Small Signs of God - Day 22 The Innkeeper

 

Small Signs of God - The Innkeeper #22

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." (Revelation 3:20)

We were traveling in Maine and it was late and we were tired and hungry. When the innkeeper opened the door, I knew it was where I wanted my family to spend the night.  It was clean and inviting and  good smells were coming from the kitchen. 

But the innkeeper said, "I'm sorry, we are full tonight."

 She must have seen my disappointment. As we turned away, she called, "Wait, I do have one room that might work. Your children are small and it is late."  We accepted quickly, thinking we could all sleep on the floor if we could just have a little space for the night.  She said to go get dinner and when we returned the room would be ready.

Pleased at our good fortune, we returned to find a "room for two that sleeps five." It was a sight for tired eyes. It was basic with one bed. But on the floor were three small "beds" that had been created out of cushions, pillows and quilts.  The sheets were folded back, holding small stuffed animals waiting for three sleepy new friends.

The innkeeper in the Nativity often gets looked down upon, but there was something in his heart that made him stop and reconsider. Maybe he saw the tired weary couple and was moved to help. Those were common people and that was the way babies were born in Bethlehem. 

Surely there was a spot for Jesus. 

Basic warmth and safety could set the stage for surprise visits of angels singing and stars dancing.

This Advent, I wonder what kind of innkeeper I am. Can I find room for others? Or will I turn them away? Can I be creative in "making do" when I don't have enough beds, enough time, enough money, enough energy or patience? Can I go beyond the basics of warmth and shelter to offer pure hospitality and love with a few dancing stars as a perk?

Jesus is looking for hearts that will open the door to make room for him this Christmas.

 Like Joseph, He must be so weary of knocking on hard-to-open doors, 

just hoping this year, there might be a small place for him to rest his head.

 Would it be in your heart? 

Do you hear Him knocking? 

What will you say?

Everlasting Father,

 Yes, there is room this Advent. Enter my heart and I, too, will hear angels sing.

Small Signs of God - Day 21 Valleys and Mountains

 

 Day 21 - Valleys and Mountains

 ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
      ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled in,
   every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
   the rough ways smooth.
⁶ And all people will see God’s salvation. ( Luke 3:4-6.)

 The meltdown came.

 I thought I had done everything so perfect this Advent. I had slowed down and made time for true worship. I had kept my home modestly adorned and in order. I had given to the poor and served the needy. I had baked the family favorites, seen the people I love and filled the birdfeeders with a Christmas blend.  And yet, hot tears came streaming down my face at the kitchen sink - somewhere between blending the pate and mixing the fruitcake.  I couldn't identify their source. 

Was it brokenness or was it sheer Christmas joy?

My husband suggested I think in terms of an investment article he had read earlier about  Aristotle (my husband reads Aristotle?) and his ancient theory of The Golden Mean. The Golden Mean is defined as " the desirable middle between two extremes, one of deficiency and the other of excess."

My Advent focus took me from Aristotle directly to Jesus who came right in the middle of the history of time. The world had been deficient, struggling, looking for the One who would set the world straight. 

And that night, 2000 years ago, God's "Golden Mean" arrived. And since He came, that same world paused and wondered for a night, and since has gone on looking, unsatisfied and excessive.

I ask you - how deep are your valleys this Christmas? 

My valleys are deep. But my mountains are just as high. 

My life spills over with the fullness of life - 

gathering and giving, 

embracing and letting go.

 It is what Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes. A time for everything. 

And then, one day...one day it will all be straightened and made smooth.

 

Great God who sets my world straight, I rest in your promises . Help me to prepare the way....

 

Small Signs of God - Day 20 Angels

 

Small Signs of God -Day 20   

                                                                            Angels

Pondering the scriptures during this fourth week of Advent, there is much thought given to angels and dreams. 

Joseph in his dream was instructed to take Mary as his wife. He was told to not be afraid. 

Mary was visited by the angel and told to not be afraid.

The shepherds were advised by an angel to not be afraid. 

We see a pattern of angels showing up at times where there was what the Bible teacher Henry Blackaby calls a “crisis of belief” or a turning point in someone’s life. It’s a time when one must make a choice as to how they will move forward. 

In these Advent cases, it was an invitation to trust in the announcement of the Messiah.

