We begin today a series of weekly reflections through the season of Lent, written by Bobby Gross, who contributed the reflections for this past Advent Season. I welcome the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday each year. I look forward to it, actually, which might seem odd to those who think of Ash Wednesday as a hangover day after Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) and associate Lent with a slightly dour asceticism. The Church has practiced a version of Lent for over 1,700 years, and in recent decades its observance has spread … [Read more...] about Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday and the Invitation to Lent
Epiphany: Shedding Light
Tomorrow, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day the church remembers the revelation of Jesus as God Incarnate, and the homage paid the infant Jesus by the Magi. In this concluding reflection in our Advent and Christmastide series, Bobby Gross helps us reflect on the significance of the day, the season which follows, and the possibility of epiphanies in our lives. The apostle Paul, writing to the earliest Christians in Corinth, makes a remarkable affirmation: For it is the God who said, ‘Let light … [Read more...] about Epiphany: Shedding Light
Christmas Reflection: Incarnation: Grasping Glory
How could the Eternal do a temporal act, The Infinite become a finite fact? So asks W. H. Auden in his long poem “For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio.”[i] And there is no end of poems over the centuries plumbing the mystery of the Incarnation, the mind-bending paradox of God becoming human: Immensity cloistered in a womb, Creator become creature, Word sentenced to silence —to allude to just a few lines of verse.[ii] All such poetry on the birth of Christ, along with music and art, is merely grasping to … [Read more...] about Christmas Reflection: Incarnation: Grasping Glory
Advent Reflection Four: Letting Go: May It Be So, Lord
We lament our broken world and all that is wrong. Even so, we try to appreciate the moments that bring us laughter and joy. We say we long for more of God in our lives and in our world. But God has a way of coming into our experience in unexpected and life-disrupting fashion. Are we always willing to let go of how things are to embrace what God might be doing? Not always, I must admit. Maybe not even often. In this fourth week of Advent we focus our attention more on Christ's “first” coming into history. … [Read more...] about Advent Reflection Four: Letting Go: May It Be So, Lord
Advent Reflection Three: Laughter: Bring Us Home with Joy!
Psalm 126 opens with a memory of fortunes restored: “We were like those who dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with shouts of joy” and closes with an echo of longing: “May those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.” So far in our Advent reflections, we have lamented the Darkness in our world and expressed our longing for Light that would bring healing and justice. This third week, we allow ourselves some space for … [Read more...] about Advent Reflection Three: Laughter: Bring Us Home with Joy!