Waiting for the Light Daily Devotions for Advent 2019 by Trinity Parish
A note about the cover artist
Lucie Holland
Lucie is a sixth-grade Trinitarian who attends the French Broad River Academy for Girls. She was born with the returning of the light, celebrating her birthday on December 21 which frequently coincides with winter solstice and the shortening of our nights. Aside from painting, Lucie enjoys playing games and adventures with her family, and rock climbing with the local youth team. She is happy to gift this original piece “Waiting for the Light� to her family at Trinity.
Waiting for the Light A few years back, our family went to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, and as part of the tour of the huge network of caves, the guides turned out the lights completely so that we could experience total darkness. It’s such an unnerving experience, to put your hand in front of your face and not be able to see it, realizing just how poorly our eyes are adapted to total darkness. Maybe that’s why we tend to hear every little noise and creak of a settling house whenever the lights go out. Maybe that’s why, whenever the power goes out, we relax a little when we finally fumble our way to the stash of flashlights and breathe a sigh of relief that the batteries haven’t gone dead since the last time we used them. We cling to the light. But there are gifts, too, in the darkness, in the absence of light. It’s hard to wrap our minds around that, of course, because in our electrified world, really, truly being without light is a rare experience. Growth happens in the darkness, like a seed incubating in the soil. The Christian tradition has long held that the spiritual night is a time when we draw nearer and more intimately to God. The dark night of the soul, while perhaps full of struggle and turmoil, nevertheless is transformative and holy. So during this Advent season, in which the days have grown short, the nights long, we wait and focus our spiritual lives on the advent of Christ, not just as a baby at Christmas, but at his second coming, when Christ returns to renew and restore all things to the glory for which they were created. Perhaps it is only in the midst of darkness that we can quiet our souls, minds, and bodies enough to glimpse, to see truly the world as God created it and intended it, the world as God will restore it as we wait patiently praying, singing, longing, come, O come Emmanuel. I pray that this devotional, written by members of our parish across all ages, will usher you into this holy season of Advent, with a little light in the darkness, with the expectant hope that Christ has come and is coming to make all things new. Advent peace, David+
Sunday, Dec. 1 Therefore you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. Matthew 24: 44 Get ready. Lately, I find myself frequently making this statement. I use it, whether I am reminding young students of an upcoming transition, advising my young adult children to prepare for an exam, to participate in a retirement plan or to open an IRA, and also to my husband and myself, as we continue to ignore our leaf-covered yard that is in dire need of maintenance before the first hard freeze. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus frequently cautions his followers by telling them they “must be ready” in order to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus warns his followers multiple times to not be caught off guard. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus reminds his followers that in the time of Noah, Noah was preparing for the upcoming storm while everyone else was simply making preparations for their daily lives. There were two women grinding meal, one was ready and the other was not. Matthew’s gospel continues with many reminders of the importance of preparation and the consequences of being caught off guard. As Christians, entering the season of Advent, we know that we will be pulled in many directions making preparations for parties, school plays, travel, exams and gift-giving. While important, these preparations are secondary. May we not forget, that we are called to prepare for Christmas in a different way. We must get ready! When have you been caught off guard and felt unprepared? What did you learn from this experience? What can you do to prepare your heart and mind for Christmas? Dear Heavenly Father, as we enter this season of Advent, help us to prepare for your coming by spending time in prayerful meditation and in service to others. Bonnie Scothorn
Monday, Dec. 2 “They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowd went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Matthew 21:1-11 We are brought into the mystery of Advent, not by the lovely images of the Annunciation and the Nativity, but by the shouting of hosannas and the waving of palms as Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a peaceful king upon a donkey. He cannot be ignored and it is this fact that somehow seems to free the crowd to express their adoration, casting away for a moment the smothering disapproval of the Roman authority. There was an echo of that cacophony at the Jerusalem gate in my own life when I went to buy a can of paint yesterday. