Holy Nights 2010, Be Still

James 1:2-18

Whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, because you know that the inner strength of patience grows in you through the testing of your faith. But this patient perseverance must lead to fulfillment so that you may become mature and whole human beings, not held back in any respect. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives generously to all without reservation and without reproaches, and what he asks for will be given to him. Only he must ask out of a believing heart, not with a doubting soul.  A doubter is like a wave of the sea, moved and thrown hither and thither by the wind. Such a man should not think that he is able to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is divided and unstable in all his ways.

Arild Rosenkrantz

A brother or sister who considers himself among the lowly may pride himself on his greatness; whoever is rich may be proud of his lowliness. since he will perish like a flower in the grass. When the sun rises with scorching heat, it makes green grass wither and the flower drops off. The beauty in which it appeared to us perishes. So also human wealth will fade away along Man’s paths.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial and withstands the temptation, because, having stood the test, that person will receive the wreath of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “I am being led into temptation by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he lead anyone into temptation; Every temptation that a human being experiences arises out of his own cravings and desires, which lure and entice him. When human desire once has conceived, then it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every truly good and perfect gift descends to us out of the higher world from the Father of the heavenly lights, in whom there is no alternation and no phases of light and darkness. Out of his cosmic will, he called us to life through the truth-bearing Word. We were to be the first fruits among his creatures.

Holy Nights

January 2, 2010

James 1: 2-18

When a wheel is in motion, any given point on the rim is for a while above, and for a while below, bearing the full weight. And then it is above again. Progress, motion forward creates this dynamic.

The world of time is created in the progress of the great wheel of the circling seasons. Our own lives are an example of the motion of the greater wheel of life. For a while we are lifted up. Then we descend to bearing a heavy load. This is a prelude to our rising again.

James in his letter reminds us that our progress in life, with its ups and downs, depends on our patient endurance and our perseverance. This perseverance is a result our wholehearted, undoubting trust in God’s beneficent purpose. Eventually our load-bearing progress will lead us to our goal. We will be mature and whole human beings. We will take our place dancing in the heavens with the Father of Lights.

The poet T.S. Elliot expressed this thought:

Angel of Hope, Iris Sullivan

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

…..

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing[1].

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

New Year's Day, I Arise Today

Holy Nights

John 1: 1-18

Pantocrator, Monreale, Palermo

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.

This was in the beginning with God.

Everything came into being through the Word, and without it was not anything made that was made.

In the Word was life, and the life was the light of humankind.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all may find faith. He was not the light, but a witness to the light, for the true light that enlightens every human being was coming into the world. It was in the world, and the world came into being through it, but the world had not recognized it.

The Transfiguration, Fra Angelico

Into those who had recognized it the light had come, but those individuals did not take it in. But all who did take it in received authority to become children of God. Those who trusted in its name are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the human beings, but are born of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among (in) us.

And we beheld its revelation, the revelation of the only begotten son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is the very first’.” For out of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth have come about through Jesus Christ.

Until now human senses never beheld God. The only begotten Son, who was within the Father, has become the guide to this beholding.[1]

---

[1] Translation inspired by Craig Wiggins

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2014

John 1:1-18

Every day the sun rises, and gives us back to ourselves. We begin each new day fresh; a new beginning.

Each year also gives us new possibilities. The twelve days of Christmas are a time set apart, for celebration, for thanksgiving, for contemplation. They can be a time to assess the year just past and a time to peer into the future. And in the midst of these twelve days we are given a New Year. It is as if the angels say to us: now, in the middle of everything, between past and future, start your new beginning. Begin afresh. For here and now is where it begins.

John O’Donohue sings of the possibilities:

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night

Is turning and the waves of darkness

Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth

And the freed air goes wild with light,

The heart fills with fresh bright breath

And thoughts stir to give birth to color. 

I arise today

In the name of Silence

Womb of the Word,

In the name of Stillness

Home of Belonging

In the name of the Solitude

Of the Soul and the Earth

Healing Angel, Iris Sullivan

I arise today

Blessed by all things,
Wings of breath,
Delight of eyes,
Wonder of whisper,
Intimacy of touch,
Eternity of soul,
Urgency of thought,
Miracle of health,
Embrace of God.

