GREAT GLAD TIDINGS

For Christ is born of Mary,
and gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the king,
and peace to all on earth!

How silently, how silently,

the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,

descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
o come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
 
-- Phillips Brooks


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COMING INTO BEING

Webster's Dictionary defines the word advent as "a coming into being" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition). "A coming into being." That's what I'm in need of right now. I need to slow down, to live in the moment, to appreciate the small things -- the warmth and light of a candle flame, the tiny fingers of a newborn baby, the quiet stillness of the dawn, the enthusiastic smiles of children. I need to prepare my heart, to make my spirit ready for the birth of the Messiah.

We all need this time of Advent to slow down, to open our ears to God's quiet voice, to guide us through the chaos of the consumerist culture that Christmas has become. As we make our way through this busy season, let us allow God to shape our minds and hearts -- to become a part of God's "coming into being" in Jesus' birth. 

-- Beth A. Richardson in Child of the Light (Upper Room Books, 2005, used with permission)


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A RIDICULOUS BEGINNING

Albert Camus once said that, "All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door."

I suppose you could even say that the greatest deed, the greatest thought and the greatest work had a ridiculous beginning in of all places a manger. Who would have thought? 

-- Rev. Dave Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™


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CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT

“In Him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike.” (Kathleen Thomerson, from the hymn “I want to Walk as a Child of the Light”)

This phrase reminds me that God permeates everything -- the night that I fear and the morning that I welcome. God, and God’s grace, surrounds us throughout all of life -- the easy, loving parts and the hard, difficult, scary times. God lives in both the night and the day -- they are just alike to God. When we face times of darkness in our personal lives, in our families, in our community or world, God moves close to us, loving us and holding our hands even if we are not aware of it, even if we think God is absent…

When we are facing a dark night of the soul, when we are sick or grieving, when we have hurt others or have been hurt by them, we are not alone. The God of darkness and light stays beside us. And the God of darkness and light sends messengers -- messengers like you and me -- to remind us that we are not alone… We are called to be children of the light, doers, messengers to others of God’s love and grace, God’s comfort and forgiveness. 

-- Beth A. Richardson in Child of the Light


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BRINGING CHRIST INTO THE WORLD

Advent reminds me in a very visual, powerful way that we are called to be pregnant with God. We are all called to labor with bringing Christ into the world, not just at Advent but throughout the year.

-- Enuma Okoro, in an interview with Christianity Today Blog for Women about her devotional  Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent (Upper Room, 2012)


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