Christmas Pageant

Today we went to the school Christmas program.  I laughed and loved what my daughter and her class did.  We thoroughly enjoyed each presentation.

Then the littlest ones did a rendition of the nativity story and, though none of those children were "mine," their performance is the one that stirred my heart deeply.

A little angel came out and placed chubby hands on Mary's head and proclaimed in clear tones that a miracle was on it's way...

There's a miracle on its way, under way, in our hearts.  A holy thing, born of His Spirit...

Mary plopped on her donkey who wobbled, but managed to hold up valiantly though his ears slid around until they were both on one side.  Toothless shepherds gasped at the sight of the angels shouting, "Glory".  Wisemen stumbled and all but tumbled as they brought their gifts.  Joseph stood by watching with all the gravity of one entrusted with a miraculous responsibility.  Together they lisped, "Happy birthday, dear Jesus!"  

I chuckled at the same time as I was choking on a lump in my throat.  Glory shone through it all.  This is the place where His glory shines--among the humble, toothless, stumbling, wobbly ones who unashamedly proclaim that, "Love has come!" 

How is it that He sees fit to place the miracle of His Spirit in our lives, we who are so un-glorious?   What an incredible grace that He bestows His glory on us!

...God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would

never know him through human wisdom...

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans,

and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

1 Corinthians 1:21, 24b&25

His Masterpiece

The sunrise was so incredible this morning.  I desperately wanted to seal its glory in my heart, remember it forever, so I stood on the deck shivering, fingers numbing, as I captured frame after frame.  Not one did justice.  Maybe if I had a better camera?  Maybe such things are only to be savored in the moment?  I don't know...

This photo by Kaleigh

Then the whisper came:  "You think that's glorious?  That's nothing compared to my masterpiece."

I know what's been said about His masterpiece:

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done,

so none of us can boast about it.

For we are God's masterpiece.

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus...

The way He has made us new.  It's more glorious and valuable to Him than the spectacular beauty of the sunrise.

I'm still so flawed.  I guess that's what he's addressing in the part about salvation not being a reward.  He has created us anew...a gift.  This creation is His masterpiece.

You.  All of you.  Me.   My funny little toe, the shape of my eyebrows, even the parts of myself I don't like very much--His masterpiece.  The places where His grace is still at work making us anew--precious and glorious to Him.  Inside and out, a masterpiece from the hands of the ultimate Creator.

I'm having a hard time receiving all that this means.  There's something awkward, that squirms--it's too much--such a big love, such an unconditional love, a love that has covered a great multitude of sins.  Honestly, it's easier for me to believe and receive it for you than myself.

It won't be long until the sunset.  I think I'll need to stand and soak it in a little more...let the truth of it pierce my heart.

Ephesians 2:9-1

1 Peter 4:8

Need and Supply

"And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus..."

And our need...my need...is great.  He has provided my daily bread and my house is warm, I have enough clothes and I have good friends, but there is still a great aching need for more.  I have a restless hunger for more of His Spirit, Life and Love to flow into me and through me.  I need this.  There's a need for more healing, there are prayers yet unanswered and relationships that have room to grow. 

I have need...and the promise of supply.  

According to His riches in glory...  I have no idea how much that is, but "riches in glory" sounds like more than enough to fill the need.

Tomorrow morning we light the "Faith" candle in the Advent wreath and this is my declaration of faith:  He will supply.

As surely as my amaryllis insisted on growing though it was yet in the dark, cold root cellar and unwatered.  He will provide.  It is His nature...it is what He does and it cannot be contained or squelched.  It must burst forth.  

I light the candle in expectation.  Faith.  Believing...for what has not yet been seen...yet is guaranteed by His nature and promise.

For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between "Yes" and "No."

...as God's ultimate "yes," he always does what he says.  

For all of God's promises  have been fulfiilled in Christ with a resounding, "Yes!"

And through Christ, our "Amen" 

(which means "yes")

ascends to God for His glory.

Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 2:19-20

At a Bar in Bowness

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I found myself in a bar Bowness. Not my usual Sunday afternoon haunt, but a friend of my friend was playing in a Blues band there and... I love good music and it was fantastic! If I closed my eyes, I could easily imagine I was listening to Diana Ross. If I opened them, I could see a fascinating array of characters...

