What if we all claimed our anointing?
I want to do more than meet expectations or even exceed expectations.
I want to chart a new course.
I want to do things no one has done in a way no one has yet conceived.
Not just to do them or to say that I have done them, but because…
I want to lead people into a new day in this new way,
a way that feels old, like an old friend they know and have always known.
Love goes that deep.
I want to go there.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ~ Luke 4:18-19
Cause to pause
Walking from here to there causes me to pause…
and then to consider what else bids me tarry.
prayer & meditation
sunrise & sunset
starry skies & awe
children & wonder
worship
play
dis-health & disease
caring & loving
table meals & table fellowship
phone calls
letter writing
Christmas cards
births & deaths
weddings & funerals
birthdays
These in our holding.
Hold sacred space,
common ground,
between.
Here and now is.
show me…
tell me…
teach me…
I pray.
What do Santa and Jesus have in Common?
What do Santa and Jesus have in common?
- children
- sitting on his lap
- asking
- Christmastime
- Saintliness
- the whole world in one night
- led by a light
- Holiday Spirit
- gifts, warmth, kindness, love
- you gotta believe…
or it’s just a story, a myth, long-told. Verses recited with option for annual renewal. Santa and Jesus, they both come again this time of year. Do you believe?
Belief is an amazing thing. When I believe in myself, I am better. When I believe in you, you are better. My belief in you may even help you believe in yourself. Now, that’s magic, isn’t it? Because that is a gift that keeps giving.
How good it is that, year after year, we have the chance to resubscribe to this St Nick of Christmas and to this Jesus of Nazareth. Quite the pair: a jolly old elf who flies through the night on a reindeer-drawn-sleigh and a babe born in a manger, witnessed by shepherds and visited by wise men.
They both bring out the best in us, year after year.
Not so much to do with facts, figures, or catching him in the act. Separate from packages, tinsel and ornaments on the tree. Carols and mistletoe, nice, but not necessary. More about the internal trappings, that intangible stuff no one can quite put a finger on, that impels us toward better.
Kind of like believing.
Merry Christmas, friends.
