Today’s text
Luke 1:28-35, 38
He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.’ …Mary said, 'You see before you the Lord's servant, let it happen to me as you have said.'
Reflection
Come, Lord Jesus, be born in us today.
Mary finds your favor, and soon she bears you, the holy child, into an unholy world. This is your way among us.
Your great grace extends holy favor on we who struggle along, trying to find a way to live, truly live. And soon you would birth in us, to us and through us that which is holy, born of your will and substance, not of our making.
But for one thing: Like Mary, we must offer some consent, some surrender, some willingness to bear the child, the fresh creation born of your favor resting upon us.
Little wonder that Mary feared and questioned. She is like us after all: human, possessing little understanding of the mysteries of how you make human life new, restoring your blessed image to the glory you intend.
But it doesn’t matter if we understand. All you seek is our ‘yes.’ All you want is our surrender, ‘May it be with me, Lord, as you wish.’
In that simplicity lies our joy--and yours. You have privileged me to see and feel that joy, such as one man can. But by your grace, in exquisite moments, I know and see that joy that our consent to your desire awakens at your divine heart.
Is it sacrilege to speak of you with such familiarity? If so, forgive me. I know that I know nothing of you, not really. Who can? You imprison the stars in your embrace; you mysteriously dwell in and among all that is, seeking your holy purpose.
How can anyone pretend to plumb your heart? How can any claim to comprehend anything about you? Except, of course, you show your ways among and in us. And when receive this, you awaken in us a joy that is not only ours, but a share in your own.
You smile, Loving One, as Mary bows and consents to your messenger. And the Holy One is born to show your face amid an unholy world. I live in the warmth of your smile.
So let it be to me as you will. Your will is my one good.
Come, Lord Jesus. Be born in me
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
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Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Today’s text
Luke 1:26-33
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.'
Reflection
Come, Lord Jesus. Have no end among us.
Everything we see and we touch has an end—as do we. We know it from our earliest days: All that rises falls. All that is fair fails. All that glimmers with today’s beauty by tomorrow may be gone.
The clock constantly ticks, and we cannot stop it. When we are young it never moves fast enough. Time drags on, never bearing us soon enough to our hope-filled tomorrows when, finally, we will get, have, be, arrive at what we want.
Too soon the clock speeds ahead, telling us we haven’t enough time to do, be, see, get, arrive at what we desire.
The idea of eternity is strange to us, for all we touch is temporary, like our own bodies and minds—and those most beloved to us. But eternity dwells in our heads, and we can’t get it out even if we wanted to.
We long for it. We want to hold it to our chest, hugging it near along with all we have and fear losing. For we want the grace and life that knows no end, that endures, that embraces and holds us and all we love, for we know the pain of losing.
Little wonder, then, that the angel’s promise ignites longing and tears. You, my Lord Christ, will rule ... without end.
Eternity is so unlike time when our anxieties and to-do lists rule our lives. Eternity is the time of your rule: forever is bathed in grace, my forever.
But forever is now, wherever you are, dearest Friend, wherever your loving nearness is known.
So come, Lord Jesus. Let us taste forever now. Have no end among us.
Pr. David L. Miller
Luke 1:26-33
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.'
Reflection
Come, Lord Jesus. Have no end among us.
Everything we see and we touch has an end—as do we. We know it from our earliest days: All that rises falls. All that is fair fails. All that glimmers with today’s beauty by tomorrow may be gone.
The clock constantly ticks, and we cannot stop it. When we are young it never moves fast enough. Time drags on, never bearing us soon enough to our hope-filled tomorrows when, finally, we will get, have, be, arrive at what we want.
Too soon the clock speeds ahead, telling us we haven’t enough time to do, be, see, get, arrive at what we desire.
The idea of eternity is strange to us, for all we touch is temporary, like our own bodies and minds—and those most beloved to us. But eternity dwells in our heads, and we can’t get it out even if we wanted to.
We long for it. We want to hold it to our chest, hugging it near along with all we have and fear losing. For we want the grace and life that knows no end, that endures, that embraces and holds us and all we love, for we know the pain of losing.
Little wonder, then, that the angel’s promise ignites longing and tears. You, my Lord Christ, will rule ... without end.