There were the brokenhearted, the love-hungry, the poor and the rich, some who appeared slightly off their rockers, those who loved to dance, some who just tapped their toe and listened...everyone was there for the music that afternoon. In the midst of this kaleidoscope there were three women who captivated me...

The first was an ancient granny whose wrinkled black face was adorned with a beautiful smile. Her vibrant patchwork skirt and vivid yellow tights shouted out joy as she stomped to the music, hunched over her gnarled tree-limb walking stick.

I want to live with that sort of unabashed joy.

The second was a woman of significant proportions who could dance like no one I've ever seen before. She was completely unselfconscious. Her faced glowed with happiness. She embodied the music and it was beautiful.

I hear the rhythms of heaven, but I am too often conscious of myself and what others may think. I want to abandon myself to the music, to the song that the morning stars sing. I want to be a physical expression of the cadence of glory.

The third was a lady with only one leg. When the band began to play Lean on Me, she came up to the dance floor on crutches, set them aside, reached for her partner, and began to dance. Not hop, but dance. I don't quite know how she did it, but she wasn't hindered by what she didn't have. She was having fun. She had someone to lean on. Tears came to my eyes as I watched her.

I live much too aware of my weaknesses and inabilities. I want to live more aware of His strength. I want to lean on my Friend and dance, have His presence make up for what I lack.

I've been invited: "May I have this dance?"

I want to shout out my yes with abandon, without self-consciousness. I want to embody the rhythms of heaven.

For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.

They will come home and sing songs of joy

on the heights of Jerusalem.

They will be radiant because of the Lord's good gifts--

the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil,

and the healthy flocks and herds.

Their life will be like a watered garden,

and all their sorrows will be gone.

The young women will dance for joy,

and the men--old and young--will join in the celebration.

I will turn their mourning into joy.

I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.

The priests will enjoy abundance and my people will feast on my good gifts.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

(Jeremiah 31:11-14)

Created to Be

Today a woman hugged me. She looked into my eyes and spoke a few words. Much-needed hope and comfort was brought to a weary place in my soul. It was something I didn't know I needed until I received it. There's a calm tonight that I've been lacking. Simply because she was being who she was created to be. Instinctively. Intuitively. Unabashedly.

No university degree was required. No days of weary preparation. No arduous journey. She simply opened her heart and let the God-light shine through and I was affected.

There are things we have been created for that do require the journey, the education, the preparation, the labour and effort...but they all start and end with us being the individuals we were created to be. Not someone else. Not more of this. Or less of that.

I don't want to count the times I've wished I was more like someone else. More... Less ... Essentially raising my fist and saying, "The potter who made me is stupid." All the while wasting the precious resources I've been given. Depriving someone else of the facet of God-light I was meant to reflect to them.

I'm so thankful my friend is who she is.

Someone in your world needs you to be you. Your Creator likes you and has a plan in His design for you. You don't get to be the judge of the value of that. You're simply meant to release the God-glory deposited within you and others will be changed.

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."

Catherine of Siena

Isaiah 29:16

Crackpots

I've had an epiphany about crackpots. It seems so obvious now that I had no intention of blogging about it, but the urge hasn't gone away... Maybe, just maybe, there's a reader out there who has also failed to recognize glory in a crackpot.

Perhaps I should clarify: crackpot is My Unauthorized Version for what The New Living Translation calls "fragile clay jars". The apostle Paul wrote,

"For God, who said, 'Let there be light in the darkness,' has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)

Shockingly enough, whenever I read this verse I thought it was all about me! I'd read it and think, "Yep, if you see anything good in me at all, it's definitely because of God." And it is about me, but that's not all. You see, God has placed His glory in others around me and sometimes I miss it because I'm distracted by the imperfections or pottiness* of the vessel. Some pots are terribly cracked, some are just odd, and some don't think much of the shape I'm in either!! There are so many things that can seem more obvious than the glory that has been placed within.

God relates to us on the basis of what Christ did for us, not on our worthiness. As His hands and feet on the earth, He wants us to relate to each other the same way. I've definitely failed in this many times. And you know what? I'm pretty sure I've missed a few blessings because of it.

I've had to do some repenting and I've had to ask God to give me eyes to see the glory in some "fragile clay vessels". I love how He's willing to help us do what He wants us to do! I've noticed a difference already. I think when we relate to crackpots in a way that's honoring some of the cracks get healed--in us and in them.


*in case you didn't know, "potty" is British for "slightly crazy" :-)