Imperfections

MY HUSBAND and children still affectionately remind me of “The Year of the Crooked Christmas Tree” – a time when I almost succumbed to the futile quest for the “perfect” holiday celebration. That particular year, when my son was quite young, he was wrapped up in his typically exuberant play and crashed into the Christmas tree, knocking it to the ground. I picked it up and tried to set it back in its stand, only to discover that the base had broken in the fall. As I leaned the crooked tree against the wall and swept up the broken ornaments, I struggled with feelings of sadness and disappointment. Our “perfectly” beautiful tree was now all wrong.
Over the following days, however, I slowly began to regain perspective. I would have welcomed the practice of contemplative coloring had I known about it back then. As the crooked Christmas tree became an unanticipated part of our holiday décor, I grew surprisingly fond of its quirky presence.
It reminded me that the desire to create the perfect Christmas had become a distraction. Christmas isn’t about the perfect tree or the perfect gift or the perfect gathering. Christmas is about bringing our imperfections to the manger and trusting that the peace that passes all understanding can be born into our lives. Centering Prayer and contemplative coloring help us let go of this myth of perfection and return our focus to the Prince of Peace.

~ Sharon Seyfarth Garner
Mandalas, Candles, and Prayer 

 Photo is personal, it is me. Be Blessed!

“I want to walk as a child of the light.
I want to follow Jesus.”
–Kathleen Thomerson
THIS ADVENT HYMN holds great meaning for me, living as I do in North America. In the midst of days when the sun is distant and the days are shortening, I sing an affirmation, “I want to walk as a child of the light.” The promised coming of [the Christ] child mirrors the promise that, shortly after December 21, the days will begin again to lengthen. Christmas falls so close to the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice that I think of Christ’s coming as synonymous with the return of the sun. …
But what about my neighbors to the south; how do they mark these days? They also want to walk as “children of the light.” They have both day and night, and during the night, the stars shine just as brightly. They pray and sing and prepare their hearts for Christ’s coming just like I do. They attempt, as I do, to find the meaning in the season, to repel the attempts by the culture to commercialize this sacred observance. They are generous in their forgiveness of my myopic North American biases, and they interpret the story in a way meaningful to them. …
All of us Christians around the world carry the same desire: to walk as children of the light, to follow Jesus as he leads us in a ministry of hope and love to the whole creation.
Prayer
God of Darkness and Light, shine on the world and shine on me. Help me remember that no matter where I live, you send your gift of love to all people. Whether I see snow or sand, evergreen or palm trees, your presence speaks to me of hope for the world. In gratitude I pray for all the world and its people. Amen.

– Beth A. Richardson
Child of the Light 

Compassion

The wheelchair is mine, I need it, for now.
Yesterday< I was on my way to a store, after being inside hospital for another 2 weeks: I met a man,in a manual chair, in the heat, struggling to move along.
I got in front of him and told him to hold onto my chair, I would tow him; he was a double amputee, both legs, gone.

It made me remember this posm -
 "I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes,
then I met a man who had no feet."

Please pray for him, his name is Ron

Disciples of Jesus

OUR LIVES MAY BE FULL of change and turmoil. Sometimes we need to stop and take in the big picture, to look back at where we have been, to view the great span of our history with this Shepherd who will not abandon the sheep. [In Psalm 100] the psalmist says God is good. Instead of entering God’s courts in fear of judgment, we may enter singing about God’s faithfulness and find ourselves welcomed home as beloved children, sisters and brothers of Jesus Christ.

~ Erica L. Schemper
Disciplines 2014 

Becoming Who God Wants You to Be

THROUGH MY WORK in spiritual direction, I find that many people have a fear of abandonment. As an only child, I felt that fear especially when my parents would go out for an evening. I didn’t know if I could trust the promise that my parents would return because of the lurking fear that one night they wouldn’t – and I’d be alone always.
Understandably, I find comfort in Jesus’ promise of promises: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you” (John 14:18, RSV). In seminary I knew who my favorite theologian would be the day my professor said that Karl Barth’s God was the one who made and kept promises.
My favorite place as a boy was climbing to the highest branch of the cherry tree in our yard. … In that tree I would dream that someday a tree house might reside there. One Sunday the minister shared Jesus’ promise to “prepare a place for you” (John 14:3). I knew a better translation: “I go to build a tree house for you.”
This image has remained throughout the years, and I encountered another scripture passage that completed my childhood portrait. I would move in, and there would be a knock on my tree house door. There he would be as promised. He would say, “I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (Rev. 3:20).
Even today while receiving Communion, this image of playing house together returns. It’s all about being able to trust promises.

– Personal Spiritual Direction
Becoming Who God Wants You to Be