December 16, 2003

Every day when the newspaper arrives, for many there is a great hope that the words of the prophet Samuel will have come true.

How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished.

2 Samuel 1:27

How wonderful it would be to have a world without war.  How wonderful it would be to have a world without the weapons of war.  How wonderful it would be for children to be safe in the streets and in their schools.  How wonderful it would be for people to be able to live in far away places, and near to us in peace and in justice.  How wonderful it would be…

It is the belief and hope that peace is possible that motivates people to act, to work for peace, to protest to governments when policies lead us away from peace.  It is the image of today’s box.

Plasticine people come to life with signs of hope.  We will be free.  War will end.  Justice will prevail.  At the front of the box, hardly visible in the photograph, are models of canons and guns, and weapons of war that have become useless.  The physical ‘weapons of war have perished.’  

And yet, it is the people of the box that remind us that perhaps the biggest weapon of war is the idea that some people are more worthy and worthwhile than others.  Perhaps when that idea perishes, when we come to believe that we are all loved and beloved children of God, then we will know a different world.

On this day in Advent, that really is a ‘grown-up Christmas wish’.

 

December 15, 2013

We were opening the box in Sunday worship again today.  It really is fun that way, everyone is looking forward to seeing what might be inside, and today’s box had a battery pack on the back…the suspense was palpable!

Here are the words:

Come, house of Jacob, 

and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah 2:5

We opened the box to significant sounds of oohs, and aahs, as the lid opened and tiny lights filled the space.  What did we see?  Humans, walking together.  A stable.  Angels.  A town.  Lights in the sky.  Stars.  Baby Jesus — we couldn’t really see him very well but we could tell where he was supposed to be by the light on the picture.  Footprints on the ground.  

The box was carried into the congregation for all to see.  

We needed to see that.  We need to be reminded, always, that we are called to walk together.  We are called to care for one another.  

This afternoon a group gathered at the church to pack Christmas hampers, and to wrap the gifts that accompany them.  Thirty-five helping hands for 10 families.  We are reminding ourselves and each other of what it means to walk together.  We are remembering what it means to walk in the light.

Come, all houses, all people, let us walk in the light of God’s love.  It is the week of the candle of joy! 

December 14, 2013

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

He shall judge between nations,

and shall arbitrate for many peoples.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up swords against nation, 

neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 2:4

Today’s box is filled with intricately cut paper.  Black paper, made to look like guns, rifles, standing on the left.  The box is meant to be ‘read’ left to right.  The guns are standing in a row.  Next, is another row of guns, almost identical, but beginning to be transformed.  There is a leaf emerging.  The next row, the guns change a little more, a branch, and more leaves.  The rows continue until, at least, it is a row of trees before us.

A couple of Sundays ago, Jeff referred to the passage that inspires this box as God’s invitation to Arts and Crafts.  We are invited to take something, and help transform it into something new.  In the box, guns change into trees.  In Isaiah, it is swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks.  It is instruments of violence, into tools for farming.  It is defending ourselves against the ‘other’, transformed into a means to help the ‘other’.

Maybe, when we live like that, helping on another, there is not really anyone who is ‘other’.  Maybe we are all in this together.  Maybe when one suffers, we all suffer.  Maybe when one is helped, we are all helped.

Maybe, just maybe, peace will truly come to all of us, together.

The advent candles of hope and peace burn on.

 

 

 

December 13, 2013

There is a sign on the tiny church in today’s box ‘Welcome All’.  There is a sign on the TMUC building in Winnipeg, ‘Welcome’.  There are signs in other places carrying a similar message, ‘All Welcome’, or ‘Come On In’.  Is it true that the church can be a place of welcome for people?  Can we open our doors and dare to say that anyone and everyone can find a place of grace?

Here’s today’s scripture and box:

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Psalm 122:1

The box reminds us that as much as the church should and could be welcoming, so should and could other places!  The beauty of nature welcomes us.  There are other places where people can gather and find shelter from the cold.  The newspaper clippings at the front of the box show just a few.  They give glimpses of ‘a good place to be’, or ‘I have a place to play with my friends and just be a kid’, to a house built to be a home.  

Maybe it is about being welcome, but maybe it is more than that, maybe we all need a place where we belong; where we are known; where we are accepted and loved.  Maybe that is the message that makes us glad.

December 12, 2913

It’s cold outside in Winnipeg today.  It is something like minus 30 degrees outside.  Did I say that it’s cold????  It’s really cold!  It is no wonder that today’s box is holding up ministries, missions, and programs that try to help people in the cold.

