The Big Heart

THE BIG HEART

"Too many things are occurring for even a big heart to hold."
From an essay by W. B. Yeats

Big heart,
wide as a watermelon,
but wise as birth,
there is so much abundance
in the people I have:
Max, Lois, Joe, Louise,
Joan, Marie, Dawn,
Arlene, Father Dunne,
and all in their short lives
give to me repeatedly,
in the way the sea
places its many fingers on the shore,
again and again
and they know me,
they help me unravel,
they listen with ears made of conch shells,
they speak back with the wine of the best region.
They are my staff.
They comfort me.

They hear how
the artery of my soul has been severed
and soul is spurting out upon them,
bleeding on them,
messing up their clothes,
dirtying their shoes.
And God is filling me,
though there are times of doubt
as hollow as the Grand Canyon,
still God is filling me.
He is giving me the thoughts of dogs,
the spider in its intricate web,
the sun
in all its amazement,
and a slain ram
that is the glory,
the mystery of great cost,
and my heart,
which is very big,
I promise it is very large,
a monster of sorts,
takes it all in--
all in comes the fury of love.

~ Anne Sexton


- Posted using BlogPress from my mystical iPad!

Praying in the New Year

 
Prayer for New Year By Kay Hoffman

Another year is dawning
With the chance to start anew.
May I be kinder, wiser, Lord,
In all I say and do.

Not so caught up in selfish gain
That I would fail to see
The things in life that mean the most
Cost not a fancy fee.

The warm, kind word that I can give,
The outstretched hand to help,
The prayers I pray for those in need--
More precious these than wealth.

I know not what may lie ahead
Of laughter or of tears;
I only need to know each day
That You are walking near.

I'm thankful for this brand new year
As now I humbly pray,
My hand secure in Yours, dear Lord,
Each step along the way.

Amen.

Another Year Is Dawning

Another year is dawning,
Dear Master, let it be,
In working, or in waiting,
Another year with Thee.

Another year of mercies,
Of faithfulness and grace;
Another year of gladness
In the shining of Thy face.

Another year of progress,
Another year of praise,
Another year of proving
Thy presence all the days.

Another year of service,
Of witness of Thy love,
Another year of training
For holier work above.

Another year is dawning,
Dear Master, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven
Another year for Thee.

--Francis Ridley Havergal (1874)

Christmas Day Sermon

It is said that the children of the great composer Johan Sebastian Bach found that the easiest way to awaken their father was to play or sing a few lines of music and leave off the last note. The composer would get up immediately, go to the piano and strike the final chord. One Christmas, a father decided to try the same approach on his slugabed household. Up before everyone else, Dad went to the piano in the living room downstairs and played "Silent Night" - purposely leaving off the last note. Then he walked to the bottom of the staircase and listened. The quiet from the children's bedrooms soon gave way to a rumble of activity. The eight-year-old son could be heard trying to find the last note on his harmonica. The teenage daughter was trying to conquer "morning voice" to sing the last note. Finally his wife hustled downstairs. After banging out the last note of the carol on the piano, she eyed her husband, "Donald, did you do that on purpose?" [From Escape the Coming Night by David Jeremiah.]

The last note left off…I love that story. And it fits with our Christmas celebrations, for the last note, God purposely leaves off for us to sing…

Let me tell you a story – The Singing Shepherd by Angela Elwell Hunt
We all are called to give the last note of Christmas, whether we sing it or play it – to make it our own, for no matter who we are, Christmas is for you and for me. For today there is good news of great joy for us all: born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, our Lord. Amen.

Christmas Eve Sermon

Just a few minutes ago, you helped me set up our Nativity (our crèche). We have the angels, the shepherds, Mary & Joseph of course and baby Jesus. There are the animals too and sometimes they have a story to tell us…

The Naughty Donkey by Agatha Christie

This is the night that we remember how our world was transformed by the birth of the baby Jesus. Tonight, shepherds will leave their flocks to find the Good News in the manger, angels will sing. And a donkey would stop being naughty and look to be good, keeping the holy family safe.

So tonight when you head off to bed, remember the baby Jesus born humbly in a manger for all of us tonight. Let us end with a prayer, a prayer from a verse in Away in a Manger. Repeat after me:

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever,
and love me, I pray;
Bless all the dear children
in Thy tender care,
And fit us for Heaven
to live with Thee there. Amen.

Agatha Christie the crime novelist said in her autobiography, that in her mystery books, she wanted to include ideas of right and wrong and religious faith, but her publishers didn’t want that, so she wrote a book of short stories from which The Naughty Donkey is drawn from, that explores her faith. (A Star over Bethlehem)

It brings right and wrong and places it right before us & asks us to consider what we would do. On that Christmas night long ago, just as tonight, whether we are a poor shepherd, a naughty donkey, or a rich king on the way to the manger, it is this baby who will transform our lives.

