Saturday, December 25, 2004
O Lord,
into your hands
we commend all those with aching hearts,
and battered souls,
and aching bodies
and the emptiness
that life so often brings.
O Lord,
you too know
the ache that comes from being rejected,
the taste of dust,
the feeling of exhaustion,
how the darkness in men's hearts can hurt
those who don't deserve it,
and for this,
you came
to teach,
to heal,
to save.
O Lord,
let us who know you
hear your voice in our hearts,
be your hands
to soothe the pain of another,
be your voice
to say your word to one in need,
to be your tool to reach out and heal,
this day and always,
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
into your hands
we commend all those with aching hearts,
and battered souls,
and aching bodies
and the emptiness
that life so often brings.
O Lord,
you too know
the ache that comes from being rejected,
the taste of dust,
the feeling of exhaustion,
how the darkness in men's hearts can hurt
those who don't deserve it,
and for this,
you came
to teach,
to heal,
to save.
O Lord,
let us who know you
hear your voice in our hearts,
be your hands
to soothe the pain of another,
be your voice
to say your word to one in need,
to be your tool to reach out and heal,
this day and always,
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Christmas Night Meditation
Lord,
tonight I sit
at the foot of the feedbox Mary laid you in,
having no other bed for you,
her precious son,
treasure beyond compare,
a loving God's gift
to a coldhearted, often indifferent
and aching world,
the most precious thing ever gifted,
and even in your coming,
mostly ignored.
O Lord,
how small you are
as your mother picks you up
with all the love a mother can offer,
you,
master and king,
creator of all that was created,
held in the loving hands
of part of your creation.
Unbound by space and time
and matter and energy,
you chose to be bound
and born into one frail newborn body,
all for love,
to be made small
so you could lift us up
into that life
beyond our imagining.
Tonight, I sit at the foot of your manger, Lord,
and wonder at the paradox,
of the creator entering the creation,
of the maker of all being fed by his mother,
of how the fabric of space and time
were forever changed
as you came to us
as Emmanuel,
to be God With Us,
one of us,
to heal us,
restore us,
and call us home.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Lord,
tonight I sit
at the foot of the feedbox Mary laid you in,
having no other bed for you,
her precious son,
treasure beyond compare,
a loving God's gift
to a coldhearted, often indifferent
and aching world,
the most precious thing ever gifted,
and even in your coming,
mostly ignored.
O Lord,
how small you are
as your mother picks you up
with all the love a mother can offer,
you,
master and king,
creator of all that was created,
held in the loving hands
of part of your creation.
Unbound by space and time
and matter and energy,
you chose to be bound
and born into one frail newborn body,
all for love,
to be made small
so you could lift us up
into that life
beyond our imagining.
Tonight, I sit at the foot of your manger, Lord,
and wonder at the paradox,
of the creator entering the creation,
of the maker of all being fed by his mother,
of how the fabric of space and time
were forever changed
as you came to us
as Emmanuel,
to be God With Us,
one of us,
to heal us,
restore us,
and call us home.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Friday, December 24, 2004
Fear Not!
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone 'round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Fear not!
Have no fear
even when the night grows dark,
even when the midnight nears,
for he who made time and space
turns to you
comes to you
loves you
enough to
be born as one of you,
be born as the poorest of you,
there,
laying in a borrowed bed,
a feedbox
filled with hay,
no room for him
with the rich,
the powerful,
the busy,
the distracted,
the uncaring.
But even so,
still he comes,
and the night lights up
at the miracle
of love
that must sing through the night,
as the fabric
of normal life is ripped
to let in a new reality,
God with us
is born.
Fear not!
Such a love story,
he who is all,
becomes
a poor child,
who will know the taste of dust,
and rough clothes,
and hunger,
and skinned knees,
and the joy of friends,
and the loss of loved ones,
and the sorrow we bear
in pain,
in illness
in cruelty done to us,
in sin harbored in our hearts,
rejection and how it feels to receive hate,
and seeing the fullness of it,
he will stretch out his arms
in the most loving embrace,
as if to take us all in,
and crying out
will give his all,
bloody and beaten
and die of a broken heart
that we might live,
all for love.
Fear not!
Susan E. Stone, 2004
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone 'round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Fear not!
Have no fear
even when the night grows dark,
even when the midnight nears,
for he who made time and space
turns to you
comes to you
loves you
enough to
be born as one of you,
be born as the poorest of you,
there,
laying in a borrowed bed,
a feedbox
filled with hay,
no room for him
with the rich,
the powerful,
the busy,
the distracted,
the uncaring.
But even so,
still he comes,
and the night lights up
at the miracle
of love
that must sing through the night,
as the fabric
of normal life is ripped
to let in a new reality,
God with us
is born.
Fear not!
