LOVE LOOKS LIKE A MELTING PATH

We were frozen in time last week: wintertime, harsh, biting, bitter treacherous beautiful days. Ice wrapped round each branch of every shrub and tree. How could anything survive such a deep freeze? Paths and roads were like icicles in motion as black and grey ice made moving forward a monumental task. Sun and warmth finally arrived and we began to thaw.

How true this is for our lives at times. We find ourselves like a snapshot, frozen with the emotion of a certain time and unsure, unable, perhaps even unwilling to go forward, as if staying where our heart is frozen would be a better option than letting it defrost all around. Fear grips us and grabs hold of our hearts paralyzing us and we freeze simply because moving seems so dangerous- we don't know how to move or what step to take next.

In a world filled with conflict and hatred, and in families and relationships caught in tension and misunderstanding, do we just freeze? We stop, shut down, disengage and lose heart, when all the while what is needed is love and light to warm our own hearts and kindness to allow what's frozen in us to begin melting. 

Our souls are thirsting for living water, where we can soak up the love and grace we need to nourish and sustain us for the journey. Allowing the love of God to touch all that is hard, bitter, cold, and harsh within is essential if we want to find a path forward.

There is One who can touch what's hurting inside with the warmth of His love.

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

"To Thee I feel I must return; I knock; may Thy door be opened to me; 

teach me the way to Thee." 

St. Augustine 

Soliloquies Book 1.6

LOVE LOOKS LIKE A DRESS

I encountered a few women in the fitting rooms this afternoon helping their friend find a mother of the groom dress; I chuckled to myself because that was my errand as I entered the department store. They were laughing and joking, "No, not that one, it's too sheer; oh, that one is perfect- so flattering!" I could hear their running commentary as I tried on dress after dress for our son's wedding. Funny. We clothe ourselves in certain ways because we love those we are celebrating with.  As I kept shedding garments and trying on new ones, I realized the connection to our emotional and spiritual life. How I live and act, you could say "dress," in the world is a reflection of the "running commentary" in my mind and heart.

Here's some interesting fodder for that commentary of mind and heart:

"I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.

 For He has clothed me with garments of salvation

 and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest 

and as a bride adorns herself with jewels," 

Isaiah 61:10

How I see how God sees me helps me get dressed in the morning and gives me the grace to take on the challenge of dressing and acting as God asks:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, 

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

 Bear with one another and forgive one another whatever grievances you may have 

against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, 

which binds them all together in perfect unity," 

Colossians 3:12-14

That, my friends, is quite a wardrobe! 

Will we let the Lord who loves us inform what we wear in the world? He loves us with an everlasting love and wants us to dress as if we are loved, so we can love.

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

                                 "He that is beloved walks with great unrestraint 
                                         within the heart of Him who loves him." 

                                St John Chrysostom Homily XIII on 2 Corinthians

LOVE LOOKS LIKE SOUP

It seems strange, I know. I want love to look like a big fanfare and a huge project and a deep connection, but today love looks like chicken soup. Sure, you've guessed it, someone is sick in our house and so I do what I do, and it seems small and insignificant and trivial, but soup nourishes our bodies. I wonder, is it love that nourishes the soul?

I'm not good at love at all. I'm most likely a classic case for a counselor with a PhD; unresolved childhood issues, insecure at times, boundary issues, over-responsible and probably co-dependent with everyone including the dog, but I know how to make homemade Shaker chicken noodle soup. Sure, today, of all days when I am weary and worn I had thick long noodles instead of the regular Pennsylvania Dutch wide egg noodles; it wasn't perfect and that's how love is.

It is daily and a struggle.

I have clothes to wear when I cook... I put on an apron to keep me protected from the mess. I wonder. Could I clothe myself in compassion and kindness, humility and gentleness to protect myself from the mess of the world and the mess of my own humanity.

Chrysostom calls to me again, to look at my life as lived before my King, day in, day out, one batch of soup at a time, and see if each day finds me kind and gentle. Can we live in the love He has for us, clothed in His love as He clothed Himself in our humanity, so that we might bring His peace to the broken, the lost and those needing a bowl of soup?

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"The King is everywhere present, and observes what is done...let us show forth in our life much gentleness, much purity, for we have a King who beholds all our actions continually. In order then that this light  may ever richly enlighten us, let us gladly accept these bright beams, for so shall we enjoy both the good things present and those to come, through the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ."

St. John Chrysostom

Homily VI on John 14.25

USHERED INTO THE NEW

Lingering in the last days and moments of the old year while waiting to usher in the new, I wonder. I wonder what awaits me? Changes, yes. New year's resolutions, no. I hardly ever make a list on the eve of the year to mark all the things that I will do: weight to lose, closets to clean, goals to accomplish, it all seems exhausting! Could it be more about how I will be in the coming season and less about what I will do.

