Advent Reflections

2009-12-24T19:02:00.000-08:00

"But Mary treasured all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

How well do you keep a secret? Every time I am entrusted with a secret, I feel privileged to be told. Certainly Mary must have felt privileged, and overwhelmed and confused. Imagine a teenager keeping anything to herself. Yet Mary didn't appear to be blabbing it around. She probably told her family, and off she went to stay with Elizabeth and Zechariah.
I have gotten better at keeping secrets as I age. I think of Mary, especially when I am worried about how something is going to play out. Something with my daughters, or other loved ones. Having once been an impulsive extrovert, it is a discipline for me to ponder things in my heart.
Thank you, Mary, for helping me be a better secret-keeper, perhaps a better person. If it's not mine to tell, I can now leave the secret to be told in its time, and not mine. I can ponder it in my heart, and talk to God about my concerns.
How wonderful that Mary was able to share her secret with us. God blessed us with his son, come to earth to be fully human and fully divine. Another secret for us to ponder.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Desiree

Is There Room at Your Inn?

2009-12-24T07:50:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but try as I might, there is still a rush to get "ready " for Christmas.
The presents to buy - no matter how small or simple - the house to clean, the food to prepare.
The Journey of Advent. Preparation.
As I sit at the computer this morning, waiting for Nattie B, one of my precious Grand babies to arrive, I think about the Journey.
We Americanize our version of Mary traveling in the dessert on a donkey, but no matter what culture it is in, all women can identify with the feelings of a very pregnant woman traveling with her husband while she awaits the birth of her child. We can identify with the necessary preparations tangible and emotional. And to be traveling? Away from our mothers, our friends, our home.
And then, the journey finally drawing to a close and to be told there is no room at the inn! UGHHHH. How exhausting.
And still the time was drawing near. And the stars were shining and the stable was clean and the cattle were lowing. Have you ever heard cattle lowing? I have and it is as soothing as a mothers lullaby. God provides.
Advent is drawing to a close. The time is drawing near. The time for preparation is ending. Have you made room at the inn of your heart to welcome this baby?

An Unexpected Gift

2009-12-20T19:40:00.001-08:00

I wasn't expecting a gift. We had had a nice luncheon with great food at a beautifully set table complimented by easy conversation. We sat around the tree and exchanged good wishes for a wonderful Christmas. I was the last to leave. I was putting my coat on to go out into the frigid December day, when she handed me the gift bag with my name on the tag. White tissue paper hid the present from view and I reached down in to retrieve what was being offered. My hand touched the round, smooth object and I grasped it firmly to pull it into sight.

It took me a moment to comprehend. I was looking at a picture of my home inside a snow globe. I tipped it upside down to watch the snow swirl about the world inside the plastic ball. As I turned it around I saw another scene, one just as dear to me, on the other side. It was a picture of the view from another "home" of sorts, Linwood, the local retreat center that we both treasure, my gift offering friend and I. She made this gift for me, I thought. She MADE this for ME.

As she hugged me, pulling my smiling face into her shoulder, she quietly issued another gift.
She said, "now you can always have snow on your birthday:)"

Ah, who can measure the value of a gift from the heart? She had not only read something I wrote, she had LISTENED to what I said. She knew I would treasure this gift, not only because she made it for me, but also because as a friend she had listened to me.

For my birthday, an end of November day that is most often gray and cold, poorly suited to a birthday celebration, I have always wished for snow. That childlike desire has never gone away. I had written about my wish this year and she had read it. One mention and here was my childhood wish being granted. She had taken the time to take a picture of my house, and to find a picture of the retreat center and put together a gift of love. .

When I came home I carefully lifted the snow globe out of the bag and put it on my kitchen window ledge. I can see it as I come in the house and when I look right at it when I stand at the sink to do dishes. I love to look at it. I love to turn it upside down and watch the little sparkly flakes dance around and around, but mostly, I love that she took the time -one of the most precious gifts we have to offer- to make this special gift for me. For ME.