• What is the baby Jesus saying to you tonight?
• What if the baby reached out his hand and touched you tonight…

May all of us gathered here, with the awe of the shepherds, the voice of the angels and the humility of those animals, remember in our hearts that tonight there is good news of great joy for us all: born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, our Lord. Amen.

A thought for Christmas

In this month of December as we ponder the birth of Jesus anew, I am reminded of the revelation that the Grinch (from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss) experiences after he has taken all of the presents and decorations and food from the Whos of Who-ville. They wake-up on Christmas morning and begin to sing their song...

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

And the Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day...

Christmas is not about buying. It’s not about presents. A lovely quote online put it this way: “Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” (Janice Maeditere)

“What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” (Gospel of John)

That light brought rich Wise Men and poor Shepherds to the manger to glorify and praise God. It was the light in the midst of the darkness in the world. It brought grace upon grace. Indeed, God let it show on that first Christmas Day when the word became flesh and dwelt among us that what is important is our relationships.

Today, let us open our hearts for Christ is born for us, the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us, and that open heart can lead us to do what Christ asks us to do today and always, to love one another.

4th Sunday of Advent Sermon

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Let us not forget poor Joseph! The prayer I just read is for his feast day on March 19.

At the next service, we will have our Christmas pageant & when it comes to the Christmas Pageant, we think of Mary & Jesus, the animals in the stable, the angels singing overhead, the shepherds who will come leaving their sheep, the magi bringing gifts and then there is Joseph. Joseph is always there but he does seem at times to be a side character, not as important as the others. I think of a Nativity Icon, that captures all the different stories of Christmas and there Joseph sits in the corner of the icon, with his head resting in his hands wondering what has happened…

But it is Gospel of Matthew who reminds us of the importance of Joseph, b/c Matthew tells us that Jesus is named by the angel to Joseph in a dream.

Dreams play important roles in the lives of so many characters in the bible. For Joseph, when he heard the angel speak to him in that dream, he had a decision to make. Joseph was engaged to be married to Mary. He found out she was pregnant. He knew it wasn’t his. What was he to do?

He could throw her out, and make a huge stink and let everyone know about the child conceived out of wedlock. He could get the people to ostracize her, maybe even stone her to death. But Joseph was a righteous man, and he decided to dismiss her quietly, a generous and merciful act. But in that dream an angel of the Lord appears to him and everything changes

It is a startling dream and it must have shook his soul, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and you will name him Jesus and he will save his people from their sins.”

Joseph had set his mind on leaving her. He could have said no to the angel. But Joseph does not, he listens, he takes Mary as his wife. And Jesus is born. And all will change because of this child. The words of Isaiah ring in our ears: “The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” and “he will refuse the evil and choose the good.”

Joseph sets an example for us: The willingness to change one’s mind when confronted by God’s word and God’s spirit. The courage in the midst of fear to follow God’s way even if one does not know where it may lead. In the words of W. H. Auden:

To choose what is difficult all one’s days
As if it were easy, that is faith.
Joseph, praise.

That type of transformation is also true in Dickens’ famous Christmas Carol.

One Christmas a church staged Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The role of Ebenezer Scrooge was played by a parishioner who was a gentleman of un-Scrooge-like generosity. But he managed his part with gusto, growling his way through the opening scenes, ringing out every "Bah! Humbug!" with miserly ill will. He shivered with fright and dreadful self-recognition as he encountered each of the three Christmas ghosts.

At the end of the play, the transformed and jubilant Scrooge throws open his bedroom window and bellows festively to the startled city street below, "Merry Christmas, everyone! Merry Christmas!" Scrooge then spies a street urchin passing by: "Hey you, boy, you there!" the joyful Scrooge shouts, "Come up here, boy, I've got something wonderful for you to do!" and sends the boy off to purchase the giant turkey in the poulterer's window as a surprise for the Cratchits.

That's when something unexpected happened one evening.

Now, in this staging, the audience did not see the urchin. No actor appeared on stage as the boy - the audience imagined the boy Scrooge was calling to. But at this particular performance, when the transformed Scrooge beckoned from the window to the unseen boy, a real six-year-old boy sitting in the audience with his family, rose from his seat and walked onto the stage ready to do "something wonderful.”

The boy in the audience thought Scrooge was calling him.

The actor playing Scrooge was caught off guard. There was now an unscripted child standing center stage. What to do? The audience held its breath. Then the person of faith beneath the veneer of Scrooge came to the fore. Bounding down from his window perch, Scrooge strode across the stage and cheerily embraced the waiting boy.

"Yes, indeed," he exclaimed, his voice full of blessing. "You are the one, the very one I had in mind." Then he gently led the boy back to his seat in the audience, returned to the stage and resumed the play. When the curtain calls were held, it was, of course, this boy, the one who had felt himself personally summoned from his seat, who received, along with old Ebenezer, the audience's loudest and warmest applause. [Thomas Long.]

