Bethlehem Bound

 

In the beginning, there was the Word

 

Advent marks the beginning of a new church year.  Pause, smell the air…do you sense an aroma hovering like when you sit in a new car?  Or does the air smell more like stale pumpkin pie and leftover turkey that you can’t believe is still in your refrigerator?  I mean, how many sandwiches can one person eat?  What is in the air you breathe?  What is in your heart right now?  Does it feel like you are starting a new chapter or just a continuation of the same story that feels stuck and stymied in your life right now?  Maybe it is a bit of both?

 

On Sunday and yesterday, I encouraged you to find a word to carry to the manger/stable/ Bethlehem this year.  Maybe today, you are still trying to find a word for Advent.  A few questions to ponder with your word you selected so far.

 

Do you sense excitement or exhaustion in your life right now?

Do you feel hope or hanging on by a thread today?

Where do you feel like Elizabeth – pregnant with possibility, and where do you feel barren or dealing with pain?

 

Of course, only having one word to describe the beautiful complexity that is you can be an exercise in frustration.  We are multitudes; many words roam around within us.  Many words want to take up residence or pitch a tent in our minds, refusing to leave. You may need more than one word.  You could fill up a page trying to express all that is swirling in you. 

 

Last week, I offered you this list as possible words to carry in the backpack of your life to Bethlehem.  You may want to light a candle of “Hope” today as you read these words ~ and I pray this lets loose your imagination:

• Jesus 
• Christ 
• Bethlehem
• Manger 
• Shepherds 
• Angels 
• Mary
• Joseph
• Incarnation/God-in-the-flesh
• Advent/waiting/wandering
• Wise Ones 
• Frankincense and Myrrh or Gifts
• Peace
• Joy
• Faith
• Hope
• Love
• Emmanuel: A name for Jesus, meaning "God with us". 

 

Remember that lighting a candle called hope is an act of resistance in a world where the headlines object, our rational minds reject, and our heartlines project a different truth.  You may feel your inner defense attorney yell out that such a word should not even dare be spoken today.  Hope is always vulnerable, like a baby lying in a manger.  Hope is always foolish, like shepherds crying out good news to anyone who would stop to listen.  Hope is persistent because God isn’t finished yet.  God continues to sing from barns to this day.  Do you hear what I hear?  What word is crying out for you to carry to the manger this year?  With God’s hope to enfold and hold you this week.  Amen.