The spirit of Christmas fills my heart every time my eye catches sight of this unexpected gift. Thank you friend.

Catching my breath

2009-12-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off trying to write a blog just like I've been putting off getting ready for Christmas this year. It just seems that there's too much STUFF getting in the way of the spirit. I have no idea why, but it's starting to really bug me.

SOOOOOO-

I visited my 80 something Aunt today - her house is immaculate, she has Christmas in every room - she's like a kid - her eyes light up and she told me the history of so many of the ornaments on her tree - so many from people who are no longer with us. This snowflake, the beaded ornament, that glass ornament, the ones with the pictures of her grandchildren when they were wee 0nes as Beverly puts it, and the ones with the pictures of her great grandchildren. Her Santa and snowflake collections abound - her gorgeous Nativity set - handmade by a family member - is the center of it all. Christmas memories - priceless!!

I came home and got out some of my Christmas decorations. I finished the wreaths for the graves of loved ones. I'm finishing my Christmas cards, I'm ready to tackle all of the STUFF that is still to be done - BUT -

I also am remembering my own advice from my Christmas message to family and friends (something that I do on line each Christmas Eve after I come home from church and the house is quiet) last year. It went something like this -

So now, tonight, go outside and look UP - that's it - look UP. And Listen. Listen to the silence of that first Christmas night - look at the stars that were shining at that time and give yourself a GIFT - the greatest GIFT - of calm, of silence, of peace, of God's promise and Love. Peace and calm - Silent Night - Merry Christmas.

Linda Launhardt

An Advent scripture reading

2009-12-18T02:57:00.000-08:00

Another Promise is made.Another lectionary reading this week is from Micah 5
Turn to your Bibles in your busy Advent day and read the promises in verses2- 8.

He is our shepherd and we are His flock.

Much joy to you on this cold December day.

beverly kipp

Mary, Joseph and a donkey welcome a baby

2009-12-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

I love the Christmas story. I actually love the Santa part too, but that is such a small part of the celebration. I love getting the house ready. I love the smell of the freshly cut pine tree in the living room. I love the brightly colored bows sitting in a big basket waiting expectantly to be chosen for packages that I never seem to get around to wrapping in time to worry about ribbons and bows. I love garland; the star garland and the cranberry beads. I like real cranberries and popcorn threaded to put on the "cemetery trees" (another story). Some years we wrap the tree in raw wool spun into long fluffy ropes. I like how the bird ornaments look on the wool. I even like the eco damaging tinsel though we rarely use it any more.
But most of all, I love nativities. Nativities serve to remind us of the Christmas story, and that is, after all, what and why we celebrate. I love to pick up my nativity pieces and handle them before I choose where to place them. I have the whole Avon pure white nativity complete with the Holy Family and the donkey who carried Mary. It includes the Angel of the Lord, the shepherds, wise men, camels, and sheep. And the cow. My daughter worked really hard to get me the cow, a Christmas gift from her heart.
This year, since my grand baby is only two, this beautiful but breakable nativity rests on the mantle piece out of reach but I have always made sure that the little ones had a nativity set of their own. Felt, wood, plastic, resin, we had lots of them over the years and have the remnants of many with one piece or another missing. I always felt it was important for the kids to play act with them. They would move Mary and play with Baby Jesus ( we never held the tradition that Jesus couldn't be in the manger until Christmas though we do have a neighbor boy whose family holds that tradition and we thing he may be responsible for a few missing babies).
I think I have 15 nativity sets though I haven't unwrapped all of them yet this year so I can't count. The pure white one is my favorite for many reasons, but I really love them all. I have a beautiful locally hand-carved wooden one with no adornment and it feels precious in my hands. When I feel the curved figures, I feel close to the expectant woman somehow. This one feels earthy and real. My father was a wood worker, a craftsman really, so this one makes me think of him.
And I have one that is rough, gray cement like material that has a coarse black wire stable. I put that one on black cloth with shredded off- white paper that looks like straw. The short crude figures touch my heart in a way the others don't.
And I have tiny ones. A little pewter one I leave on the piano all year long. It is all one piece and fits in the palm of my hand. My brother Carl gave it to me years ago and it keeps the Christmas story in my heart throughout the seasons but it also makes me think of Carl when it catches my eye. I like that.
I even have a Playmobile nativity. It is the most work to set up with it's pop up cardboard background and the zillion pieces to be put together. I am hoping Axel who is now eleven will put it up for me tomorrow.
There are more. Smooth, softly painted ceramic ones, cheap dime store and catalogue versions that are tucked on every surface in every room upstairs and down for the kids to play with whether baby Jesus is missing or not.
Tonight I put up my metal one. It is copper and silver. It has a very different feel than any of the others. It is shiny. I remember the first time I saw it and knew I wanted it in my collection.
I love to look at each Mary, each Joseph and each swaddled baby and think about the story over and over. I have a Hummel Nativity and in that one Mary is riding on the donkey and Joseph is leading her. The colors are magnificent but my favorite part of that one is the donkey. How grateful a pregnant Mary must have been for a donkey to ride on as they traveled to Bethlehem.

