Just as he was coming up out of the water,
                  he saw the heavens torn apart
                  and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
         And a voice came from heaven,
                  “You are my Son, the Beloved;
                  with you I am well pleased.”
                        —Mark 1.10-11

Beloved,
offspring of the delight of God,
spawn of light,
Bathe yourself in this grace.
You are God’s, in whom God delights.
Oh, yes, you’re screwed up.
You’re more screwed up than you think.
But you are God’s,
and God’s delight.
Immerse yourself
in the river water of this womb.
Go into the deep.
Let this be your balm, your healing,
your salvation.
Your only sin is your inability to trust this
in your bones.
Soak in it. Practice believing it.
Walk through this new year in faith,
dripping with heaven.
 

   —December 5, 2018

         Magi from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
         “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.”
         When King Herod heard this, he was frightened.
               —Matthew 2.1-3

Herod is afraid.
This is the root of his strutting, his meanness,
his cruelty to children, the poor and wayfarers,
his disdain of anyone who doesn’t adore him.
He is afraid. This is the well of his bluster,
the spring of his violence and hatred.
In his fear he will insult his critics,
threaten his neighbors and and assault the weak.
In desperate fear he will strain for every illusion
of his grandeur, his excellence, his power.
He is most afraid of light,
so he will sow darkness and veil the truth.
He is most afraid of love,
so he will grow a calloused heart,
and tremble at true gentleness.
He is most afraid of grace,
so he will send his army to slaughter.
But he has already lost. This is why he is afraid.
He is no match for love and light and grace.
His evil has already failed.
His victims are already resurrected.
We are not afraid.
 

   —December 4, 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

         This child is destined
                  for the falling and the rising of many in Israel,
         and to be a sign that will be opposed
                  so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.
                           — Luke 2.34-35

Not “the rise and fall,”
like empires that come and go,
but “falling and rising.”
Death and resurrection.

Not an idol worshiped
but a sign opposed.
Not an inspiring thought
but my own revealed.

God, transform my inner thoughts
and give me courage,
accompanied by the divine child
to die and be raised,

to enter this path of hard choices
with love and grace,
to enter this new year
ready to become a new person.
 

   —December 29, 2017

         Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;
                  this man was righteous and devout,
                  looking forward to the consolation of Israel.
         There was also a prophet, Anna …
                  looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
                        —Luke 2.25, 38

The Divine Presence seeps into us
like the quietness that settles on the trees
in the snowy dark.

Geese on the pond
pause in their migration,
a gathering of hopes.

Anna and Simeon see
what others don’t; they are looking
for something larger.

O Patient One, you have changed
what we are waiting for,
and how.

Enlarge our hopes and our horizons;
give us both the courage of deeper longings
and the peace of deeper trust.
 

   —December 28, 2017

The the forces of evil rise,
chaos running in their veins.
The armies of injustice and their corporations
are arrayed in power and might.
They are already in the a streets and alleys,
their wardens and traffickers at work,
their war machines hulking in the dark.

The Eternal One announces their doom.
Heaven’s blacksmiths set to their dark labor
hammering through the night on swords and shields.
The forges spume.

But God walks past them all
out into the darkness.
The One who creates stars,
who spreads the earth out like a blanket,
the One who Sees,
stands and gazes at the devil’s troops
and smiles.
“Peace.
I’ve got this.”

A newborn baby cries.
 

   —December 27, 2017

He breathes his tiny delicate breaths,
little ghosts in the night air,
little angels unfurling their wings,
blessings with the power to raise Lazarus,
words that will hang in the air,
pillars of fire and cloud—
but so small, so fine,
so easily dismissed,
wafting into the blackness,
into the night wind you breathe.
 

   —December 26, 2017

Rejoice in this mystery
that in love God chooses to be close to us,
to be with us even our deepest darkness.
God is present for us.
Let this be your light.

May wonder and gratitude
be Christ’s gift to you
this holy day.
 

   —December 25, 2017