At The Naming of a Hindu Child

Meditation:  We share the Word


Since it has pleased the Almighty to bestow upon N1 and N2
the gift of a child, N3, let us now give thanks:

Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with your presence in  this world.
We thank you for the life of this child, N3, entrusted to our care.
Help us to remember that we are all your children, and so to
love and nurture him, that he may attain to that full stature
intended for him in your eternal wisdom.

Lord, you have taught us that whoever receives a little child
in your name receives you.  We give you thanks for the blessing
you have bestowed upon N1 and N2 in giving them a child. Confirm
their joy by a lively sense of your presence with them, and give them
calm strength and patient wisdom as they seek to bring this child to
love all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious,
excellent and admirable, following the example of all who are blessed.

- Modified from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer: Thanksgiving for a Child

I Believe

Antiphon:   Love rejoices in the truth

I believe in God the Creator,
Who gives us breath and life,
Maker of all that is.

I believe in Jesus the Christ;
Wholly God and Wholly Man,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
And was born to a maid named Mary,

Who was tormented by Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was entombed.
Who ministered to the dead,
And whom the gates of hell and death cannot restrain.

Three days after his death, he arose,
And ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of God the Creator.
He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Church, the Body of Christ,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.

A Winter Faith (Reprise)

Proposed Antiphon: Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God


Cruel wintry winds
Howl, hiss and blow
Across the ice
Over the snow

Bare trees poke up
No life is seen
The ice gives all
A glassy sheen

Nothing moves
Lest blown about
High up above
Cold stars are out

Your face is numb
Your fingers chill
Breath a brief cloud
And all is still

Below the snow
Below the ice
In buried peace
Lie seeds and mice

Fish dream fish dreams
Deep in the ponds
While cruel winds whip
The cattail fronds

Chipmunks sleep tight
And dream of sun
Of nuts and grain
Of chipmunk fun

Down in the mud
The frogs all sleep
Turtles mark time
In burrows deep

Warmth will return
The ice will go
And life will rise
And water flow

Snow drops will leap
Out of their grave
Then crocuses;
These plants are brave

The buds will swell
And burst and bloom
The earth will shed
This wintry gloom

But bravest, first
Sign of the mild
The Christmas birth;
The holy Child

Reminding us
This wintry strife
Lies briefly over
Our vibrant life

From out of dark
Comes life and light
Showing us God's
Power and might.


Original Post

Raise Your Light!

The sun rises, the sun sets
The moon waxes and wanes

The green life rises and leafs out

Fauns and children are born and grow

Old people hold hands, walking into the sunset

Rain waters the earth
Blue skies catch our breath

Birds sing
Fish splash
Squirrels leap
Chipmunks search the undergrowth for seeds

Woodpeckers knock, while skunks hunt for grubs below
Tiny sparks of life burrow in the earth and dance in the air

People help each other
People they know
And people they do not know

They set up funds, institutions, and ways of life to see to the care and shelter of others
For people they will never meet, for those who will come long after they have gone

Others have labored, and we have entered into their labors

Good is not the exception
We live in a very blessed world

We do not light a single lamp in the darkness
But add our light to the constellations lighting the sky

We do not sing alone in a vile place
But join the celestial chorus

There are those who do not hear
Who turn away
Who see the dark first, who struggle to pick out any good
Who cannot see how very blessed we are
Who cannot imagine the world of sharing that we really live in
And we must sing to them
And raise our light, our hearts

There is enough grace,

enough good,

… enough God for all of us

Raise your light!

The Bread and the Wine

Some reach for the cup
Others open their mouths, faithful that you will tip carefully
Some grasp the bottom of the cup
And control the tip
Some just sip, so timidly that you wonder if they received
Others manhandle the cup and take a significant helping

Some raise their hands for the bread
But many, many leave their hands low
Their hands cupped, almost closed
You must reach down
Reach in
And place the bread inside their hands
Like a seed within a pod
Like a child within a womb
Encourage them to take, to taste

The wine seems more welcome than the bread
Perhaps the wine is like the spirit
The blessings of the spirit
Heady, inspiring, and lifting
And the bread is like the body
Reminding us of our mortality
Of our flesh, and its failings
Of our suffering, of our limitations

Or maybe we want to sense the physicality of the bread
To have it thrust upon us
To have God reach out to us
Touch us in our mortal life
We need the thrust, the touch, the impinging of God upon us

Perhaps this is why
It feels like I must give the bread
But that the wine
People are eager to receive

May you find that God reaches out to you
And that you are much beloved.

-LE

Merry Christmas

Crack your eyes
Slippers on feet
Get some coffee
A bite to eat

Exchange cards
Open gifts
While outside
Snow swirls and drifts

Today no work
Today for fun
Today for love
For God's true Son

Merry merry
Be of good cheer
Happy happy
Christmas is here!

A Winter Faith

Cruel wintry winds
Howl, hiss and blow
Across the ice
Over the snow

Bare trees poke up
No life is seen
The ice gives all
A glassy sheen

Nothing moves
Lest blown about
High up above
Cold stars are out

Your face is numb
Your fingers chill
Breath a brief cloud
And all is still

Below the snow
Below the ice
In buried peace
Lie seeds and mice

Fish dream fish dreams
Deep in the ponds
While cruel winds whip
The cattail fronds

Chipmunks sleep tight
And dream of sun
Of nuts and grain
Of chipmunk fun

Down in the mud
The frogs all sleep
Turtles mark time
In burrows deep

Warmth will return
The ice will go
And life will rise
And water flow

Snow drops will leap
Out of their grave
Then crocuses;
These plants are brave

The buds will swell
And burst and bloom
The earth will shed
This wintry gloom

But bravest, first
Sign of the mild
The Christmas birth;
The holy Child

Reminding us
This wintry strife
Lies briefly over
Our vibrant life

From out of dark
Comes life and light
Showing us God's
Power and might.


Perhaps on a similar note: The Winter of Contentment

Push towards the Light!

When a child is born
Sometimes it seems to sleep in the womb
And the mother works hard to push it out
Other children feel the womb moving and squeezing
And push with their legs
Striving to be born
We are like unborn ones in the womb
Push towards the light!