What is Christmas, after all?
A festival of the heart.
A celebration of life.
A renewed sense of love
that reaches across miles.
Across time.
Across Eternity.
And those who have left us
with memories of their faces
at our Christmas dinner tables
are perhaps not really so far away.
Christmas—the worst
and the best of us—is maybe
a reminder that
there is more to us
than tinseled facades.
The ornaments [...]
Archive for December, 2007
Christmas
Posted in Uncategorized on December 28, 2007 | No Comments »
Emmanuel. . .God With Us in our Dark, Cold Nights
Posted in Sermons on December 28, 2007 | No Comments »
Christmas Eve 2007 Luke 2:1-20
It is dark this night. Dark and cold. Not that Caesar Augustus is in the dark. The Roman emperor—the one his people hail as “son of God”—never has to make his way to bed in the dark. Not that Quirinius—the governor—shivers in the cold. No. No government official will be seen [...]
Joseph’s Story
Posted in Sermons on December 28, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Advent 4A Matthew 1:18-25
Collect for Advent IV: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Joseph of Nazareth [...]
The Long Night and The Light of the World
Posted in Uncategorized on December 22, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Many churches now offer what they call “A Blue Christmas” service around or on the Winter Solstice, for folks who just don’t feel like jingle-belling their way through the holiday season. Lots of people have had personal losses–chronic disabilities or chronic pain, estrangement with family members, deaths, jobs, other long-unhealed griefs like sexual abuse, and [...]
Careful–The Noise You Hear May Be Your Own!
Posted in Sermons on December 17, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Advent III, Yr A
Isaiah 35:1-10 Matthew 11:2-11
“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and [...]
Feed the Sheep, Don’t Kill Them
Posted in Uncategorized on December 10, 2007 | No Comments »
My heart is heavy on this night of the Second Sunday of Advent. Yesterday, the Diocese of San Joaquin decided it was time to break away from the Episcopal Church, and to join their like-minded brothers and sisters in the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. According to the Episcopal News Service, Bishop Schofield of the Diocese [...]
Let it Snow. . .
Posted in Uncategorized on December 6, 2007 | 3 Comments »
The first snowfall of the season came early this year, and I guess lots of my young parishioners were congratulating themselves when they woke up this morning–having worn their PJs inside-out to bed last night as a good luck token! Unfortunately for them, it didn’t snow enough early enough for them to get a Snow [...]
The Second Coming
Posted in Uncategorized on December 4, 2007 | No Comments »
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second [...]
Waiting for the Light
Posted in Sermons on December 3, 2007 | No Comments »
Advent I, Year A
Readings: Isa 2:1-5 Psalm 122 Rom 13:11-14 Matt 24:36-44
“Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light.”
Darkness and light. At this time of the year, there is more darkness than light. The days are short. The long winter nights are darker and [...]