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,

Clear in word,

Gracious in awareness,

Courageous in thought

Generous in love.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] John O’Donohue, “Matins’, in To Bless the Space Between Us.

New Year's Day 2007, Beginnings and Goals

The Gospel of John, 1:1-18

tr. Adam Bittleston

In the very beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

He was with God in the very beginning.

All things came into being through Him,

And without Him came into being nothing

That has come into being.

In him was Life,

And the Life was the Light of mankind.

The Light sines in the Darkness,

And the Darkness did not grasp it.

There came to be a man, sent from God,

His name Ioannes.

He came for testimony,

That he should testify of the Light,

That all might have faith through him.

He was not the Light,

But came to testify of the Light.

For the Light that in truth endures,

That illumines every man,

Was coming into the World.

He was in the World,

And the World came into being through Him

Yet the World did not know Him.

He came to the separate,

Yet the separate men did not receive Him.

But those who received Him—

To them He gave full power

To become children of God,

Those who have faith in His name.

They have their being

Not from the bloodsteams,

Not from the will of the flesh,

Not from the will of a man,

But from God.

And the Word became flesh,

And made his dwelling among us,

And we saw His glory,

Glory of one born from the Father alone,

With abundance of grace and truth.

Ioannes testified of Him, proclaiming,

That is He of whom I said:

He Who comes after me

Takes His place above me

Because He was before me.

From the abundance of His Being

We have all received

Grace upon grace.

The Law was given through Moses;

Grace and truth came into being

Through Jesus Christ.

God no-one has beheld ever;

The son Who is born of Him alone

And Who has His Being

At the Father’s breast,

Has come to lead our seeing.

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2007

John 1: 1-18

  

Sulamith Wulfing

While in the midst of the Twelve Days and Nights of the Christmas season, we are celebrating the birth of the New Year. We may have the feeling that we are not yet ready – why can’t all these holidays distribute themselves a bit more evenly? It is because they are not just arbitrary markers on calendar squares; they are actual spiritual places where certain real events occur. Living systems are not methodical. If we observe life closely, we can notice that the new always begins to announce itself, not at the end of the old, but in the middle. For example, a child’s adult teeth begin to erupt when the child is still very young, although the processes of both teething and adulthood won’t be completed for many years. Nevertheless, God starts with the end in mind.

And so in the midst of the true celebration of the Christmas season, as we move from the simplicity of the shepherds toward the maturity of kings, a New Year begins for us. It begins under the twelve-fold star of Him who is Himself the author of all beginnings and goals. We are all on our way to becoming what God intended us to be. His Word from the future echoes in our soul’s ear: Become….  “For I am the Alpha and the Omega, the very beginning and the ultimate purpose of the world…. See, I make all things new! [1]

---

[1] Rev. 21: 5, 6.

New Year's Day 2008, New Seeing

The Gospel of John, 1:1-18

transl. Adam Bittleston

In the very beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God.

He was with God in the very beginning.

All things came into being through Him,

And without Him came into being nothing

That has come into being.

In him was Life,

And the Life was the Light of mankind.

The Light sines in the Darkness,

And the Darkness did not grasp it.

John the Baptist, Leonardo da Vinci

There came to be a man, sent from God,

His name Ioannes.

He came for testimony,

That he should testify of the Light,

That all might have faith through him.

He was not the Light,

But came to testify of the Light.

For the Light that in truth endures,

That illumines every man,

Was coming into the World.

He was in the World,

And the World came into being through Him

Yet the World did not know Him.

He came to the separate,

Yet the separate men did not receive Him.

But those who received Him—

To them He gave full power

To become children of God,

Those who have faith in His name.

They have their being

Not from the bloodsteams,

Not from the will of the flesh,

Not from the will of a man,

But from God.

And the Word became flesh,

And made his dwelling among us,

And we saw His glory,

Glory of one born from the Father alone,

With abundance of grace and truth.

Ioannes testified of Him, proclaiming,

That is He of whom I said:

He Who comes after me

Takes His place above me

Because He was before me.

From the abundance of His Being

We have all received

Grace upon grace.

The Law was given through Moses;

Grace and truth came into being

Through Jesus Christ.