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by blinking Christmas trees and giant Santas leering from high shelves. I was deafened by endless renditions of Jingle Bells and White Christmas. The detritus of Halloween had not not been cleared away. Where was the breathing space for Thanksgiving? I was overwhelmed at the thought of all the shopping and wrapping and cooking and decorating that lay ahead. I wanted to run away and yet, I also wanted to sing along with the carols and fill my cart with paper and ribbon. Christmas is coming and we can sing our hosannas. Advent is the time to contemplate the mystery of the Word made flesh in quiet wonder. And yet, in this great in-breaking of God’s love, in the cacophony of the universe disrupted, we are set free to love each other out loud. I wish perfect strangers “Merry Christmas” and push dollar bills into swinging red pails. I remember all those who have made my life richer and deeper. I can carefully select a gift, wrap it in lovely paper solely for the pleasure of concealing the surprise inside, and, most of all, express the deep gratitude and love that seems somehow too dangerous to set free in ordinary time. I am emboldened by the very chaos that surrounds me. Thank you so much for being my friend, for sitting next to me when I was feeling lonely, for bringing my mail, taking care of my dog, living next door, still being my son even though you tower over me and have a family of your own. Here is a soft sweater to keep you warm when the snow falls, a cookie to sweeten your day. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Merry Christmas. And so this year, I will enjoy the cacophony of the Christmas season even as I retreat into silence and prayer. I will remember Jesus entering Jerusalem beneath the waving palms, allowing the crowd to love him even as he prepared for his own final act of love for us. There is an echo of that boundless love in every Merry Christmas. Wendy Brookes
Tuesday, Dec. 3 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Matthew 21:12 Maybe I became an Episcopalian because I’m not that into Christmas decorations. Episcopalians know that Christmas doesn’t actually start until December 25, and really, who’s going to decorate the house for just 12 days? Still, these four weeks of Advent fairly crackle with anticipation. It’s not exactly the anticipation of dancing sugar plums, nutcrackers that become princes or cute little babies in lying in mangers, surrounded by adoring farm animals. It’s a nervous sort of anticipation, laced with dread, and wrapped in apocalyptic doom. Because we’re talking the end of the world here. Amos, the farmer-turned-prophet, describes the armies of Egypt and Ashdod, peering down the hillsides into Samaria before they strike. Peter warns ominously that we better pay attention to the words of the prophets. And in Matthew, Jesus flips every notion of piety on its head, as he flips the Temple merchants onto their behinds. Advent is the countdown to the end of the world; our world, that is. We have this season of Advent, not so that we have four weeks to buy and wrap presents (and run up our credit card debt), but so that our hearts may be prepared to be thrown about like a money changer’s table. Jesus is going to burst into time and space, reminding us that he’s making everything new, all the while pulling down the strongholds and fortresses of our hardened hearts. The world that we’ve created—a world where the poor and the weak are oppressed, while political power, religion and money are the measures of success—that world ends as soon as we invite Jesus into it. I can’t wait until Christmas. How about you? The Rev. Dn. Tim Ervolina
Wednesday, Dec. 4 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:31 I like the parable of the two sons that Jesus shares with the religious leaders and the elders of his community. The father asks both sons to do the same thing. The first says no, but then he ends up doing it. The second son says yes, but then he doesn’t do it. Jesus then tells the leaders that two groups of people, tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before them. I think Jesus is telling the leaders, who think they are perfect because of their positions, that he cares more about how people act and what people do for him than people who say they love him but don’t do what he asks them to do. What matters to God is that people put their beliefs into action. Even when people do things wrong in their lives it doesn’t fully define the kind of people that they are. Tax collectors and prostitutes do things that God does not want them to do but they are still children of God and it is possible for them to do the work of God. Beware of people who think they are better than everyone else. Harrison White (age 12)
Thursday, Dec. 5 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. Matthew 21:18-19 When I read this, I think, “Wow, Jesus killed a fig tree just because it had no fruit when he was hungry.” Where is the typical Jesus compassion in that? But really, the cursing of the fig tree is but a metaphor for a barren, unspiritual life and the role of faith in giving prayer its power. The tree may have looked great with healthy green leaves but it will not nourish us. Similarly, a life lived without faith can look good on the outside, but is hollow. Jesus is not a fig tree hater in this story but simply chooses to teach his lesson using a tree instead of his people who, despite having turned from him, he loves unconditionally. I find that during tumultuous periods in our lives, it is all too familiar to lament our humanness. The external issues surrounding us become timelines of strife from which we sometimes feel we can not escape. If we turn more outward to the world to seek refuge or understanding of the perceived injustices, we are unfulfilled. If we instead turn inward to Jesus and rely on our faith and prayer, we can bear fruit. Tonya Fotinos
