Christmas 2020, The Weight We Carry

Christmas  Dawn

Luke 2:1-20

 
Now it came to pass in those days that a proclamation went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone set out to be enrolled, each to the town of his ancestors.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed. And Mary was with child. And it came to pass that while they were there, the time was fulfilled for her to be delivered. And she bore her son, her first-born. And she wrapped him in linen and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. 
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks in the night. And an angel of the Lord came upon them [appeared before them], and the light of the revelation of God shone about them. And great fear came upon them.
 
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I announce to you a great joy, which shall be for all on earth: today is born unto you the Bringer of Healing, in the city of David, Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a little child wrapped in linen, lying in a manger."
 

And suddenly around the angel was the fullness of the heavenly angelic hosts: their song of praise sounded forth to the highest:
 

God's Spirit reveals itself in the heights
And brings peace to all on earth
In whose hearts goodwill dwells!

 
And as the angels withdrew from them into the heavens, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem to see the fulfillment of the Word that has happened here, which the Lord let be proclaimed."
 
And they came hastening and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they made known the Word that was spoken to them concerning this child. [or, When they saw that, they understood what had been told them concerning this child.] And all who heard it were astonished about what the shepherds said.
 
But Mary treasured [or, preserved] all these words, pondering them [or, turning them over] in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God to everyone for everything they had heard and seen, which was just as it had been announced to them.

Christmas Dawn
December 25, 2020
Cynthia Hindes
 

Mary gazes down at her little one. She cradles his weight in her arms. The child reaches up, his hand touches her mouth. She kisses the little fingers and speaks to him of her love, "With all my heart," she says, "I promise you that I will nourish and protect you." They are surrounded by a tender warmth and light, the light of a new dawn.
 
Such is the experience of parents and their newborn.
 
Today the Child is being born once again. This Child is love incarnate, born eternally, born to us. We bear his weight. He touches our lips; He warms us from within with His love, gives us strength and encouragement for action.
 
Today He, love incarnate, is born within us. The promise arises, like Mary, to nourish and protect this love within. Like Mary, we treasure Him in our hearts. We ponder the angelic words accompanying his arrival: 'God’s Spirit of Love reveals itself in the heights and brings peace to all on earth in whom goodwill dwells.' We cradle his weight.
 
As the poet suggests:
 
The weight of the world
is love.
Under the burden
of solitude,
under the burden
of dissatisfaction
 
the weight,
the weight we carry
is love.*
 
* Alan Ginsberg, “Song”, (Collected Poems 1947-1980)

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4th Advent Homily 2020, It is Good

 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th Advent

Luke 1:26-38
 
During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

Fra Angelico

But she was confused at those words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
 
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord your God will give him the throne of David, your father.
And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom will have no end.”
 
And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I have never known a man?”
 
And the angel answered and said to her,
 
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word is spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.”
 
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word.”And the angel departed from her.

4^th Advent Sunday
December 20, 2020

Aivasovsky

Luke 1:26-38
 
"In the beginning, when God/Elohim began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And Elohim's Spirit Breath fluttered over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light. And God saw that the light was good." Genesis 1:1-3
 
This beginning of creation describes how the empty, watery darkness is warmed and moved by God's creative spirit-breath. Something similar is announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel: "The breath of the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and (like a cloud) the dynamic power of the Most High will overshadow you. Because of this, the offspring born of you will be called Son of God." Luke 1:35
 

The same Spirit-Breath,

Henry Ossawa Tanner

the Word of God that brought the world into existence, now brings forth, within His Creation, from His creature—himself, the Light of the world. An astonishing inversion!
 
Mary's response is threefold: At first, she is greatly troubled. It is perhaps not so strange that the soul begins to ripple and shudder as the Spirit-Breath begins to breathe over its depths. And then, almost equally amazingly, she begins to question. She ponders the 'how.' The underlying tentative soul gesture here seems to be: can I move with this? Go along with it? This is the soul beginning to open.
 