The inspiration is Luke 1:52

God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.

The box needed a little assembly today, the poles needed to be taped in place so that the signs would be lifted up.  The signs celebrate 1Hope Winnipeg, the Ladybug Foundation, Winnipeg Harvest, Koats for Kids and more.  People helping people needed to be lifted up.  These are stories that need to be told.  These are images that must find a place in our hearts.  These are the connections to people who live in the cold.  These are the ways in which we must help change the experience of our brothers and sisters in this earth.  We are called to help to lift up those in need.

We can make a difference.  We can live in hope and peace.

December 11, 2013

There is a regular Food Bank at the church, and it always brings around lots of hungry people. There are hungry people in the Transcona community, and we are not alone.  There are hungry people around every corner, they are our neighbours, our friends, ourselves.  It is an age old problem, some have too little, others have too much.  It is an age old song that is quoted in the Advent Box today:  God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.  Luke 1:53. 

The age old song of hope is for justice and peace, for food and shelter, for love and grace for all.  The dream comes around day after day, moment after moment.  And because we believe that the world might be welcoming for all we keep on singing.  

My soul magnifies the Lord.

Joy to the World.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

God has filled the hungry with good things!

 

December 10, 2013

At The Little Drummer Boy Brunch, a community event held in the spirit of sharing a gift of PRESENCE with one another in order to find time away from the rush of PRESENTS, there was a conversation about Mary’s song.  We held magnifying glasses in our hands and talked about the word magnify.  Does it make things bigger which are almost impossible to see, does it make something big even bigger.  Here’s our box:  

 

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. — Luke 1:46-47

The image of Mary kneels in front of the images.  There are images of the Annunciation, of the journey to Bethlehem, of the stable birth, and of cross.  Mary, present at all, with her ‘soul magnifying the Lord’.  

Mary lived a gift of presence as a witness to God’s love.  God’s love  is lived out in presence with us in all things, from days of blessing to days of despair and grief.  

Our lives have the ability to magnify God’s love when we care for one another.  We open this box on the day of Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Mandela lived a life that cared for justice and forgiveness and helped to build the rainbow nation of South Africa.  His vision for a peaceful country must have been almost impossible to see from his dark days of prison.  He continued to work and pray.  He continued to believe change was possible.  

Our lives may not have that kind of reach, but we can make a difference.  We can let God’s love be magnified in our living.  We can truly care for others.  We can be people of hope and peace.

We can live presence with one another.

 

December 9, 2013

…and there, ahead of them,

went the star that they had seen at it’s rising,

until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Matthew 2:9b

The star leads travellers to the birth of the Christ child.  In this box is the scene of a moment of gathering.  The star is tucked along the back, proclaiming the glory from afar.  This scene has the angel too, and shepherds and sheep.  It is a coming together moment, a moment of hope and peace.

In much of today’s world it is difficult to see the stars.  You have to be away from a city.  You have to be away from the ‘light pollution’ to really be able to experience the darkness of night in which the stars can shine.  Seeing the stars is a novelty for many, we prefer the safety and security of the nighttime artificial light for our paths.

Maybe that’s part of what we have lost.  By making the cities and beyond safer with night lights, we have lost the mystery and the wonder of the guiding light of the stars.  Maybe the light of a star could invite us to gather and to know the true gift of life.

ahead of them went the star…

December 8, 2013

We were back at church today to open Advent Box 8.  It was the church community in the church building, and there was an air of excitement about this time.  The children took the lead again.  There were many hands to hold the box, many hands to open the box and a young voice to read the scripture.  

When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honour them. Psalm 91:15

 

Threatening clouds in a dark sky.  Big waves.  A small boat.  A lighthouse.  Rocks.  Lightening.  There was lots to see and name.

After the naming was complete, children carried the box through the congregation for all to see.  It was precious cargo in young arms.  It was a message from God.  It was a promise.  It was hope and peace.  It was another step on the advent journey of waiting.

 

December 7, 2013

What an adventure!  We opened Advent Box 7 at the Little Drummer Boy Brunch at TMUC this morning.  The scripture is Psalm 100:1. Make a joyful noise to The Lord, all the earth.

 

The children who were there lifted the lid and the room filled with music.  It was magical.  It was holy.  The music was Silent Night.  

In one of the groups we talked about the music of the Bible.  Music and song are a part of the season, and part of the story.  

As we journey and wait may a song of hope fill our world.

Silent night, holy night…