Advent Week 2 (Year C): Look Up, There's Beauty

Look, I know week 2 of Advent is usually about peace. But the lectionary passages for the day are so strongly themed with beauty, particularly the Apocryphal passage, that I couldn’t resist. Plus, it’s how we’re interpreting it this year at Peace for our Advent sermon series entitled “Look Up". So, a little beauty in your Advent mix this year.

God, it’s easy for us to get bogged down
In our to-do lists,
The problems we must solve,
The needs we must meet,
The expectations we put upon ourselves,
The crises we must manage --
And forget that beneath everything
There is the hum of beauty.

Beneath dust and decay,
There is a sheen of value.
Beneath disease and distress,
There is a sparkle of wisdom.
Beneath the appearance of death,
There is the glimmer of rebirth.
Beneath the cloak of sorrow and affliction,
There is the endless beauty of the glory from God (1).

Awaken us, oh God, to the beauty beneath,
The beauty that confronts us
With your presence and power,
Your plan and purpose.

We know that by the tender mercy of our God,
The dawn from on high will break upon us,
And the beauty of God will overwhelm our senses.
May we be alert, and looking for it.

Amen

1) Baruch 5:1

Litany for the Greatness of God (Year B, Proper 24)

This week’s Lectionary includes the passage from Job in which God sits Job down and sets him straight about who’s Who in the universe. Then the Mark 10 passage, Jesus sits his disciples down and sets them straight about the nature of Greatness. Taken together, the passages are an invitation to return to wonder and humility and trust; to refrain from centering ourselves in the narrative, and start looking both outside ourselves, and deep within.*

God, so often we are hunkered down, focused on our responsibilities,
Our eyes on our small screens,
Our awareness on our troubles or our achievements;
That we forget about your greatness and beauty.

We forget to look at stars and clouds.
We forget to partake of silence and solitude.
We forget to listen to wind and whisper.
We let our attention wander away from you.

Remind us, oh God, in our daily bread and practice,
That you are the author of all things,
That you made love the building blocks of the universe,
That your kindness caused heaven and nature to exist.

Remind us, oh God, that we are both your handiwork and your Beloved,
That we are connected to all of creation,
That we are temples in which you dwell (1);
And yet you dwell in unapproachable light (2).

And when we get too busy trying to know you with our rational minds
Trying to think thoughts about you;
Bring us back to infinite enfolding love,
Which can only be experienced, felt, and surrendered to

Help us to return to wonder,
And turn our fear to love;
For you are clothed with honor and majesty,
Wrapped in light as with a garment (3).
You inspire wonder and trust.
All beauty has its origin in you.

Amen

1. 1 Corinthians 3:16

2. 1 Timothy 6:16

3. Psalm 104:1,2

*I was especially encouraged by last week’s meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation. The God Particle particularly made my eyes leaky.

Litany for Justice and Equality (and Martin Luther King)

*This litany was originally written for MLK day, but also has implications for the 2016 elections. Some of the language was influenced by Brian Zahnd's excellent book _Beauty Will Save The World_, and also the prayer echoes some of the language in the worship song "Form Us" by Casey Corum and Anabeth Morgan.

Oh God, we are reminded today of Your infinite Love for all people:
All races
All colors
All political affiliations
All religious persuasions
All social classes
All economic statuses
All nations.

We confess our tendency to think that we are the best, our perspective the most righteous.
Forgive us our arrogance, Oh God.
We confess our tendency to judge others, and to condemn those we find unworthy.
Forgive us our impertinence, Oh God.

We see others with criticism.
You see us all with love-filled eyes.
We see only in part.
You see the world with infinite wisdom.
We see the external.
You see the heart.

Mold us to Your way.
Form us to Your heart.
Shape us with love.
Make us new with grace.

Our way is not of violence and empire, but in the power and beauty of the cross.
Our faith is not in politics, but in the transforming love of Christ.

May we work diligently to help meet the needs of those You love, both physical and spiritual.
May our eyes be opened to the value and worth of each person we meet.
May Your kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

Amen