“The eye sees what it has been given to see by concrete circumstances, and the imagination reproduces what, by some related gift, it is able to make live.” —Flannery O’Connor

“The gifts of the inner world must be accepted as gifts in the outer world if they are to retain their vitality. Where gifts have no public currency, therefore, where the gift as a form of property is neither recognized nor honored, our inner gifts will find themselves excluded from the very commerce which is their nourishment.” —Lewis Hyde

“A person is in his/her own very being a gift… however… we do not experience ourselves as gifts until we are engaged in the act of creativity” —Elizabeth O’Connor

Christmas will be upon us on Saturday, no more expectation and longing, but the freedom and delight that comes with celebration!  Christmastide officially begins with Christmas Eve’s mass and extends until the feast of our Lord’s Baptism celebrated the first Sunday after Epiphany (Jan 6, marking the arival of the magi and ending the 12 days of Christmas).  So for the next two Sundays our worship gathering will be a time of play, celebration, gift giving and feasting.

Come this Sunday to the Dwell house, 817 Dill Ave SW, from 4-6pm and bring fun festal foods (fingerfoods, cheese, cookies) as well as a small wrapped gift. In the spirit of Boxing Day, the gift you bring should be a “re-gift.”  Something you’re ready to pass along.  We will not play a drawn out game like dirty santa, we’ll just pick names when we arrive and then share gifts with one another (we’ll even have some extra on hand should last minute guests arrive).

As the new year is around the corner too, we’ll take some time to celebrate and give thanks for gifts we’ve received in 2010 as well as let go of those things that we do not want to carry into 2011 (Hebrews 2.11-12, The Message).  We’re preparing to have a little bon fire behind the house, hopefully, for us to throw those resolutions and confessions into.

Learn about the past year and how to stay in touch

Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
the stock that your right hand planted.

They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down…

But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

—from Psalm 80

What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform the community and inspire you?
—Peter Block

In the images that the prophets and poets give us for God coming near—the images that the gospel writers would say are fulfilled, or “filled up” when God is made known through the arrival of Jesus— we are reminded that there are many for whom God is not near.  Israel in their various exiles and political displacements has the courage to address God about this distance, about the cut down stumps of promises and shriveled up hopes.  Possibility is a strange thing, it requires honesty about lost hopes, a letting go in order to see with fresh eyes. Community Organizer, Peter Block says, “the distinction between possibility and problem solving” is that ” possibility is a future beyond reach.”

The prophets that saw with Advent eyes the promises of God around the corner, were able to leave some things beyond reach, while also taking ownership of what they feared and longed for.  The pasty promises of commercial and cultural Christmas can ring hallow.  They often leave out possibility, avoiding present fears or ignoring real possibilities.  When we don’t feel God’s nearness prayer is a risk in honesty.  Instead of placating popular southern religiosity or pretending that we are feeling something we don’t really feel it, what if this Advent could be a time to lament to God that we are ready for possibilities beyond our reach?

As we prepare for Christmas, the birth of God-with-us, come join a community of people looking for honest ways to pray, and contribute to our discovery by jumping into the conversation with honesty.

We gather for worship in different homes every Sunday from 4-6pm.  This Sunday we’ll meet at Anne and Mike’s at 563 Manford Road SW  30310