What if the New Year was about fruitfulness and how the King has called me to yield fruit as I am planted by streams of water? Even though I live in New England and most streams have frozen still, I am somehow aware that being productive is important. Being able to bear fruit that will last looks like something, even in winter's chill. The streams of living water that refresh the soul (John 4: 4-15) are within, and maybe my goal in the coming year needs to be about making sure I can hear the water within my soul running free and clear; the world, with all its clamoring and clutter stops up the river at times. All that we value and hold dear too often costs us dearly.


Our world prizes prosperity; and yet, it often appears preposterous that we should seek and save for all this accumulation when the King came and emptied Himself and gave. What has He given to us that we might use to yield a harvest? What if, at the end of this year, we consider what we bring to the world rather than what we can gain or accomplish, or order and organize?

If I started with love, how would the world look, how would my world be different? It might be a little kinder and gentler and less about me and my lists. It could be something far greater than me, it might be about changing the world with the love I've been given. Life always begins in the small things; the "little way of love" is a simple and supremely challenging path to begin at the cusp of the New Year.

Come join me on the journey to a better you- oddly enough it begins in the heart and with love. You are loved, delighted in, rejoiced over and you can walk in confidence because God is with you. He is a mighty God and we love because He first loved us. Try it and see; no matter what your situation, circumstance, relationships, begin to bring love and watch what happens. It may not be easy, but take a big leap this year, and remember, "Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." And, "Love never fails," 1 Corinthians 13:7-8.

Medicine from Sacred Scriptures:

"The Lord your God is with you,

 He is mighty to save.

 He will take great delight in you, 

He will quiet you with His love, 

He will rejoice over you with singing." 

Zephaniah 3:17

ADVENT'S KING

May the Good News bring you great joy; it is for all people.

Light shatters

Darkness flees

Heaven's glory invades humanity.

Love descends

Hope soars

As we bow to adore

The King of Kings

The Prince of Peace

His the Kingdom that will never cease.

dhallenbeck 12/17

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 

Luke 2:11

ADVENT'S LIGHT

Our home rang with laughter and was crowded with dear friends last night, but the candles remained unlit. I doubt anyone noticed, but I felt a certain sadness at the end of the evening for missing that detail. I had hoped for that perfect holiday cheer, with candles and food and beautifully set tables, instead it was chaos and joy and only a chandelier reflected into the dark of the night. But maybe this is the essence of Christmas: light shines forth into the darkness, not candles, but light refelcted from us for the joy of the world.

What a beautiful truth. "This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin," 1 John 1:5-7

John's words echo from his Gospel:

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness  has not understood it...

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world," 

John 1:4-5, 9

The fellowship in our home did not need the light of candles. It was fellows walking together, sharing the light of God. Kindness and gentleness poured forth from lives intertwined by years of memories shared.

I wonder, do we bring the light of God to the world by the kindness we show?

Medicine from Sacred Writings:

"The King is everywhere present, and observes what is done...let us show forth in our life much gentleness, much purity, for we have a King who beholds all our actions continually. In order then that this light  may ever richly enlighten us, let us gladly accept these bright beams, for so shall we enjoy both the good things present and those to come, through the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ."

St. John Chrysostom

Homily VI on John 14.25

ADVENT'S ANGELS

Botticelli's Madonna. Glory and beauty pours into Mary's heart as the angel Gabriel descends and frightens her, makes astonishing announcements, and then he leaves her to live her ordinary extraordinary life. I wonder did she sense the heavenly presence in her days expecting her first born Son? And when He was born into the world, did she see angels hovering?

I miss the angels at times, I miss the holy in the ordinary. His presence and peace within is muted and muffled by the push and pull of the weight of the world. Why, I wonder, do I carry these burdens when the burden carrier comes and carries me.

The handmaiden of the Lord carries the Shepherd who carries and leads her.

"See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, 

and His arm rules for Him. 

See, His reward is with Him

 and His recompense accompanies Him.

He tends His flock like a Shepherd: 

He gathers His lambs in His arms and He carries them close to His heart; 

He gently leads those who are with young." 

Isaiah 40:10-11

The Savior comes announced by angels and worshiped by the same. Am I aware of the angels' presence in my days (they are ministering spirits sent to serve us Hebrews 1:14)?

And do I feel the beat of the Shepherd's heart as He carries me.


Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"When God brings His first-born into the world, He says, 

'Let all God's angels worship Him.'" 

Hebrews 1:6