Such a love story,
he who is all,
becomes
a poor child,
who will know the taste of dust,
and rough clothes,
and hunger,
and skinned knees,
and the joy of friends,
and the loss of loved ones,
and the sorrow we bear
in pain,
in illness
in cruelty done to us,
in sin harbored in our hearts,
rejection and how it feels to receive hate,
and seeing the fullness of it,
he will stretch out his arms
in the most loving embrace,
as if to take us all in,
and crying out
will give his all,
bloody and beaten
and die of a broken heart
that we might live,
all for love.
Fear not!
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
O Lord,
amazing is your love
that you come to us
so vunerable,
so open,
You came as a babe crying in the night,
You come as bread and wine,
food of the poor.
From the beginning
you were aware of rejection,
of how little room there was for you,
No room at the inn,
No room in many hearts,
So little room in modern life,
and yet,
rejected or not,
you wait patiently
for the heart that will hear your calling,
like Mary did,
like the shepherds,
like Andrew, and Peter and John.
O Lord,
that night so long ago,
you ignited hope
as the angels sang,
hope
that says
there is balm
for all the wounds,
there is rest from all labors,
there is true peace.
O Lord,
let us once again
hear the song the angels sang,
and seeing the babe in the manger,
fall on our knees,
amazed at such radical love.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
amazing is your love
that you come to us
so vunerable,
so open,
You came as a babe crying in the night,
You come as bread and wine,
food of the poor.
From the beginning
you were aware of rejection,
of how little room there was for you,
No room at the inn,
No room in many hearts,
So little room in modern life,
and yet,
rejected or not,
you wait patiently
for the heart that will hear your calling,
like Mary did,
like the shepherds,
like Andrew, and Peter and John.
O Lord,
that night so long ago,
you ignited hope
as the angels sang,
hope
that says
there is balm
for all the wounds,
there is rest from all labors,
there is true peace.
O Lord,
let us once again
hear the song the angels sang,
and seeing the babe in the manger,
fall on our knees,
amazed at such radical love.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
O Sweet Mary
O sweet Mary,
You, with your yes
as big and generous
as the heart of humankind can get,
with the help of the Father
through the workings of the Spirit
have given us
the most precious gift
human has ever given human:
Emananuel,
God with us,
Jesus,
whose very name
proclaims this truth:
God saves.
O Mary,
Mother of God,
Mother of the church,
whose advice to us
has always been
and always will be
"Do whatever he tells you,"
as Christmas fast approaches,
let us who know
why there is a reason for joy,
like you,
ponder all these things in our heart,
and with the angels,
join in the chorus of
"Gloria in excelsis Deo."
Amen
Susan E. Stone, 2004
O sweet Mary,
You, with your yes
as big and generous
as the heart of humankind can get,
with the help of the Father
through the workings of the Spirit
have given us
the most precious gift
human has ever given human:
Emananuel,
God with us,
Jesus,
whose very name
proclaims this truth:
God saves.
O Mary,
Mother of God,
Mother of the church,
whose advice to us
has always been
and always will be
"Do whatever he tells you,"
as Christmas fast approaches,
let us who know
why there is a reason for joy,
like you,
ponder all these things in our heart,
and with the angels,
join in the chorus of
"Gloria in excelsis Deo."
Amen
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Labels: Mary
Monday, December 20, 2004
Light
Light
like a candle in the darkness,
like hope in despair,
like touch to the lonely,
like water to a thirst,
like a starry night
filled with angels singing.
Light,
like the mysterious light
filling a tomb
to shatter finally
the hold of the darkness.
The gift of light,
first among all the gifts,
a love song of God,
a love story,
a baby's cry in the night
announcing Emmanuel,
God with us.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Light
like a candle in the darkness,
like hope in despair,
like touch to the lonely,
like water to a thirst,
like a starry night
filled with angels singing.
Light,
like the mysterious light
filling a tomb
to shatter finally
the hold of the darkness.
The gift of light,
first among all the gifts,
a love song of God,
a love story,
a baby's cry in the night
announcing Emmanuel,
God with us.
Susan E. Stone, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Interesting to think
that in this day
where the unborn
are simply fetuses,
tissues unworthy of consideration
except at the whim of their mother,
that it was the unborn John,
leaping in his mother's womb
who was the first
to salute
in the presence of Jesus?
O Lord,
help us to see
that even the unborn
are not unknown to you,
and have value
as children made in your image.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2oo4
that in this day
where the unborn
are simply fetuses,
tissues unworthy of consideration
except at the whim of their mother,
that it was the unborn John,
leaping in his mother's womb
who was the first
to salute
in the presence of Jesus?
O Lord,
help us to see
that even the unborn
are not unknown to you,
and have value
as children made in your image.
Amen.
Susan E. Stone, 2oo4
