Love ALL :: Advent 4

Advent 4 :: Love ALL

What does it mean to “LOVE ALL?” When Jesus says:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

who do you see, in your minds eye, as your neighbor?

Is your neighbor a family in Uganda?

Is it a young boy at the local shelter?

Is it a mother waiting to give birth without access to proper medical facilities?

Is it your literal neighbor–the shut in woman next door or the young couple with kids?

Is your neighbor your theological other?

Is it someone close to you, or perhaps someone very very far away?

Who is your neighbor and how are you beginning to LOVE ALL in this season of awaiting the ultimate gift of love, the Christ child? Share your story of unexpected neighborly love and radical grace.

Advent Prayer

Henri J.M. Nouwen

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

Give more :: What will you unwrap?

Unwrap Our Darkness

A beautiful visual poetry reflection from Jonny Baker,

with words from Cheryl Lawrie at hold this space.

Click on the image to watch or click the links below.

unwrap our darkness from jonny baker on Vimeo.

What will you unwrap in order to prepare for what is coming?

(for more resources like this, be sure to check out Proost.)

Advent 3:: Give More

Give More

When you shop this year, try keeping in mind these things to make giving, more: more sustainable, more fair, more human and perhaps even Kingdom minded.

1. Who made this item? What do they look like? What are the working conditions they are in like?
2. How long will this item be around? What is the shelf life of this–is it a throw away, or will it last years, perhaps even generations?
3. Who is a part of the economy of this gift? Is it connected to mega corporations or _____?
4. How is my money impacting the community in which this item was made?

What things are impacting your giving decisions this year?

What YOU are doing: a story

So grateful to hear from some of you, stories of fantastic creativity and JOY! Thanks to The Rev. Ken Howard, Rector at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church for letting us know what is happening at his congregation!

Our congregation, St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, a relatively newly planted congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, is doing two AdventConspiracy projects:

(1) We set up an Angel/Dove Tree in our worship hall. Parishioners give a relational gift, then either (a) choose an Angel, select an Episcopal Relief and Development MDG gift of equivalent value from the list printed on the back, and send a check to ERD for that amount, or (b) choose a Dove and purchase a gift of equivalent value for a needy local family.

(2) We are encouraging parishioners to bring family and/or friends to our Christmas Potluck Social, and write a check to support an ERD project equivalent to the amount that they would have spent going out to dinner that Saturday night.

What are YOU doing this year? What’s your story?

Spend less? Dig this from the No Impact Project.

From the No Impact Project:

Every year, growing numbers of us are unhappy with the shopping frenzy that surrounds the holidays but most of us don’t know how to get off the treadmill. What if we worked together to find another way to celebrate? This holiday season join us in finding more of what matters.

During the two-weeks of the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 7th-18th), we’re bringing people together to talk about the impact of holiday spending on their lives and the environment. Join the No Impact Project and Center for a New American Dream for nationwide pre-DVD release community screenings of the documentary, No Impact Man, and a post-screening discussion about how to simplify our holidays this year.
Find a screening near you, click here.

To host a screening in your community or to learn more, contact the No Impact Project.

God's Philanthropy: From Trinity News (by Nicole Seiferth)

I can’t believe its taken me a week to get around to reading the new issue of Trinity News. Do you suscribe? It’s a fantastic resource, and a beautiful magazine.  This latest edition is called “What is God’s Economy?” Fitting don’t you think for this week?

Read on for a great article from a friend and the Managing Editor of Trinity News, Nicole Seiferth.

God’s Philanthropy

November 20, 2009

By Nicole Seiferth

Five ways to give that make a difference.

Microloan, mega-empowerment: kiva.org
The world economy is often a very abstract idea and it can be hard to maintain focus on the billions of individual lives and livelihoods encompassed in that idea. “Kiva.org takes you right down the human level of economics,” explains Trinity Grants Program associate Sarah Grapentine. “It allows you as an individual to lend capital to the corner grocery stores, tailoring shops, and even beauty salons that are the heart of local economies. Kiva.org is about investment, not in multinational corporations, but in local entrepreneurs and the communities around them.”
An apple (and computers and paper) for the teacher: donorschoose.org
Teach for America calls the achievement gap between low-income students and middle-to-high-income students in the U.S. “the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.” One way to improve the education that all children receive is to make sure their teachers and classrooms, often woefully underfunded and under-supplied, have all the educational tools they need. Donors Choose helps match individuals and communities that want to give with a classroom and its specific needs.

“Donors Choose demonstrates how the Internet can connect people who want to make a difference to possibilities for improving schools,” says the Rev. Matthew Heyd, director of Faith in Action for Trinity Wall Street. “Both sides, donors and recipients, are completely grassroots but the national impact can be really large. The site spurs exponential change.”

Net Gains: netsforlifeafrica.org
Every year more than one million people worldwide die from malaria, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Sub-Saharan Africa loses an estimated $12 billion annually to the disease. Many cases of malaria can be prevented, though, if a community consistently uses insecticide-treated mosquito nets. NetsforLife, a malaria prevention program working in close partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development, brings together corporate donors, the Anglican Church in Africa, and Episcopal churches to provide malaria nets and education to the most rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

“NetsforLife does not just hand out nets,” says the Rev. Steven Dzisi, the program’s director. “We mobilize the community, and engage the people themselves in designing the program, creating an ownership of the program at a community level.”

