local restaurant the hostess led us past a booth that was decorated with a lovely bouquet of roses. I asked what the occasion could be, and she answered, “Oh, that booth has been reserved by a young man for later this evening. He said that he is going to propose to his girlfriend tonight.”

We were led to a table near by, but I couldn’t take my eyes off that booth for our whole dinner. The couple never arrived before we left, but the image stayed in my mind of the cozy booth where two people’s future would be taking a decided turn.

The Bible is full of messages of anticipation, of God’s promises and reassurances of things in the future, sometimes quite a distant future: I will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses) from among their fellow Israelites and I will put my words in His mouth. (Deuteronomy 18:17)

Often in the worst of times the message came to the people of Israel that better times were ahead, that there would be one who would fulfill all of God’s promises: “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time and forever. (Isaiah 9:7)

By the time the message was brought by the angel Gabriel to Mary, it was very specific. He told her, You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. (Luke 1:11-33)

I never saw the couple that had reserved the special booth. I never knew if they even arrived, or if he proposed, or what she answered if he did propose; but Mary knew the reality of the angel’s words when Mary visited Elizabeth, who confirmed them to her: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear. . . As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promise to her! (Luke 1:42-45) It was a covenant promise, and it was never broken, even though Mary never saw her son sitting on a throne, or being honored like a king. While most of the rest of the world saw only what was visible, Mary knew the truth about her son: Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus . . . both Lord and Messiah. (Acts 2:36) In Advent, we,too, know this truth and can live in anticipation of His arrival in our lives.

Love in Him,

Prue

Once while I was still living in New York State, I traveled to Mexico City, and among other adventures visited the zoo there. I was surprised to see in the aviary, cardinals and blue jays in cages. It seemed “normal” for me to stare at every other creature, but I couldn’t help feeling that these birds, so common in the wild up north, were out of place and should be released from their cages. I felt sorry for them—not for any other creature in the zoo, but just for the cardinals and blue jays.

I had seen those birds so often in the wild, that despite the fact that the captive birds looked healthy and active in large cages, and would probably have a greater life expectancy than the wild ones, I couldn’t help thinking that the wild condition was somehow better for them than being caged. I had the feeling that when I saw the beautiful birds in the wild, I shared with them our environment, and at the zoo there was an inviolable barrier separating us. Even seeing a bird in flight allowed me to imagine a kinship that disappeared when I viewed cardinals and blue jays at the zoo.

In the Bible God frequently laments being separated from His people: Forget the former things: do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wastelands. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen. . . . (Isaiah 43:18-20) , and, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. . . I will be their God and they will be my people. . . for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. . . They will all know me, from the least to the greatest. (Jeremiah 31:33-34) The incredible freedom that God describes for His people, a freedom to walk and live openly with Him , is quoted by St. Paul: I will be a Father to you; and you will be my sons and daughters , says the Lord. (II Corinthians 6: 16&18)

It’s the freedom from guilt that is obtained only through faith in Christ. If the wild animals are able to honor God, it must be true that seeing the vivid and lovely plumage of birds such as cardinals and blue jays can bring us reminders of His Spirit in our lives. At this time of Advent it isn’t hard to be reminded of the peace that passes understanding and the freedom we experience from our redeemer God. The birds I saw in the zoo probably never knew any other life. Thanks to our Father God’s scripture we do know, and rejoice in the gifts of our Lord.

Love in Him,

Prue

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Advent is the season of anticipation of a wonderful, and, indeed “good and perfect” gift. Sometimes we get sidetracked and focus on the “gifts” we will receive and give instead of the great gift of the Father to us all.

Before she started lessons with Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller recalled her life of utter chaos. She was subject to fits of great anger and destruction that she couldn’t understand, and that culminated in exhaustion. The darkness and the silence of her world afforded no relief. The light of communication and connection reshaped Helen Keller’s very existence. She wrote, The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.–they must be felt with the heart.

Isaiah’s prophesy of the future coming of God’s son was felt in Isaiah’s heart in the midst of the disarray of his native country of Israel, and his words have stayed in the hearts of Christians for thousand’s of years: Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. (Isaiah 9:6) Helen Keller must have known Isaiah’s words in a deeper way than those of us with vision and hearing, for Isaiah also wrote, The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2)

The commercial world is sometimes so loud and flashy that it obscures the way to our hearts, especially at Christmas. Advent is a time to escape the noise and the flashiness as Helen Keller and Isaiah both escaped and experienced the great light that shows the way to Bethlehem. The blind and deaf woman who since infancy had never seen the light that she mentions so confidently, was herself a “good and perfect” gift to the world, and the prophet who had no source except God Himself, was a “good and perfect” gift to humankind. Both of them revealed a spiritual world of light and life to generations of people who saw evil and destruction around them. Helen Keller wrote,Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.

