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| Image by Gary Robertson |
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A GREETING
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
(Psalm 42:1)
A READING
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters Seas. And God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:1-10)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
(John 1:1)
A PRAYER
Let me in thankfulness
be Your mirror, God--
Then Your own rays
might be returned to You,
in grace-words, in equal light.
from "On the Sweet Comfort Brought By Grace", by Catherina Regina von Greiffenberg,
found in The Flowering of the Soul: A Book of Prayers by Women, edited by Lucinda Vardey
VERSE OF THE DAY
But now thus says the Lord, the one who created you, O Jacob,
the one who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
(Isaiah 43:1)
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| "Mirror Lake" (1929) by Franklin Carmichael. Click on image to enlarge. |
In the familiar first verses of Genesis 1, God takes a formless void and somehow produces Creation, a universe of endless possibility and meaning. The three Hebrew letters that form the verb ‘create’ are also the first three letters of the very first word of scripture, which means “In a beginning”. Thus in the language used to record our story, ‘beginning’ is surrounded by the word ‘create’. The love of God for all that God has made is expressed through acts of creativity, even in the very words of how we tell the story. In the following chapters, we hear that we ourselves are made in God’s image. Being made in the image of God is not the same as being a mirror of God. In the painting above by Franklin Carmichael, we get a sense of the perfect reflection in still waters that was present in nature when Carmichael was painting. We also see how varied and diverse that mirrored image is when made into art. God’s creativity means that each of us, as unique individuals, reflect God and are also diverse in ways that cannot be counted. How can we form a deeper connection to that creativity of God, at the end of a long year in which we have been deeply challenged? How can we find ways to strengthen our own commitment to love and serve God and each other, even as many of us feel depleted and discouraged? We can start by fastening our hearts and minds on to the promise and the hope of Advent. During these days when we anticipate the birth of Jesus, we have the opportunity to be reminded that we ourselves are not just made in God’s image, but in God’s imagination. Advent hope is the knotted rope on which we can tie ourselves to God’s imagination and love. In this way we carry with us always the seeds of our own renewal. There is a story about Saint Patrick, the fifth century Irish monk whose famous “breastplate prayer” is the text of today’s music. In the story, Patrick and the other monks were on their way to minister in another village where the leader had threatened to kill them. As the men walked through a woods, they recited the prayer to give themselves courage. As they continued to pray, those who waited to ambush them saw a mother deer and her calves passing through, instead of the monks. Perhaps many of us have had moments in the last nine months when we wished we could somehow be transformed out of the climate of fear we have been living in. We yearn to find a way to feel God's presence with us always, giving us courage when our landscape has dramatically shifted. Like the deer in Psalm 42, we thirst for the renewing waters of God’s love, and for a way to make change in our world. How can God help us to reimagine the biblical story in our own context? As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, how can our longing for change become a renewed understanding of how creative we can be?
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| Image by Gary Robertson |
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LC† Longing for Renewal is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Join us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year.
Thank you and peace be with you!