God no-one has beheld ever;

The Son Who is born of Him alone

And Who has His Being

At the Father’s breast,

Has come to lead our seeing. 

Holy Nights, New Year’s Day

January 1, 2008

John 1: 1-18

In the beginning, at the first creation in Genesis, God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light, separating itself out from the dark and formless void. Light is the forefront of all existence. After the light is created, come the waters of life, and the separation of the living waters of the heavens from what will become the watery earth below. The first creation was achieved through separation, by division and elaboration. And after a long human history, human beings become blind and God himself seems to disappear from the picture.

Roland Tiller

With the advent of Christ, the creating Word of God speaks again, and a second, new creation begins. What was sundered in the beginning becomes reconnected. The light and the living waters come together again, and a divine human being is created. He is a bright fountain of living light; in Him is a life that is the true first light itself. And the Light reveals—itself, as a God in a human form that we can see.

God enters the picture of the world again. He is a God whose truth is overflowing love. It is this human God, this divine human being, who would rouse us from the sleep of earth, from the illusions and deceptions of the sense-bound world. He would shine upon our day and open our eyes. Through Him, our blindness toward God will be healed. In this way, the abyss that had opened up between God and Man is bridged.

The creative Word of God speaks again, an invitation: “Come, follow Me across the abyss into a new way of seeing.”

And one day we all will say in the words of the mystic:

I saw a fullness, and a singeing

brightness with which I then

felt myself to be so filled

that words now fail to serve,….

I would not say I saw a bodily form,

but He was as He is in Heaven,

which is to say of such exquisite

beauty that I have no means

to speak it, save to say

He is the Beauty, the All Good.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Blessed Angela of Foligno (c. 1248-1309) “A Vision” in Love’s Immensity, Scott Cairns, p. 87.

New Year's Day 2009, Glowing Seeds

Holy Nights

John 1: 1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.

This was in the beginning with God.

Everything came into being through the Word, and without it was not anything made that was made.

In the Word was life, and the life was the light of humankind.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all may find faith. He was not the light, but a witness to the light, for the true light that enlightens every human being was coming into the world. It was in the world, and the world came into being through it, but the world had not recognized it.

Into those who had recognized it the light had come, but those individuals did not take it in. But all who did take it in received authority to become children of God. Those who trusted in its name are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the human beings, but are born of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among (in) us.

And we beheld its revelation, the revelation of the only begotten son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is the very first’.” For out of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth have come about through Jesus Christ.

Until now human senses never beheld God. The only begotten Son, who was within the Father, has become the guide to this beholding.[1]

---

[1] Translation inspired by Craig Wiggins

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2009

John 1: 1 – 18

It is cold midwinter. The end of last year’s growth, the seeds, lie in the dark earth. Yet, if we only had the proper eyes, we could begin to see tiny flames flickering in and around them. For although it will take some time to manifest, new life is already beginning to quicken in the womb of Mother Earth. The seeds that will become the flowers and the grain of our food are already beginning to shine.

The impulse for this change comes from the divine world, from the world of the great beings who form the archetypes of all that lives. They generate, grow and ripen in the heart and mind of God. Eventually these archetypes make their way earthward. And just in this midwinter season, now the living beings of the plants are sending their living forms all the way down into the mineral world, to awaken last year’s seeds into this years’ plants.

In human souls, too, the same process is taking place. During the Holy Nights, the soul, with all the seeds of its past and future, awaits its impregnation. Into human hearts, new forces and impulses for life are streaming downward, as Christ, the archetype of the Divine Human Being, once more enters the realm of earth. With Him He brings His father’s Light, His Father’s life, His Father’s love.

Through God’s grace during these Holy Days and Nights, we have the opportunity to begin life anew. The soul is encouraged to become a womb to receive the Father’s light. It is encouraged to generate the flames of the Father’s eternal life. It is encouraged to give birth to the Father’s love. Three flames—the flame of the light of truth in our thinking, the flame of life’s beauty in our feeling, the flame of love’s offering in our will, are beginning to shine forth in us. May they grow and mature. May they become the truth of spirit-sun, the beauty of spirit-flowers, the goodness of spirit-grain. May they pour forth from our hearts, out into all the world.

