Dec 13, 2013 | Advent, courage, prayer
4am is the hour of my disquiet. Wide awake in that suspended time, dawn is a dream – too far away, too long in coming for me to escape the heavy blanket of shadows. I should wait patiently … patiently … but I am tempted to escape into sleep. Let dawn...
Dec 11, 2013 | Advent, scripture
We lean on Isaiah for wild, prophetic imagination in this season of Advent: One day, not too long from now, a mountain will be established. It will be higher than all other mountains, it will soar above the hills and valleys, it will reach so tall that it will tickle...
Dec 9, 2013 | Christmas, lament, Monday Muse, theodicy
The second Sunday of Advent has passed. The second candle in the Advent wreath has been lit in the name of peace. The tree has been cut from a hillside of firs or pulled out of storage and assembled in the living room. The Christmas shopping list has been checked and...
Dec 6, 2013 | Advent, communion, poem
Here is my light. Limited though it is, I hold it up against the night. Perhaps you will see it and you will breathe in relief to experience a needed warmth and a lessening of shadows along your way. Perhaps this little glow of mine will encourage you to show your own...
Dec 2, 2013 | Advent, Christmas, images of God, Monday Muse
I love this early line from the movie Love Actually! When Lulu Popplewell (as Daisy) proudly announces to Emma Thompson (playing Daisy’s mother Karen) that she has been given the role of 1st Lobster for the Christmas nativity play, I love that she unconsciously...