The third part of her response is assent. She humbly aligns her will with the greatness of God's purpose and intention. It is a great purpose, for this is nothing less than the beginning of a new creation. For with Christ Jesus, humankind would be given a new ancestor. Just as Adam was the mortal body's forefather, so is Christ, the new Adam, the Adam of the immortal human soul and spirit.
 
The first creation came into being

Iris Sullivan

simply because God said so: "Let there be"…and it was so. But the second creation requires human cooperation and participation. Mary is the archetype of the human soul willing to do its part to make the world new. But hers is likewise a soul that asks for the light of understanding, for she questions, wondering where and how she fits in. The explanation that God wants to create His Son through her opens her soul.
 
Awed fear that stimulates questioning and finally assent—this is the path of the soul as it joins in God's plans. In this second creation, God's Spirit-Breath says, "Let my Son, the Light of the World, be born through you." And there is light because the human soul is willing to seek it, generate it, give birth to it. And God sees that the Light is good.

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3rd Advent 2020, Come, O Wisdom

3rd Advent

Matthew 25:1-13

The kingdom in the heavens will be

Thomas Cooper Gotch

like ten maidens who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. But five of them were dull of soul, and five were alert and prudent. The foolish took their lamps without taking any oil with them. The wise ones took flasks of oil for their lamps. Now, because the bridegroom was a long time coming, they all became drowsy and were sleeping. But in the middle of the night, the call went up: Behold, the bridegroom! Go forth to meet him!

Then all the maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."

But the wise ones said, "No, the oil would not be enough for us and for you as well. Rather go to the dealers and buy oil for yourselves." And while they were away buying, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready to receive him went with him into the wedding feast, and the doors were shut.

Afterward, the other maidens came also and said, "Lord, Lord, open to us!"

But he replied, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you."

So be alert of soul, since you do not know the day or the hour.

3^rd Advent
December 13, 2020
Matthew 25:1-13
 
When we were children, we took things as they came. If we were lucky, we could trust that our parents or caretakers would provide for us. When we grew older, we could speak of a larger Providence, of the idea that God would provide the opportunity and resources we need to survive and thrive.

William Blake 

Today's reading takes human evolution a step further. Our consciousness has grown to include foresight. For humanity is now meant to provide and offer something to God. Christ is on His way to wed the soul of humanity. Humanity's Bridegroom is coming. He needs the light provided by our wide-awake awareness, our presence of mind, our foresight. He needs the light of our well-stocked inner lamps so that we can travel with Him to the great wedding feast, lighting His way. The five wise maidens have taken over Providence's task: they themselves have provided the inner lamp oil that will light the Bridegroom's path forward.

We may think that the wise maidens should have shared. Are they selfish? No, in this instance, they are providing not just oil but foresight. They know that by dividing the oil, no one's light would last for the whole journey. And then everyone would be in the dark, unable to continue. This is not the moment for being nice. It is the moment for being fully and wisely prepared to contribute to a strong collective effort in meeting the Bridegroom.

A traditional antiphon for this time of the year, O Emmanuel, is rendered by Malcolm Guite:

O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.*
 
*Malcolm Guite, "O Emmanuel"

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2nd Advent 2020, May We Be Strengthened

 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th Advent

Mark 13:24-37 (Madsen)

Collot d'Herbois

In the days after those hardships, the sun will be darkened, the moon will no longer give its light, the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers of the heavenly spheres will be thrown off course. Then the coming of the Son of Man will be visible in the realm of the clouds, invested with power, illumined by the light of the revelation of the world of spirit. And he will send out the angels to gather in all those who feel themselves united with him, from all four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Learn from the parable of the fig tree: When the sap rises through its branches, and it puts forth leaves, then you see that summer is near. So also when you see these things coming about, you shall be aware that the revelation of the Son of Man is near, at the very door. Yes, I say to you: Even before the time of human beings now living shall have come to an end, all this will begin. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No one knows anything about that day or that hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Be observant and be awake, for you do not know when the time will be. It is like when a man goes on a journey and leaves his house. He gives his servants authority, gives each one his task, and tells the doorkeeper to be alert. So you, too, be alert. You do not know when the master of the house will come, whether in the evening or at midnight or at cockcrow in the morning. Take care that he does not find you sleeping if he comes suddenly. And what I say to you applies to all human beings: Be alert!

