Christmas Poem by e.e. cummings

SOURCE:

https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2020/11/30/christmas-poem-by-e-e-cummings

from spiralling ecstatically this

proud nowhere of earth’s most prodigious night
blossoms a newborn babe:around him,eyes
— gifted with ever keener appetite
than mere unmiracle can quite appease —
humbly in their imagined bodies kneel
(over time space doom dream while floats the whole

perhapsless mystery of paradise)

mind without soul may blast some universe
to might have been,and stop ten thousand stars
but not one heartbeat of this child;nor shall
even prevail a million questionings
against the silence of his mother’s smile

— whose only secret all creation sings

+ e. e. cummings

little tree by e.e. cummings

SOURCE:  

https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2020/12/22/little-tree-by-e-e-cummings

little tree

little silent Christmas tree

you are so little

you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest 

and were you very sorry to come away? 

see            i will comfort you 

because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark 

and hug you safe and tight 

just as your mother would, 

only don't be afraid 

look           the spangles 

that sleep all the year in a dark box 

dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine, 

the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads, 

put up your little arms 

and i'll give them all to you to hold 

every finger shall have its ring 

and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy 

then when you're quite dressed 

you'll stand in the window for everyone to see 

and how they'll stare! 

oh but you'll be very proud 

and my little sister and i will take hands 

and looking up at our beautiful tree 

we'll dance and sing 

"Noel Noel"

+ E. E. Cummings

Meaning of FAITH

SOURCE:  Sermon by Fr. Jeffery Ott at Our Lady of Lourdes in Atlanta, Georgia on October 2, 2022. 

https://livestream.com/accounts/27395195/events/10634944/player?width=640&height=360&enableInfoAndActivity=true&defaultDrawer=&autoPlay=true&mute=false

KEYWORDS:  Faith, trouble, challenge, difficulty

In a sermon on the prophet Habakkuk, Fr. Jeffery Ott gave an acronym for FAITH.  He spoke about the realities of misery, violence, and discord in our lives.  He states, "When the rubber hits the road, FAITH kicks in."

FAITH

• F = Find Jesus
• A = Accept Jesus
• I = Identify with Jesus
• T = Trust Jesus
• H =  Hold onto Jesus

COMMENTS:

As a good Presbyterian, I would tweak the acronym just a touch.  I would say, "F = Found by Jesus."  Like the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15, Jesus finds us.  Our faith rests on the fact that we are found.  

Angelus by Jean Francois Millet

SOURCE:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Angelus_(painting)

KEYWORDS:  Death, Incarnation, Life, Mourning, Prayer

Jean Francois Millet said: "The idea for The Angelus came to me because I remembered that my grandmother, hearing the church bell ringing while we were working in the fields, always made us stop work to say the Angelus prayer for the poor departed"

At first, the painting was interpreted as a political statement, with Millet viewed as a socialist in solidarity with the workers. While the painting expresses a profound sense of religious devotion, and became one of the most widely reproduced religious paintings of the 19th century, with prints displayed by thousands of devout householders across France, Millet painted it from a sense of nostalgia rather than from any strong religious feeling. 

Salvador Dalí saw a print of this painting in his school and insisted that this was a funeral scene, not a prayer ritual and that the couple were portrayed praying and mourning over their dead infant. Although this was an unpopular view, at his insistence the Louvre X-rayed the painting, showing a small painted-over geometric shape strikingly similar to a coffin by the basket.

The Angelus is a Roman Catholic prayer commemorating the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  It comes from the angel's words to Mary from the gospel of Luke.  It is recited three times a day.  

Alternative Messiahs

SOURCE:  "While It Was Still Dark," a sermon by Rev. Dr. William L. Self.  Sunday, March 31, 2013. https://day1.org/weekly-broadcast/5d9b820ef71918cdf200346f/while_it_was_still_dark

KEYWORDS: Messiah, Lord, Jesus, Christ, Easter, Resurrection, 

Arnold Toynbee, the noted historian, in his Study of History VII noted some parallels between Jesus and other so-called saviors. Thirty-seven of those who claim to be the savior died after a trial, but that was all. No hint of resurrection. There is no hint even in Greek mythology of a resurrection. In short, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was a distinct event in history without parallel. Mohamed is dead, the Greek gods have vanished, the Roman gods are gone, statesmen, politicians, and philosophers have lost their control over our lives. 