Friday, Dec. 6 May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you Jude 1:2 Long a tradition in my family, Thanksgiving serves as a time to give thanks for the goodness and love we have for one another. It marks the beginning of our preparation for Christmas – which tended in my childhood to get swallowed up in our Letters to Santa and marking the pages of the Sears catalog with our initials on the “most perfect” gift. Now five decades after Dad led us in thanking the Lord for our family, our safety, the riches of our life and our world – mixed with tossing rolls down a banquet table lined with 50-plus Rickards—I hold this tradition closer to my heart than ever. Dad has been gone for over 20 years, but the lessons we learned at that table, amongst all those aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters – and more than a few times people we barely knew but who had nowhere else to go-- we learned that having and loving one another, faith, justice and respect are the trademarks of good people. And Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a time of creativity as our holiday gift-giving tended to be based more on turning Lux liquid bottles into gifts for our grandparents and one another than what Sears Roebuck had in store. Yes, we tied a totally non-religious holiday to Advent and Christmas. It seemed – and still seems – to be a right and good thing. We felt rich and blessed when we sat at that table and in the following weeks as we lit the Advent candles, and finally dressed in our best to line the aisles of the church for midnight service. As Saint Jude tells us, “May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you” in this season – and may it remind us all to find richness in the most simple of traditions that mark this season and make us feel whole and blessed in their recollection. Carole Rickard Hedden
Saturday, Dec. 7 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 1:20-21 It was several weeks after my son’s death that I came across some of his belongings that I had neglected to notice at the time. Among these items was a chain with the medallion of St. Jude. Who WAS St. Jude? St. Jude was one of the twelve apostles, Judas son of James and sometimes called Thaddaeus to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, and the one to whom we pray in time of hopelessness and despair. Apparently, when one hears the name Judas or Jude, one immediately assumes they are speaking of Judas Iscariot. But Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord. Therefore, a person had to be desperate to invoke Jude’s name. Being so seldom invoked and reverenced, St. Jude was ready and willing to hear the prayers of those who would call upon him. Having St. Jude near in time of hopeless causes and situations gives a sense of peace and helps with finding strength to move on. Many of us, at one time or another, have felt like we can’t go on. No matter what we do, we feel helpless and sometimes can fall into deep despair. Which way do we turn? It may be a natural inclination for some to pray and for others it may feel like a totally lost cause. What is it we pray for that is so close to our hearts and souls and so poignant that it becomes part of our daily routine? It is not all about us! It is also about those who are lost and alone, without love. We hold these thoughts tightly. We pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us and all those around us. We reach out through prayer and hope. We grow day by day in prayer and build upon our own faith that all for whom we pray can also feel the power of the holy spirit in some way. It is our responsibility to make that effort. In prayer, we speak to God. In prayer, we find, through God, a source of strength and comfort that can be passed along to others. Perhaps through his prayers, St. Jude was the most compassionate one to connect with the hopeless and the disparate. He had the true belief that the word of God was what bound us all in the power of the Holy Spirit and for that, I feel my son was truly connected and truly thankful. And, I, too, am thankful.
Dear Lord and Savior, guide us in our day to day lives to connect with those who are alone and in despair. Pour upon them your grace and mercy that they may find a solace and peace deep in their souls that comes from the word of God through the holy spirit. Build them up to find the strength to live from day to day and to know that they are beloved. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen Tina McGuire
Sunday, Dec. 8 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid Isaiah 11:6 This story speaks to me through how it tells of the animals coming together and living harmoniously. The animals it speaks of - wolf and lamb, leopard and goat, lion and calf - don’t usually live together; they are predator and prey. But the way that Isaiah tells the story by bringing them together makes me believe that he is trying to tell us that humans should do the same. There is so much conflict in our world, and this passage makes me think of how we should all come together and cause no pain or suffering to each other. It even says in line ten, “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples,� which symbolizes that the Branch from Jesse is holding everything up and wanting everything to come together harmoniously. I believe that this story is speaking to our modern world and not just through the past and pages because it is telling us that we should all come together and not cause harm or destroy, but we should love one another and live together peacefully.