2^nd Advent
December 6, 2020
Mark 13:24-37
 

Living things are always changing. The plants change form from seed to shoot to leaves, from leaves to blossom and fruit and seed. The living light of the sun is in constantly changing flux. These changes affect our experience.
 
Every year at this time, Christ slowly descends once again toward the opportunity for an intimate connection with humankind. Because He is Life itself, His approach stimulates change, change in the cosmos, change in our souls. One natural reaction to great change is anxiety.
 

The gospel encourages us to recognize in advance that our anxiety is caused in fact by the approach of Christ, the giver of Life, the refresher of our life’s true meaning. He is the giver of transformative change. We are encouraged not to just smother our unease with excess of food and drink. Rather we are encouraged to practice a state of vigilant, strengthening prayer.
 
Christ is seeking an encounter with our wakeful spirits, to take place during the days and nights of Christmas. We may pray that
 
…we be strengthened from the founts of will that bear us toward freedom;
 that we be illumined from the founts of wisdom that warm the inmost heart;
 that we feel peace from the founts of love which bless human work.*
 
*Adapted from the Intercessory Prayer in Meditative Prayers for Today, Adam Bittleston. Available here.

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1st Advent 2020, Everything You Need

1^st Advent

Luke 21:25-36
 
And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth, the nations will be constricted with anxiety and doubt with the advent of these spiritual revelations, as before a roaring sea and waves. And people will lose their inner strength of soul out of fear and foreboding of what is coming over the living earth: for the dynamic powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, in the sphere of life, with dynamic power and great radiant glory. 

And when these things begin to
happen, stand upright and lift up [raise] your soul to the spirit, for your deliverance draws near.
 
And he gave them a comparison, saying, ‘Observe [behold] the fig tree and all the trees when they burst into leaf. Seeing this, you know yourselves that summer is near. So also, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
 
Amen, the truth I say to you: this present age of being human shall not pass away until all has happened.
 
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
 
Guard yourselves lest the perceptive power of your hearts be smothered by an excess of food and drink and by over-concern with the cares and worries of life, and the light of these spirit events break upon you suddenly like a snare, for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. So be awake in the spirit at all times, praying, so that you may have the strength to live through all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

1^st Advent Sunday
November 29, 2020
Luke 21:25-36
 
A woman who is about to give birth experiences pain. Wave after wave of contraction sweeps over her, hard labor requiring endurance and strength. But in the end, she and all around her experience the radiant wonder that a tiny human being, surrounded by angels, has arrived on earth.
 
Today’s reading is a description

Jolan van Eyck

of the birth pangs of humanity. Constriction, anxiety, and doubt wash over us as world events, earth events, sweep over us. They require our strength and endurance.
 
These birth pangs also require our wakefulness. For this birth is not a physical one. It happens instead in the realm of life that permeates both us and our earth. It happens within perceptive human souls. For the outcome is the birth of the Son of Man. To perceive this birth, we struggle to stay awake amid the excesses of the season. We labor to remember that angels surround us.
 
Many are the human beings who, in their hour of extreme need, have raised their souls to the spirit in prayer. And in their soul is born the power and radiance of a paradoxical peace. A calm settles over them, and they feel the nearness of God. They sense that angels surround them.
 
Perhaps we can sense, as the poet David Whyte describes:
 
These are hard paths we tread
…..
I know that …

Larissa Khimich

storms break over,
…and you will not move
while the voice all around
tears the air
and fills the sky with jagged light.
 
But sometimes unawares
those sounds seem to descend
as if kneeling down into you
and you listen strangely caught
as the terrible voice moving closer
halts,
and in the silence
now arriving
whispers
 
Get up, I depend
on you utterly.
Everything you need
you had
the moment before
you were born.*
 
*David Whyte, “Waking”, in Where Many Rivers Meet

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4th Trinity IV 2020, Root and Star

November Trinity

The end of Revelation 22:12-21

Apocalypsis in dietsche Gallica

“Watch, I am coming soon, and I will have my rewards with me to give to each person according to what they
have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the goal.”
 