We, who find it difficult to “see” invisible things, the good and perfect gifts of God, can learn a great deal from these two, who could report what they “saw” in such a way that our eyes can open to the invisible, too. At Advent, God brings the light, when we bring our inner eyes.

Love in Him,

Prue

In A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis wrote that one of the surprises in experiencing grief, is how very similar grief is to fear, in one’s life. When fear and grief come together, they deepen our sadness and sense of loss. I believe that fear, in fact, attaches itself to any large or small change in our lives that makes us the least bit anxious. People of all professions can experience paralyzing fear that interferes with their jobs as well as their private lives.

God is aware of our propensity to fear. He has long ago placed a remedy that is echoed in both the Old and New Testaments.: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

We can’t simply rid ourselves of fear, but with God’s help help we can replace the source of our fears with the Spirit of God who welcomes our fear in order to transform it into courage and strength: through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for: through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. (Proverbs 16:6)

The fear of the Lord is a recurring theme in the Bible. It is more than respect or acknowledgment. It is intimate contact with God that is reassuring and healing. It is the consciousness of God’s power wrapped in His love. It is altogether different from the fear we experience toward evil in our world, for it carries commitment with it and that makes the difference between craven fear of the things of the world, and triumphant fear of a triumphant God.

Fear of the Lord is opening ourselves to one who is greater and stronger and better than ourselves and knowing this is true. It isn’t merely “respecting” God, but accepting Him as our own God. The fear of the Lord drives out all other fears: Perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:18)

The things we fear are many, and many entities use fear to motivate us commercially, politically and socially. Fear is a strong motivator, but the message of the scriptures is emphatically the message given to Joshua when he was faced with the virtually insurmountable task of entering and subduing the land that had been promised to the Hebrew people: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9) Jesus said it even more simply: Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32) Indeed the Father’s good pleasure is enough to drive out all other fears.

Love in Him,

Prue

Next week begins the season of Advent in the Christian Calendar. For some churches it is entirely ignored; for others, it’s a time of feasting, with advent calendars holding sweets for each day, and parties and celebrations. For others, it’s a significant fast , eliminating meat and dairy foods for the four weeks until Christmas.

Apparently Christians can’t quite agree on how to prepare for the celebration that is at the beginning of the Christian year, the birth of Christ. I have wondered why we don’t celebrate childbirth itself in the spirit of anticipation: For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ( Isaiah 9:6)

Isaiah knew what it was to express joy in anticipation of an event that he would not live on earth to witness. This, I think, is the secret of advent: the sure knowledge that God has sent His son and, with our “hindsight,” the joy of knowing the fruit of the promise—the rescue of His people from darkness to light, the admission of “ordinary” souls into the family of God Himself: Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. You are God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1Peter 2:9-10)

Our lives change when a child is born. I believe that the change is a growth toward our Father God, as we witness the growth of the little one, and remember that God watched His son grow up in the home of Mary and Joseph, and declared His joy at Jesus’ baptism: “ This is may Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Parenthood is a theme throughout the Old and New Testaments. It is the very familial relationship that God desires with His people, that Jesus delivers to both us and to Him. The anticipation that brought such joy to Isaiah was lived and recognized by the disciples who actually witnessed Christ himself on earth.

Isaiah was separated in time from Jesus’ birth, as we are, as well. Yet, the separation was no impediment to the joy of the Lord. This joy has not only not diminished, but has multiplied and grown from the annunciation to Mary to the resurrection of God’s son. We, too, can receive this joy in Advent. This week is the anticipation of anticipation: Joy itself.

Love in Him,

Prue

Thanksgiving

One evening Jack received a phone call and talked at length before ending it; and turning to me with a dazed look, he said, “The Lord really wants me to be an usher at church.” He had been called earlier and invited to usher and so had been showing up every Sunday for a month to usher. He had been surprised that none of the other ushers expected him, but they were short handed and happy to have him serve., The caller, who had enlisted him, asked how it was going, and Jack told him that the other ushers serve only one Sunday each month, instead of every Sunday for one month. After a lengthy talk about the church in general, there was a short silence. Jack’s caller said, “We are talking about Wesley Church, aren’t we?” “No!” said Jack. “I go to Klein church!” They both quickly hung up. It was early in our move to Spring, Texas, and we had visited more than one church. That evening he experienced a literal “calling”.