Lord, I pray that we will love one another, even our enemies, and learn to live together in peace. Let us learn to love our differences and learn to love those that are different. Amen. Lizzy Ray (age 15)
Monday, Dec. 9 Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel…” Amos 7:8 At the time of Amos, Israel was enjoying a time of relative prosperity. The rich were getting richer, but the poor were poor. God was displeased that His people were ignoring His ways of showing justice and mercy. Just before God unleashed locusts and fire on Israel to destroy the land, God told Amos about his plans. Though Amos did not have riches like his neighbors in Israel, he appealed to God on their behalf. God relented, then gave Amos the task of speaking justice to the people of Israel. To illustrate how He would measure their ways, he used a plumb line. I knew about plumb lines as a child. My father was a builder, and one of the things I played with in his office was a plumb line he had fashioned from string, weighted at one end with the bullets taken from his leg after battle in WW11. Holding the string at the other end and letting the bullets’ weight pull the string vertical and taut, my father told me that this plumb line was a measurement of his straight-line resolve to live his life in a good and true way. God told Amos that he would set a plumb line among the people of Israel, a measurement of how they lived. Amos was to take this warning to Israel: they would no longer be spared if they ignored God’s word. When we turn away from God, we’re not plumb. We’re like crooked walls, vulnerable to forces that threaten to make us fall.
God, you alone are the true internal plumb line in our daily lives. Help us to stand firm and straight, and to live our lives with integrity. Amen. Debby Maugans
Tuesday, Dec. 10 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39 The “calling” that we experience should not be opposed to an affirmation of how we live our everyday lives. Who are your neighbors? Strangers or maybe people in your neighborhood that have no affiliation or relationship to God or a Church. How can we as a Church reach out to those without evangelizing for our own advantage. We can love our neighbor even though they do not look like us, talk like us, believe like us or even wear the same clothes. As a congregation and as true Christians, we just might share the idea of “comforting the afflicted and afflicting those who are comfortable”. Loving God and our neighbor one in the same gives great hope in an increasingly troubled political climate. While this love of strangers gives us great morals and might help any and all “churches” to rise above partisanship, simply show God’s love for all people. When we hear God’s “call” to see other people as God sees them, we might find a neighbor to not be so different and be able to love that neighbor as we truly love God.
God, help us to see our neighbors as you see them and help us to love them with the same love with which you love us. Amen. Dave Hensley
Wed. Dec. 11 “What do you see?” Amos 8:2 There’s a real”ripped from today’s headlines” feel about today’s reading from Amos. Income inequality! (“We may buy the poor for silver, and the needy are bought for a pair of shoes.”) Financial malfeasance! (“We … are making the ephah (bushel) small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit…”). In this passage, though, the Lord threatens His disobedient people with floods, eclipses, and other dire consequences. In the real world, though, things don’t seem to work out quite so neatly. Bad things happen to good people. Righteous people suffer and struggle, while those who appear to be undeserving seem to prosper. Wars, poverty, famine, disease, strife, greed – all of these are still with us. We may find ourselves asking, where is God in all this? Several years ago, I found myself in the midst of a bitter, bitter divorce and custody battle. A dear friend sent me a card, thinking to offer an encouraging word during a very trying time. Little did she know, that card would change my life forever. In it she penned, “God is on your side.” And I think she meant, on my side in the divorce. But the moment I read those words, I was immediately aware of God’s love at a heart level, a soul level. Prior to that, I’d known God in an intellectual way. But this was something totally different. God was on MY side. He was on everyone’s side (even my soon-to-be-ex’s!). And if He was for me, if He was on my side – well, then, I could make it through just about anything. I don’t have all the answers about why there seems to be so much sorrow and suffering in this world. I don’t know why man’s inhumanity to man seems to have continue unabated across the centuries that have passed since the time of Amos. In fact, I’m not sure I have any answers. But I do know that God is on my side – and He’s on your side, too.
