GENEROSITY

The idea of this is not new to me. RevLois gave us the story of a woman who gave a diamond ring to a poor woman. Just because. Because the woman needed something special in her life. Something beautiful. And in giving the gift there is NO follow up. We don't need to know how the gift was accepted, used, kept, passed on or sold. We just do the giving.

And there is no 'thank you' involved. Better that the gift is anonymous. Better that the receiver just receives and enjoys. Better that the giver knows in her own heart that it was a good thing. All round, God knows.

FEED SOMEONE

It is easy to feed the hungry. At my own church there is the opportunity to supply our own Food Pantry which is available for call ins and our own parishioners who are in need of food subsidy. Food banks abound and are always accepting donations. It is so easy to add a few extra things into our basket when we do the weekly grocery shopping.

If you want to make an even bigger donation to try to eliminate hunger in the world you can go to Episcopal Relief and Development and choose any number of ways to make a difference. And here's an even more challenging way to make a difference -- invite the corner panhandler to join you around the corner at the local diner. Look her in the eye, let him know that they are valued as people. Have I done this? -- not yet.

THE MAGNIFICAT

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

I have never been much of a Mary person. That is I don't pray to Mary. When I pray I go directly to God. But I have always liked this poem. Maybe because it is all direct to God and is what God is all about. And the language flows. It is good. Enough words. Read it again and just enjoy.

BETTER TIMES?

Okay, I have read Psalm 4 three times. I am NOT getting the connection between what the psalmist says and what the Wall Street connection is. I DO know that the ups and downs of life are troublesome and many. I do know that many are now struggling with the downs and do not have the wherewithal to cope with them. It is for these that I am concerned. The people experiencing homeless situations right now are many. How do we help them?

There isn't an easy answer. It is hard to look this kind of need in the face and know what to do. We give what we can. We offer what we have. Is it enough? Probably not. Is it necessary for us to make the effort? Yes. Can we do more? Probably.

TWO DAY ADVENT CATCH UP

Not surprising that one day would happen that I couldn't get it all done. And it did and this is the catch up. I am NOT omitting anything. Both are included.

I do treat the earth well. In fact just this morning I was ripping brown paper into strips to add in to the compost bin along with garbage and leaves. I have just learned that paper was a valid component of the composting materials. Stands to reason, being made from trees and plants. So back to the earth it goes. And ever since I read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, I have been an avid conservator of water. Sometimes to the ridiculous but that book REALLY made an impact on my thinking about how we live and how we waste the obvious.

Then on to the proverb itself, with which I do NOT agree. Children learn from their parents and other adults that they watch and mimic. It is the parents that need to hand down a tradition of conserving our resources. And if it didn't happen in one generation START it now. It is really up to the generation that parents today's children to model conservation. Period. Do it!

The reason I didn't do this yesterday is that Bill and I went into New York City to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. A first for me and I really enjoyed the show. And we did a whole lot of walking -- from Grand Central Station to Rockefeller Plaza and back again and definitely not direct routes either way. So I saw lot of gospel writing in the lights and colors and shapes and sounds of the city. And people. Lots and lots of people. So different from the flowers and the clouds and the stars. Every bit as important and colorful, alive and real, being a part of creation each in its own way.

ADVENT 3

Sometimes I just don't get it. We are asking God to stir up God's own powers. In fact, it isn't even a request. We are telling God to put a big wooden spoon into the great pot of powers, stir them around and then come round and shower us with grace and mercy. There must be a whole lot of other powers in that pot; asking for grace and mercy is probably wise. The Lord knows that we need it -- in abundance. Yep, they're free. Free for the asking. I think I want to emphasize the asking part. By asking we are acknowledging just what it is that we need the grace and mercy for.

Many of the collects in our Book of Common Prayer are wise and heartfelt prayers. Then there are one likes today that just seem to be filling space. It is a good thing that the sermon this morning was more enlightening than the collect. And maybe I should be thinking about writing my own collect that is more in keeping with my feelings on asking for grace and mercy.

LIGHTEN UP

I really take great exception to being told what God loves or likes or disapproves or wants or doesn't want. I do agree that we needn't be taking ourselves too seriously during this Advent. Or any Advent as far as that is concerned. More to the point, we need to be reminded that we are reacquainting ourselves with the arrival of Jesus.

Of course, we have the advantage of knowing how the story goes -- so far. Resurrection is part of the story for us. But it isn't the end of the story. None of us knows the end of the story. That is why we need to be reminded about how the story plays out. The birth of Jesus kind of comes in the middle of it all. First there is creation. The birth and resurrection are the middle part of the story. We don't know how the end plays out. What we are doing in Advent is to remember the part of the story that brings Jesus into this world. Sometimes the secular traditions of the Christmas get in the way of the birth story. That is the challenge, to try to maintain a balance in our own lives of the sacred story and our secular traditions. Important to "lighen up" and not let it all overwhelm us.