The Poetry of Jesus' Coming

Here are two wonderful poems from Madeleine L'Engle that give fresh expression to the stories that we have been reading and living in this Advent season.  The first resonates with Mary's courageous, inspired response to the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38).  The second brings Luke 2:1-7 alive in our midst.

After Annunciation

This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild
Had Mary been filled with reason
there'd have been no room for the child.

(from A Cry Like a Bell, 1990 )


The Risk of  Birth, Christmas 1973

There is no time for a child to be born,
with the earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.

There was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honour and truth were trampled by scorn---
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn---
Yet Love still takes the risk to be born.  

(from Walking on Water: reflections on faith and art, 1998)

The Annunciation in Art

Friendship

We took time for an exploration of friendship.  Each of us answered three questions:
What is friendship?
What are the qualities of a true friend?
Which of these qualities do you demonstrate?
Then we gathered together to share what we had written.

Friendship was described as:
--When you bond with someone else.
--A relationship that reflects who you are and the common interests you have.
--Trusting someone
--A bond between two or more people that is truthful.
--A"union of souls."
--Being a companion with another person.
--Accompaniment, going with, learning with.

The qualities of a true friend that we identified were abundant:
--kind
--generous
--helpful
--someone you can relate to
--someone you can hang out with, talk to, have fun with
--someone who never lets you do anything stupid alone
--a "backup"
--supportive
--faithful
--honest
--reliable
--responsible
--respectful
--a good listener
--"backboard on a basketball net"
--trustworthy
--caring
--a good listener
--someone who forgives
--someone who doesn't judge you
--is there for you in time of need
--someone who entrusts you
--who is grateful
--honors confidentiality
--committed
--fair
--does the right thing
--easy to identify
--someone who stands up for you

That's a great list!  Being a good friend requires hard work, deep commitment, and a willingness to grow! Each of us searched ourselves for such qualities, and identified important ones that we aspire to.
We then read together the stirring story in Mark 2:1-12 of the four people who carry a paralyzed man to Jesus.  We considered how the four might be manifesting friendship.  We described then as:
(a) determined
(b) caring
(c) innovative
(d) working together in order to get to Jesus
(e) desperate
(f) other-centered
(g) compassionate
(h) in solidarity with their friend
(i) holy, and wholly, for Jesus

How do these descriptions of friendship relate to how we want to be s friends to others?  Toward the end of class, some folks began sharing stories from their own lives and from school that manifested these same things.
Can you add some more?
There is a famous hymn, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  What are some of the key actions and qualities of friendship that we see in Jesus?

Prayer

"Prayer is acknowledging that we are always in the presence of God"  --Desmond Tutu

We had a rich discussion about Prayer. We began with a simple question: What is prayer?
--Saying something to God
--A conversation with God about our day
--Saying we are sorry to God for something we did
--Thanking God for a good day
--"Bargaining with God" (we talked about some real-life examples)
--Talking to God as if God is a friend
--Keeping God up to date on what's going on
--Asking God to be involved in our relationships
--Questioning God (Why did something bad happen?)
--Yelling at God
--Saying grace before eating, which is a way of paying attention to blessings in our lives and acknowledging God as the source
--Asking God for help

When do we pray?
--Before bed
--When we are troubled
--When a friend is going through something
--In a specific setting, either a good time or a bad time
--Praying for our favorite sports teams to win
--Praying before a sports event that you are participating in, hoping you'll do your best
--Daily
--At dinner
--Silent Prayer
--"Hundred- Step Prayer" while walking focusing on people
We noted that each week in class we engaged at least two different ways of praying:  (1) a prayer that is read at the beginning as we light the candle, and (2) our "circle prayer" at the end where we all join hands, and each of us takes time to speak to God.

We took time to consider several forms of prayer:
Intercession is when we pray for other people and for the world
Petition is when we pray for ourselves and ask for God's help.
Confession is when we talk to God about our mistakes, the things we have done wrong, and our deep need for God's presence and help in our lives.
Thanksgiving is when we express gratitude to God and pay attention to the many blessings in ech day.
Listening is preparing to receive, to meditate on what Jesus has taught us and how it applies to our lives, to be sensitive to the Spirit's movement.
We realized that we had discussed each of these while making our lists!  Prayer is deeply relational.  I am interesting in us considering the last of these more carefully.  How do you take time to listen in your prayers?  What do you receive?  

Together we read a story in Mark 1:29-39 that might spur our reflections,  about Jesus in prayer.  It was very early in his ministry and Jesus is healing many people in Capernaum.   He heals not only their illnesses but lifts great burdens the people have been carrying (including crushing expectations), removes labels that others have had placed on them, tends to the hurts and wounds of their spirits. It seems that everyone needs healing in one way or another.  Jesus continues to receive people late into the night.
Early in the morning, while it is still dark, he goes to a deserted place to pray to God without distraction.  He may pray some of the same kinds of prayers we have discussed.  It is clear that he does one more thing:  He centers himself in God's will.  He takes the time to open himself anew so that the Spirit, can guide him. His life will not just be defined by all the activities and demands on him!    So when the disciples come to him complaining, "Everybody is looking for you!," Jesus is able to be crystal clear with them:  He and the disciples will not be returning to Capernaum until they visit other towns as well.  Because Jesus' God-given mission is to proclaim the good news of God's love for everyone, not just to one town or congregation (much as he loves them, too!)
Prayer helps Jesus to be focused and for his spirit to be rested.
There was also a powerful reflection from our class:  Perhaps, while he was praying, Jesus himself was able to hear the prayers of people from the other towns!  Awesome.