Lord, during the darkest times in our lives, and in our world, help us to remember that You are always, always, on our side. Cassia Imholz
Thursday, Dec. 12 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. 2:10 How many things do we worry about throughout our lives? A small child fears leaving the protective side of an adoring parent, going to school, making friends and growing up. As we mature the fears change but persist. Will we get a job that will provide enough for us and our family? What will happen when we lose a loved one? How will we face our own mortality? How easy it is to worry about so many things. Many things and situations that we can’t control. We all do it throughout our lives. However, the Lord is with us. When life inevitably throws each of us a curve ball we ask “Why me?” How can bad things happen to good people? Persecution of God’s people as they emerged in ancient times and confronted those who opposed their new philosophy could easily have thrown the early Christians off track but they persevered. Why? Because God asks us to trust in Him. He has had his own suffering and knows what we are going through. He shares our burden and is there for us. There is the promise of “the crown of glory” at the end of our journey.
Dear God, Help me keep the faith in times of trial and tribulations. I pray for you to give me strength to follow you even in my darkest moments. I know there will be a great reward to come. Amen. DeDe Swift
Friday, Dec. 13 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Matthew 23:37 I sympathize with the Pharisees, probably because I've usually played the elder brother rather than the prodigal. If I were a good Jew in Jesus' day, I suspect I would have dismissed him as a heretic. How do we recognize the prophets among us? We must do something nobody can do for us: cultivate our inner lives with God so we become attuned to the experience of love--which is always an experience of the Divine. Learn the metaphors, study the scriptures, receive the sacraments and enjoy the fellowship of the tribe. These gifts teach us a path to the well but then we must practice drinking from it. If we allow experience to throw us off balance, strip us of our props and blow up our boxes, our dead bones awaken to new life inside. Perhaps we will realize that when we were pleased we were doing it RIGHT, we were actually worshipping ourselves--or at least a too-small God. How strange is this Jesus who was willing to break the rules for love; this God described as a hen? His love includes even them and even us. It is far more surprising, creative, reckless and given than we'd allowed. Amidst the disorientation, we can trust the Spirit is leading when we see the face of God in every other.
God our Father and our Mother, You desire mercy not sacrifice. Take our violence for your gentleness, our division for your communion. Give us eyes to see your upside down Kingdom where the way up is down, the outsiders are in, and the wounded become healers. Help us listen deeply and discern the voice of love. Sharon Lechner
Saturday, Dec. 14 “See that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6 When I read this passage from the book of Matthew, it strikes me that, once again, Jesus reminds us not to be afraid. This is one of God’s most repeated messages throughout the scriptures and yet it is one of the easiest messages to forget. How powerful, then, that he reminds us to “not be alarmed” while talking about the end times! In a world full of famines, earthquakes, war, and so much unthinkable evil, we often find ourselves focusing on the fear that those evils bring. It is easier to dream of a different, better world--of the past or the future--than to face the reality of what is going on in our world today. However, we should know better: Jesus himself told us these things would come to pass but that our calling, as Christians, was to “not be alarmed” and to “proclaim the good news”. Be glad that we have something as powerful as the love and the word of God that is stronger than the hate and division around us. Instead of dwelling on all the negativity we face on a daily basis, let’s focus on the positivity and joy of the Gospel message to help guide us and give us the strength to “endure to the end”. Clare Kerekes
Sunday, Dec. 15 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. James 5:7 One of the themes of Advent is patience. It’s a good thing that a virtue of the Christian faith is patience because we’ve been waiting for Jesus’ return for a really long time! I don’t know about you but patience doesn’t come easy for me. Patience, it seems to me, is a skill that one needs to develop. I suppose some people are born with this skill the same way that some people seem to be born with the gift of music or the way some people seem to be natural athletes. But I’m willing to bet that for most of us patience is something that needs to be developed and practiced. Patience is a virtue in Christian life because who among us has gotten everything they have ever wanted from God in the way they wanted it and in the time that they wanted it? A relationship with God demands patience because even though we believe that God is “working his purpose out,” as one hymn puts it, often God refrains from sharing that purpose clearly with us! Some followers of Jesus paint a picture of Christian life that suggests they are always on the hotline with Jesus. The truth of the matter is that life with Jesus is grounded in hope. We do not know what the future holds, we do not know what tomorrow will bring but God has promised that our lives rest in the hollow of God’s hands no matter what. So, in hope, we wait. Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The Rev. Dr. R. Scott White