Death Be Not Proud

SOURCE:  "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne.  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44107/holy-sonnets-death-be-not-proud

KEYWORDS:  Easter, Resurrection, Jesus Christ, Life, Eternal, 

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

What a Difference Life Makes

SOURCE:  "Beyond Bunnies and Jelly Beans," A sermon by Rev. Pam Driesell. Sunday, April 24, 2011.  

https://day1.org/weekly-broadcast/5d9b820ef71918cdf2002d77/beyond_bunnies_and_jelly_beans

KEYWORDS:  Easter, Resurrection, Life, Power, Spark, Creation, Creator, Breathe, Spirit.

Did you know that scientists have studied the mineral and chemical composition of the human body?

That's right. The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils calculated the chemical and mineral composition of the human body, which breaks down as follows:

• 65%  Oxygen
• 18%  Carbon
• 10%  Hydrogen
• 3%    Nitrogen
• 1.5% Calcium
• 1%    Phosphorous
• Less than 1 % of Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium, Iron, and Iodine 
• Oh, and the trace quantities of fluorine, silicon, manganese, zinc, copper, aluminum, and arsenic.

If we took all those parts and sold them on the common market, it would be worth less than $1. Now our skin is our most valuable physical asset; it's worth about $3.50, I'm told. So, added all up, you're worth less than $5!

But take a moment now to place your hand on your wrist or on your lower neck on either side of your windpipe; go ahead. Let's all be quiet and still together for a moment.

What do you feel?

You FEEL YOUR PULSE. You FEEL the mystery of BIOLOGICAL LIFE beating through your $5 worth of chemicals and minerals.

Do you understand how that works? Do you understand how $5 worth of chemicals and minerals adds up to YOU? Or the person sitting next to you?

EASTER IS ABOUT THE POWER OF LIFE! THE POWER that makes $5 worth of elements PRICELESS.

Between the Beast and the Dragon

SOURCE:  A Confession and Other Religious Writings by Leo Tolstoy. Quoted on the website, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/486243-there-is-an-old-eastern-fable-about-a-traveler-who

KEYWORDS:  Easter, resurrection, memento mori, Ash Wednesday, death, permanent, eternal, suffering, sorrow, pain, human situation

“There is an old Eastern fable about a traveler who is taken unawares on the steppes by a ferocious wild animal. In order to escape the beast, the traveler hides in an empty well, but at the bottom of the well, he sees a dragon with its jaws open, ready to devour him. The poor fellow does not dare to climb out because he is afraid of being eaten by the rapacious beast, neither does he dare drop to the bottom of the well for fear of being eaten by the dragon. So he seizes hold of a branch of a bush that is growing in the crevices of the well and clings on to it. His arms grow weak and he knows that he will soon have to resign himself to the death that awaits him on either side. Yet he still clings on, and while he is holding on to the branch he looks around and sees that two mice, one black and one white, are steadily working their way around the bush he is hanging from, gnawing away at it. Sooner or later they will eat through it and the branch will snap, and he will fall into the jaws of the dragon. The traveler sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish. But while he is still hanging there he sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the bush, stretches out his tongue, and licks them. In the same way, I am clinging to the tree of life, knowing full well that the dragon of death inevitably awaits me, ready to tear me to pieces, and I cannot understand how I have fallen into this torment. And I try licking the honey that once consoled me, but it no longer gives me pleasure. The white mouse and the black mouse – day and night – are gnawing at the branch from which I am hanging. I can see the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tastes sweet. I can see only one thing; the inescapable dragon and the mice, and I cannot tear my eyes away from them. And this is no fable but the truth, the truth that is irrefutable and intelligible to everyone.

The delusion of the joys of life that had formerly stifled my fear of the dragon no longer deceived me. No matter how many times I am told: you cannot understand the meaning of life, do not think about it but live, I cannot do so because I have already done it for too long. Now I cannot help seeing day and night chasing me and leading me to my death. This is all I can see because it is the only truth. All the rest is a lie.

Those two drops of honey, which more than all else had diverted my eyes from the cruel truth, my love for my family and for my writing, which I called art – I no longer found sweet.”

My Cup Overflows

SOURCE:  Facebook.  "I Love Kidmin" Community. April 11, 2022

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=515619566873056&set=g.1545358732410687

KEYWORD:  grace, unjust steward, Luke 16, child, children, ministry, love, clever, joy, overflow

My friend posted this and I wanted to share it with you. I’m sure we can all think of a few kids in our ministry that might try to pull a similar stunt. As I looked at this photo God started really speaking to me about the beauty that’s expressed within it. Not just that this kid figured out how to get away with 800 ounces of slushie but the kids have an incredible capacity to receive. They don’t know their limitations so they just keep going. It’s always impressed me that it’s so much easier to teach kids about the Lord.

I just thought this was a good reminder to all of us not to give Dixie cups to kids who really can receive the 4-gallon size portion of God!!!