Eternity is so unlike time when our anxieties and to-do lists rule our lives. Eternity is the time of your rule: forever is bathed in grace, my forever.
But forever is now, wherever you are, dearest Friend, wherever your loving nearness is known.
So come, Lord Jesus. Let us taste forever now. Have no end among us.
Pr. David L. Miller
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Today’s text
Luke 1:26-29
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean.
Reflection
Come, Lord Jesus. Upset our lives with your holy purpose.
We know our routines, and though we complain that they are too full, too busy, too boring, too dreary, too distracting, too common, too killing to body and soul, their regularity comforts us. With predictable assurance, our routines tell us who we are and what we should do.
But then you--or your angel--appear, upsetting our order, telling us that everything is not as it appears, that something is up, something that will redefine our worlds--and us, stripping away the comfort of the regular.
Is this why Mary is afraid?
She has fallen into your hands, this child of your favor, a young woman for whom you have the holiest purpose of all.
She is to bear your life into the world in fleshly form. That is your favor to her: She will carry and give birth to you who break apart our ordered existence, revealing that mortal flesh should never be only human.
It is intended to reveal the Love that is before the stars and will remain after they have blinked out billions of years from now. Mortality is intended for infinity, the human is intended for the divine, the fallen and broken is meant to hold the wholeness of you who hold the whole of the staggering universe, so vast and incomprehensible.
‘The Lord is with you,’ the angel says to Mary, which means nothing can be the same. She can never live a quiet life in an out of the way place, safe from the deepest drama that happens on Earth.
That drama happens in her, in her womb: you seek to born in mortal flesh, lifting it to its true intention. But not only in her, my Lord.
For this is the drama taking place in me. I can barely write these words. It warms me to see it happening in Mary, but that is only half the truth.
What happens in Mary is happening in me--and in all in whom you seek to be born, that our sinful, weak, mortal, finite, faltering flesh might bear the Infinite and All Loving, the Immortal and Unending, that I might know the joy and fear of holding you within, even as your beloved Mary.
This is your holiest purpose and eternal intention.
So come Lord, Jesus. Be born in us. Be born in me. Fill us with your fullness that we may know who we are and the love for which you intend us.
Pr. David L. Miller
Luke 1:26-29
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, you who enjoy God's favor! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean.
Reflection
Come, Lord Jesus. Upset our lives with your holy purpose.
We know our routines, and though we complain that they are too full, too busy, too boring, too dreary, too distracting, too common, too killing to body and soul, their regularity comforts us. With predictable assurance, our routines tell us who we are and what we should do.
But then you--or your angel--appear, upsetting our order, telling us that everything is not as it appears, that something is up, something that will redefine our worlds--and us, stripping away the comfort of the regular.
Is this why Mary is afraid?
She has fallen into your hands, this child of your favor, a young woman for whom you have the holiest purpose of all.
She is to bear your life into the world in fleshly form. That is your favor to her: She will carry and give birth to you who break apart our ordered existence, revealing that mortal flesh should never be only human.
It is intended to reveal the Love that is before the stars and will remain after they have blinked out billions of years from now. Mortality is intended for infinity, the human is intended for the divine, the fallen and broken is meant to hold the wholeness of you who hold the whole of the staggering universe, so vast and incomprehensible.
‘The Lord is with you,’ the angel says to Mary, which means nothing can be the same. She can never live a quiet life in an out of the way place, safe from the deepest drama that happens on Earth.
That drama happens in her, in her womb: you seek to born in mortal flesh, lifting it to its true intention. But not only in her, my Lord.
For this is the drama taking place in me. I can barely write these words. It warms me to see it happening in Mary, but that is only half the truth.
What happens in Mary is happening in me--and in all in whom you seek to be born, that our sinful, weak, mortal, finite, faltering flesh might bear the Infinite and All Loving, the Immortal and Unending, that I might know the joy and fear of holding you within, even as your beloved Mary.
This is your holiest purpose and eternal intention.
So come Lord, Jesus. Be born in us. Be born in me. Fill us with your fullness that we may know who we are and the love for which you intend us.
Pr. David L. Miller
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