It’s not every day we are greeting by an angel, but looking back to Advent  2007, I now believe I had one of those angel visits in a dream. And I wrote:

'I am waking in the night, not from worry, but from dreams and songs I learned as a child. One night I woke to these words, “Jesus doeth all things well.”  I wasn’t sure about the song, but I knew the tune and the next morning I went to the hymnal and found these words:

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my Guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, what ever befalls me, Jesus doeth all things well.

The conversation in my dream went something like me saying, “I cannot watch my daughter die.”  And some other voice said, “ You can do this.  Do not let temptation or self-pity get in your way and do not be afraid.” There it was. “Do not be afraid.” 

"Befall" means to come up against tragedy or a crucial point in your life. A turning point, if you will. But the song in the dream said my savior leads me and does all things well. I suppose it is what Joseph and Mary relied on. It would have to be enough for me.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”  When we can see clearly, it is not faith, but reasoning of our mind.  I have learned to rely less on reasoning and to trust my conversations in the wee hours, relying on my  faith to see me through.

Jesus does “doeth” all things well – he comes to us again this Christmas as Immanuel – God with us - in the middle of the night, during the day through our family and friends, and before our eyes each and every minute." 

Two years later in Rome I would take a picture of each angel on the Bridge of Angels (Ponte Sant'Angelo) that spans the Tiber River. Just a few steps away from St. Peter's Basilica, the bridge reflects the psychological shift from secular to sacred that occurs when pilgrims crossed from the busy streets of Rome over to the the Vatican. The Angel with the Cross's inscription reads: "Cuius principatus super humerum eius," or, "Dominion rests on his shoulders." (Isaiah 9:6) However, just a few verses before this, the prophet announced that "a child is born to us, a son is given us."

Wonderful Counselor, who carries  the cross for me this Advent, guide me on the bridge from secular to sacred.

Small Signs of God - Day 19 Letters

 

   Letters - Day 19    Someone said I became a writer the year I wrote my Christmas letter and described the blue lights high on a snowy hill on our farm in Kentucky. That was a hard year. My mother had died and I was missing her Christmas traditions that I  try to keep going in my own home. I was sad and nostalgic, letting my heart travel to new places of grief, unfamiliar places of great loss. A new depth entered my realm of thinking. I learned I could embrace the pain and in embracing it, something transformational happened.  When I decided to share my sadness and loneliness with others through writing, it became a fragrance for others to receive. Little did I know I was being prepared for other events that would challenge my heart to depths of loss I never thought possible. Gifts come in mysterious ways.

And I ask you this Christmas:

 Have your life events moved you in a direction of transformation? 

Oh, I love hearing about your travels, grandchildren and accomplishments, but I wonder more about your deeper thoughts and how you love your family and friends. 

Today, just a few days before Christmas, why not write your own Christmas letter. Sometimes we can put words on paper that come from some deeper place. Sometimes it is written to personally identify thoughts and feelings. Trust me, I have written many words that are read by only one person. Me.

Tell me how the Pandemic years changed you, changed your family.

Tell me how you felt when you lost your job or learned to work differently.

 Tell me your response when you were told there were no more treatment options.

 Tell me how you long for your son or daughter to return. 

You see, what happens to most of us is this: when the hard days come - and they will -  we want to shut down, retreat, worry and refuse to share our hurts. Pride closes the door to transformation while others who are hurting wait for your story. There is always someone who needs to smell the fragrance of human life by simply

 sharing a memory, 

            remembering a special time, 

                        talking over a concern or maybe the hardest of all, 

                                        just sitting with someone and being silent together.

May these days of our coming Jesus explode in wonder and grace as you ponder his gift.

 May you find hope and transformation when you think there is none,

                                                                     peace when you feel unsettled,

                                                                                     and love always abounding. 

Jesus, Savior of the world, Teach us to share the excitement of Christ in our lives, sharing your message of hope and healing.  Let us rejoice with laughter like children anticipating Christmas morning. Amen

                                                                                                  

Small Signs of God - Day 18 Seven Days

  7 Days Till Christmas  -  Day 18

Seven days until Christmas. The days are full of good things and well wishes as we make our final Advent steps to Christmas Day. Like you, I have my final list of things to do. It will be enough. 

It's not so big when I think about what God did in seven days:

Monday - Light 

Tuesday -  Sky and water

Wednesday - Land, seas, vegetation

Thursday - Sun, moon and star

Friday - Fish and Birds

Saturday - Animals; man and woman

Sunday - God rested and declared all that he had made to be very good. 

