Emmanuel

Emmanuel was the name Jesus was given at his birth. It is literally translated "God with us." Let that sink in for a minute.

God with us.

God with us.

God with us.

God with us.

Is there anything more mysteriously beautiful than the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ?

There is little else to say at this point but amen. May you experience Emmanuel anew this Christmas season and throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas!

"The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14

Welcome to Our World

Welcome to Our World by Chris Rice

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

On Advent

"Advent is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ." -- Thomas Merton

Once again, Thomas Merton has arrested me with his words. These sixteen words have been haunting me for a few days now. I am not struggling with their meaning. It is pretty straight-forward, don't you think? This season we love so much because it prepares us for the birth of our Savior and the joy of things to come (i.e. - that Christ will come again) is even more than that. Advent is not just about waiting expectantly for our Savior, it is about dying to ourselves and becoming more like Christ. If it sounds more like Lent to you, I would say you are not alone. But I find myself convinced of and convicted by Merton's words about this season.

If Advent really is about preparing ourselves to celebrate Christ's birth and anticipate his return, what Merton said must be part of that. This season must be the start of something deeper in us personally. As we celebrate His birth, we must celebrate our death. Only in death to ourselves can we experience the light and life that Christ brings. Only when we come to the end of ourselves can we begin again with Christ.

I love Advent more every year as my understanding of it grows. This quote from Merton is challenging, but I like it. I think there's real truth in his words. Any thoughts?

(NOTE: This post was taken from a blog I wrote elsewhere during Advent last year. Merton's words continue to resonate with me. I hope they will find a place with you this Advent Season, too.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"You have given so much to me. Give one thing more...a grateful heart." - George Herbert

"Lord, you are to be blessed and praised; all good things come from You. You are in our words and in our thoughts, and in all that we do." - St. Teresa of Avila

As you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with your family, may you also remember and give thanks for all that God has given you. May you remember his goodness to you in the year behind you and look forward expectantly for promised blessings in the year to come. God bless you!

The Path of Perpetual Wonder

I have a well-worn copy of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers on my shelf. Actually, I have several copies. I received a couple of them when I graduated from high school and never opened them. I received another one summer for being on staff as a camp counselor. I did use that one...but only during the summer. Finally, I bought my own copy upon graduating from college to use in an accountability group with a couple of high school girls. That is the one that is well-worn.

I am relatively sure that I still have not read the entire devotional. It is a difficult read in some ways, cutting you to the core. That can get exhausting. Still, it is a book I return to again and again.

As I browsed through it again today, I ran across this quote. I have nothing to add. His words say it all. I thought this might speak to you all in the midst of the uncertainty called college. May it inspire and challenge you as you seek to follow Him.

"You do not know what you are going to do;the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder - you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a "going out," building in confidence on God.

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is."

Being Here Now

"Watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places." - Roald Dahl

I love the season of Fall. I love to watch the leaves change...and the temperature. With fall comes color, cider, warm blankets, bonfires, and the holidays. This year our Fall was a little delayed. The leaves aren't as bright as usual because of the lack of consistent rain and a late frost last year. Even still, this season is beautiful. I think somehow the sparseness of the color has made me notice it even more. As I drive down random streets, I encounter a bright red or bright orange tree here or there and it just takes my breath away. God is so creative.

The season of Fall also means the stress of tests, papers, and projects for you as a student. I know...I was one not long ago. I remember well the feeling of excitement for the holidays coupled with the tension of finishing what felt like a thousand papers and projects each year during seminary. The irony of it all is that just outside of the library where I spent the better part of my afternoons and evenings (and some mornings!) stood the most gorgeous ginkgo tree you could ever imagine. (See the photo above for a glimpse of a ginkgo tree right here in Arkansas. The one at Asbury was even larger and more vibrant than this one!). Most days I was too wrapped up in my studies to see it. Even in the middle of Kentucky (stunning in the Fall, by the way...), I found it difficult to enjoy this season I love so much.

My challenge to you today is to be present in this season and every season of your life. It is so easy to look too far forward and miss what God is saying right in front of you. Even looking too far ahead to otherwise good things (holidays, family, graduation, etc.) can cause us to miss the unbelievable things He is trying to say to us and show us in our present. And He has so much to say to us through creation and the created...

Stop. Breathe. Relax. Enjoy. Pray. Listen. Be.

Our Major Effort

"To cling always to God and to the things of God - this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly." - John Cassian (c. 365-435)

This quote is a permanent fixture on my desk. I cut it out of a little devotional book because it spoke to me. I look at it and find myself wondering if I am really doing as it says. Do I cling to God or to my own idea of how things should be? Do I find myself following after God unswervingly or relentlessly after my own will? What does it even mean to cling to God unswervingly? Is all of this my major effort or am I spending the better part of my time on lesser things?

The answers to those questions are not always as positive as I would like them to be. I find myself taking detours and shortcuts more than I would like to admit. I often cling to my ideas of what it all ought to look like and fail to see what God is trying to say all around me. I expend a lot of energy on things that are not of God like worry and fear. My heart is easily swerved off the path of faith and trust.

Despite all of this, though, I believe that I am doing what this quote says to the best of my ability. I believe that awareness of where we falter is evidence of where our heart truly is on any given day. I join the late monk Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in my belief that the desire to please God does, in fact, please him (see the full prayer here).

Do you find yourself struggling to hold fast to God and follow Him unswervingly? If so, you are in good company. You are not alone. If we are honest, we all struggle to stay the course. But God is faithful and does not leave us to walk the path alone.

Need some reminders? Print out the prayer linked above and place it somewhere you'll see it often. Memorize Hebrews 10:23. While you're at it, read the rest of that passage (Hebrews 10:19-25) and surround yourself with friends in the faith who will provide the encouragement and support you need to keep going. Engage in the spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, worship, service, celebration...just to name a few!) on a regular basis. And remember that to cling or hold unswervingly requires the effort of at least two...you and God. You and I cannot do that on our own...