Everyone is given a gift...

"Christmas creches and the gospel of Bethlehem validate the truth that God's Presence is to be found in the most unexpected places and most unlikely persons."
Fr. Ed Hays, "Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem"

Look around the stable.  Who is there? Fr. Ed Hays points out that the "important" people of the time, the priests, the hierarchy, the elite are not there. Oh, the wise men come later, but they come become they are wise, not because they are important. Look around your own "stable." Who is there? Do you host important dignitaries? Do you surround your table with the wealthy and elite? Who is around your table? Jesus is your guest. Jesus is the guest of all who see that God is present in the most humble and unlikely places and people. Once again, I watched the beautiful movie, "The Nativity Story" last night and was so touched by the old shepherd who visits the stable. His dirty, trembling hand reaches out to touch the newborn babe and, instead of pulling the baby back, Mary offers Jesus to the shepherd to touch. "Everyone is given a gift," she says. Indeed. Everyone. May your Christmas be merry and bright...Love, heidi

Love everyone...

"Love everyone. I'll sort them all out later. ~God"
Message on a church reader board

This message hit home with me this morning when I had a pre-dawn visit with my neighbors as we headed downstairs. I had so many judgments about these folks from the time they moved in. I had vivid assumptions about them, based on stuff I'd noticed, but still never meeting them. It's the same with others in my building, too. They do this and that, they have an offensive bumper sticker, they BBQ on the balcony, therefore they are this or that. Argh, all of it! In conversing with these folks, I realized they are nice. They like my dog. They are just people living their lives in Boise, USA and yada, yada, yada. What if the message I am to learn this Advent season and the whole time I am living here, is to just try to love everyone and let God sort them out later? I'm not the one who needs to sort them out! My job is to just be friendly and nice, smile at people in the parking lot, pick up trash when I see it, thank the staff whenever I see them...just be the kind lady on the third floor. Wouldn't that be easier than judging everyone? One would think, but alas, it's easier to making sweeping harsh judgments. Maybe just for today, I'll try to love everyone and let God sort them all out later...and then I can try again tomorrow too! Love, heidi

A voice crying out...

"Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ."
Luke 3:15

John the Baptist captivated the people, telling them what they must do: share what they have with the poor, be honest in their dealings with others, and be satisfied with their wages. The people thought this advice so rich and wise that they wondered if John may be the promised Messiah. The people recognized that what John was saying was godly and good. It makes me wonder how, if the people of the first century got it, how can we miss it now that we've enjoyed the Messiah (giving us the same message) for two thousand years? Why does it seem greed and selfishness have seeped into our culture? It seems dirty dealings are acceptable, even lauded, if power and wealth are achieved and one doesn't get caught. Maybe, good as it sounds, the advice to share and care for others is still hard to accept. Jesus said the same things and they killed him as they killed John and many voices in the wilderness since. But, as followers of Jesus, we need to listen to John as well as Jesus. We are not to follow the culture by selling out to power, prestige and possessions! We are to live simply, generously, and compassionately; for others need our help--not our judgment. A voice cried out in the wilderness and some of the people got it. Do we? Love, heidi

God's teaching and leading...

"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go."
Isaiah 48:17

This reading really hits home for me this year, as I sit watching the sun rise (the sun is as lazy as me this morning!) I feel like God has been leading me and teaching me, so vividly, these last several years; ever since I really made an effort to pay attention. I felt so led to move to Boise, to work at Hawthorne, to live at Liberty Lake Apartments--all of it has been such a gift from God. But it certainly isn't the end of God's teaching and leading! Each day I am invited to learn more, especially now that I'm in such new environs. Each day I am invited to follow God's lead somewhere, to meet someone. God's leading and teaching may not feel as dramatic as it did six months ago when the UHaul headed west on I-86, but it is there in subtle, yet unmistakable, ways. The student that needs an extra dose of my patience (which sometimes seems lacking). The three hundred fellow tenants here who may need a wee bit of understanding and leeway. God has even led me to take the city bus when I go downtown to protect all other Boise residents from my feeble driving-in-traffic skills. God leads us and teaches us each day, and by reflecting at the end of the day in the Examen prayer, we can see just how. Blessings on your third weekend in Advent! We get to Rejoice! Love, heidi

Open heart, open ears...

"God of whispers and shouts of joy,
Unclog my heart stuffed with me and my struggles
so it can become a listening, hearing Advent heart."
Fr. Ed Hays, "Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem"

This seems to be the message I am getting in my private prayer lately. Listen more, talk less. Ask questions, don't give speeches or talk endlessly about yourself. It's a message I definitely need to hear and heed! It is especially powerful to connect the heart with the ability to listen, too. The ears and the heart are several inches away from each other, but they need to work in tandem. If the heart is open and eager to receive, the ears will be too. If our hearts are so stuffed full of ourselves, there is no room for others. The ears may as well be closed, too, for the needs and concerns of those around us go unheard. Today, I will pray this beautiful little prayer with Ed Hays...Unclog my heart, open my ears! Love, heidi

Be strong!

"Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak. Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God..."
Isaiah 35:3-4

Today, I see this reading as two-fold. First, it is a comfort and encouragement to us; God will strengthen our feeble hands, wobbly knees and help us stand firm and strong. I'm energized by that as I head out into my busy Monday. And the second message is that we are to do these encouraging things to those we meet today. We can offer a steadying hand to those who suffer and feel unable to cope. We can help the weaker among us to stand firm and tall, that is, in fact, what God wants us to do and what God helps us do. It's all a divine circle of loving encouragement, with God at the crux of it all. God loves us, sends us forth to love others, we love and others love in return. It comes back around to God, then, because loving others is how we love God back. It's a beautiful image of a circular love dance, as Fr. Richard Rohr suggests in "The Divine Dance." Today, as we head out there to do what we do, let's close our eyes and feel our hands growing stronger and our knees more steady. We know we have nothing to fear because God is right here with us, infusing us with love from within. And we can go forth and do God's work for God's people. Love, heidi