I am 59 years old and still, every year for Christmas, my mother gives me a book, a piece of jewelry and a doll. I am so very grateful that for so many years my "dolls" were Nativity sets.
I am so grateful that my home is so full of these beautiful reminders of the true cause of celebration. I am so blessed to hold the Christmas story in my heart.

beverly kipp

More Joy to the World

2009-12-15T05:40:00.000-08:00

One of the Lectionary readings this week is Luke, Chapter 1 verses 39 to 45 . It is the story of Mary, who is pregnant at the time of the passage, going to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who is expecting a baby as well.

Mary greets her cousin and these are the words of Elizabeth.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Shari wrote to us about her Advent experience of embracing joy in all things as she waits for Christmas and Nate wrote about the joy of anticipation - as a child waiting for Lego's and as a young man walking through the days of Advent.

It is so easy to focus on the prize - the big event - and forget about the journey. Elizabeth's baby leapt for joy at the sound of the voice of the mother of the soon to be born Saviour. Even in the womb, he leapt for joy. There is that word again.

We all know the joy that our wee ones get from reading the same familiar stories over and over - Good night Moon, Pat the Bunny, Madeline, or favorite Dr. Seuss rhymes. The same joy can be ours if we take time to invite it into our day.

I collect Nativity sets and take great joy in unwrapping them and placing them all around the house. It is my way of re-living the journey from Advent to Christmas. This year I have decided that each night from now until Christmas I will unwrap one nativity set and put it out and then I will reread the Christmas story. Some nights I will read it in the Gospel of Luke; some nights I will sit down and read one of the many children's versions that I keep in a basket for my wee ones. Every single night I will treat myself to the same joy that we so readily treat our younguns to; the joy of reading the familiar, a beloved story.

We are told that Elizabeth experienced joy just hearing the voice of Mary, mother of Jesus. Imagine how much joy is to be had by reading the words of the so very familiar Christmas story over and over while we wait expectantly for the baby to be laid in the manger!

How are you allowing the joy of Advent to touch your days? Please write and share with us.
Beverly Kipp Health Ministry Coordinator

