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| Image by Roberto García Ruiz |
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A Greeting
"Come," my heart says, "seek God's face!"
Your face, oh Lord, do I seek.
(Psalm 27:8)
A Reading
God created me at the beginning before the first works of Creation. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth — when God had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When God established the heavens, I was there.
(Proverbs 8:22-27a)
Music
Note: Today's music offering is two songs.
Meditative Verse
What has come into being in him was life,
and the life was the light of all people.
(John 1:3b-4)
A Prayer Story
About a month after my surgery for prostate cancer, I found myself on a trail near Dovrefjell Norway. A group of us had long planned to walk the St. Olaf Way, a path from Oslo to Trondheim, tracing the mountainous spine of “the roof of Norway”. I had been looking forward to it so much that when my hospital date interfered I was determined: if the surgery went well – and even more if it didn’t - I would walk with the others. Being only a few weeks out from the operation meant no one was sure yet if the surgeon “had got it all”. I was in a fragile, tender place physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We had just finished a hard ascent over rocky terrain swollen with spring run-off from the snowbanks still clinging to high ground. Then, over the treeless summit, and –- I found myself crying, and praying, and giving thanks to the Creator. Before our eyes, mile after mile of God’s creation stretched green and grey and blue to a far-distant ring of mountains. It was austere, and hushed, and haunting. Without thinking, my arms went up and out, as far as I could reach. “This,” I kept saying. I could think of no other words: “This.” And eventually: “thank you.” I’d been granted a vision that my little life was part of this beauty, and that whatever happened next, it was all pure gift. Now, almost seven years later, I still find myself, sometimes, stretching out my arms, walking with thanks while trying to take it all in. Part of the discipline of praying-walking, for me, is remembering with every step, the gift of now.
- Pastor Matthew Anderson, Montreal, QC
You can read more of Matthew's writing on his blogs: somethinggrand.ca
and unsettledwords.com
Verse for the Day
From God's fullness we have all received,
grace upon grace.
(John 1:16)
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| Image by May Klausen |
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Sometimes we lose track of the fact that we carry the burdens of our lives very physically in our bodies. In today’s prayer story, Matthew Anderson takes us on a journey from a challenging surgery to a walk through a mountain range in Norway. His soul desire to keep a planned vacation hike on an ancient pilgrim trail becomes even more important than it had been and he is determined to fulfill it. After a strenuous walk, his arms “go out and up” as he beholds a sudden sweeping vista. That remembered sense of joy continues in his times of prayer-walking, long after. We carry the burdens and griefs and hopes and disappointments of our lives in our bodies, and so did Jesus. The one who became flesh and dwelled among us experienced the pain and suffering that humans feel. If we associate Jesus with the Word and with the very beginning of the Creation story, if we consider Jesus as a very part of Creation itself, then is it possible to imagine the suffering of our planet as also the suffering of Jesus? What would Jesus say about our planet and the crisis we are in? And yet when we live in Advent hope, we are moving away from suffering and toward a deep commitment to new life. “We beheld the glory of the father”, sing today’s two choirs: the St. Olaf Choir from Minnesota and the Nidaros Cathedral Girl’s Choir in Norway. The two groups facing each other in a perfect blend of voices, sing first in celebration of the glory of God that is revealed by Jesus becoming human and dwelling among us. The second song takes us to the first verses of the Gospel of John that describe Jesus’ presence at the birth of the world. There is always the chance to make all things new. In his story, Matthew had to struggle up the mountain before he could find that place of hushed wonder with himself and God. We too have much work ahead of us in order to experience the joy that comes from surviving suffering. And it likely will be worse before it can be better. How can we lean toward hope while also holding in our hearts the knowledge of the work that lies ahead? What does the renewal of Creation look like to you, and how does it begin in your own world?
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LC† Praying for Creation is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto,
supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
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