Blessed are those who cleanse their garments so that they will have power in the realm of the Tree of Life, which overcomes death and may go through the gates into the Holy City. Outside shall remain those who are bound to low senses, those who serve evil powers, who walk impure paths of soul, who spread death around them, who give themselves up to demonic forces, and who, through their ways and deeds, falsify their true being.
 
“I, Jesus, sent my angel to report these things to your assembled communities. I AM the root and stock of David, the star who unfolds his brightness in the morning”.
 
And the Spirit and the Bride, the Holy City, say, “Come!
 
And may whoever hears also say, “Come!” And may the thirsty come and may everyone who wants it get to drink the Water of Life freely, as grace.
 
Everyone who hears can find their inmost being strengthened in the prophetic words of this book. Whoever does not yet sense its greatness and truth, God will lead them to full knowledge through the trials of destiny that are written in this book. And whoever diminishes the words of this prophecy, God will remove from them their share in the Tree of Life that overcomes death, and their share in the Holy City written about in this book.
 
He who lends these words their power says:
“Yes, I am coming quickly!”
 
Ye, so be it. Amen:
Come, Jesus our Lord
 
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all!
 
4th November Trinity
November 22, 2020
Revelation 22:12-21
 
If we go through an airport, there are certain items that are not allowed. If we have thoughtlessly brought them, we have to leave them behind before we can proceed on our journey.
 
The gospel reading speaks of certain human qualities of soul, soul baggage that we have to leave behind at the gates of the Holy City. These soul qualities are not allowed to enter, for they serve

Apocalypsis in dietsche Gallica

the forces of mortality and death. They cannot enter, because the Holy City, the city of mankind’s future existence, is a realm of life. It is a realm where the Tree of Life grows and blossoms and bears fruit; a realm where the Water of Life flows freely and endlessly; where the Star of the Morning shows us the way forward.
 
This is the last week of the church year. We have come to a kind of portal. We are about to enter a new beginning. What baggage shall we leave behind?
 
At this threshold, we meet the One who calls Himself the Door. We enter through Him. He calls himself both the beginning and the goal. He is the place where endings and beginnings come full circle and meet. He encourages us to wash our garments, to continue to purify our souls through prayer and sacraments and meditation, to purify our life’s bodies through our striving to overcome the death forces in ourselves and to create habits of virtue.
 
He is the root and the star. He is the source out of which we all grow and blossom and become fruitful; He is the morning star which announces the beginning of a new day. ‘Come’ He calls. ‘Let go of the old; enter into My realm of the ever-flowing, ever-creating newness. For I wish to give you My power to create.’

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3rd Trinity IV, Divine Courage, Freedom and Light

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14th-Century Tapestry

November Trinity
Revelations 21:1-27


And I beheld the events in the spirit out of which a new heaven and a new earth proceeded. For the earlier heaven and the earlier earth were gone, and the billowing ocean is no more.
 
And further, I saw the Holy City, untouched by the earthly, coming forth out of the being of God, descending out of the spiritual worlds: the New Jerusalem. She appeared in her beauty like a bride who has adorned herself for the bridegroom.

And I heard a powerful voice coming from the throne that said: “Behold the dwelling of God in the midst of humanity. He will indeed dwell in your midst, and the people will be His people.
 
God himself will be with them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eye. There will be no more [bodily pain, nor soul pain, nor any other burdens of the inmost being] death, nor sorrow, nor weeping [uproar] nor any other sound of pain, for the old world is gone.”
 
And He who was seated on the throne said: “Behold: I am creating all anew.”
 
And He said, “Write, for it is these words that shall make faith and knowledge into true reality.”
 
And He said to me: “It is accomplished! I AM the Alpha and the Omega, World Beginning and World Goal. To the thirsty, I will give from the springs of the waters of life, outside the workings of destiny, as grace. Whoever overcomes shall inherit all this. ‘I will be His God, and to me, He will be like a son.’
 
