In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 A new year can be a time for new beginnings, but we are also still in the season of Christmas, perhaps with these very words about beginning from the Gospel of John fresh in our hearts. […]
“No room,” they say. “All full,” we’re told. “You’ll have to go somewhere else.” What I’ve come to learn that they’re really saying is that they are full. That their capacity for love is limited– their imagination inaccessible. Closed off. Gone.
It’s that time of year: Christmas. And as clergy, we are often tasked with making sure everyone else’s Christmas goes perfectly. Sometimes, that means we forget about our own Christmases. In the spirit of giving (and preparing, re: Advent), here is a list of 10 things to do as we get closer to Christmas. Whether […]
Each year as Christmas rolls around, I take to the internet in search of a few new Christmas books for children. I have collected over 40 books throughout the years, each telling the Christmas story in a new way. Whether it is through playful rhymes or beautiful illustrations, whether it sticks to the Biblical story […]
Prayer of the Day God, you cultivated a world that is full of your glory. When we are struggling with dark thoughts and heavy burdens, when we are tired and weary, when we are longing to see you, open our eyes to see your light shining in and through our lives. Guide us to be […]
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city […]
“You have to put the baby down somewhere” A Sermon for Port Royal Baptist Church Christmas Morning 2016; Year A Luke 2; Titus 2:11-14 Hiking, working in the field all day, mowing the lawn, weeding the garden: Humans are able to do a surprising number of things while holding babies. Washing hands, cooking, drawing up […]
When I was a kid, I loved going to my grandma’s house on Christmas. Of course I loved the gifts and being with family, but what I really loved was Grandma’s Christmas tree. Have you ever seen “icicle tinsel” that is basically thousands of loose shiny silver strings? That was Grandma’s tree. And by “Grandma’s […]
My internet search for “Christmas Board Book” was yielding snow, candy canes, Santa, and saccharine messages about “giving” as the true meaning of Christmas. Worse, searches for “Nativity Board Book” and “Baby Jesus Board Book” turned up white Jesus and a skinny post-partum Mary. The closest to a non-white Jesus I could find was the […]
I met my husband 15 years ago this Christmas, with all the trappings of a holiday romance movie: the snow was gently falling, he was in his new Army dress uniform, we talked for hours from the evening of Christmas Eve to the dawn of Christmas Day. I, young and feeling in love, went out […]
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