The week between Christmas and New Years day was always a magic one, probably because the decorations were still in place and the time was drained of its pre Christmas frenzy. For children, that week was a vacation from school, and in the North it usually meant snow and new sleds. In the South there were new skateboards and bikes. It was a week lifted out of ordinary time into a different realm. There were new clothes, new toys to enjoy and a general feeling of well-being.

The Lord will put a blessing on your barns and on everything your put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.(Deuteronomy28:8)

One of my first attractions to scripture was the sweetness of the blessings that God promised to His people. All I could think was, “How well He must know us to make the promises that He did,” It was easy to translate “the “land” to “the relationship,” and I couldn’t deny that the promises were and (are) alluring. He speaks of blessings He will freely deliver, like peace and plenty, and simple joy: I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. (Deuteronomy17:14-15)

My father used to stand at the window and watch the rain with a smile on his face while I whined that I couldn’t go outside because of the rain. “This is a good rain,” he said, “this is good for the farmers. It will make them happy and you’ll be happy to eat their corn and potatoes.”

When God blesses, it’s as if he is yearning for the opportunity to bless, as if His abundance is so great that He overflows with desire to give, even though he knows that His people are whining and misunderstanding His presence in their lives. The week between Christmas and New Years day is a release from the stresses of the holiday and a receiving of the blessings it conveyed. At last the promised Christ was in the flesh and and in the arms of Mary. All the promises converge when the baby is born and looks just like us. The human and divine infant is proof of God’s intention to “satisfy” His people. The angels themselves promise On earth peace to those on whom His favor rests. (Luke 2:14)The peace is real, even if we don’t find it in the week betweenChristmas and NewYears day. God’s promises are for us and forever.

Love in Him,

Prue

The prophet Micah prophesied in the late 8^th century BC. He brought messages of defeat and destruction to both Jerusalem and to Samaria, the northern capital of Israel. His pronouncements were vivid, strong, and, scary. He held back nothing in describing the disasters ahead for these two cities. Micah was the first prophet to predict the sacking of Jerusalem, including Solomon’s temple there.

In the midst of such utterly grim oratory, from time to time a whole new light would shine, and Micah would be preaching some of the most exquisite messages of hope and restoration in the Bible. These messages actually foresaw the birth of Christ in Bethlehem: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be a ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. . . He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord , in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. . . His greatness will reach to the the ends of the earth. (Micah 5:2, 4)

This short message appears like a beam of light to ones lost in a dark cave of retribution for their sins. Micah returns to his message of destruction and misery until an even greater light fills his prophesy, as if knowing of the birth in Bethlehem has opened a wider understanding, a hope he hasn’t dared to voice before. Micah addressed God: You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. (Micah 7:19,20)

Many centuries later Micah’s words would be echoed by the young woman who gave birth on this night that we celebrate: My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name. . . He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors. (Luke 1:47,49, 54-55)

Every believing soul can join Mary this night in saying, The Mighty One has done great things for Me!

Blessed, Merry Christmas!

Love in Him,

Prue

A friend on mine who was having regular chemo treatments for breast cancer told me that sitting in the treatment waiting room enabled her to meet many other patients, some of whom engaged in what they called “bargaining “ with God for their lives, their mobility , time, and other desires. One day she prayed, “Why do people try to bargain with you, Lord? Don’t they know that you’re not a bargaining God?” To her surprise she experienced the thought, “They bargain because they know from Scripture that in fact I am a bargaining God.” “But what do we have to put on the table, Lord?” she asked. “You have your heart,” was the simple reply.

I was very touched by her experience, as I think that she was, too. Since then I have heard the lyrics of a carol named I’ll Give Him My Heart thatrecalled my friend’s story to me: What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part, So what can I give him? I’ll give him my heart. (The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, 2001)

Abraham bargained with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For twenty , I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:31) Abraham persevered, however, and God finally agreed not to destroy Sodom if ten men could be found who followed the Lord. (Genesis 18:32)

When God established His laws with Moses, God said, “No one is to appear before me empty handed” (Exodus 34:20)

Jacob bargained with the Lord after seeing the ladder with angels ascending and descending: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey. . . then the Lord will be my God . . . and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Genesis 28:20-22)

Abraham had given his heart to God when God promised him a son. Jacob gave his heart to God at the sight of the angels. Mary gave her heart to God at the angel Gabriel’s announcement to her. Because all these and countless more have have given their hearts to God , we can see that His word is true, but even more, we can speak openly with God when we come to Him with our brother Jesus, the one whose very birthday we are celebrating this month. He is the gift who, when found in us, touches God’s heart.

Love in Him,

Prue

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