One of the things that I especially like about Advent is that we have so many opprtunities to enjoy good music. I wish we had Christmas music throughout the year. Tonight Karen and I go to a special musical event at Mercy Hill Church in our neighborhood. We bring a non-perishable food item and enjoy a great night of Christmas music and chocolate!
Thinking about, and writing about, my faith.
Hand in Hand
My Faith, fragile, Help my Faith
I believe, I believe, I believe,
I believe, and yet:
Help my unbelief today and yesterday and all this week and forever.
How can it be?
Redeemed and healed, I am often filled with joy,
And yet,
Where does this unbelief come from? Where was it hidden?
Was it hidden at all?
When this faith becomes doubtful of itself,
it stands in temptation again,
as it was in the beginning, in the edge of the garden.
Fragile in our faith, we are sorely tested
each day.
But we have not been saved by our faith. It was
God’s love—his grace—in Jesus that saves us.
It is our faith that takes us there to gaze on Jesus,
To grab hold of His grace, His forgiveness, His empowerment;
Lord, I ride my faith to return to your power.
My faith is in a great, great God.
Yet my faith can be so small;
Help me Lord.
© Tom Bolton, December 12, 2012, Milwaukee
I found this Moravian prayer blog this week, and I think I will make it one of my regular visits for a while. Rev. Chris Giesler, Pastor of the Edgeboro Moravian Church in Bethlehem, PA. and Bishop of the world-wide Moravian Unity, gave this introduction:
I have created this blog as a way of sharing these prayers that have become a meaningful part of my ongoing dialog with God. May these prayers bring you a greater awareness of God’s presence in your life! Use them as you wish to enrich your life, and the lives of those around you.
This is the most recent post site: http://dailyprayersformoravians.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/prayers-for-the-second-week-of-advent-december-9-15/
I liked this very much.
Here are some substantial parts of the December 7 posting; I want to give a good feel for the content this one time, as I re-blog this.
The Watchword for the Week:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. Luke 1:68
Come, all who labor and are heavy laden.
Come, all who are lost and in need of a home.
Come, all who have faced their weakness and sins.
Rejoice greatly, shout for joy! See, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation.Hear the voice of John the Baptist calling to us from the wilderness, challenging us to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, to repent and to make the pathway to our heart a straight one.
Holy God, we know that you want to come and walk with us through the journey of our lives. You send to us a Savior who seeks to offer us an eternal home in the life to come as well the pattern for the living of our daily lives. Forgive us for the times when we have turned our back on your invitation and have chosen to walk our own way. Forgive us for the times when we make the path into our hearts a steep one, making it hard for you to enter. Forgive us when treat even our loved ones with an unforgiving spirit. Forgive us when we busy our lives with diversions that deflect our attention from you. We invite your Holy Spirit to dwell within us and to bring us close to you this day.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to them and proclaim that they have suffered long enough, that their penalty is paid, and their sins are forgiven.
We give thanks to the one who creates us, we give thanks to the one who redeems us, we give thanks to the one who brings the spirit of holiness to us today. Amen.
This now is a time for the reading of a scripture passage. If you have a copy of the Moravian Daily Texts take time to read them now, but don’t rush over them as a task to be completed. These are the words that God would have you to cherish for this day. These are words that could transform your life if you allow them to. So read slowly and deliberately. Pause at words or phrases that happen to catch your spirit, for these are places where God might be speaking to you. When you have finished with your reading of scriptures, take time to pray for the needs that you present today, for the needs of those you love, and for the needs of a hurting world. May your time of prayer help you to clarify where God would want you to focus your energy. When you are ready continue with this prayer as follows:
O Lord, Hear our Prayer:
Giver of life and grace who dwells in heavens, we lift our praise to you. We pray that the ways of heaven might be made real in our earthly lives as we, your children, seek to do your will. Give us today the food that we need. Forgive us as we seek to forgive those around us, and as we fix our eyes on you, keep us from temptation, and deliver us from evil influences. For this is your world, and to you is due all honor, and glory, and praise forever and ever. Amen.
O Emmanuel, God with Us, Jesus Christ, desire of every nation,
come to earth we pray.
Shepherd of all humanity, and Savior of our souls
give us rest in your arms today.
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.
You alone are the most high, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.
Come Lord Jesus,
Open our hearts to welcome you, let the Word become flesh in our hearts and in our lives. Amen.
I have been remembering my old friend John.
John, in Days Gone Far Away
This John seemed like some harsh philosopher
when I first met him hiking home in sixty-nine.
In those early days, I rarely saw him smile.
But then came days when his whole head reddened
as he laughed so hard that tears flew each way.
We grew and traveled in different places as time grew slippery, 
and days darkened and shortened,
and new commentators caught our ears
and taught us new ways.
Philosophies changed, perspectives grew, and
Paths home lengthened as brush scattered over the way,
and John told his stories, and crafted his songs,
and journaled his way home, and home afar journeyed.
Mostly I think back to days long gone,
and hair days long, and paths home simple,
and recall the days we chatted away
and said goodnight, and farewell friend.
Histories read and histories written, history rewritten and imagined again,
We are still brash youth, fiery friends,
gentle when we care to be,
and lost across the chasm of years,
Death not winning,
memories held firm.
(c) Tom Bolton, Janesville, November 28, 2012
I am repeating a poem from last August.
I Hunger
Away from the paths I usually walk,
I hunger.
My mind clear, grains green all around me,
I open my heart, my mind, my soul today.
Fill me up.
(C) Tom Bolton, Milwaukee, August 20, 2012
Jim Wallis has written this month on Christmas giving:
Religion is far too judgmental. Surveys show that many people think that, especially a new generation of young people who — more than ever before — are checking the “none of the above” religious affiliation box.
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A recent Harris International and World Vision poll showed that Americans plan to spend more this Christmas season on consumer gifts than they did last year, but give less to charities and ministries that help the poor. Many say they are less likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present — a drop from 51 percent to 45 percent.
So we will have more Christmas presents this year, but less help for the poor. While retailers, economists, and politicians may rejoice at the news about higher consumer spending this year, the lower levels of support for the ones Jesus called “the least of these” should legitimately bring some moral judgments from the faith community.
Indeed, the Matthew 25 scripture that this text is taken from is one of the few and most judgmental passages in all the New Testament. About some things, Jesus was judgmental. The Gospel clearly says that how we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner, is how we treat Jesus. That’s is pretty judgmental, especially when you go on to read what will happen to those who ignore Jesus in this way.
So let’s counter the results of the survey with a Christmas Tithe. Gather your family together around this, send the idea to your friends and fellow believers, take the idea to church, write letters to the editor in your local paper. Let’s all decide this Christmas to tithe a percentage of all that we give in Christmas presents directly to the poor; who were given the greatest gift at the first Christmas with a child born in a stable who promised to bring them “good news.”
His full essay can be found at the link above.
Hopeful 