Monday, Dec. 16 I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8 One of the most interesting—and troubling—aspects about power is what it does to us once we get it. Researchers tell us that most people largely acquire power, whether in small communities or large systems, through positive means and with good intent. But once they begin to experience power it starts to short-circuit the empathy pathways in our brains, according to social scientist and author Dacher Keltner. According to his book on the subject, power makes it more difficult to imagine the struggles of those without power. One study even shows that even giving some a little, inconsequential power emboldens them to take more than their share of a plate of chocolate chip cookies and to eat them with a sort of lipsmacking, gloating glee. We’ve all been around those kind of people, and we’re absolutely sure if only we had power we wouldn’t be one of them. Thankfully, our reading today reminds us that social or societal power isn’t a requirement for the kingdom of God. In fact, we see throughout Scripture God being uniquely made manifest within powerlessness, whether as an infant in the manger or a dying man being executed on a cross by the most powerful empire in the world at the time. God seems to be about accomplishing God’s end not through power and might but through weakness and humility. As we go through the waning days of Advent, may we be ever mindful of the vulnerability of God in the Incarnation and deeply aware that God has chosen the weak, the marginal, and the foolish to show the way to the strong, the popular, and the wise.
God, give us the courage to see in you the strength to be weak and, when we find ourselves with power in the world, remind us that our call as your followers to use it for the benefit of others and to share our power with them as well. Amen. The Rev. David Henson
Tuesday, Dec. 17 Therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:44 Since childhood, the season of Advent fills my heart with joy and gladness. It is a given the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem will be replayed as it has been for centuries. For me, the season of Advent is filled with anticipation, joy, the Advent wreath and waiting. Waiting for the birth of Christ on Christmas Day in the morning. And then, Matthew brings it to our attention that Christ is coming…again!!!!! This time there is no timeline. Only God knows, literally and figuratively, when this will happen. And, we all need to be ready regardless of the ‘when’. Being human, most of us will not be as prepared as in Advent, should it happen in our lifetime. So, in preparation for his coming again, we can hold Christ and his teachings, in our hearts, always. For in a way, this is an illustration of his coming again, to each of us, individually.
Father, as we celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, let us remember to continue to hold him in our hearts, always. Amen Rebecca Work
Wednesday, Dec. 18 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Revelation 4:3 The part of the passage that spoke to me was heaven is beautiful because of the description of the precious stones, the rainbow the color of an emerald and the sea of glass that looked like a crystal. I think that the elders represent all of God’s biggest creations and the wisdom that we receive from them. The spirt takes control of us by taking us into heaven with open arms. The four living things represent different characteristics that people can have. I think that they also might represent Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It reminds me of the cover of the gospel book when I am an acolyte. The gospel book cover has a calf with wings, an eagle with wings, a lion with wings and a man with wings- just like in the passage. There is also a man sitting on the throne in the middle. When I think of heaven, I think about people with wings flying around clouds. I also think about elders playing instruments. I think that I might see people that died before me too. I think that the beauty of heaven comes from all of the people who are living there.
Dear God, thank you for all of the wisdom that you give us and all that you have created on Earth and in Heaven. Help us to remember all of the good things in our lives and all of the good things that you have made for us. Jack Budzinski (age 10)
Thursday, Dec. 19 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Matthew 25:2 What was it that made those five bridesmaids so foolish? After all, despite Jesus closing the story with the reminder to “keep awake”, all the bridesmaids—wise and foolish—actually fell asleep while waiting for the long-delayed bridegroom. And speaking of him, it was his social faux pas of being exceedingly late to his own party that caused the whole mess in the first place. And when the five “foolish” bridesmaids realized they didn’t have enough oil, they were so upset that they went in the middle of the night banging on the doors of the town shopkeepers, waking them up, dragging them from bed, and begging to buy some extra oil. This seems more like an extraordinary act of devotion, wanting to please the bridegroom, than evidence of their faithlessness and lack of love. And what about those so-called wise bridesmaids? Really, they didn’t have any oil to help out? Nowhere else in Scripture can I remember such selfish behavior being called wisdom. I guess I’ve always had a soft spot for the foolish bridemaids, and I bet anyone who has felt their faith or strength dwindle from a flame in the night to a thin tendril of smoke might feel the same way. I wonder, though. What would have happened if the five foolish bridesmaids hadn’t gone to get more oil, hadn’t left the party in fear? What if they had stood there, even in their lack, in their foolishness, in the darkness with no light? Perhaps what upset the bridegroom was that his friends didn’t trust in his friendship and love enought to stick around. Perhaps they didn’t trust that the blazing light the bridegroom would bring as he approached the wedding party would have so far outshone their tiny oil lamps as to render them useless. Maybe what made them foolish was they left when they should have stayed, should have trusted that no matter what they were missing or how dim their faith had grown, the bridegroom wanted to see them when he arrived, whatever state they were in.