2009-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Joy to the World!
I was standing in the bathroom Tuesday morning. It wasn't even 9 o'clock and I was in tears for the second day in a row. I looked at myself in the mirror and said this has to stop! Now! I've cried enough tears this past year. Thus began my stream of consciousness talk to myself. A line popped into my head from an e-mail a friend had sent last week. It was from "45 Lessons Life Taught Me". "Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful". Well, if I do that I should have a lot of spare time on my hands. At least that made me laugh. Joyful. I'm an adult; I can't just do the things that are joyful. What about all the have tos in my life? There are many things that give me joy. Just last week I was smiling, clapping my hands, doing the happy dance over completing the pots and hanging baskets of greens that Christy and I do for our outdoor decorating. The place looked smashing. So why now the tears. Joyful. The health ministry board says joy to the world. Ok. Stop stressing the things that give you joy, stop making them a chore. Try this on for size; do everything that you have to do today, just today, (start small) with joy. That made me smile and I set off on my way, joyfully. Six stops throughout Red Hook were done joyfully! Couldn't stop smiling, there was a bounce in my step! Back home to do more things joyfully. Off to Kingston that night, joyfully. Christy and I even made it through Walmart! (We get sensory overload and wrung out by Walmart normally.) Woo Hoo, Yippee, I sang thru the store. It kept Christy smiling and enjoying the adventure.
So, for December my word is Joy, God so loved the world, joy to the world. If you see me and I'm looking a little overwhelmed, underwhelmed or stressed, would you help? Just whisper joy. Call me on Friday afternoon at 2 oclock and just say joy.
Reminds me of a song by Three Dog Night, Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me.
Joy to you!
Joy to me!
Shari

Blessings by Desiree

2009-12-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful morning, and I had set the alarm early to have enough time to clear the snow off my car. As I scraped, brushed, and at times shoveled, I was thanking God for these little blessings that kept popping into my head. When I finished cleaning off the car, I turned around to see that Nala, our St. Bernard/Akita/Golden Retriever, had disappeared. I should have remembered that every first snow, she takes off. But I didn't. So after calling her name a couple times, I went inside, praying that she'd be OK on her walk-about. I proceeded to shower and get ready for church. The blessings kept making themselves known and I continued to offer them up and thank God for them all. Then I realized I should be thankful for having the extra time, now that I needed it to drive around the neighborhood to look for Nala. No sooner had I praised God for that too, and Nala barked to get in. God is so good. All was well and I could leave for church, ready to serve, to prepare for Christ's birth once again without a worry on my mind. Desiree

December 6, 2009 6:04 PM

An Isaiah Christmas - Nate Brown

2009-12-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided that Christmas was way better as a child. It was just so much simpler, and the anticipation for cool toys so much greater.

I don’t know about you, but I’m present shaker. I carefully feel the package and rattle it to make a best guess of what’s inside. When I was growing up, my hard-working single mother somehow managed to buy for me some of the coolest toys ever, legos. And not just any legos, but several of the Space Police series by Legos, which in my opinion, are still the coolest series Legos have ever put out. Man, you pick up and shake a box of legos and you know what’s in there and you’re just dying to see what spaceship it is.

And you remember being a kid, the weeks before Christmas experience a disturbance in the time-space continuum where they slow down to be literally be some twenty-four megajillion years long. (That’s the real technical term for it.) But finally, Christmas day would come and you would finally get to tear, rip, or to use an antiquated term, “rend,” the wrapping paper off that certain gift you had been dying to open.

I know people in the church are often critical of the consumerism of Christmas, but it’s not all a bad thing.

About this time two years ago I did a sermon for my speaking class on Isaiah 64:1. The thrust of the sermon was, “May you give gifts this Christmas season because you have been given the greatest gift.” In it I looked at these two aspects of Christmas presents: First, that they are a great illustration of what it means to anticipate and wait for something, and secondly that we give gifts out of remembrance that God himself has given us the greatest gift, which we mimic by giving gifts to those we love.

Isaiah 64:1 reads, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!” Shortly before this verse, back in chapter 63, we read some of the writer’s despair,

“Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.”

And then in a desperate cry for help from God Isaiah pens this plea, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!”

One of my favorite gospels is the Gospel of Mark, for many reasons, but one reason is that only Mark (Peter’s account of the story of Jesus) picks up this detail from Isaiah. It’s only in this gospel where we see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s painful cry to God finally answered, some 600 years later. That’s why I keep telling people, read the New Testament in light of the Old, it makes more sense this way.... If you don’t, you’ll miss this amazingly powerful point Mark is making. They have waited forever for this messiah, and Isaiah’s prayer some 600 years earlier is only just now being realized. I mean, we pray for four days and we’re like “Is there a God?” and these Jews have seen their prayers go unanswered for hundreds of years.

