When we opened the last Advent Box of 2013, we promised to post the link for the 2014 blog.
We have set it up!
You are invited to check it out!
tmucadvent2014.wordpress.com
It’s there, and the boxes will start on November 30.
You are invited!
Transcona
December 24, 2013 The box is open!
Finally! The last box is open! December 24’s services are complete, and it is time to share the word.
Here is the box:
The waiting is over, Christmas is here.
And while they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. Luke 2:6
A child, a gift of hope for the world.
Thanks be to God.
This is the last post in the tmucadvent2013.wordpress.com blog We will post links to new blogs here so you can follow along too. In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter, @tmucWpg Visit us in Winnipeg at Transcona Memorial United Church, 209 Yale Avenue West, or check out our website http://www.tmuc.ca
Thanks for journeying with us!
Cheers, and blessings
December 24, 2013
It is Christmas Eve! The waiting is almost over, but not quite. With every breath, we draw a little closer to the hour of opening the box.
Today’s scripture of reflection:
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
Luke 2:6
Today’s photo is a little different than the ones before it. The first photo of today is of the box as it waits to be opened inside the church sanctuary. Here it is:
The box sits on the table, near the tree, waiting. The time has not yet come. This box will finally get opened, ‘while they were there’. We will wait until many are gathered.
For people who are near us, and want to join us when we open the box, and celebrate the birth of Jesus, Transcona Memorial United Church has services at 5 pm, 7 pm, and 10pm. We are located at 209 Yale Avenue West in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
For people who are not near, or who want to wait until the next post to see what is inside the box, we will write after the last service of the evening, sometime before midnight Central Time Zone (GMT/UTC – 06:00).
We wait, we wait, we wait.
May Christmas bring peace, justice, and love to all the earth.
December 22, 2013
Today is the last Sunday of Advent, and the last candle in the circle of the Advent wreath, the candle of love, was lit early in the worship service.
And then it was time. Eager hands flew up in anticipation of helping to open the box. We actually opened two boxes together. We opened yesterday’s ‘Let there be light…’ so we could see the power of the lit box. And, we opened the box for today.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf, and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 11:6
Here’s what we found:
It is the words of the passage, doodled with care. It is the spiritual practice of reflecting on a passage of scripture while writing. It is a glimpse into our own connection with the words, and our own creativity.
The wolf shall live with the lamb…a statement of hope that the world can indeed be a different place. ‘…and a little child shall lead them’. It is a message that this world can be open to a new experience of God. We can celebrate the love that is around us. We can feed the hungry, and work for justice. We can be instruments of peace and joy. We can, because we are loved, and we believe that the world is not yet as God intends.
As we work for today and for the future, let us do so with in the light of the Advent candles of hope, peace, joy, and love!
Two boxes await!
December 20, 2013
Like in the other boxes that we have opened, there is a powerful message in the details of this box. It is the tiny little details of the pictures that stand in the midst of the image. There are people helping people, there is Christ in their midst.
Here is the photo:
The scripture is
God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Isaiah 40:29
The box portrays the need for us to be the hands and feet of Christ. There are images of people helping each other by packing food hampers, by fixing a tire, by sharing a meal, by sharing shoes, by helping someone walk. It is an image of people doing what they do best, when they are at their best; caring for one another.
At the Women’s Canadian Club the other day, Ron Robinson said that ‘Good ideas express themselves in actions.’ He was talking about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but it extends here too. To strengthen the powerless is not just spiritual, or magical, it requires our actions.
May we be inspired.
December 19, 2013
There is a baby on my knee as I write today. His Mom and sister are in the food bank line. He is quite interested in the pictures on the computer screen, and in the movement of my fingers as I type with one hand. We are deep in conversation — he grunts and gurgles and smiles. I tell him important things, like how lovely he is, how bright he is, and what a joy he is.
i am reading to him the words that go with the picture:
Lift up your eyes and see: who created these…Isaiah 40:26a
Here’s the photo of the box:
The earth looks up to the heavens. Smiling. All of us, created in the image of God. All of us on this planet. The family who created the box who tell a story of surviving cancer. The little child on my lap with all kinds of tags for ‘syndromes’. The folks serving at food bank, the people in the receiving line. The people whose names we know. The strangers that we meet, and those whose names and faces we will never encounter. All around this planet. Every one of us. Made in the image of God. Made to know that we are loved. Made to know that we can love.
It is the season on true joy.
December 18, 2013
It is a small verse of scripture today, with, perhaps, a big meaning, and a big challenge for us.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
Isaiah 40:11a
Today’s box came with a note from the creator:
My first thoughts when thinking about this scripture was food banks, especially because I volunteer weekly at the Nine Circles Community Health Centre food bank. I had also distributed a list of all the place to eat for free in Winnipeg to some of the clients there and I knew that this would be a great list to start with. The names glued throughout the box are the names of places where you can either get a free meal, or access to a food hamper.
I then wanted to represent people in all their colours and nationalities. I was going to glue these forms to the bottom of the box, but then thought of the Last Supper. So I glued these forms to a table being shared with Jesus.
Here’s the box:
Here’s a photo of the list at the bottom of the box:
Sharing food is sharing life. And, sharing life is sharing food. No one should be hungry. We are called to be people who care for one another.
We journey together.
December 17, 2013
There is a prayer, written as a poem, in today’s box.
Change my heart oh God,
Make it ever true,
Change my heart, oh God,
May I be like you.
You are the potter,
I am the clay,
Mold me and make me,
This is what I pray.
The poem is surrounded by images of people formed from plasticine. In the background is a photograph of clay on a wheel in a potter’s hands. This is the scripture verse for inspiration:
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8
Here’s the box:
What does it mean to be formed by God? If we are all made in the image of God, can we see the beauty in each one? Can we live as if it is true. Can every human glimpse that in one another?
In a world where there is so much emphasis on a particular perception of beauty, we need that prayer and that vision. We need new eyes for seeing and new hearts for loving.
Maybe, just maybe, the world can be transformed if we can truly care about one another.
The candles of hope, peace and joy continue to light our way.
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 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.
TMUC Advent 2013 