God of the light and the darkness, help us to trust that you are present to us wherever we are, that the darkness is not dark to you and that the night is as bright as day. Amen. The Rev. David Henson
Friday, Dec. 20 ... to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Matt. 25:15 What does the parable of the talents say to me? What perhaps should it say to each of us? It speaks of opportunity, of trust, of responsibility. It speaks of the danger of laziness. It says if I don’t use it, I lose it. I (and we) are God’s servants. We are to work to use our God-given talents to the best of our abilities. We are not to be too lazy to do so. We can pray for strength to follow God’s lead, remembering that we will be held accountable and therefore should not waste an opportunity. God entrusts His world to us, to create justice, peace, beauty with Him. The environment is entrusted to us, as is the future of His community, the church. In prayer, we are to welcome this responsibility and do our best. We are managers of God’s property, remembering that all we have is really His. All should strive to make the most of what we have, boldly, not lazily. Are we to take risks and always play it safely? Are we to learn from our failures? Are we to trust that God will never demand more than we can give, or are we to bury our talents and our heads in the dirt?
Dear precious and all-knowing Father, create in us a willingness to use all you have given us to further your kingdom here on Earth. Help us to say “yes” when such an opportunity comes our way. Let us never be “thrown into outer darkness,” but humbly give thanks for living in the values of Christ Jesus. Amen. Robert Mann
Saturday, December 21 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe John 20:29 We live by faith. That word, faith, is so abstract. In Habakkuk it describes how the oppressed should live among the oppressors. The righteous will survive by remaining steadfast, reliable, and faithful to God. This “living by faith” can sound a bit stoic, urging us to endure pain or hardship without complaining. But it becomes dynamic when we find that it reflects a relationship. It is God’s steadfast, reliable faithfulness to us that upholds us and teaches us how to live in relationship with God and with one another. This is stoicism transformed into joyful living! However, when we inherit “living by faith” without that dynamic relationship, life can get reduced to rules and traditions that we “faithfully” adhere to. So, when Thomas comes back to the upper room and hears from his friends that they have seen Jesus – alive! – after his death and burial, he doesn’t want to settle for a hand-me-down experience. He declares that he must also see for himself. Jesus does appear in the flesh to Thomas and Thomas is able to touch Jesus’ wounds and hear his familiar voice. Thomas doesn’t merely affirm that he now can live by faith. Rather, he exclaims, “My Lord and my God!” A great gift of God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus is that it has opened a new door through which we all can have a firsthand experience of relationship with God. So, perhaps, what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” is this: Blessed are those who haven’t seen Jesus as Thomas did, but who have encountered God through the person of Jesus in a way that is their very own. The Rev. Dena Whalen
Sunday, Dec. 22 Isaiah 7:10-16, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-25 All three passages are about signs and prophecy, of utmost importance in Biblical times. There were no fact-checking websites, so the authenticity of an occurrence was proved by its being foretold, or shown in a sign. The prophecies of Jesus’ birth and divinity are familiar to us, part of the lovely story we sing about at Christmas. They don’t form the basis for our belief. To me, the entrance into the world of the Messiah is authenticated in the actions of that good man, Joseph, the man who was to raise Jesus. Here he was, with a fianceĚ pregnant by someone else. Rather than rage and punish, he planned to treat her gently. Then, when the angel appeared in a dream with instructions, he immediately obeyed and took on the legal responsibility as well as the care of the mother and her unborn child. Even today that would be admirable. His faith was so strong that it overcame the reluctance and fear and confusion he must have felt at such an unprecedented upset of the world he knew, such a violation of social mores. Other figures in the Bible have obeyed dreams, of course, but this time the command involved tenderness and compassion. This is grace, the grace that can transform the world. The incarnation of grace was yet to be born, but this small part of the story is a capsule of what that birth could mean.