Luke 5:1-11

                                       Jacopo Bassano's The Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Jesus' Baptism, and Yours

Jesus was somewhere around 30 years old when he was baptized. In the years since his birth, he had lived for the most part in the small Galilean town of Nazareth, in the north of Israel, as the son of Mary and her husband Joseph, a carpenter.  Apparently, the adult Jesus also worked as a carpenter, at least until the day he left and traveled to a place many miles away in the south, on the banks of the Jordan river.  There God's prophet John was baptizing people in the river, a kind of "washing off of their sins,"  telling them to get ready for the coming of God's Promised One.

In the gospel story, Jesus moves intentionally  from the life he has lived in Nazareth in order to join himself to all God's people, and at a deeper level, to join all of us in the midst of our lives. In our class discussion, we noted that this is a sign that God meets us where we are. 

As Jesus rises from his immersion in the water, he looks up and sees the "heavens torn apart," or put another way, "the sky split open."  The image of "the sky split open" is a way of saying that, through the life of Jesus, God's children will never be separated from the love of God for any reason, no matter what.  And in addition to the name he was given at birth, Jesus, he receives three new names from God: Son; Beloved; God's Pleasure.

The Spirit of God descends on Jesus "like a dove."  We talked of God's Spirit being:
--the Breath of Life; God's own breath breathed into us!
--the Presence of God with us (and within us)
--Fire and Power

Jesus returns to Galilee, but not to life exactly the way he led it before.  His deeper purpose has begun.  He shouts out to everyone who will hear: "The time has come.  The reign of God is very near. Change your heart and believe the good news!"   New life.

Taylor, Hope, Eric. Stephen, Nick, Josephine, Derek, Pete, Aaron, Alec, Jon, Lydia, Donovan, Adam:
Imagine God speaking directly to you, and giving you three "new names"  
--Child of God
--Deeply, Deeply Loved
--The One Who Lives as God's Pleasure

What will this mean to you?  How does it help you understand your own life; your preciousness and purpose?  Your place in God's family? How is God "spiriting you?"

Who is Jesus?

Our second gathering was stimulated by a key question:  Who is Jesus?

The collection of answers is quite remarkable, expressive, and inspired! It includes titles, identities, qualities, and actions.  There is a thoughtfulness to this list that is striking. Perhaps that is because we were asked to consider who Jesus is to us.

Savior
Light of the World
Christ
Redeemer
Forgiver
Passageway to Heaven
Teacher
The Answer (to nearly every question)
Eraser of Sins
Guider of Light (goodness)
The Free Runner (unbounded in self-giving love)
Life-Giver
The Different King
Shepherd
Brother
God-With-Us
A Window Unto God

Healer
Listener
Miracle Worker
Creator

Liberating
Empowering
Giving
Kind
Helpful
Honorable
Legendary
Mighty
Hallowed
Holy
Loving
Friendly
Generous

Each word or name is deeply expressive, inviting us to further exploration.  Which ones do you find most meaningful? Are there qualities here that reflect important values in your life?

Some interesting questions emerged along the way:
 (a)  If God is our Father, then isn't Jesus our Brother?
 (b)  What happened over the better part of thirty years, from Jesus' birth to the time he began his
       ministry?  In what ways did he grow?  Did he become the Lord?
We will respond to these questions in some depth.


We were also asked to identify some of our favorite "Jesus stories."  Here is what was shared:

--The Feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14)
--Jesus being baptized (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34)
--Jesus' birth (in two of the gospels: Matthew 1:18-25, and Luke 1:26-38;2:1-20)
--The Angel visiting Mary (Luke Chapter 1:26-38)
--Jesus healing a man born blind (John 9:1-41)
--"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father"  (John 14:9)
--Healing the woman bent over (Luke 13:10-17)
--Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
--Jesus reviving the dead (Luke 7:11-17; John 11:1-44)

We will take care to include all of these stories in our class, beginning with the Baptism of Jesus this week!

Images of Jesus From Around the World

Welcome to the Journey!

Welcome to our Confirmation experience,  "Journeying With Jesus 2014-15!"  It is a delight to have each of you--and all of us--on "the Way."  In the gospels, Jesus meets each of his disciples where they are, engages them for who they are, and offers them an invitation: "Follow me."  In doing so, he beckons them to a way of life together that will reveal God's presence and God's Reign of Love in the very midst of their lives.
A disciple is a "learner."  It becomes the joy of Jesus' disciples to learn the ways of Jesus by heart and to proclaim the good news of God's love for all people.  Today, you are such disciples.
Jan Richardson's beautiful artwork, "The Best Supper," is an image that adorns the cover of your Confirmation notebook.  We hope that it will be a constant reminder of your place at Jesus' table, and the role that you have in realizing  the fullness of life God intends for the world that God so loves.