In the Christmas story of Matthew - a husband feeling betrayed by his fiancée's unexpected pregnancy - we see the Spirit of God at work, transforming heartache and misery into birth and blessing. That same Spirit calls us to be about the work of bringing Emmanuel to birth in our own houses and stables, to our own Bethlehems and Nazareths, to our own counting houses and London towns. Christmas calls from us "something wonderful": the grace of God that enables us to experience the same transformation as the selfish old Scrooge undergoes in the Dickens' story and Joseph underwent in the Gospel of Matthew’s story.

May this Advent season be the beginning of our faithful response to God's call to bring the wonder, hope and peace of his Son's birth into every season and place. And May we have the courage and faith and willingness to be transformed like Joseph, to say yes to God, to welcome the birth of Jesus at Christmas with all the anticipation and hope that we have had this season of Advent. Amen.

Standing at the Edge of the Rain (A Sandy Hook reflection)

This post was written by a parishioner whose son survived the tragedy in Sandy Hook (he was in the classroom across the hall):

As we approach the anniversary of 12/14, many of my friends outside Sandy Hook and Newtown have asked ‘How are you doing? What can we do?’ There truth of the matter is, there is no simple answer. But in an effort to help you understand where we are as a community, I’ve posted the following essay to try to capture the spirit of this week and the mindset of my community. I’m posting it now, because it is not just about 12/14 – but also the days before and the days after and their stark contrast to one another that has us all stirring.  I hope you find it worth a couple minutes to read…

Standing at the Edge of the Rain

By: Aimee M Tabor

When I was 21, I moved to Australia. It was my year of adventure and road trips were the norm. Once on the way to a camping trip, I begged my friend to pull over so I could take a picture of a rainbow. It was magnificent – a full arc stretching as far as you could see in either direction with every color perfectly confined to its specific row. I set up my camera (ahh the days of real film and manual settings), but after the picture, I stood for a while and admired the reason for such as an amazing spectacle. There was a storm coming in off the south coast, it was a magnificent clash of a solid black wall of clouds and stunning blue skies. I stood in the road for a while (we were in the middle of no where) and just watched. Then the rain started to roll in, very much in slow motion. It was the oddest feeling ever. I knew in theory, there had to be a line somewhere just beyond a weather system’s reach. But I’d never been exactly on that line before. And there I stood, my arms stretched out in opposing directions. One hand getting pelted by dime-sized drops falling with such force, they actually stung. The other, completely dry, almost chapped from the heat. I found myself literally standing…at the edge of the rain.

I’ve recited that phrase countless times over the many years since as I always thought it’d make a great title for a book – so poignant, yet I had no idea what it’d be about. Until now. So as the world takes their pause to ask, “Where are we a year later?” We are...at the edge of the rain. Sometimes suffocating in that small gap between hope and heartache - gratitude and grief – resilience and reluctance. Sometimes we’re keenly aware that the rain is as vital to life as the sun. It quenches our thirst for perspective and renews our appreciation for life and all it can offer. Other times, we are content to quietly retreat to our respective shelters and just wait out the storm.

I know so many of my neighbors are struggling with the anniversary, but as I’ve explained to my son, the anniversary is ‘for them’ – the media and the rest of the world, because it marks a reason and excuse to pay attention and to remember. We need no such reminders. Every day is an anniversary. Every day we hold our angels in our hearts and everyday we look at our surviving children with a heightened level of gratitude. We know what amazing people we lost. And what amazing things we've done in their honor and in their name. And equally important, we know what amazing people we have around us – still protecting us, still caring for us and our children, still offering to help lend a shoulder, an ear or a hand - - to each other or to a stranger. By any of those measures, this Saturday is no different than last…and will be no different than the next.

But unlike the raw and untamable weather, we make choices. We decide what to do and how to handle each moment. Here, we deliberately termed it “12/14” to try to avoid the tragedy and the town being synonymous as in “When Newtown happened…” but in a way, it may be making the actual date that much harder – its like a cumulative pool of anxiety tossed into a square-inch spot on the calendar and with each passing week, we’ve had to dread facing it again. But our angel families have clearly unanimously expressed their wishes – do something, anything kind and thoughtful in honor of their loved ones so that they may live on through those gestures. Those Acts of Kindness – no matter how large or small – can say thank you, give back and make life better and more palatable for them, for us, for each other. We also owe it to them, to ourselves and most importantly to our surviving children as we teach them not to squander the simplest opportunities we have to cherish life – whether it’s to decorate the tree or light the menorah, go sledding, build a snowman, dunk marshmallows in hot cocoa or linger in bed for a morning snuggle or an evening book read.

So in the spirit of the season, and all that comes with it - wish each other safety, health and happiness - - and the wisdom to appreciate such blessings. And remember the most beautiful and impressive displays of humanity can be found at the edge of the worst storms. You just have seize those moments and choose to look for them -- within yourselves and in others.

Thank you for your thoughts and well-wishes from near and far. What can you do? Simple: “Be nice to each other. It’s all the really matters.” – Dawn Hochsprung (our beloved - - and very missed, Sandy Hook Principal)