Kind Father, Thank you for your Son who came humbly to bring peace and goodwill. In this unhappy world, help us to look for signs of grace. Erwin Gunnells
Monday, Dec. 23 “And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.” Luke 1:19 The opening chapter of the third gospel gives the first intimations of how unimaginably and extraordinarily good this good news will be. Luke introduces an exemplary, elderly, childless couple, the good priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. One day while Zechariah is in the sanctuary, the angel Gabriel appears and tells him that, not only will Elizabeth bear a son at their advanced age, but that their boy John will be “great before the Lord,” that he will “turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.” (Their boy, of course, grows to be John the Baptist who will prepare the way of the Lord.) But because Zechariah can’t quite believe the news, Gabriel sentences him to remain mute until the baby is born. In childhood, that stiff reprimand rather put me off Gabriel. Now I try to embrace it as enfolding the penitential and reflective component of Advent. For me, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth encompasses all the facets of Advent--the time of awed expectation, of preparation, of awaiting, even with some trepidation, the approach of the unknowable and indescribable. I hear in these passages that seemingly insurmountable obstacles may be overcome, that irredeemable circumstances can and will be turned on their heads. There’s a sense of good magic and miracles, of the wonder that God working in us can do more than we could ask or imagine. It’s the beginning of the account of how God will suspend his laws for the universe and step into our own stories. The reading ends by telling us that six months later God sends Gabriel to Nazareth, where we know he will next appear to Elizabeth’s cousin Mary. The anticipation builds for the greatest story ever told; the story of salvation, redemption, of death working backwards; of a new covenant between humankind and God; for the news that, as C.S. Lewis once phrased it, “God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.”
Dear Lord, as we enter the busy, often stressful time of waiting for the celebration of your birth, please keep us in awe of the good news, remind us to approach with reverence your new promise to your people, and help us to remember that through your incarnation and ever afterward, you changed everything. Marti Touchstone
Advent & Christmas at Trinity
Sunday, December 1 First Sunday of Advent 9:00 am Loaves & Fishes Alternative Market, Tuton 9:30 am Advent Wreath-making, Undercroft 9:30 am Trinity Connect Class 6:00 pm Sixes on Sunday Thursday, December 5 12:00 pm Music for Advent: Joyce Guyer, soprano, Nave Sunday, December 8 10:45 am A Visit from the Bishop of Myra 6:30 pm An Advent Journey Labyrinth Walk, Tuton Thursday, December 12 10:00 am 2nd Chapter Book Club 12:00 pm Music for Advent: Kimberly Cann, piano, Tuton Friday, December 13 1:00 pm Caregivers’ Support Group, Youth Area Sunday, December 15 12:30 pm CLUB 345 Volunteers at Steadfast House 5:30 pm Candlelight Lessons & Carols Thursday, December 19 12:00 pm Music for Advent: Kyle Ritter, organ, Nave Sunday, December 22 2:30 pm EYC Movie Night: Star Wars, the Rise of Skywalker Monday, December 23 9:30 am Flower & Altar Guilds adorn the nave for Christmas Eve Tuesday, December 24 Christmas Eve 12:00 pm Church Office closes until Thursday, January 2, 2020 3:00 pm Children’s Christmas Pageant and Holy Eucharist 5:00 pm Choral and Instrumental Prelude to the 5:30 service 5:30 pm Holy Eucharist and the Blessing of the Christmas Creche 10:30 pm Choral and Instrumental Prelude to the 11:00 service 11:00 pm Holy Eucharist and the Blessing of the Christmas Creche Wednesday, December 25 Christmas Day 10:00 am Holy Eucharist with carols