Not only the gift of creation, but throughout time God has given gifts to us and His world. Anne Weems in her poem ,"Gifts from God" reminds me of these additional gifts: a garden, knowledge, things, rainbows, manna, prophets, children and then the ultimate gift of love in the form of Jesus.

Talk about a lavish gift giver! My little wrapped gifts can't begin to compare - unless they are wrapped in the same love that has been shown to me from Heaven above and given unconditionally. When this, my final Advent week is over, I too, want to declare that all I had done this week was very good.

"There are some that don' t open their eyes

 or their ears or their hearts

and they still say, that's not quite enough.

They wander through the stores looking for Christmas.

But others open their whole being to the Lord, bending their knees to praise God.

carrying Christmas with them every day.

For these the whole world is a gift!"   ( Anne Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem, pg.70)

Great Giver of Gifts,I want to be among the ones who bend their knees to you. I want to carry Christmas with me every day.

Small Signs of God - Day 17 A Slower Time

 

Not so fast, Christmas! 

 Day 17

The quiet of the morning calls me to read one more devotional and savor a little more coffee. We find ourselves finishing up our Christmas traditions in preparation for Christmas Eve and Day. 

I find myself looking into my new January calendar, entering dates for The New Year. 

But wait — I want Christmas to linger. 

This peaceful watching and waiting and writing have done what Advent is supposed to do. 

Slow me down.

 And when I go on “Advent time” it suddenly fills me with quiet joy and wonder.  I want this time to stand still and just behold this wonder…this experience of quiet waiting. And I must ask myself if I can enter this home stretch to Christmas Day quietly and just be in Advent - one with God.

 Maybe it is why we love the sheep so much in the Nativity. They don't have a speaking or acting role. They just come, watch and wait for their shepherd to guide them, feed them and care for them. When I was young I got to hold a baby lamb in my arms and feed it from a bottle. The mother had rejected the lamb and it would have died had my father not known what to do. My sister and I got to care for that helpless lamb and it grew and became a pet that we nurtured and cared for and loved with all our hearts. Hearts that broke when "Lamby" grew up and left us.

Could it be that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, thinks of us as his pet? Has He nurtured us this Advent as we have waited and watched for his coming? 

Dependent?     Helpless?      Needy? 

Has he cared and loved us with his heart so much that he has entered  our own hearts and we are one?

 If we can answer "yes" then we have the greatest gift of Christmas.

As a child I learned a simple song:

Into My Heart, Into My Heart, Come into my heart Lord Jesus.

Come in today, Come in to stay, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

 Faithful Shepherd,

You watch over me and you stay by my side.

I have everything I need. Slow me down and linger in my heart.

Small Signs of God - Day 16 A Twinkling Star

 

Small Signs of God - Day 16

 A Twinkling Star

"We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him." (Matthew 2:2)

Something draws me to gaze at the night sky. One night there was an opening in the clouds with  one very bright star twinkling down. In my quick and limited research, I concluded that it could be Vega, the brightest star in the Lyra constellation.  Lyra, according to Greek mythology, is associated with the myth of Orpheus, the musician whose music was so sweet that Zeus  placed Orpheus and his harp in the night sky. Lyra has been known as Kind David's harp. But did you know it is also known as the Manger of the Infant Savior? 

Looking into the night sky is a discipline I learned during a time when nothing made sense in my life. I would go outside during the night and feel the darkness suffocating me. As I struggled for breath, I would turn from the darkness and look up. Tears would fill my eyes. Strength would flood my soul.  Courage would  pump into my depleted heart. As I looked up, grace came down and filled me until the next night when I would return, depleted and needy, to be refilled.

To look up and "see" the Christmas star or the Manger of the Infant Savior shining down - oh, not shining, but dancing and twinkling, strong and pure, fixed and secure in all of time and space - well, tears are most fitting. Tears of joy. Tears of gratitude. Tears of awe and wonder.

I love the way one pastor talks about star-gazing:

The Star leads to God.

                Only those who look, see.

                                Only those who follow, find.

                                                Not every one follows.

                                                                Those who follow, always find.

Jesus, You who are the Bright Morning Star,

                when I look I see you,

                      when I follow, I find you and I worship you.