So, here we have again this tension of waiting. It’s why we do the advent calendars and wreaths, we are building this tension of the years and years of waiting for this promised messiah into our Christmas celebration.

In extracanonical sources (ancient texts not included in our bibles) we read of the many, many false messiah’s that arose between the end of our book Malachi and the opening of Mark, some 400 years later.

What’s different about this messiah that is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger?

It’s that some thirty years later, when he undergoes a ritual immersion at the hands of John the Baptist, we see the crying plea of a broken prophet finally answered some 600 years after he begged God to tear open the heavens and come down.

Mark 1:10 reads “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”

This is Him! Isaiah, your God has done it at last! He heard your prayer, and He has torn open the heavens and come down!

Like any just and loving God would do.

“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down! Come down, show yourself, and fix this place! You say you are just, you say you love your people, you say you will fix this! Well, come down and fix it! Please! I beg you, God Almighty, come down and show this world that you mean it!”

“As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open....”

That’s what this season is all about.

He came.

The amazing thing is that he didn’t come and tear open the skies and come down in an earth shattering awesomeness that only a god could do, no he came down and entered into this mess of a broken and fallen world as one of us. What an awesome and mysterious God we serve.

Praise be to God in the Highest!

-Nate Brown, http://adeeperfaith.wordpress.com/

Unpacking Christmas by beverly kipp

2009-12-08T20:08:00.001-08:00

There is something quite wondrous about unpacking Christmas boxes. I am not a decorator - I have very few knickknacky kinds of things in general - but I love all things Christmas. I collect Nativity sets, from the tiniest pewter manger scene to a full mantle piece set of pure white Avon collectibles including the cow ( the cattle were lowing, remember ).
I have cranberry garland made of wood and raw wool garland in both white and gray. I have every Advent calendar that my four kids ever owned and a whole host of other decorations. I even have old fashioned waxed stencils and glass wax to adorn the windows of my hundred year old house with Santa's reindeer flying high in the sky above snowmen lined up on pinky white hills and the star of Bethlehem hanging way up in the top corners of the very old glass above a tiny baby sleeping in a manger.
So, when I say unpacking, I really mean unpacking. We relay the plastic boxes down to the yellow bedroom which we use for a staging area choosing to haul only the ornaments and nativities - 15 in all - all the way down to the living room. There is a box for table linens, a box for candles and candle holders, several boxes of wrapping paper, a box of gift bags and ribbons and bows. There are small containers and big containers and tins full of little pieces of delicate things wrapped in tissue and bubble wrap that all of us have popped over the years and now is really only wrap since there are no bubbles left to protect the cherished items and yet, by some miracle of Christmas, none are broken.
My grandson, almost 11 year old Axel, said tonight that unpacking Christmas boxes is like finding old friends you forgot you had. I would have to say that captures it pretty well as we unwrap ornaments decorated with Snoopy and Garfield, ornaments hand painted by children now grown and with their own homes, ornaments from Gila Bend and the Grand Canyon and from St. Petersburg, Russia and a favorite red hook from right here in Hometown, USA. We have skaters and ball players, puppies and birds in little nests, Big Bird and mice. They are made of felt and plastic, blown glass and ceramic. They are big and small, heavy enough to weigh down even the sturdiest of branches and so light I worry they will get lost in the tangle of lights and I will not retrieve them when it is time to wrap Christmas back up. They are pewter and clay, hand carved wood and mass produced resin. They are ours and they tell the stories of our lives from Christmas to Christmas.
I love unwrapping Christmas. As we lay out each pair of Mary and Joseph, each shiny star, each tattered felt stocking that was made by one or another of the kids in 4-H or Kindergarten, or Sunday School, it prepares me for waiting.
Unwrapping these packed away treasures unwraps my heart from the bustle that is outside these walls and must be reckoned with but does not need to be indulged. It reminds me of how much I love my children and grandchildren and how very much they love me. It reminds me to wait with the heart of a child who does not wait idly, but waits breathlessly for the joy that comes after the waiting is done.

