Tag Archive for: God

Advent Day 25

/in ,

Blue Christmas

By Mary Pandiani
Executive Director
Selah Center

…Learning to trust what emerges,
So that gradually
You may come to know
That deep in that black hole
You will find the blue flower
That holds the mystical light
Which will illuminate in you….


John O’Donohue
A Blessing for Loneliness

About thirty years ago, a new tradition began at Christmas time. In the Western Hemisphere, the night of the Winter Solstice, Blue Christmas becomes a time to honor the sadness that accompanies the season. On this day, we acknowledge those who no longer celebrate the Christmas season with us in person. Entering into a ritual of quietness, we light candles in remembrance. It’s a time to grieve amid celebration for the season.

This year, Blue Christmas touches close to my heart. Several deaths in the last few months have impacted me, most significantly a dear friend of thirty-two years and my mother-in-law of my late husband. I celebrate this Christmas without them, and it’s not easy to do so. While I can still enter the joy of the season, my heart is heavy with grief upon grief. This realization holds my attention nearly every day. Tears well up from deep inside.

I use the word “honor” in sadness purposefully. Sadness does not take away the joy from the season. Just as Mary and Joseph experienced joy and sorrow on their journey, from hearing from the angels, trying to find a place to stay for the night, and giving birth to baby Jesus. Holding both is a paradox. And I am reminded there is sadness and joy in the life story. I want to make a note of this reality and honor it.

The poem by John O’Donohue, A Blessing for Loneliness, invites me into what the darkness of grief and sadness offers. Ending with the “blue flower” in this blessing, he captures my imagination with mystical allure. In Romantic poetry, the blue flower symbolizes the artistic and emotional striving for the infinite. Connecting to Blue Christmas, I remember my longing for the infinite, even amid my sadness. Can I trust that what emerges, whether in the grief or the joy of the season, will be a gift from God? I find solace in knowing the pain I feel is equal to my love for those I miss. And could it be, from the darkness, I might know light?

This is the hope of the season and our lives; a light has been brought into the world. I celebrate the light while honoring the darkness. My prayer on the longest night of the year is to continue to learn what it means to trust God in whatever happens, whether sadness or joy.

Delightful

/in ,

By Sherly Dorney
part of the Selah Community

Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desire of your heart. 

Psalm 37:4

My grandchildren are absolutely delightful!  A hot fudge sundae, minus the calories, is delightful.  When my house is totally clean, I find that delightful.  And when God isn’t making me work on my stuff, I’m delighted to be conversing on an upbeat and positive level.  I “delight in the Lord” but not enough.

For about a million years I truly believed the desire of my heart was to have a man in my life. I’ve prayed, sacrificed, begged, pleaded, bargained, threw away all my Jimi Hendrix albums because someone convinced me they might be cursed, tithed, fasted, asked the saints for intercessions, asked people to pray for me.  You name it and I’ve done it.  Anything anyone suggested, I’ve done.  Now rushing toward sixty too quickly, I finally know a man in my life is not the deepest desire of my heart. 

My heart’s desire is to be all that God created me to be!  That means discovering my talents and using them for good.  It means healing the wounds that keep me from being whole.  It means listening to God’s whispers and being delighted that I’m being spoken to.

Had I been truly in tune with my heart’s desire, and had known the future, I would have spent that energy praying for my grandson Bryan, who is afflicted with severe ADHD and struggles so much in school and tries so hard but his talents are overlooked.  I would have spent more time feeling delight in God after being tested for leukemia, Colby’s results were negative and Garhett’s heart was healthy with no holes.  I would have begged and pleaded that my step-niece, Ryann could have died a natural death, that she and her baby would have lived a long life.   That her family would have never had to experience unthinkable pain and suffering and prayed against the evil that slithered into our family and tried to crush our spirits.

On the path of pain, when I forgot to delight, God didn’t forget me.  Instead, God delighted in me and my family and sent extraordinary healing, grace, and hope.  May we continue to delight in God and give thanks for all of our blessings and remember our true heart’s desire is our sacred relationship with God. How delightful! 

Photo by Sergiu Vălenaș on Unsplash

A Prayer for Our Country

/in , , ,

God of mercy,
bless this nation of ours.
We pray for liberty,
         that none may be oppressed or exploited.
We pray for democracy;
         that all voices be heard, and none silenced.
We pray for peace,
         that there be harmony, in which everyone’s gifts may flourish.
We pray for justice,
         that no one benefit at the expense of another,
         that there be a just and equal sharing of power.
We pray for a spirit of patriotism,
         that we be faithful to one another as a whole.
We thank you for our freedom, and those who have protected it:
         teachers who taught us to question,
         neighbors who acted in covenant with one another,
         those who spoke out against injustice.
We thank you for the gift of our diversity;
         may we honor all people
         and celebrate our rich differences.
We thank you for this land, for it is yours.
         May we live in reverence for your Creation.
God of mercy, in love of our country we confess
         our mistreatment of the poor, and of the land,
         our abuse of power, and idolatry of our place in the world.
Temper our might with humility
         and our power with compassion.
Mend our divisions, heal our fear,
         and restore our love of one another.
Bless this nation,
         and bless every nation the same,
         for all of us are sisters and brothers.
On this Day of Inter-independence,
bless us O God, and make us a nation of justice and peace,
         a nation of benevolence and generosity,
         a nation of mutual sharing and cooperation,
         a nation devoted to the healing of the world.
God of mercy, bless this nation,
that we may be a nation of mercy.
Amen.

Steve Garnaas-Holmes,
www.unfoldinglight.net
Used with permission

About Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Steve Garnaas- is a retired United Methodist pastor. He and his wife Beth live in Maine. He often leads retreats on prayer, poetry, and renewing our language about God. He writes a lot of church music.  “I am trying to be here now,” says Garnaas-Holmes.

Unfolding Light

Unfolding Light is a daily reflection rooted in a contemplative, creation-centered spirituality, often inspired by my daily walk in the woods. In poems, parables, psalms, thoughts, and the odd weather report I hope to invite readers into a spirit of presence, compassion, justice, and delight. Though these writings are rooted in the Christian story you’ll hear in them melodies of many traditions. Unfolding Light is for anyone who wants to be a part of God’s healing of the world. You can receive Unfolding Li

Photo by Spenser Sembrat on Unsplash

Embodied

/in , , ,
Read more