Month: January 2018

         “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?
         For we observed his star at its rising,
         and have come to pay him homage.”
                  —Matthew 2.2

Seers
who seek the divine Presence,
who look at earth and sky
and see what we miss,
who have traversed
dark woods and foreign deserts,
passed impassable mountains,
crossed uncrossable streams:
Do not stop. Keep seeking.
Among your treasures
treasure and do not give away
your wonder.

         •

Conscious Ones,
who choose what others ignore,
who endure the scorn of cynical men,
who know whom to ask, or not,
who bring light into darkness,
and the dark into the light:
Where in the city of me
is the Divine Child,
who rules even you?
Don’t be afraid to love.
Bow to the Small One,
the Tender One.
Attain your greatest height
on you knees.

         •

Wise Ones,
who find your way,
a new way there and a new way home,
who know in your giving
what you have been given:
Do not betray the Child.
Even under the fist of power
do not surrender the fragile gift.
Another way will be given to you.
Even in the shadow of doom
do not give up on joy.
 

   —January 3, 2018

         Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
         for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
                        —Revelation 21.1

         Then you will see and be radiant.
                          — Isaiah 60.5

I enter this new year with hope.
Yes, there is reason to be discouraged.
Of course we wish for the overthrow
of evil, greed and violence.
But our hope is not wishing:
hope is confidence
that God’s future is already present.
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can’t overcome it.
The spirt of love can’t be snuffed out
by politicians and their hubris;
the life force can’t be stopped
by corporations and their kept legislators.
God is alive and at work in this world.
Smart, thoughtful, compassionate, courageous people
are rising up, find ing their voice, taking their place.
We have seen tyranny and cruelty before,
but we will never see the darkness win out.
Love always has more to say.
God is creating, always creating, and if we look
we will see signs of it all around us,
and its light will fill us and we will be radiant,
ourselves signs of the very hope that sustains us.
Yes, I have hope—joy and delight, even—
for God is here, and God’s world is still becoming.
 

   —January 2, 2018

My hope and prayer and confidence
is that in this new year:
God will be lovingly present for you,
and you will more and more deeply trust
God’s delight in you.
Christ will lead you every step of the new year.
The Spirit’s gifts will unfold in you in new ways.
I rejoice that in this new year
beauty will surround you; grace will enfold you;
love will embrace and uphold you;
joy will bless you, and hope sustain you.
May you receive healing and wisdom;
may your creativity flower and your courage grow;
and in your hands may justice and mercy flourish.
I rejoice that these gifts await you in the hew year,
and pray that you receive them with delight.
I give thanks for the gift of sharing together
the journey of this new year.
God bless us all.
 

   —January 1, 2018