Advent 2014

A New Thing

 

Our God,

Our Great God,

Thought blowing life into creation

                        Should have been enough!

                                But it wasn’t.

Stories were told,

        Storms raged,

                Kingdoms were toppled,

                        Heroes emerged,

                                With little or no results.

Time after time

 Creation fell deeper,

                And deeper,  

                        In love with itself. 

Our God,

Our Great God,

                Considered doing a New Thing.

That thought,

        That hope,

                Begins our story.      

       

Living in Fear

 

DARKNESS,

        Absence of Light:

                No Stars,

                        No Moon,

                                No Hope.

Nothing but darkness filled the soul of Israel.

       

BUT DARKNESS CAN NEVER CONQUER THE HEART OF GOD.

 

One single word

        Illumines the abyss.

                One single word   

                        Trumps our reality.

                                One single word

                                        Conquers our fear.

Emmanuel,

        God with us.

                Emmanuel,

                        God in us.

                                Emmanuel,

                                        One single spark

of light.

 

 

 

Wait

It’s 3:00 in the morning!

        The only thing awake is me.

                I wish I could exchange the stillness of the night

                        For the restlessness in my soul,

                                But like the whole of creation

                                        I shall have to wait for the dawn.

I know the sun will rise,

        But what proof do I have that

God will rise to the occasion?

Waiting for God

Often seems as pointless

As waiting for Godot.

I wait for the dawn of the same day,

        With its similar problems,

                And fruitless solutions.

I wait,

        Blinded by a darkness

                Untransformed by light.

I wait,

        Hoping for justice,

                 Longing for righteousness,

                        Yet expecting neither.

I wait for the voice of a prophet;

I wait for the song of a poet;

I wait in the darkness of my own despair.

Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

 

                        Not Like It was Supposed to Be

 

There is the accepted way,

        There is the expected way,

                And then there is God.

Who could have seen Moses coming?

Who pays any attention to a guy who talks to bushes?

No one placed their bets on David.

David was,

        Too small,

                Too young,

                        Too poetic.

Elijah had visions,

        But only one disciple.

Elisha had miracles,

        But only a few followers.

Jeremiah had……………

        Pathos…… distress……angst.

Everyone knows to make it in this world one needs,

        Power,

                Pedigree,

PIZZAZZ.

 

Somebody make a note to God!

Next time,

        No unknown from a backwater town.

                For God’s sake,

                        Let’s do it like it’s supposed to be done.

An Odd Pair

Isn’t he a bit old?

        Isn’t she a bit young?

                What will the neighbors say!

He appears so ordinary.

        She seems just a little too perfect.

                Not exactly a match made in heaven.

 

Fragile One

 

No Birthing Room,

        No attending physician,

                No nurses,

                        No drugs,

                                NOTHING……..

Except,

Disease,

        Disorder,

                Discomfort,

                        Distrust,

                                Dysfunction…….

Jesus was born with a huge cross to bear,

        Where did we get the idea

                        Jesus was so fragile?

 

A Not So Final Amen

Christmas doesn’t end,

        It begins.

We might clean up the clutter in the living room,

        But there is still a mess outside our door.

Christmas focuses our vision,

Christmas opens our ears,

                Christmas challenges our hearts,

To see,

                                To hear,

                        To remember why Jesus came.

People who walk in darkness

Still need a great light.

People whose lives have been shattered

        Still need to be comforted.

God’s new thing does not excuse our old ways.

There was a time for all flesh to remain silent,

        But no longer.

Christ was born…………        Amen.

                Christ spoke the holy words……..       Amen.

                                Christ died and was resurrected:

That we might be reborn to the darkness around us,

That we might act on the holy words we have heard,

That we might live as if Christ mattered.

Christmas begins when we sing a new song.

Christmas begins when we listen to a wounded heart.

Christmas begins when we become a prince of peace.

Let there be no ending to what Christmas becomes.  AMEN.