Hope Peace Joy Love
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Hope Peace Joy Love ADVENT A Devotional Booklet for the Season of Advent - 2016 The Union Church in Waban ADVENT ABOUT THIS BOOK From Rev. Stacy Swain In the Christian liturgical year, Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. We are to ready ourselves to receive again on Christmas the gift of God’s love made manifest in the person of Jesus. This booklet is intended as a resource to you as you move through these four weeks in Advent and make your way to Bethlehem. The booklet is arranged in four sections corresponding to the four weeks in Advent. I encourage you to take your time and make your way slowly through the pages. You will find an opening with Scripture, followed by reflections of those among us, and each section concludes with a prayer. Go slowly through the readings each week. Read with your heart as well as your mind. Listen for an invitation that may be present to you this season. May this booklet be a blessing to us in this time of preparation. For All Ages — Suggestions for Using this Booklet with Children From Amy Clark Feldman In this booklet, we have also included pages called ‘For All Ages.’ On these pages the prayers, activities and songs are age-appropriate for children, as well as adults. If you have an Advent Wreath at home, you may want use this booklet as you light each candle. The scripture passages, all-age prayers and songs can accompany your weekly candle-lighting. If you don’t have an Advent Wreath, but would like to try lighting candles this year, know that you can use any four candles to create one. Of course, you don’t need a wreath to share the scripture stories, prayers, songs and ideas! On the ‘All Ages’ pages you will also find links to songs and videos you may want to share. If you have a paper copy of this booklet, please know that you can also access these links through the online version of the booklet at www.ucw.org. However you journey though Advent this season, we hope you (and the kids in your life) enjoy this booklet and find it a helpful companion on your walk toward the hope, peace, joy and love of the manger. HOPE WEEK 1 - READINGS AND A PRAYER Reading 1 - Isaiah 2:1-5 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us Art: Mary and Joseph walk in the light of the Lord. 2011 Scott Laumann Reading 2 — Matthew 24:36-44 But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. A Prayer for the Start of Advent by Rev. Mary Luti You give us Advent, Lord, You give us Advent, Lord, And we are grateful and glad And we are grateful and glad To abide in your time, To receive your new hope, Which is urgent, yet unhurried, Which is wholesome, yet fearsome, And pregnant with life. And child-shaped on straw. You give us Advent, Lord, You give us Advent, Lord, And we are grateful and glad And with your grace To watch by your light, Let us keep it, Which is candid, yet hidden, Abiding, watching, resting, receiving. Our lamp for the way. Let us keep it, with your help, You give us Advent, Lord, for our souls’ sake, And we are grateful and glad which you love, To rest in your love, and the sake of the world, Which is pleasure, yet mystery. heart of your heart. And gift without price. Amen. HOPE WEEK 1 - REFLECTION & POEM Reflection — by Mark Smith The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it. John 1:5 (New English Bible) These are dark times, and the darkness seems to grow deeper each day as we watch the forces of hatred, fear, and racism on the march, building power, and taking office. Never did I imagine that we would see white nationalism on such overt display within the highest offices of the land. Never before could I have imagined that our political leaders would describe the national sins of our past — like the internment of Japanese-Americans — as precedent for future policy. And never before have I embraced the fragile hope of Advent like I have this year, 2016. For me, Advent has come in the nick of time. For just as the darkness builds on the horizon, with each day bringing more troubling news than the previous day, we can be thankful that we have entered the season of light to remind ourselves again and again and again, that no matter how deep and frightening the darkness may seem, the light shines on in the dark, illuminating the darkness for what it is; that no matter its power, the darkness will never master the light that has come into our lives - “and that life was the light of all people.” (John 1:4b) And as I cling, fearfully, to the Advent hope this year, girding myself with the life that was the light of all people for the difficult days to come, I gain strength with the knowledge that light overcomes darkness, that love overcomes hatred, that hope overcomes fear, and I recite the words of Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” as my Advent hymn this year: “The bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. That’s how the light gets in.” The Colors of Christmas in Haiku by Sandra DaDalt WHITE snowflakes float down, A RED holly bush spinning gently to the ground, bursts forth with life’s pulsating pure as the new babe. blood of salvation. SILVER icicles, Wreath of GREEN needles melting in spring’s warm sunshine, evokes the circle of life, bring hope of rebirth. piercing to the soul. GOLD star in the sky brightens the dark, lonely night, extinguishing fear. HOPE WEEK 1 - BLESSING A Blessing for New Beginnings — by John O’Donohue In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge. For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, Noticing how you willed yourself on, Still unable to leave what you had outgrown. It watched you play with the seduction of safety And the gray promises that sameness whispered, Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent, Wondered would you always live like this. Then the delight, when your courage kindled, And out you stepped onto new ground, Your eyes young again with energy and dream, A path of plenitude opening before you. Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life’s desire. Awaken your spirit to adventure; Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will be home in a new rhythm, For your soul senses the world that awaits you. HOPE FOR ALL AGES It is the first week of the journey of Advent. It is a journey through four weeks; a journey of wonder and waiting; a journey of preparing — not just our homes, but our hearts and our whole selves — to welcome Jesus again. In the wait and the wonder, we open ourselves to receive anew the gifts of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. It is a journey we take day by day, week by week.. We look ahead with HOPE to the season, and are invited to pause — right now — to consider our path to the manger this season.