Thursday, December 21, 2023

The Infancy of Faith



This is my theology of the Incarnation. You might call it infantile?!? As a grandfather, I am all about babies and little kids. I’ve been to three Christmas pageants this month. In this mad, mad world, the children’s retelling of the Christmas story stokes my hope.


Our “Big Bang” Creator God,

Who hung the stars and planets,

Who speaks in the volcano and typhoon,


Comes stealthily to us at Christmas - as a baby!


To know our lives from the very beginning,


To identify with all that is vulnerable, small and dependent,*


To remind us of hope and promise - something we sense acutely with our own babies.


The Christ Child is our connection with the Creator, and vice versa. We are known, sustained and hope-filled. Amen.



Browse my Advent and Christmas prayers.


*Henri Nouwen   


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Saturday, December 2, 2023

Christian Community | Praying with Henri


I highly recommend Henri Nouwen’s daily meditations. His writing resonates with me. There’s a spot-on spiritual and emotional connection as he interprets and channels our Triune God.


This meditation was an irresistible prayer prompt. It’s about Christian community and explains my need to be in church. Also, I believe it explains why people are drawn to church during the Christmas season. This is more than nostalgia or tradition. It’s a time and place - in solidarity - to push back against the darkness.



Waiting in Community


Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become stronger in us. In this way we can live with courage, trusting that there is a spiritual power in us when we are together that allows us to live in this world without surrendering to the powerful forces constantly seducing us toward despair. That is how we dare to say that God is a God of love even when we see hatred all around us. That is why we can claim that God is a God of life even when we see death and destruction and agony all around us. We say it together. We affirm it in each other. 


Henri Nouwen Society | Daily Meditation | 11/27/23



Lord Christ,


I watch too much news.

I ingest too much social media.

Will I allow myself to be seduced by despair?


The antidote, the corrective, is your church.

With hymns and prayers,

Reciting our liturgy by candlelight, 

We push back!


Hatred has reached a rolling boil.

We proclaim a God of love!

Destruction and death overwhelm.

We worship a God of life!


We will not despair.

We will not capitulate.

Hope is alive in us.

We live with courage.


As Advent begins,

We make this claim as a community of Christians,

Inspired by the Holy Spirit.


Amen.



Tuesday, April 4, 2023

At Easter: Selfless Love, Divine Power

 


Lord Christ,


I sense your presence and blessing as spring unfolds. And I find it in family, especially my marvelous grandkids! Still, I suffer from “grumpy old man” syndrome. 


I need Easter! Can I get an Alleluia!?!


Too much news. Too much Twitter. School shootings. Deadly tornados. Political turmoil. MAGA. Ukraine. The new Cold War. 


I need the Resurrection. I need the promise of restoration. I need that celebration of Christian hope!


Atonement theory trips me up. The conservative canon of inerrancy, hellfire and End Times confounds me, too. I am, however, fully convinced of two Easter tenets:


“Christ Crucified” proves your devotion to humankind. In a most ignominious way, you surrendered your life. That ultimate sacrifice is convicting. Your selfless, mighty love for us is deep and wide.


“The Risen Christ” demonstrates your authority over evil and death. This super natural, awe inspiring display of Divine power is compelling. The most daunting obstacles can be overcome when we put our trust in you.


For the intensity of Christ’s Easter love, Alleluia!

For the supremacy of Christ’s Easter love, Alleluia!


Amen.


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Sunday, March 5, 2023

"I Quit!" in Lent



My career ends as Lent begins. 


I treasure the accolades, the friendships and memories, but the real treasure is God’s faithfulness over fifty years. 


Retirement unfolds and I’m called to relax my grip on what was. There’s a Holy knowing in this Lenten season that it’s merely dust and ashes. 


Mark my forehead with those ashes - a sign of humility, a reminder of my mortality.


Bass, Rohr and Nouwen are my counselors (via e-mail.*) They are far more helpful than Job’s friends! 


Bass reminds me about “stripping the alter,” about our monuments turning to dust. It’s time to sweep out the attic; create something new. 


Rohr calls me away from prestige, success and influence. What he calls my survival dance is to be replaced by a sacred dance. 


Nouwen encourages a new focus: to think God’s thoughts, to speak God’s words, to take God’s action. 


May all of this take hold in my head and heart...in my life. Amen. 



* Links to Diana Butler Bass, Richard Rohr and Henri Nouwen:

https://dianabutlerbass.com/the-cottage/

https://cac.org/daily-meditations/

https://henrinouwen.org/meditation/

Monday, November 21, 2022

For Thanksgiving




My twin themes for Thanksgiving are gratitude and food. I tend to overemphasize the victuals. This prayerful thought - about God’s unlimited buffet - comes from Scripture Union and a Methodist chaplain in Plymouth UK, Jonny Libby.


 


Lord Christ,

Your healings and miracles often end with a meal.


Thousands encounter your healing power and find strength in the breaking of bread.


It was your Mother’s song. He has filled the hungry with good things.

(Luke 1:53)


It continues in real time. You feed humankind with your Spirit at Holy Communion.


We may be hungry in different ways. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually.


You offer to feed us, to satisfy that hunger. We are deeply grateful.


And we give thanks for this meal, the people who raised and grew the food, the hands that prepare and serve it, and for the hands we hold around this table. Let this be a holy communion for our friends and  family.


Amen.


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Saturday, October 8, 2022

The Church in Decline




O Lord!

Much is written about declining church attendance and religious affiliation.


But this isn’t a lamentation. I’m taking the long view, trusting that your power far exceeds the problem.


Many blame society or the culture, but maybe the church has fallen short? It's a self-inflicted wound. Evangelicals have so often embraced the wrong things. The mainline church struggles to stand for important things. Angry Jesus or a watered down Jesus. Not a compelling choice.


And people drifted away. Many sprinted. It’s happened in my own family. My heart breaks.


Could this be an Isaiah 43 moment?


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 wasteland.

  (Isaiah 43:19)


Lord Christ, I don't believe you need the endorsement of politicians, the praise of patriots. You don’t see nationalities or borders. You are recruiting Jesus followers. It’s a grace filled, global program for healers, for servants, for Fruits of the Spirit people.


I am confident you will rework, reconfigure and rebuild your church. Now, how can I help, where can I help with that project? Amen.


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[Pew study]

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

My Heart Melts


I recently read an essay by Fr. Ron Rolheiser about the incarnation and the intentional significance of Jesus coming first to us as a baby… 

Why? Why doesn’t the all-powerful Creator of the universe flex more muscle? Why is God normally revealed more in the body of an infant than in that of Superstar? Why? Because the power of God works to melt hearts rather than break them, and that’s what vulnerability and helplessness can do. That’s what infants can do. (In Exile, 12/21/2020

And my reading coincided with the arrival of our fourth grandchild, Margaret Dove, all of which inspires a bit of improvisation on Fr. Rolheiser’s words: 

Praise God!!! 
...for our new grandchild!!! 

I cradle her in my arms. The tiniest fingers and toes, a gossamer mane, eight pounds and thirteen ounces of cotton. 

Your creation power is manifest in this tender baby. No might or muscle in this miracle. Helpless. Vulnerable. Intimate. I can feel her soft breath. Those big eyes stare at my curious face. I covet a coo, but crying is her super power at present. And it melts my heart. 

Praise God!!! 
...for this GRAND child!!! 

Amen.