The Window to the Heart

This is a week to be drawn into the circle of God's love.

As you light 4 candles, see if you are able, in your memory, to visit a relationship or activity in which you experienced the healing power of love...

At church, we have been inviting ourselves to the lighting of the Advent wreath by singing a prayer song that originated with the brothers of Taize. We sing in Latin, and here are the words:

Magnificat, magnificat, magnificat anima mea domium.
Magnificat, magnificat, magnificat anima mea.

The words simply mean: my soul sings praise to God. It is based upon the song that Mary sang (Luke 1:47-55) after she said "yes" to the angel who announced that she would give birth to a child who would be the Son of God. We've been singing Mary's song differently each week of Advent....adding something new each week. Like the light on our Advent wreath, the song has opened an expanding, gracious space, where we have been drawn into the circle of God's love.

This week, amid all of the preparations leading up to Christmas, ask God to open the window of your heart. Ask God to visit there. Do you imagine God visiting you, in the form of an angel? Or, is God likely to be seen in the greetings you exchange with family and friends? Is God's love growing in the way that you listen....or in the words that you speak? Is it in moments of quiet or in a courageous action that you might re-experience the healing power of love? Ask God to awaken your imagination, that it may be so for you.

Blessings,

Cheryl

P.S. Last night our family went to see "Triple Espresso" at the Geva Theater. It was hilarious. This show features music, magic, and comedy that had us laughing, non-stop. If you are looking for a great activity to share with family and friends this holiday season, we highly recommend it!

The Window to Joy

In the movie "The Secret Life of Bees," there is a great scene that is a window to joy. It's a hot, sultry day in South Carolina. On this day, in the life of three sisters who live together in a house painted the color of pepto bismol, one of the sisters is in the house playing the cello, mournfully. Another is sitting on the porch eating lunch with their 14 year old guest, Lily, when the sound of squealing is heard....the kind of squealing you might hear on a schoolyard playground at recess time. It's two grown women, running through the water sprinkler, barefoot and fully clothed. As Lilly and her companion approach, they pick up the sprinkler and aim it at them - splat. Pretty soon all of them are drenched and they begin to dance in the cool spray. Then the sound of the porch door is heard - bang - and out comes the cello-playing sister, with her dander up. Lilly aims the sprinkler at her and she yanks it out of the young girl's hands and turns it back on her. Back and forth the two wrestle for it, soaking each other until anger softens and laughing begins. They sprawl on the grass in convulsions of laughter until tears flow.

Can you remember a time when you laughed so hard that you began to cry? Where were you? What were you doing? Who else was there? What emotions did your laughter and tears release?

Already, it is time to light the third Advent candle. The first candle is the candle of hope. The second is the candle of comfort. The third is the candle of joy.

Today, why not offer a prayer and ask God to open a window to joy, for you.?! Seek God's support to practice laughter today. Jump for joy. Ask God to bring to your imagination, someone to whom you could offer a gift that would bring joy. If you are at a loss for words, try using Mary's song of joy, found in Luke 1:47-55. Let your spirit rejoice!

Advent Blessings,
Cheryl

Windows to The Soul

This, week, I have been thinking about our eyes as windows to the soul, and wondering...what are the people and experiences that open our imaginations to see differently? I remember a day, many years ago, shortly after our family had moved to Princeton. My children and I were doing an errand on the campus of the seminary, when Lindsay's attention was drawn to a weeping willow tree. She loved the long, slender branches that reached all the way down where she could touch them, dance in them, play with them. This was a type of tree she had never experienced before....or so she thought. A short time later, we were back in Harrisburg, PA, where we had lived before moving to Princeton. On the drive to our church in Hershey, Lindsay was gazing out of the car windows at the golf course bordering the church. "Look!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Weeping willow trees!" Yes, there they were: trees she had seen many times before, but now she knew them, differently. Now, she saw them in the light of her playful experience with the willow tree at Princeton.

Can you name a time when you saw something familiar, but you saw it as if for the first time?

Today, as we move into the second week of Advent, it is time to light two candles. The first is the candle of hope. The second is the candle of comfort.

Read Isaiah 40:1-11 and let the images in the text invite your soul to ponder what God wants you to see.....

Offer a prayer and ask God to open the window of your imagination to help you see what you never saw before. It has been said that, "Sometimes the view from someone else's window brings light into our own." Ask God to reveal to you, today, the people or stories or activities that could be a window to your soul.

Advent blessings,
Cheryl

The Window of Hope

This is the window of "Hope." It is found at Clos Luce, a chateau in the town of Amboise, France, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. This chateau was made available to Leonardo by a king who wanted to offer the artist a place in which he could be free to dream and to work. Leonardo was a visionary who was able to imagine a future no one else could yet see. He was a keen observer of nature and an inventor who was far ahead of his time. He also had a rich spiritual imagination, often reflected in his paintings.

This week, we are invited to light one Advent candle and spend some time at the window of hope, daydreaming a bit about the future that looks impossible, from today's vantage point.

What words or images come into your imagination when you think about a future that has been transformed, as a result of God's intervention? What does HOPE look like to you?

There is a song from the Taize community that can be used to settle our souls and quiet our minds. Try saying or singing these words (the tune can be found on p. 2157 of Sing the Faith), repeat the words several times.....

Come and fill our hearts with your Hope. You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your Hope, Alleluia.

Now, perhaps, you are ready to offer a prayer, asking God to open the window and come down....that you may be aware of God's presence in your life today, that you may be able to move toward the future that you are imagining, that you may respond to someone in need, around you, that you may be surprised with a blessing, today...that you may have HOPE.

Advent blessings,

Cheryl