Emmanuel
Following back-to-back funerals for family members who died tragically young, Mark R. Schwehn finds an Advent message of mercy and hope, God With Us.
Advent
Christ Sighting: Advent
In these last days of Advent, the presence of Christ comes nearer and nearer. Angela Alaimo O'Donnell imagines him, hungry, walking the streets of her village.
Born
"My nephew’s arrival gave birth to something new in my brother. . . and I am born again each moment I witness the coming of God."
Advent in a Time of Upheaval
God is working in the world, and Advent is a wake up call for Christians to participate in that work. God may be hard to see, but that requires more attention, more engagement, not less.
Fear in Advent
In the midst of so many fears, maybe this Advent we need not push those fears away but, in looking at them, we can let them break us open so love can be born in us in a new way.
Prepare the Way
Advent is a time of removing obstacles, making straight the paths, and leveling the high and low places so the way is clear for everyone to experience what it means that God is With Us.
Prayer for Light in Darkness
In this time between the darkest day of the year and the birth of Christ our Light, we offer prayers for a world filled with the light of justice and truth.
Morning Sickness and Advent
Sanctuary is not without stresses, exactly because sanctuary is an embodied way for dreams to grow in a protected space so that a different future can be born.
Psalm 3
Psalm 3:3 reads: "But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." Cynthia Wallace cries out in the early days of motherhood for God's protection and for rest in a time filled with beauty and terror.
The Baby Dinosaur at the Manger, Or: The Incarnation is for Everybody
A plastic green dinosaur in a manger scene is weird, but the uncontainable creator of the universe, held by his human mother, is really as weird as it gets.