95% of Life is Love

 SOURCE: "Arthur Brooks on How to 'Love Your Enemies,'" By Example: A Leadership Podcast with Carly Fiorina, 12 March 2019. (Around 20:00)

KEYWORDS: happiness, love, change, transformation, 

Arthur Brooks shares an exchange with James Q. Wilson, the social scientist who articulated the "Broken Windows Theory" among other scholarship.  Brooks quotes Wilson as saying,

"You know, public policy at its best only affects people at about the 5% margin of their life."

Brooks asks Wilson, "So what is the other 95%?"

"Mostly love."  

Brooks concludes, "If you want to affect people's lives, if you want to solve social problems, you have to talk about the nuclear fuel rods that are happiness, and that is love. That's relationships. That's the faith that they have in God, and the relationship that they have with their kids, and the friendships that they are able to make.  It's the way they are able to serve each other, and whether or not they are lonely, and whether or not they are actually able to form functioning relationships in their environs around them."

Shalom, Shallem, and the Human Heart

SOURCE: Way of Holy Joy by Sofia Cavalletti. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, 2012.

KEYWORDS: baptism, peace, grace, gift, transformation, reconciliation, shalom, ubuntu, 

"To avoid conflicts is the work of politics," Maria Montessori wrote, "to build peace is the work of education." (pg 2)

---

Thus the first place in which "wholeness" needs to exist, so that there will be peace, is in the heart of the human person. (pg 2)

---

Although the human heart may burn with love for the oppressed, if it is still seething with hate for the oppressors, that person would not be "integral, whole" and would not yet able to build the foundation for peace. 

Furthermore, a fellowship that embraced all humankind, but only humankind, would not yet represent shalom, peace, because it would exclude the most important part of reality: God. The human heart that does not open itself to the religious reality would remain equally split, mutilated, would not yet be shallem.  (pg 2-4)

---

The life of the human person consists in transforming the gifts that are offered into gifts that are accepted and desired and lived with ever more awareness. (pg 6)

The Power of Being Present

SOURCE:  "This is How to Own Everything." The Daily Stoic, March 31, 2022.  

https://dailystoic.com/this-is-how-to-own-everything/

KEYWORDS:  presence, present, marriage, joy, living, loving, love, ownership, steward, stewardship, pastoral care, hospitality, fellowship, koinonia

"John Graves had a large farm. Like Cato the Elder, he worked the property, he cultivated it, he made money from it. But he once joked that property owners had to be careful. The little child, he said, roaming the hills and playing in the streams, may own it out from under you.

Because while you’re busy worrying, stressing, solving one problem after the next, they’re actually experiencing it. They’re the only ones truly living on it.

What Graves was speaking to the power of being present."

Who is John Graves? 

https://ktemnews.com/famed-texas-author-john-graves-passes-away-at-92/

https://artandseek.org/2011/04/22/for-earth-day-texas-author-john-graves

Tranchin: “Does it bother you, John, that as soon as you stop, Mother Nature comes back and starts erasing all your work?” 

Graves:  “No.  I just decided I had my fun here, let her have hers, you know.  I’m not going to worry about it.

Our Worries are Too Consistent

SOURCE:  Letters on Life by Rainer Maria Rilke.  Quoted by Daily Stoic, January 25, 2022.

KEYWORDS: worry, anxiety, depression, melancholy, 

“Life is not even close to being as logically consistent as our worries; it has many more unexpected ideas and many more facts than we do.”  -- Rainer Maria Rilke

The Wheel of Fortune May Turn But Christ is the Rock

 SOURCE: "The Changing Role of Fortuna and her Wheel in the Middle Ages" by Nicol Valentin

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-changing-role-of-fortuna-and-her-wheel-of-fortune-in-the-middle-ages-5a50a814ac47

KEYWORDS:  Fate, Serenity, Humility, Center, Foundation, Rock

"By the 12th century, The image of Fortuna is solidified. She stands near a mechanical wheel with a lever that she controls.

Attached to the wheel are four figures, often dressed like kings, each with different names. On the left is regnabo (I shall reign), on top is regno (I reign) to the right regnavi (I have reigned), and at the bottom lies the unfortunate sum sine regno (I am without a kingdom)."

"As a Christian symbol, the Wheel could remind everyone of the follies of ambition. Focus on the higher things, it says. Forgo the love of the temporal. You’ll be better for it in the end. The Abbott of Fécamp went so far as to make an actual revolving wheel so his monks could contemplate the ever-changing fate of man."

"Christ becomes the center of the Wheel, and the Christian who keeps him at the center of their soul remains in peace and harmony with him. The image could also be found on church frescoes and exterior sculptures."