Archives: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? #14Worshipful Ceremonies |
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Prayer Meditation
The government forced Mary and Joseph to be on the move against their will.
The innkeeper sent a woman in labor to have her baby in a barn.
Two thousand years later governments will still displace families and neglect pregnant women. There are millions of uprooted people - refugees, migrants, and the internally displaced.
During Advent we rejoice in the love of Jesus Christ and reflect on what it means to love God truly and others as ourselves.
Pray today for the refugee children who will be born in tent camps this Christmas.
Pray that our government leaders will value all children.
Pray for our missionaries and aid workers who will serve others for us.
Pray that this Christmas each of us will find joy in the love of a stranger.
-Julie De Motte, Whitehall, PA (Church World Service/CROP, Eastern Pennsylvania)
WHILE WAITING
Start in the basement where it's cold and dark;
Reach deep into the shadows of the recesses of your heart.
Empty crammed closets; donate clothes no longer needed.
Throw out the trash; from your fears be relieved.
Remove extra furniture and bric-a-brac that clutters;
Climb attic stairs, and without oaths one sometimes utters,
Clear out a lifetime of baggage and broken toys.
Take a broom to clinging cobwebs and the memory that cloys.
Throw open attic windows and that stuck cellar door;
Breathe in a breath of fresh Spirit;
Welcome God's newborn Son forevermore.
Make room in your heart, your mind and your soul
For Christ each day to dwell.
Embody the Good News that angels still sing:
Jesus is God-with-us,
Emmanuel!
-Ashley M. Calhoun, Beulah UMC, Knoxville, TN
Buy Me Nothing.
I'll Still Love you.
This coupon entitles the bearer to give love instead of mass-produced gifts.
Clip it, copy it, give it to your loved ones.
click here for a printable
version
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The Song of Saint Nicholas
Celebrate BIG...Consume Little...Share Much
Last Christmas a gift was given to me, which at the same time was received by another. In the midst of a parade of colorfully wrapped items stacked under the tree, sat a plain white envelope with my name printed on the front. Upon opening it I felt a strange and happy feeling seize me. Not because there was a check for a $50 shopping spree inside to buy things I didn't really need.
Instead, there was a small white card with a picture of smiling children on the front reading, "A gift of money sent in your name is enabling a woman in Mali to learn to read and write." For me, just knowing that my getting one less present was giving someone who wasn't as privileged as I the chance to learn to do something that I enjoy and love very much, gave me joy. Sometimes the greatest gifts are not those that are material but those that are unseen.
Sincerely, Chelsea Hubbard, age 11, Hamilton, MA
[from PRISM E-pistle]
This page last updated 20 October 2012
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