“the Jesus pile”

Today’s Gospel text is Matthew 1:18-25, the birth of Jesus. Verse 18 begins, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way…” (NRSV).

Here at our house, the birth of Jesus begins like this photo: all the Jesus-es (?)in a pile on the bookshelf. Kajsa has loved playing with many nativities this season. Loved it. I have a couple fragile ones up high where she can’t reach, but for the most part, I’m discovering that our nativities are child-friendly. For the first few days I had them out, Kajsa was playing with Mary and Joseph, too.. who were frequently going to meetings.

the Jesus pile

“They’re very busy” she told me. So “Grandma and Grandpa” (other Marys and Josephs) and sometimes some animals were keeping Jesus company.

Then she turned to categorizing the nativities… all the Mary’s lined up in a row, Josephs, animals… shepherds… and this week, she left all the Jesus-es on a shelf. I asked her one day where a certain Jesus was, when I noticed he was gone. “Oh” she said, “He’s in my Jesus pile.” and she pointed to the shelf.

The birth of Jesus took place in one way, but has continued to influence many languages, cultures, socio-economic systems…. etc.

A child’s perspective can be so refreshing, even in a season that already brings wonder and joy and awe…

could you define “will”?

Isaiah 35 promises many things-things that are not altogether bad. In fact
they are community-building, wilderness-enduring, healthy and faith-deepening
things. And yet the word “will” accompanies these promises so much, that if I
were alive back then, I’d be saying, “Define WILL… and let me know WHEN.”
Those of us who have spent many years waiting for something know how hard it can be to hope, when what we are waiting for doesn’t happen yet.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, life doesn’t always work like that. We don’t know
when, we don’t get to define “will”—at least not when it comes to Biblical
promises. We don’t always get it, or, if we do, we don’t understand it. Waiting is
hard.

the "patient" dog waiting for someone to play with her

Some promises in Isaiah 35 have come true in the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ. Literally and figuratively. Light into the darkness, the blind see, miracles
happened, the power of sin was conquered, rejoicing came to the wilderness.
Even so, at times the wilderness stinks. For instance, when someone says, “It
will get better…” or… “Someday you WILL see the good in all this waiting
period.” Whatever. That may be true. But in the meantime, waiting is still hard.

I suspect we’re all waiting, on some level. My good friend Karen says that
everybody is waiting for something. Whatever we are waiting for, may we be
graced with the strength to find joy in the wait. We may not know WHEN our
waiting season WILL be finished… but help us, Lord, to see you in it. And to find
joy in this time.

leader for the week

leader for the week

This Sunday’s Isaiah text is chapter 11:1-10. The kingdom that seems impossible, where the lions don’t eat the lambs and other strange mixed company groups survive and get along.

And in verse 6, Isaiah prophesies that “a little child shall lead them.”

This morning, we had a little child very excited to lead. Little does she know how challenging leadership can be, how much of a privilege, and also how disappointing at times. For now, Kajsa’s meaning of leadership is bringing snack to preschool for one week, and being the leader at school. She’s so excited she can hardly stand it.

She has a lot to learn about leadership.

But so do we all. If we could all learn a little of the excitement and joy of children, and apply that to the areas we lead in life, maybe the prophesied kingdom in Isaiah could begin to come about more quickly?

in the light

“O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:5).

Yesterday, Jim’s parents, Kajsa, Jim and I went to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Pretty neat. It should come as no

let us walk in the light of the LORD

surprise that I loved all the Christmas lights. But I really loved the light pictured here: the Moravian star. Beautiful.

We had walked past (and under) this star earlier in the evening, before going to see the Putz at Central Moravian Church. And walking back towards the car, we passed this star again–the bookstore was closed at this point, though. So the light stood out more, because it was both darker outside and inside the book shop.

Christ, the light of the world, came to shine his light, and the light of God’s love, upon the world filled with darkness. How are we walking in the light, helping to reflect God’s love and light to people around us? How can our light be brighter? Not for the sake of being beautiful, but for the sake of bringing the light of Christ to the world around us?

Advent Photo Journey 2010-Intro

A photo a day during Advent, perhaps a brief reflection a day. Reflecting, visually and verbally, on an Advent scripture passage, or on a general Advent theme. Sounds simple enough, right? Right. I’ve done this for several years now, as have a few friends. But this year I’m doing it a bit differently. I’m going to reflect on an upcoming Sunday’s scripture, rather than on a Sunday that has passed.

The only problem is, Advent began 16 minutes ago (as I write this). I’m already behind! I was going to start this past week, reflecting on tomorrow’s Scripture passages. I was going to enter the 2010 season of Advent more reflective, more mindful of God and God’s word. I was going to enter this season feeling ready. Not behind. At least not with this one piece of my life.

I did begin taking photos on Thanksgiving day. So I’ll post those in a bit. And today, the first Sunday of Advent, will simply have several posts. Posts with good intentions.