Cows that Wow: heifer.org
The basic idea is simple: through a donation, you give a cow (or chickens or a goat) to a family in the developing world. That cow’s milk helps to feed the family. The family, in turn, agrees to give the offspring of their cow to another family in need. And so the Heifer Project has been able to help build sustainable communities for more than 60 years. The organization’s initiatives not only provide communities and families with income and food-producing livestock, they also sponsor sustainable agriculture projects, microloans, and HIV/AIDS education programs.

“I think highly of Heifer Project International’s work — they are highly credible, and their projects almost always combine sustainable development with supporting entrepreneurs in local economies in the developing world,” says the Rev. Fletcher Harper, founder of GreenFaith, an interfaith coalition for the environment.

Right in front of you: your local parish
Each church reaches so many people, in so many ways. From your parish’s own outreach initiatives, to the diocesan and wider church work that your parish helps to support, there are few organizations that have such potential to impact the world. And it is, after all, what God calls us to do.

“Stewardship has to do with how we give our gifts to God, to each other, to the world,” says the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary. “Monetary giving can be such a joyful thing.”

Nicole Seiferth is managing editor of Trinity News.

One for you, one for me.

Headed out shopping? Why not try this principal: One for you, one for me. What do I mean? Well how about this next time you head out:

Every time you head out grab a picture, an actual image of a person from a developing country, and shop with as much compassion for them as if they were joining you Christmas morning.

Take the money that you would spend on that gift and give it away.

Don’t know where to give? How about Five Talents for a microloan? Or perhaps ERD’s Gifts for Life?

Advent 2: Stuff stuff stuff…

So here are two things for you to see, absorb, contemplate:

1. The Story of Stuff (and so much more! If you haven’t been to the site recently—wow—lots of new additions!) Anyway, its a great website and a wonderful, informative look at how “stuff” is made, produced, sold, used and …. well you will just need to go and see yourself. Check it out (embedded below is just a short preview, go to http://www.storyofstuff.com/ for the full video and more.
2. And two: A fantastic blog post from this morning called “The Problem with Going Green” which argues that the only way to go green, is to consume less. BOTH are great resources for thinking about spending (or consuming) less.

Happy Monday in Advent 2.

Advent 2: Welcome to Spend Less Week

Lord, we wait with eager expectation for the coming of Your kingdom
when the humble will be exalted and the hungry fed.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we prepare for Your advent with searching minds and contrite hearts, trusting in Your healing spirit and redemptive love.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we watch with those who wait and weep, longing to see the rule of justice and the reign of peace.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we seek You among the despised and rejected, knowing that there we will find Your light shining in the dark.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we proclaim sight to the blind and liberty to the oppressed, trusting in Your tender mercy and passion for justice.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we work with others to proclaim Your truth, challenging the mighty and raising the meek.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done.

Lord, we wrestle with our hopes and our fears, our struggles and our joys laboring with creation to come to new birth.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

- Annabel Shilson-Thomas

Its Advent 2, a full seven days into our journey into the darkness–awaiting the coming light, life.

This week on the blog we hope to give you ideas, reflections and articles about how you might spend less on Christmas presents this year, so that we may be freed up to give more PRESENCE.

What are your favorite homemade gifts? What are you doing to spend less this year? Where are you shopping, and what tips and tricks for saving money are you using this year?

How’s this for a few ideas for spending less? (Ideas from this awesome resource Buy Nothing Christmas, bookmark it! Great site!)

1. Make a soothing, herb pillow filled with lavender, rose, etc.
2. Collect quotes that make you think of someone.
3. Stamp and address postcards for family members.
4. For the elderly people in your life, research newspaper and magazine articles from their youth and present in a creative fashion.
5. Make a calendar with pictures of family members and/or scenery.
6. Wrap gifts in newspaper, maps, scarves or interesting clothing.
7. Fill an old trunk or suitcase with fun clothing, hats and gaudy jewelry for your children to play dress-up.
8. Make a puppet from a sock.
9. Give away a valued possession.

What’s on your list?

Worship FULLY

Amidst the hustle and bustle (oh how I love this new blog post from Rev. Scott Gunn) we are called in this season of Advent to do something completely upside down: S L O W D O W N.

I don’t know about you, but with the pace, the pressure, the lists, I find it awfully hard to actually find ways to worship, fully. So, this week, in order to try and embrace this idea of “worship fully” I have gone on a search for small ways to stop and reflect.

Here is one of my faves. It clocks in at a minute and 12 seconds, and leaves me actually wanting more.

Is it the quality of the image? Is it the embedded memories that it evokes?
The choir, the waving arms at the camera; it all seems so magical.

And a prayer, stumbled into (get the rest from EPPN here):
Almighty and most merciful God, you took on human flesh not in the palace of a king but in the throes of poverty and need: Grant that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart; that, following in the steps of your blessed Son, we may give of ourselves in the service of others until poverty and hunger cease in all the world, and all things are reconciled in the reign of Christ.
God of love, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

And from Sylvia, our facebook fan and friend:

God of the Universe: we thank you for the gift of freedom of will. Embolden us to use that freedom to empty ourselves completely, that we may be totally filled with your grace and love you fully. AMEN.

What small but meaningful practice do you like or are willing to share?