By the time the month was ended, Jack had become acquainted with several men in the church who eventually became friends. He was on a “team” that served once a month, but he also substituted and so he served quite often. We have both been grateful for the mistake that bore such fruit.

Come let us sing for joy to the Lord ; let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. ( Psalm 95:1-2 )

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:7-8)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. There will be a lot of tasting and fellowship, and people being asked to name what makes them grateful. Of all the holidays in the year, Thanksgiving is the one that is mandated from earliest times as a festival shaping our relationship with God. We’re not told to celebrate the birth of God’s son, or even his resurrection, but we are repeatedly told to render thanks to God for every aspect of His life that He shares with us.

Jack never stopped being glad to usher. He feels to this day that it was truly a call to remind him of the One whose service it is to usher in church. Jack never forgot it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love in Him,

Prue

Feed My Sheep

Jacob said, “Behold, the sun is still high. It is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.” “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” When Jacob saw Rachel. . . he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

Genesis 29:7-10)

The well in the midst of a sheep pasture is a pivotal setting in the Bible, for it is the location where the wives of three of the patriarchs were found: Isaac’s Rebekah, Jacob’s Rachel, and Moses’ Zipporah. Abraham placed particular emphasis on the woman who should marry his son Isaac, and it’s clear that God inspired the choice of Rebekah. (Genesis 24)

These were the beginnings of God’s choosing a people, and small as they are, these beginnings sustained the Hebrew people through four hundred years of slavery in Egypt , enough to retain their identity during all that time.

What kind of “food” did the sheep need? It was the food of marriage, a marriage between a human being and a sovereign God. It was a love match described best in the simple assertion about Jacob’s love for Rachel: Jacob served seven years for Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. (Genesis 29:20)

In His promise to Moses and the early Israelites, God described His plan and intention for His people once they reached the promised land: “. . .love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul__then I will send rain on your land in season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. . . and you will eat and be satisfied,” God intended to feed His sheep, and He asked in return only the food of His people’s love.

After his resurrection, Jesus spoke this charge to Peter: “Do you Love me, Peter? Feed my sheep,” passing the care of Jesus’ own ministry to Peter and his church. Feeding His sheep was always God’s intention toward His people. (John 21:17)

Today He offers us that same call, the call that He Himself fulfills and asks us to share:

Feed My Sheep.

Love in Him,

Prue

Growing up reading or listening to fairy stories, I was attracted mostly to stories of poor shoemakers who fell asleep at their bench and and woke up in the morning to find that elves or fairies or an angel had come in the night and completed the work, to their very great joy, and prosperity.

This morning in reading Lamentations I had the same reaction: I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is His faithfulness. Therefore I will wait for Him. (Lamentations 3:19-24)

Poor shoemakers show up in many of the old stories, including at least two by Leo Tolstoy. (Where Love Is God Is, and What Men live By) They are almost always deserving persons, sometimes bitter, but always hard working. Their situation seems hopeless until there is a supernatural intervention and they respond with joy and virtue.

The writer of Lamentations experienced hardship and the destruction of his home and country, but in the midst of despair, the Spirit of God opened his mind to the love and goodness of God’s own character. It’s a dramatic turn-around and it’s his only sustenance in a very dark time for Israel and for the writer. The invisible Spirit intervenes in his lament, with the greater power of love and compassion.

The fairy tales hint of a grace and a goodness that comes to certain worthy souls, but the Bible presents a strong , rugged connection that can be grasped and even understood.

The writer knows of God and says, “Therefore I will wait for Him.”

This interior knowledge of God appears in the new Testament even more than in the Old. Jesus himself said, The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is within you.(Luke 17:20&21) John wrote, in his first letter, (4:15) If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in Him.

It may be that poor shoemakers are closer to God than the rest of us, but the Bible doesn’t say that. Rather, it opens the door of God’s kingdom to everyone, rich or poor, strong or weak, to become indwelt by God’s Spirit. Maybe somehow we are all poor shoemakers at heart.

Love in Him,

Prue