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- Sunday December 24: Birthing The Eternal Dream: Peace
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To Practice
- You are invited to gaze upon this photo of our beautiful Earth, take in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and reflect with love upon our noble, flawed humanity and hold it up in awareness of the ever-present grace of God. What is evoked as we prepare for the sacred and liminal energies of Christmas Day?
- Note: This is a practice you may prefer to defer to later if you would like your Christmas reflections to be more quiet. For many, music is a medium which assists in reaching one’s deepest desires and emotions. ‘If I Can Dream’ by Elvis Presley is a track inspired by Martin Luther King’s sermon and subsequent assassination of King and Bobby Kennedy, and one which, after singing it, moved Presley to say “I’m never going to sing another song I don’t believe in. I’m never going to make another movie I don’t believe in.” As you listen, notice any desires which arise in you and how you might be called to respond.
You may re-read the full email reflection here: https://mailchi.mp/coutreach/word-of-the-week-dec24
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Isn’t Christmas wonderful, holy and inspiring us to dream like Jesus or Martin Luther King? I will be with family but someone I know will be serving Christmas meals to the homeless. That is how he will celebrate his Christmas. I am blessed and I don’t know wby. I will be visiting my two son’s who live nearby with their families. One is serving brunch and he and his wife have 4 beautiful daughters. His oldest just aced Biology and Organic Chemistry in her pre med program. She is on a high! My other son and his wife have a boy and a girl, still young enough to enjoy Santa Claus to the fullest. On Christmas Eve we will go to my niece’s home where a priest will celebrate a home Mass for all the family. This priest has spent his vocation with the poor in Mexico, Bangladesh and Nepal. He knows what it is to be poor on Christmas. His Mass is special as you might imagine. I grew up poor, so I know. So while I will be enjoying Christmas, my childhood memories of growing up poor will be with me. My heart will be with those who have nothing this Christmas except Jesus born in a stable giving them hope. It is the prayers of all in CO that go out to the poor this Christmas and to their families. To all of you have a holy and blessed Christmas!
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It is Christmas day, and in reply to yesterday’s essay on the desire for charity as a wise response to aggression, cruelty and violence, I have to say that self-defense is a form of charity and justice as well. Ukrainians will be forgiven if they answer Russian killings in kind. Criminal activity will be given a charitable and just response with society’s police arrest and court-sanctioned detainment of the offenders. We trust in God’s revealed intentions, and given our natural instincts to protect against harm and violent death, we exercise these gifts as our judgment deems necessary. Peace!
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The tone of my this week is “abiding” “open” “tender mercy of God” surrounded by the many kindred spirits of my past including Martin Luther kind. I could not go to his speech this week , the essence of which I know by heart; no this last week of 2023, it’s the shepherds in the fields, the none persons in the then society; “abiding in the fields”; Joseph, accepting, embracing what He doesn’t clearly understand; Simeon and Anna, the hidden nurturers of society given to a hidden life of contemplation ” abiding, consenting, open, to the tender mercies of God” Like these two I am called to nurture a future of “accompaniment” which I will not be a part of , but which will further, ” incarnations of the Son of God”. It is my way of being incarnational, hidden, abiding, open, consenting. As Keating says: “a peace transcending joy and sorrow, hope and despair. This peace is rooted in a way of being … “
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Evocative are these readings and images. This year, so many families with whom I have relationships are engaged in turmoil and disruptions of loving relationships. Wares rage around the globe. I pray as 2023 closes Father Keatings words: “Charity, as a way of life, has never been tried on a national, let alone world wide scale.” May utmost violence be loved out of existence by utmost charity. <3 linda
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Amen, amen, Linda. I join you in envisioning utmost charity as a global way of being. Thank you for your presence and your own practice of this way. – Pamela
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