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From author Jan Richardson:

I always live with the awareness that I am traveling without a map, that I am making the path as I go, with all the wonders and challenges this brings. Yet Advent calls me to remember that even as I move across what seems like uncharted territory, there is a way that lies beneath the way I am going. Others have traveled here ahead of me, providing pieces I can use. The pieces come through words, images, prayers, stories; fragments that help me to find my way and perhaps to smooth the path a bit for someone else. So on this Advent day, I am tucking this blessing into your hand, for wherever you are traveling.

BLESSING THE WAY

With every step

you take,

this blessing rises up

to meet you.

It has been waiting

long ages for you.

Look close

and you can see

the layers of it,

how it has been fashioned

by those who walked

this road before you,

how it has been created

of nothing but

their determination

and their dreaming,

how it has taken

its form

from an ancient hope

that drew them forward

and made a way for them

when no way could be

seen.

Look closer

and you will see

this blessing

is not finished,

that you are part

of the path

it is preparing,

that you are how

this blessing means

to be a voice

within the wilderness

and a welcome

for the way.

—Jan Richardson

from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

janrichardson.com/books

Image: “In the Wilderness Prepare the Way”

© Jan Richardson

janrichardsonimages.com

Peace Be With You. – Paul

From Rev. Tweedy Sombrero Navarette:

May you never be subservient.

May you never fall prey to fitting in.

May you always swirl in all the directions the sacred winds want to take you.

May you never hush your laughter nor your tears.

May you breathe without restriction.

May you show up every single day to the calling that is you and may you always know the courage of your heart.  ~ Fig Ally

Image by Betty Albert

Peace Be With You. – Paul

Peace Be With You. – Paul

From Gavin Paul Ellis:

I’m always amazed at how busy December gets.

There are things I should do, things I have to do, and things I long to do—hoping they’ll feed me. 

Obligations press in from every direction.

The season has a way of swallowing us whole. As our calendars fill, so does the noise.

Yet Advent whispers a different rhythm: slow down. 

Make room. 

Let the hurried parts of you unclench.

Stillness isn’t found in doing everything. 

It’s found in trusting that God is already at work where I cannot see.

Peace Be With You. – Paul

From A Network for Grateful Living grateful.org:  

Three ideas for Daily Gratitude Practice

Experience more gratitude by experimenting with these small practices throughout your day.

Both/And: Take a moment to pause and become present. Name one thing you’re struggling with and one thing you’re grateful for. Practice holding both things simultaneously, with equal tenderness.

Breathe: Add a simple pause and three centering breaths to a daily transition, giving thanks to your body for continuing to breathe, for the trees that provide clean air.

Awaken Your Senses: Light candles and turn on music before sitting down to a meal. Pause to give thanks for one aspect of your day and for everyone and everything who made this food available to you.

Which practice are you going to try first?

Peace Be With You. – Paul

In our United Methodist Hymnal (#729), there is a hymn entitled “O Day of Peace That Dimly Shines.”  Today I bring you the lyrics of that hymn.  

O day of peace that dimly shines

Through all our hopes and prayers and dreams

Guide us to justice, truth and love

Delivered from our selfish schemes

May swords of hate fall from our hands

Our hearts from envy find release

Till by God’s grace our warring world

Shall see Christ’s promised reign of peace

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb

Nor shall the fierce devour the small

As beasts and cattle calmly graze

A little child shall lead them all

Then enemies shall learn to love

All creatures find their true accord

The hope of peace shall be fulfilled

For all the earth shall know the Lord

If it is not familiar to you, here is the link to a video of the song:

O Day of Peace that Dimly Shines arr. by Jantz A. Black from Beckenhorst Press

Peace Be With You. – Paul

From Kat Arman, Cuban-American author and theologian – author of Abuelita Faith & Sacred Belonging and Liturgies for Resisting Empire

In Deuteronomy, after Moses dies, God takes him to a hidden place and buries him. I don’t think we sit with that image often enough. Like in Genesis, when God sews clothes for Adam and Eve. 

These are the portraits of God we need in a world that convinces us God is only a thunderous ruler or a distant king; a world that insists that those with power—especially men—don’t sew, or tend, or handle a body with tenderness.

Empire can keep its stoic, domineering tyrant-god. 

Give me the seamstress God—the one who bends low to stitch together clothing. 

The one who kneels in the dirt, digs a grave, and prepares a beloved body for burial. 

Give me the embodied God who weeps, who comforts, who labors, who nurses. 

This is the God I’m here for, the intimate and tender one.

Peace Be With You. – Paul

Here are the Prayers Of The People from Sunday, November 30 – The First Sunday of Advent.

Prayers Of The People

Gracious God, Creator of all that is, we pray with waiting hearts.

We pray:

For all who struggle during this season,

For all whose families are not people of grace and love,

For all who continue to love even the unlovable,

God, in your love, 

Hear our prayers.

We pray:

For all whose hearts are heavy with grief,

For all who watch their loved ones struggle with disease or injury,

For all experiencing pain in body, mind, or spirit,

For all who wait, who love, who hope for recovery,

God, in your love, 

Hear our prayers.

We pray:

For all whose lives are chaos at this moment,

For all who seek to move into more peaceful places,

For all who encourage and support,

For all who pave the way for recovery,

God, in your love, 

Hear our prayers.

We pray:

For all who are tired of their circumstances,

For all who are planning their new lives within the pain of the current ones,

For all who yearn for better lives for themselves and their family,

For all who make those better lives happen for others and for themselves,

God, in your love, 

Hear our prayers.

We pray:

For all who are hopeful, who are loving, who are full of grace,

For all who seek, who work for a brighter world,

For all who advocate for those in need,

For all who are affirming and nonjudgmental,

For all who work for peace, love, joy, 

God, in your love, 

Hear our prayers.  Amen.

Peace Be With You. – Paul

At the beginning of the pandemic, I began doing these daily devotionals.  Aside from a brief break to kind of let my soul rest, they have continued. 

Sometimes, just like moments in life, one is good, one is so-so, and another can be taken or left.  A great many have been ordinary, reflecting, I hope, our experiences of the holy in our daily times. 

As you all know, I will retire again at the end of November, with my last time to preach being on Christmas Eve at the 5:00 p.m. service.  So I will continue these devotionals until Christmas Eve, and then let them retire along with me.  

Today, the Friday after Thanksgiving, and before the First Sunday of Advent, is hopefully a relaxed day for you.  Perhaps a chance to be with a few folks whom you love, or even perhaps a time to relax after some times of busyness.  

So I pray for some times of silence for you as well as some times of listening to beautiful music, reading books which you enjoy, watching shows which feed you and some which simply occupy your time.  

In the midst of all the movement toward Christmas, please don’t forget you.  Let yourself breathe, take a walk, and listen.  The sounds of our world can sometimes drown out the sounds of hope.  But take note of the hope whenever you hear, see, or feel it.  Let it feed your today and your tomorrow.  

I love you all.  Peace Be With You. – Paul

Prayer for All Beings

In cupped hands,

a flower of light

its glow rising

like dawn for every soul.

I pray for the birds,

their wings unbroken,

songs lifted freely

into boundless skies.

I pray for the rivers,

to flow unchained,

carrying hope

to thirsty roots and hearts.

I pray for all creatures,

great and small,

to dance with the earth,

to breathe without fear.

Let every being

find their place,

let every heartbeat

shine with grace.

This prayer is not mine alone

it belongs to the wind,

to the fire,

to the endless circle of life. –  Serin Alar

Peace Be With You. – Paul