And there came to me one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls filled with the last seven plagues of the world, and he spoke with me and said, “Come, I will show you the eternal Feminine, the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
 
But as for the fearful souls, those who have no faith, who pervert the image of the human being, those who spread death around them, who tread impure paths of soul, make use of dark magic forces and serve demonic powers, as well as all frauds – the fiery swamp of the abyss opens for hem and flames of sulfur blaze. That is the second death.
 
 And he carried me in spirit-form up to a great high mountain, and let me see how the Holy City, Jerusalem, the City of Peace, descended out of the spiritual worlds, coming forth from the being of God, wrapped in the most intimate splendor of the revelation of God.
 
Her shining [gleaming] is like that of a precious gemstone, like the stone jasper, clear as crystal.
 
Her walls are of mighty size and height; she has twelve gates and at the gates stand twelve angels. On the gates are written the names of the twelve sons of Israel: three gates from the East, three gates from the North, three gates from the South, and three gates from the West.
 
And the wall of the City rests on twelve sacred foundations, and the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb work in them.
 
And he who spoke with me carried a golden measuring rod to measure the City and her gates and her walls.
 
And the City is spread out in a square; her length is the same as her width. And he measured the City with the measuring rod. It measured twelve thousand miles; the length and breadth and height were alike. And he measured her walls at one hundred forty-four cubits [ells], the measure of a human, which now the angel was using.
 
The covering of her walls was of jasper, and the City herself of purified gold, clear as glass. And the sacred foundations of the walls were adorned with every precious stone:

the first, a jasper,
the second, a sapphire,
the third, a chalcedony,
the fourth, emerald,
the fifth sardonyx,
the sixth, carnelian,
the seventh, chrysolite,
the eighth, beryl,
the ninth, topaz,
the tenth, chrysoprase
the eleventh, hyacinth,
the twelfth, an amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each of the gates made of a single pearl. And the city was of purified gold, like a transparent crystal.
 
I did not see a temple in the City, for the Lord God, Ruler of All, is her sanctuary, and the Lamb.
 
And the City needs neither sun nor moon, for she shines from within; for the shining revelation of God is streaming brightness in her, and her light is the Lamb.
 
And all nations shall walk in her light, and the rulers of the earth will carry their spiritual treasures into her. And her gates will never be closed by day, for there, the night will be no more.
 
And all the shining treasures of the revelations of the world, and all the spiritual worth of the nations and all achievements of the soul will be brought into her.
 
And nothing can enter that is not spiritualized [is not consecrated], nothing that perverts the image of the human, nothing that remains under the power of the Lie, but rather only those who are written into the Book of Life of the Lamb.

3rd November Trinity
November 15, 2020
Rev 21:1-9
 
To create a building, we need a clear idea of its purpose so that the architect can create an appropriate design, and the builders can work accordingly.

At earth's beginning, Adam's sons had to learn how to build dwellings on earth in which to live. So too, does humanity as a whole need to learn to build a future collective dwelling place. But this future dwelling place of humankind will not be on the earth. It will exist in the spirit and will include God and His Son.

This dwelling place will arise out of the collective heart of humanity. It is imaged as a place of many mansions, a city. It will be a place where all the beauteous inner treasures of humankind are gathered as gem-like building stones. This heart-city will be a place where the divine enters and dwells like a groom enters the bridal bower.

Paradoxically, this heart-city that we are building also emerges from the heart of God. For all of our noblest thoughts and feelings, all our love and devotion, all our striving and work, we can offer to God. He treasures it in His own great heart until the time comes when humankind's heart-city is complete. It will be a place where Christ's light is our daylight; a place where mercy and comfort abound; a place where grace makes everything anew. For in the words of the poet:

We have not come here to take prisoners,
But to surrender ever more deeply
To freedom and joy.
 
We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love….
 
For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,
 
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light!*
 
*Hafiz, "We Have Not Come to Take Prisoners," in The Gift—Versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

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