For, as St. Francis said,

There are beautiful wild forces within us.

Let them turn the mills inside,

and fill

sacks

that feed even

heaven.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] St. Francis of Assisi, “Wild Forces”, in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 47.

New Year's Day 2010, Training Wheels

Holy Nights

John 1: 1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.

This was in the beginning with God.

Everything came into being through the Word, and without it was not anything made that was made.

In the Word was life, and the life was the light of humankind.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him all may find faith. He was not the light, but a witness to the light, for the true light that enlightens every human being was coming into the world. It was in the world, and the world came into being through it, but the world had not recognized it.

Into those who had recognized it the light had come, but those individuals did not take it in. But all who did take it in received authority to become children of God. Those who trusted in its name are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the human beings, but are born of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among (in) us.

And we beheld its revelation, the revelation of the only begotten son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who was before me, for he is the very first’.” For out of his fullness we have received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth have come about through Jesus Christ.

Until now human senses never beheld God. The only begotten Son, who was within the Father, has become the guide to this beholding.[1]

---

[1] Translation inspired by Craig Wiggins

New Year’s Day

January 1, 2010

John 1: 1 – 18

Maulsby Kimball

In the beginning God created a living radiance. This radiance took form in sun moon and stars. In the beginning God created the human being, giving us eyes with which to see the light.

In the beginning God shepherded us with the Law, with specific codes of conduct, designed to mold and shape our souls and spirits rightly toward God and toward our fellow human beings.

And then He began again. He sent His beloved Son, whose very essence and being is Love. Seeing God’s Son, the way He talked, the way He healed, the way His actions were connected back to His Father, human beings can also experience the light, the life, the love of the Father Himself. Through the Son, we are given eyes of the soul, opened by love, with which to see God.

Seeing the Son is grace; taking His essence into our hearts lets us experience the truth of our own being: that love in us is a living, radiant creative force. In the words of Hafiz,

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child’s training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

with veracity and love.

Now is the time for the world to know

That every thought and action is sacred.

That this is the time

For you to compute the impossibility

that there is anything

But Grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is Sacred.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, “Now is the Time”, in The Gift, versions of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky

New Year's Day 2011, Begin Again

New Year's Day

1 Colossians 15-20

The Son is the visible image of the invisible God, the first-born over all created beings. For in him has come into existence everything that is in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible world, the Thrones and the World Guides, the Archai and the Creator Spirits. All things were created through him and for him. He was there before all else, and everything coheres in him. And he is the head of the body, and his body is the great community of congregations. He is also the very beginning,  and the firstborn among those who rise from the dead, so that he may be the One who goes before in all thing and everything. For in him all fullness of God was pleased to dwell, to transform and to reconcile everything to himself, laying the foundations of peace through the blood of his cross.  Through him all beings on the earth as well as in the heavenly spheres are to attain their goal.

Holy Nights

January 1, 2011

Colossians 15-20

We human beings exist within two worlds. There is the visible one—we see it, hear it, perceive it with all of our senses. They act as a kind of a mirror held up to the world. These sense perceptions are clear but limited.

They are not tuned in to the other world, the invisible one, the world behind the mirror. This is why it is so hard to believe in this second world—out of sight, out of mind.

Yet this world not seen is a world of fullness. It is the world of the beginnings of things. It is the world of great angelic beings, who work endlessly to bring creation to its goal. It is the world of Christ, the Son of the Father of Lights. Christ was a first—the first born of His father, and the first born from the realm of death. He is himself the beginning of a new creation, the beginning and the goal.

Brian Jeckel

By filling the world with his invisible love, Christ makes it possible for us to be in community. Though ‘blind’, we can feel our way along strands of love with which He binds the world together. Though deaf, we can sense the vibrations that give us direction. He makes it possible for us to be people of good will, a will devoted to light, to life, to love. He makes it possible for us, not just to be, to exist, but also to become, to evolve and transform. He gives us ever new beginnings, so that one day, we will grow eyes to see the invisible, hear the inaudible.  A poet said,

Because we are imperfect and love so

Deeply we will never have enough days,

We need the gift of starting over, beginning

Again: just this constant good, this

Saving hope.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Nancy Shaffer, Instructions in Joy