| A Baby's Reach |
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The baby's translucent skin glowed. Her glistening soft eyes followed daddy's forefinger spiraling around her rose-petal cheeks. Then a hearty chuckle broke the suspense when the baby reached wide and caught daddy's meandering, teasing finger. Babies are like that. Babies reach for movement and color, for intriguing and fascinating things. A baby will be mesmerized by the strand of pearls around a mother's neck. Babies look to the light.  Today as I stroked another precious baby's face, he relaxed into an almost mystical repose and within a moment surrendered into a serene sleep. Julian, a mere 10-weeks old, reflected the wisdom of the ancients. In just those brief moments, he taught me to yearn joyfully for touch, to notice beauty, and to surrender to peace. Why is it that in our adult world we yearn for fillers that don't satisfy superficial cravings, we let ourselves be distracted by meaningless noise, and we run in a frenzied hamster-wheel of anxiety? For many who follow the Christian liturgical calendar, we are in the second week of Advent. I like to think of "Advent" as a moving toward - in this case, the precious Child Jesus. Little baby Julian, in his simple yearning for touch, beauty, and peace, inspired me to move toward what brings serenity during this Advent season. I have two weeks to turn and move toward what I really yearn for. My soul yearns.... "so my soul yearns for you, O God." (Ps 42:2b)
---by Jan |
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Happy New Year!
--by Bill
No, I'm not getting ahead of myself. In fact, I'm a little bit late with this greeting.
For our society, the New Year begins January 1. For the church, the new year begins with the First Sunday of Advent (this year, November 28). For retailers the "Christmas season" begins ... when? Earlier and earlier every year, it seems. I know I saw Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween this year. For the church, the Christmas season begins December 25, and continues through January 5. Yes, there really are twelve days of Christmas!
The church is clearly out of step with the rest of the world. Personally, I think this calendar-confusion may be a good thing. We are reminded, over and over, that we march to the beat of a different drummer. The rhythms of our lives are not determined by the work-week, but by the worship-week. Neither the fiscal year nor the school year is at the heart of our identity.
The Liturgical Year, or Church Year, is anchored by the festivals of Christmas and Easter. Our year is shaped by these two events: The birth of Jesus, when God entered into human time, and the resurrection of Jesus, when God shook up all our notions about how our times will end.
While living in Germany in the 1980s, I learned a praise song that is a comfort to this day. The song's chorus is a wondrous affirmation:
All my time is held in Your hands.
Now I can be at rest, be at rest in You.*
In our fast-paced, rapidly-changing times, the "irregularities" of the church calendar remind us that all our times are held in God's strong hands. With that faith, we can enter the new year with confidence.
*Peter Strauch, "Meine Zeit steht in deinen Händen" (my translation) |
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