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Saturday night, after some of the guys had their Saturday mass, a group of us met for dinner. For them it was a continuation of their monthly practice. For me it was another of my reconnecting experiences as I merge back into the church of Louisville. Good guys!
If you wish, take a few breaths and offer yourself this simple blessing:
May I carry forward what truly matters.
May I release what no longer serves.
May I walk into this new year with courage and care.
And then extend that light outward:
May we choose love again and again.
May our world remember its own goodness.
The light you seek for the year ahead is not waiting somewhere else.
It already lives in you—
in your capacity to begin again,
to forgive a little more
to open when it would be easier to close.
As this year turns, may you trust that something wise is moving you forward even when you cannot see the path.
With gratitude for you, and faith in what is unfolding!
~ Jack Komfield
This morning I finished an article for our diocesan newspaper about my return to Kentucky, and related the experience of reconnecting with family and friends. And then this afternoon I had the opportunity to actually do that.
I have lots of first cousins on the Dittmeier side of the family and today nine of us got together for lunch. These are some of the people who bought the e-bike for me.
Then I made a brief visit to Ruth, now 104 years old, and her daughter Peg. I have known, liked, and respected their family for more than 50 years.
Bishop Olivier of Phnom Penh is a very active player in the life of the kingdom and always reaches out to the Buddhists to address issues, celebrate events, etc. In the current conflict between the kingdoms of Cambodia and Thailand, Bishop Olivier has gone to the front lines with a Buddhist delegation and has engaged with Buddhist leadership in praying for peace.
The joint prayer events take on a form not so familiar to Christian groups. Literally hundreds of Buddhist monks came together for this joint prayer service.
Today the Dittmeier family had their Christmas gathering at Nazareth Home Clifton where I live. This was a first because always before we met at my sister Mary and husband Mike’s home. The out-of-state families with children came this year, though, so we moved to Nazareth Home where there was more room for the children to play. It was a delightful gathering.
John’s gospel begins with “In the beginning was the Word….and the Word was God…. All things came to be through him”. Creation spirituality asks us to consider that the Incarnation–God becoming human and part of creation–was not just a one-time event with the birth of Christ but that God was incarnate in creation from the beginning, from the Big Bang.
In Luke’s gospel, in his account of the birth of May’s son, he reminds us three times that Jesus was born in the city of David. There, when the promised savior is born, shepherds and angels–representing the land and the sky, the earth and the heavens, the totality of creation–rejoice together. The Incarnate One is part of all creation, not just the human species.
On Christmas Eve, the psalm instructs all creation to rejoice–the sky and the land, the sea and the plains, even the trees–because God is coming to rule with world with justice. Likewise, the prophet Isaiah proclaims that the son to be born is cause for rejoicing because he upholds and sustains justice. People who have been burdened will stand up straight; those who walked in darkness will emerge into the light.
Christmas is more than the opportunity to reflect on the innocence of the child Jesus lying among the sheep and the cattle. It is mean to focus our attention on the wonder of God’s desire to become one with humanity and thus all of creation