Rejoice!

Zephaniah 3:14-20

14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! 15The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. 16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 17The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 19I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.

Be!

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ~ Joseph Campbell

Use this time of waiting to be…just be…and prepare for the light that is coming.

Be!

Be, butterfly and behemoth,
be galaxy and grasshopper,
star and sparrow,
you matter,
you are,

be!

Be caterpillar and comet,

Be porcupine and planet,

sea sand and solar system,
sing with us,
dance with us,
rejoice with us,
for the glory of creation,
seagulls and seraphim
angle worms and angel host,
chrysanthemum and cherubim.
(O cherubim.)
Be!
Sing for the glory

of the living and the loving

the flaming of creation

sing with us

dance with us

be with us.
Be!”

~ Madeleine L’Engle, A Wind in the Door

Sometimes when I think of some of my favorite quotes from her work, I really marvel at those who have banned L’Engle for her “anti-Christian sentiments” – she restores my faith in God and humanity every time I read one of her books.  And often, my faith in myself, as well…

Mystery

Christianity is as strange a religion as any other.  At its core, power is vulnerability, heavenly is earthly, flesh involves spirit, divinity caresses the ordinary.  ~ Donna Schaper

The power of belief is the ability to accept mystery into our lives.  The shape of the mystery changes – the spirit is always the same.

Happy Solstice!

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

One Woman

Today, the reason we haven’t found our grail, the key to who we are as women, is because we look for it in worlds of false power, the very worlds that took it away from us in the first place. Neither men nor work can restore our lost scepter. Nothing in this world can take us home. Only the radar in our hearts can do that, and when it does, …’We will light up like lamps, and the world will never be the same again.’
(Marianne Williamson)


Thanks to Ronna Detrick once again for sharing beautiful words.  


The reasons that the feminine isn’t honored are many…but in this season, let’s remember how many people come together to celebrate one child, who couldn’t have come into the world without the bravery and compassion of one woman.

Mary’s Blessings

Jesus, grant me the grace to wait patiently for what you are birthing in my life. When it comes, grant me the grace to recognize it as a gift from your loving heart. Amen.  ~Following the Star

I’ll never have the power to control the land
Or conquer half the world
Or claim the sun
I’ll never be the kind who simply waves her hand
And has a million people do
The things I wish I’d done
But in the eyes of heaven
My place is assured
I carry with me heaven’s grand design
Gloria
Glory I will sing the name of the Lord
And He will make me shine
And I will be like Mother Mary
With a blessing in my soul
And I will give the world my eyes
So they can see
And I will be like Mother Mary
With a blessing in my soul
And the future of the world inside of me
In the eyes of heaven
My place is assured
I carry with me heaven’s grand design
Gloria
Glory I will sing the name of the Lord
And He will make me shine
And I will be like Mother Mary
With a blessing in my soul
And I will give the world my eyes
So I can see
And I will be like Mother Mary
With a blessing in my soul
And the future of the world inside of me
And I will be like Mother Mary
With the power in my veins
To believe in all the things
I’ve yet to be
And I will be like Mother Mary
And I’ll suffer any pains
For the future of the world
For the future of the world
inside of me.
~Christmas Lullaby, Songs for a New World

Prepare Ye

At the beginning of Godspell, we are in chaos.  The various thinkers of all the ages are at war, pitting philosophies against each other.  And then, with a simple melody, things fall into place…Prepare ye the Way of the Lord…


This is Advent.  Or it should be.  A place to rest from our warring thoughts, our daily challenges, and prepare.  People around me keep complaining about this busy holiday season, feeling swamped, feeling overscheduled.  The blessing of my schedule and, perhaps, of my intentional focus on this Advent season, is that I’m not feeling that.  Am I overwhelmed by the burgeoning changes in my own life, yes, but by the season, not at all.

Take the joy and peace of preparation into your days as we breathe through this last week of Advent.  Prepare ye.

Rejoice

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orders all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
~O Come, O Come Emmanuel


I’ve never really thought about this verse in particular…but the holy wisdom is certainly one of the things I hold most dear.  And thinking of not only the light, but the wisdom coming at this time of year, is a different spin.  I am so appreciating that my new beginnings are coinciding with this time of preparation and rebirth.  But I’m still overwhelmed by all of the change and forward motion.  Still, it’s better than the stagnant feelings that can accompany this cold, dark time of year.


Rejoice, rejoice
Emmanuel
shall come to you O Israel.

Beyond

Ronna Detrick is as committed to revisioning the women of the Bible as I am.  Maybe more.  Here’s what she had to say yesterday.

Every woman can tell two stories – the one that the world paints her into, and the one she’s actually living.  In this time of new beginnings, as we wait for the return of the light.  Tell your REAL story.  What are you hiding?  Who do you need to be?

Tell me why does my head
feel such joy and such dread
from the moment I said
BEYOND
~ Eve, Children of Eden

Justice and Forgiveness

Excerpt from Hebrews 10:32-39
 “ . . .  you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting.”


You just smile
say there’s not much
but you can have what I made today… ~N. Nields

As an activist, it’s hard for me to let go of justice.   But I think what James Marsters is saying above makes a lot of sense.  I don’t think that means we should stop trying – we should never stop trying to find a just world.  But if we put forgiveness first – if we turned the other cheek – if we set our minds on being instead of having – on loving instead of needing.  Wouldn’t justice come more easily?  Wouldn’t we be closer to that unattainable human ideal?