When Henry wove a rug, he wove from the depths of his spirit and from the fullness of his heart, and with the careful eye of a focused mind. Directly across from his upright loom, at eye level on the concave wall of the hut, Henry had lettered a small sign for his own inspiration: BY THEIR WORKS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. And more, it was a reminder that his remission from consumption, he believed, had come as a consequence of work with his hands. Work for him was the very stuff of salvation and healing. For that reason, whenever he should write or type or spell the word "work" for any reason, he would use an uppercase "W" as its beginning.
May our slowing down this Advent be our gentle protest against
the violence of our rushing world. May our slowing down give
quiet, steady witness to the values of attentiveness, carefulness,
patience, receptivity, stillness. May our slowing down enable us
to make real and meaningful connections with people, nature,
work, art, and (most importantly) with God.
~ Melannie Svoboda, SND in her blog "Sunflower Seeds", November 28, 2016
Remember it’s time for justice and peace to kiss and truth and kindness to embrace.
Remember it’s time for us to turn and face each other, ourselves, and God again.
Remember it’s time to hasten that day!...
Hope is catching and it is loose in the land, set loose by words and impassioned belief that
God is paying attention to what is going on in history, and that God has plans, as [God]
always has for those ... made to live in peace...
~ Megan McKenna in ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY
Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air...
Hope spreads around the earth, brightening all things,
Even hate, which crouches breeding in dark corridors...
We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you to stay awhile with us.
God is so free and so marvelous {doing} wonders where people despair... tak{ing} what is little
and lowly and mak{ing} it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves
the lowly... God marches right in {and} chooses people as... instruments and performs...
wonders where one would least expect them.
Jesus came to us as a child so that we might come to understand not only that nothing we do is insignificant, but that every small thing we do has within it the power to change the world.
