Shining Spirit

I affirm, as this new day dawns, that you,
Divine Center of all things,
are both refuge and strength.
I run to you as refuge when the world
shakes beneath my feet. Only in the safety
of refuge am I able to heal into the strength
which allows me to regain a sense of my
divine humanity. That is why I won’t be
afraid when the world falls apart, as
mountains crumble and the waters
roar and rage.

I affirm this good morning that you are the river
into which all streams are joined. One river, so
many streams feeding into and branching off
from the flowing source. Am I less a part of the
river if my origin is here not there, if my faith
is expressed this way and not that way? One
river, gathering up all the streams and flowing
toward the fullness of one light.

I will rest at the close of this day with no guarantee
of tomorrow, but with an assortment of affirmations
forged in faith, tested with the small amount of
courage that I possess, proved not in my practice
but in your grace.

May the light of the morning bring healing to the
brokenness around me, charity out of the abundance
that I enjoy, and a stronger faith that will carry me
to the end of yet another day.

May it be so. Amen.

When the shepherds returned to their flocks
and the Wise Men embarked on a new home route,
when the curious had seen enough and the
bright star faded into an expansive starlit sky,
Mary held her son close
and sang him a lullaby.

He clutched her finger with his tiny hand
and watched her movements with large, dark eyes.
He felt the familiar rhythm of her heartbeat,
as if still joined flesh to flesh. Mary’s warm
breath soothed any anxiousness that came
with new surroundings and animal
sounds in the distance.

Tonight he would sleep on freshly cut hay,
snuggled close to his mother in the small
shed that usually housed newly born lambs.
The finest Bethlehem inn could not provide a more
restful setting. Just before the flickering
lamp was extinguished, a little lamb, wandering
from a nearby flock, walked into the shed,
paused for a moment to look all around,
then without hesitation, curled up beside
Mary and her infant, all seeking warmth
and finding complete contentment.

Within a moment or two, a little arm slipped
from the swaddling cloths and the tiny hand fell
gently onto the animal’s soft white wool.
The lamb relaxed into sleep and in the last
flicker of light from the lamp’s dying flame,
Mary’s eyes looked upon the face of her
beautiful son.
No sound was made, no words formed, but
their eyes joined and never moved
from the visual embrace of love.

Darkness descended,
Mary closed her eyes
and welcomed sleep.
It was then that —

Jesus smiled.

When the time was right, darkness gave way to Light,
universes and planets,
stars and comets,
nebulae and galaxies,
so that varying densities
of Light announced Life.

When the time was right, personal and community
Virtues lifted humanity to
a new level of existence,
justice and mercy,
sacrifice and compassion,
truth and honor
led the way to a New Day.

When the time was right, the Definitive Example
of a life lived with
integrity, deep faith,
selfless love,
an insistence on the
intrinsic value of all living things,
and courage
put on flesh and lived
among us.

This is the time.
This is the day.
This is the hour.
Behold life!

1. Would Jesus of the Gospels choose to be remembered every year as an infant entering the world, a victim exiting the world, or an adult who fought for a new world?
2. Would shepherds and “wise men” be invited to the same party?
3. Jesus of Nazareth? Jesus of Bethlehem? Jesus of The Road? The unborn child bounced over 90 miles of bad road between Nazareth and Bethlehem. Is “Jesus of The Road” a better descriptor of his life?
4. There is a hint that the Holy Infant grew into the Holy Child…Luke 2:39ff…but his childhood is a mystery. Would there have been a point in time when Jesus, as a child, became aware of his “otherness”? If you were Mary, would you tell him?
5. It was sometime in the 11th century when the name “Christmas” or “Christ’s Mass” was designated as the church’s official name of the celebration. It was a feast day 10 centuries after he lived. Is there a different name/designation you might select?

Whatever your answers might be, here’s hoping you have a remarkably Merry Christmas and that the Light is rekindled in your heart for the months and years to come.

The hour is late, almost the new day.
Darkness, a reliable visitor, arrives just
as the last lamp is extinguished.
Silence moves from room to room,
vigilant sentry watching over restless
dreamers.

Into this precious moment, a thought
appears, an idea demanding attentive
reflection. She swims in the sea of my
fading consciousness, until it finally
happens.

Light! There must be light! And there
is light. That light illuminates my
drowsy mind, splashes across the desk,
sufficient for the thought to become
a voice, and the voice to speak words
on to the waiting page.

Light always makes things possible.
Uncertainty becomes confidence,
fear evolves into courage. Despair
drops his heavy robe and dresses
himself in joyful liberation.

All because sufficient light gifts the
world with sacred possibility. One
little lamp on a cluttered, disheveled
desk, makes possible the clarity of
the moment, like a star’s insistent
brilliance revealing an infant
word. A Word, fragile at first but
growing in strength and power as
other words follow in their natural order.

A Light shines in the darkness. Glory
streams from the Consciousness of
Creation, illuminating The Word.
Thought has become reality. A
word rests on the page. The story
is complete. The perfect Word
brings the story to life and life
to the story. Publish glad tidings!
The story is done, and the story
begins.

My intention this day
is to find no disfavor in darkness
but to befriend the shadows
both within and without.

May I remember this intention
when moments threaten or
circumstances cause fear
to thrive in my soul.

May all callousness be turned
to compassion,
all impatience be turned
to quiet resolve,
all grief be transformed
into gratitude,
so that life this day may
find balance and stability
in a new depth of trust.

At the end of this day,
may I look back over the hours
with a peaceful contentment
that is the gift of Love.

Amen

There is a whisper in the air.
Do you hear it? A faint word,
a hushed sound in the midst of
the clatter and confusion of living.
Lay your ear to the ground.
Concentrate. There! Do you hear!
I detect something ominous,
a signal, a sign of great import.
What news can cause the trees
to dance? Look at them, almost
breaking their roots from the
ground. And the sudden songs
of birds, screeching and singing
and filling the frigid air with melody.
Flowers bloom on this sterile
winter morning. A shockwave,
an invasion of mystery replaces
reasoned science.

Who can fathom this phenomenon,
decipher the coded whisper?
Focus. Block out the extraneous.
Listen. Do you hear those barely
audible, ephemeral words?
Quickly, take pen in hand and write
this down lest it be forgotten.

“For unto you is born this day…”

And the cosmos quivers.

I counted on you
and you let me down

deep disappointment
friendship lost?
can I count on you again?
should I try?

I trusted you
and you came through

forgiveness
second chance
restoration

“Lord, how many times should
I forgive my brother…?”

That many?

Music moves through my head
like the clear, sweet water of a gentle
stream. Meanders. Ripples, then
falls hush. Returns and laughs
as it tickles stones living in its
flow…stones of curiosity worn
smooth by eighty years of wonder
and wondering.

The notes, birthed by a long sought
Mystery, rise from somewhere deep
within the internal universe, playfully
position themselves to become ballad
then blues, Beethoven then Beyonce,
eclectic, engaging notes that warm the
cold places of rational necessity.

How lovely, these life sustaining melodies
ascending from one faint star in the universe
of myself. I receive them as gift and hum
them with gratitude.

If this is microscopic, imagine limitless
Behold, a drop in the ocean of a universe
A speck of color in a spectrum of wonder
So the dimensions of Love
Beyond understanding
Extraordinary
Extravagant
Endless