Preparing
With “just two weeks to go!” it seemed the right time to share the below poem from Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes.
The prophet cries, “Prepare the way!”
and we know he means justice and purified hearts—
well, and shopping and decorating and baking
and cards and programs and family plans….
Either path is OK, for a bit. But whichever you are on,
stop. It’s OK to let it all go.
Prepare for something to happen inside you
that can’t happen with too much stuff going on.
Clear the space. Stop pruning in the vineyard, and walk away.
Dress warmly, and go out into the dark. You may go alone,
or with others who can hold candles in a cold wind
without masking the dark silence with familiar songs.
Sit at the empty manger, and let its emptiness speak.
Make room for newly conceived life… unknown longings.
All of who you are is present, as is the Holy, approaching.
This retreat may take a lot of time. Cookies may be neglected.
Sit in the not-yet-ness, the awful silence.
Sit with the holy family. Joseph goes off to find a safe place,
and Mary regards the manger within.
How easy it is for the call to make room to turn into impossible fullness. This week in worship, we’ll journey to Nazareth, which Rob Fuquay calls “a place of simplicity.” Though we don’t know much about life in Nazareth in the early first century, it was certainly off the beaten path. We hope you’ll find the time to step away with us this weekend for joy-filled worship service with carols, bells, and a journey to the place where the word became flesh.
With joy,
Pastor Jen