Ready or not, Advent is here.

Friday’s Pic: Moon and Cross

Moon and Cross

Originally uploaded by cathyse97.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1) .. it’s easy to give thanks to God when looking at a gorgeous moon, a beautiful cross on a beautiful church.. It’s easy to remember God’s steadfast love… to feel God’s steadfast love.

I love this view. The photo, not so much–but you know how I feel about my camera being in the shop. Still, I love the view. I love walking the grounds of the church at night, with Abby… and looking up.

The challenge is to look “up” throughout the day. Not only when the beautiful cross and moon are noticeable, but all the time. To look up at the cross, to look to God for guidance… to give thanks at all times.. to remember the steadfast love of God…. at all times.

Define “Success”

Define “Success”

Originally uploaded by cathyse97.

Thurs., March 25th

Today I re-read Psalm 118, and was pleased to read this famous verse: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (118:24) But the next verse surprised me: “Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!”.. Give us success? I’ve always heard, probably because it’s what I wanted to hear, “Save us!”. But the success part?

I’m currently reading “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult. There’s a movie, too-I think it came out in 2009. Go here for a synopsis, but suffice it to say that I’m intrigued, half-way through the book as I am, by the different ways that each main character might define “success”. I shouldn’t be, because that’s life, too. That’s humanity. And yet, in the book, at least, people love and care about each other (again, I’m only half-way through).

How do we define success, in our lives? Do we pray for it? If so, what do we expect or hope for? And how would our answered prayers then affect others—both those we know, and those we don’t know?

Fisher Price Prodigals

son #1: in the back of the pick up truck, face turned away…can’t believe he took this drive with his father today… he just went along because he was bored, and now he has to witness this occasion…

Fri., March 12th

son #2: a daughter, in this case… can’t believe that her father saw her from the pick up truck, and didn’t turn around and drive back to the house. Can’t believe her father is running out to greet her.Can’t believe her father hasn’t even asked her where she’s been, or where the money is.. can’t believe how much her father loves her.

dog: not in the original parable, at least not divulged, if there. But I think she belongs in the Fisher Price edition of the Prodigals.

father: jumped out of the truck to greet the daughter, after driving down the long driveway everyday for years, looking for his daughter. Can’t believe his daughter is back. Sad that his son is staying in the back of the truck.

The prodigals: prodigal #1 is the daughter, who’s been known as the prodigal… prodigal #2 is the father. The word prodigal means a reckless spendthrift, an extravagant spendthrift. The father is the true prodigal because his unexpected, counter-cultural response to his daughter’s return is prodigal behavior.

joy… celebration… spring?

Spring seems to have arrived-almost. Enough that even I, full-fledged-snow-lover, am ready for Spring. I got a taste of the warm weather and sunshine last week, and it was beautiful. The spring-like fever grew for me as I noticed the lambs (I think) at the farm behind our yard/the church parking lot.

Wed., March 10th

I actually saw them from my office window yesterday, but paid more attention today. And took some photos. These three lambs jumped, ran, ran into each other, leapt over things I couldn’t really see.. they were so full of fun and joy, that I felt joyful myself. I felt like praising God, just by observing the frolicking lambs. Even the miniature horses seemed to be playful and joyful today.

Psalm 32:11 says, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” This follows verses about living righteously, trusting in God, confessing our sin to God. While I don’t subscribe to the theology of “Trust in God, and everything will turn out well for you”, I do believe that when we are honest with ourselves, others, and God… (confession), when we praise God, when we trust in God despite what’s happening.. when we do these, God gives us the strength to be joyful, to trust, and to keep being faithful.

It’s easier to think these things on a spring-like day, when lambs are jumping, when the weather’s warmer, when I’ve seen the emus, when we had fun swinging with Kajsa, when it was overall a good day. But even if it was a bad day, hopefully I could be glad in the Lord, and rejoice.

In-between

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32) is the Gospel text for this Sunday. It’s a gut-wrenching text, I think… and sometimes that is because of the amount of grace, love, forgiveness and generosity shown in the text. And sometimes it is because of thepain divluged by the older son.

Tues., March 9th

Today I was driving home from Dublin, PA (Department of Transportation, getting my driver’s license)–a pretty drive. I was enjoying the scenery, and before long this tractor pulled out in front of me. And I got to thinking about the Prodigal Son, Sunday’s Gospel text. (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32) When you drive behind a tractor pulling a cart of some sort of fertilizer or dirt or something, you can’t help but think a little bit. And I thought about where the prodigal was, in-between squandering his inheritance and being welcomed home. He was hanging out with the pigs–feeding them, but thinking about eating their food, too. He probably never imagined that one day he would be there for a season. And he probably had no clue what the future held. Only that he had made some mistakes, and he had to try and do something.

What are the “in-betweens” in our lives? Where are those areas when we recognize that we need to acknowledge some realities, seek restoration, and move forward…. ?