If your smart phone is new enough, you have a photo feature titled "portrait." When you use this feature, the item in the foreground comes into focus while everything else becomes a bit blurry. This highlights the selected item and shows it in a new way. In this season when we return to the familiar story of Jesus' birth, we are invited to see the story - and the world around us - with a different lens... one that helps us see everything in a new way. This season we are invited to use a lens that highlights the holy all around us. This year we are invited to see that all of life is pregnant with Christ... not just Mary in a story from long ago. This year may we discover that everyone and everything is capable of bursting forth with goodness and grace, that everything reflects the sacred. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgP2m5z-IQQ
What is the scariest thing you've ever done? And not in the way of haunted houses and spooky walks in the woods at night. But in the way of making big life decisions, stepping into situations with uncertain outcomes, and entering into unknown ventures. How did you gather the courage and confidence to do these things? How did you decide that these were good and right choices? Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, faced a big unknown in taking the pregnant Mary as his wife. In choosing God's peace over his fear, he was able to do this really hard thing. And we can do the same when we choose sacred knowing over fearful not-knowing. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF79DH2mkAA
In these last days of the Christmas season, many of us rush to get all of the special "experiences"... experienced. We want to drive and see the Christmas lights. We want to get in one more special Christmas concert. How about the visit to Santa? And of course, the many visits 'home' - whether that be grandparents', parents', or some other special persons' homes. And all of this hustle and bustle is filled with the hope that in these particular places, we might experience some of the magic of the holidays. But what if the 'magic' of this season is not to be found in a geographic location, but in the less glitzy spaces of our hearts where we've carved out some room for sacred? Maybe the magic of the holidays isn't to be found in a particular place, but in the spaces where we make room for the Christ child. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muhvS92zzNc
The goodwill of the Christmas Season seems to soften our edges and make us more gentle and generous in many ways. We might drop some coins in the red buckets as we go in and out of stores. We might buy a gift for an underserved child. We might even make some year-end donations to causes we care about. But how might we carry this goodwill and generosity into all areas of our lives and the other eleven months of the year? Maybe if we refocus the lens of our hearts to see all people as God's beloved, we might discover that every person, in every season, reflects the sacred and is indeed worthy of respect, acceptance, love, and grace - always. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhD236Ww5Ao
Time is a funny thing... We count it as precious, and we waste it without a second thought. It stretches out before us as though it is endless, and we hoard it, monetize it, and treat it like a limited commodity. We label it based on its value and usefulness - break time, bedtime, time to go, spare time, time to get busy. And yet, all of it is a gift from the Creator, given freely and generously for our benefit. What if we thought less about what we wanted to get from time and more about what it had to offer? What if we began to see each moment as holy, reflecting the heart of the sacred? If we did, this might change the way we experience the Christmas season... and all of life. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWwMMmrMoBU