Immanuel. God with Me, and with You

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Thursday, December 24, 2015

Immanuel. God with Me, and with You

Christmas Eve service can be special, moving. This year was no different. I had the joy of programming the evening service. Setting the scripture readings, and the special music, as well as the hymns.

Because this service was concentrating on Luke 2, this service concentrated on the Baby born in Bethlehem. All the music was set specifically for the Baby Jesus, too.

The Advent meditation for Christmas Eve reminded me of this, too. The Baby Jesus came into the world. Henri Nouwen speaks in this entry, about the Baby coming into the world of humanity.

Immanuel. God with us. I am not alone, and neither are you. After the weeks of Advent, Christmas is finally here, too. God has broken into this fallen world. Amen. And, let us welcome Him into our hearts.

@chaplaineliza

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Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

(also published at www.matterofprayer.net

Not Alone on the Journey

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Not Alone on the Journey

I participated in a Blue Christmas service last night. This service was especially for people who feel disconnected from the holiday, for any number of reasons. Yes, grieving, but also losses. Fear, anxiety, anger. Any one of a number of negative feelings.

There was a time of sharing in the service, and several people mentioned feeling lonely. Even desperately lonely, even though they were in the midst of a crowd of people.

Have you ever felt that way? (I know I have.) Even though you knew the people surrounding you, there was a disconnect. A separation. A desperate loneliness …

That’s what it’s like in this fallen world. Disconnected and separated from each other, fighting, bickering, misunderstanding, jealousy, anger, fear. (And that’s just considering one representative person and their extended family.) Imagine that experience multiplied countless times. Now you are starting to realize the magnitude of the sadness, of the difficulty the God of love had in reconciling the world.

Henri Nouwen mentioned the mystery of Christmas “that continues to give us comfort and consolation; we are not alone on our journey.” [1] That is one big reason why God became man, why God emptied Himself and became a tiny baby named Jesus.

How unimaginable—that the God who created heaven and earth, who holds the universe between the span of the fingers on one hand, could empty Godself of all God-ness. How amazing. How miraculous. Jesus came to journey with us through life, to walk and talk and sit by our sides. So we wouldn’t ever be lonely again.

It is almost Christmas. Almost here. Emmanuel, God with us. Come, Lord Jesus! Maranatha!

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read my sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er

[1] Advent and Christmas: Wisdom from Henri J. M. Nouwen (Linguori, Missouri: Redemptorist Pastoral Publications, 2004), 48.

Re-member-ing? Or, Putting Together That Which Is Broken?

Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Tea bowl fixed in the Kintsugi method

Re-member-ing? Or, Putting Together That Which Is Broken?

Ah, brokenness. Puzzle pieces, scattered far and wide. Or, worse, some delicate figurine or pottery that has broken to pieces. Again, difficult to reassemble.

That’s what I immediately thought of when I saw Margaret Silf’s different prayer suggestions Yes, I know I have been requested to discern my personal faith story. Yes, I realize it is—indeed—a sacred task. Then, WHY do I have the overwhelming feeling that making sense of my faith story/my faith journey through life is so closely akin to re-assembling the broken fragments of some kind of fragile glassware?

The gist of one of her penetrating suggestions runs as follows: “Notice how God has been constantly present, not just in the special moments. Notice especially how, with hindsight, periods when God felt absent may have prepared you in some way for further growth. Notice how periods of difficulty strengthened you in certain ways, as hard exercise strengthens our muscles. . . . Where honesty prevents you from seeing God in parts of your life, tell God so in your prayer, and express your pain and anger to God freely.” [1]

I figured this, so far. My deep-down brokenness comes from several places, not least of which is the evil of a fallen world. (I have no problem believing this. I freely admit where I have fallen far too short.) Yes, society is broken, the family structure is at fault, relationships are (at best) erratic, and my internal and external person and Being is irreparably flawed.

And yet—and yet—I have hope. I hope in the One who loves me. I receive grace through the One who loves me. And, I take comfort in the One who never leaves me nor forsakes me. And, who loves me even when I cannot love myself. I can try to follow the twisted, winding path of my faith journey, and journey myself to wholeness. Wholeness in body, mind and spirit.

Let’s pray. Dear Lord, thank You for an excellent guide book in Inner Compass. Please, God, help me as I take this journey of discovery and exploration. Be right next to me as I reveal these hidden or forgotten fragments of my journey. Thank You for assuring me that You can handle some pain, anger and disappointment, from me, and from others. Lord, in Your mercy, hear my prayers.

@chaplaineliza

Like what you read? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your loved ones and continue the conversation.

Why not visit my sister blogs, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind.   @chaplaineliza And, read sermons from Pastor, Preacher Pray-er .

[1] Silf, Margaret, Inner Compass: Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality (Chicago: Loyola Press, 1999), 20-21.