Advent Readings by Evie

2009-12-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

Here is how I got in the habit of starting the day with my Bible reading. Remember a few years ago when we had the "Two-minute Bible Readings"? We were encouraged to find two minutes that might otherwise be wasted. I thought of the two minutes while I waited for my computer to come up in the morning. So I put my Bible by my computer, and used those two minutes. I have a faster computer now, but I still do my readings before I log on and start doing other things, like reading my email and checking the new blog.

I also want to say that I really like this idea of taking two years to read the Old Testament. When we did the whole Bible in one year, that was tough! I didn't have a Study Bible then. I remember days when I wished I knew what I was reading, but I just read on. This way, I can take time to see what the comments are, and I get more out of it. It sounds as if next year's readings are even shorter.

Evie Seils

He Will Come

2009-12-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

The Old Testament Lectionary reading for the upcoming Sunday is Malachi 3 verses 1-4. It reads this way.

"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.

I find it just astounding that those promises were made so many years before John the Baptist was born. I am so moved by these words of promise.

I am so much more present to the spirit of Advent when I start each day out reading the Word. Why then is it so hard to do? Why is it so hard to maintain that habit of starting each day out with prayer? True prayer, not the words tossed heavenward as I brush my teeth, but coming before the Lord in reverent prayer?

Why is it so hard to keep my promises to God even knowing that He always keeps his to us?

Why?

Beverly Kipp

Starting Out

2009-12-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

The Liturgical Season of Advent started Sunday, November 29th. We sang the first of four rounds of "Light the Advent Candle One" , a favorite for adults and youth alike. Sunday afternoon it dawned on me that I am missing the Advent readings and reflections that I used to read in the Church Herald. Are you? I felt inspired to offer a blog for all of us at St. John's to write and read together as we anticipate the birth of the Christ child.

What this blog is meant to be.
My idea ( open to suggestions ). I will start.
Twice a week I will post a scripture based reflection. You are welcome to log on as a reader or to contribute an Advent reflection of your own (or more than one). Everyone is encouraged to log on daily so that we can walk the next 22 days (and maybe more) together, writers and readers alike. This is a place to write about God sitings, about moments of inspiration, of joy, of reverent anticipation. You are welcome to share a sweet story about your wee ones and their joy as they wait for Christmas and all that means to them or about your own childood memories of this magical time. In this way we will nurture one another in our faith, we will walk hand in hand toward the star of Bethlehem, toward the manger, toward the magnificent moment when the star shone brightly over that manger so long ago.

What this blog is not.
This blog is not a place to air our complaints. It is not a place to discuss the business of the church or to discuss the current budget, stewardship campaign or election of consistory members. If you are unsure if what you want to post is appropriate for the blog, email me at bkipp@frontiernet.net or give me a call at home and we can talk about it.

Who can participate?
It is too late for me to put this in the Kerk, so email and word of mouth is it folks. Spread the word! Everyone associated with St. John's is welcome to join us here.

The Technicalities.
I am no techy, but this is how I think it has to work. If I find out differently I will let you know. To just read, you go to stjohnshealthministry.blogspot.com. No capitals, no spaces, no punctuation. That should bring you to the blog and you can read along. To post you must log in. the gmail account is adventreflections ( you don't need to put in @gmail) and the password is healthministry. Go to dashboard at the top right of the screen and then to new posts.
Don't worry about spelling and punctuation. Do your best, we will be forgiving. (At least I will- I write late at night when I am tired and my fingers fly low and clumsily. It is OK if yours do too.)

So, I will post my first entry tonight or tomorrow and then will log in every night and see what wonderful things you have written for us to share. I am so excited; I hope you are too!
Again, my email is bkipp@frontiernet.net. That is probably the best way to let me know if you have a problem, a suggestion or a concern. I will get back to you within a day or two.
My prayer is that this will be a source of wonder as we share this Advent Season.

Yours in Christ,
Beverly Kipp, Health Ministry Coordinator