Category Archives: Advent

Advent, Advent 2025, Biblical Reflection

Only Wondrous Things

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Daily Readings: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 30:19-26; Acts 13:16-25

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth, Amen and Amen. Psalm 72:18-19, NRSV

Blessed God, Israel’s God, the one and only wonder-working God! Blessed always his blazing glory! All earth brims with his glory. Yes and Yes and Yes. Psalm 72:18-19, The Message

The three most difficult things to say are:

1)I was wrong

2)I need help

3)—wait—wait—Worcestershire sauce

The I need help one is for real for me. I was brought up with a strict Protestant ethic where asking for help was a sign of weakness – who hasn’t been told If you want a job done right, do it yourself? Some of this, I think, is also a male thing. I’m supposed to have the answers not the questions. I’m supposed to know what to do and how to do it (though in all fairness, I  know women who are better at this than I am). Sometimes I just need to get out of the way, kneel down and bless God, the Do-er of wondrous things.

It’s amazing what can happen when we give up being Captain of the World. Turning to God to bless God shifts my focus from all I have got to do during this season to what I get to do with God’s help—what a difference. Praying for the whole earth to be filled with God’s glory sets me in a direction that helps that happen. After all, God only does wondrous things.

Offered by Bill Albritton, in whom God delights.

Advent, Advent 2025, Biblical Reflection

The Luck of the Draw

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Daily Readings: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Isaiah 4:2-6; Acts 1:12-17, 21-26

They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:23-26, The Message

They got it down to two, then they drew straws to decide who would be the apostle to replace Judas. Shouldn’t there have been another round of interviews, perhaps some quiet time to reflect on this rather important decision? Why leave something so important up to chance?

For many years, I thought it was because they didn’t want to be responsible for making the final decision – better for Justus and Matthias to see it as the luck of the draw rather than a judgement on their abilities and souls.

As I’ve gotten older, I think it might have been something different. Matthias and Justus were both deemed capable and worthy. Had the draw gone to Justus, the path would have been different – not better or worse, just different.

Aren’t there times when we face that same thing – a fork in the road with both directions looking equal in worth? Perhaps, at that point, we should just flip a coin and fully embrace the outcome…and trust that the Spirit will bless the road we take.

Advent, Advent 2025, art, Biblical Reflection

Freed

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Daily Readings: Psalm 124; Isaiah 54:1-10; Matthew 24:23-35

If God hadn’t been for us – all together, now, Israel, sing out! –

If God hadn’t been for us when everyone else went against us, we would have been swallowed alive by their violent anger, swept away by the flood of rage, drowned in the torrent;

We would have lost our lives in the wild, raging water.

Oh, blessed be God! He didn’t go off and leave us. He didn’t abandon us defenseless, helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.

We’ve flown free from their fangs, free of their traps, free as a bird. Their grip is broken; we’re free as a bird in flight.

God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124, The Message

Breaking Free by Riley Anderson

Have you ever felt this: pinned down, unable to move or free yourself? It’s awful to be tangled in a snare, unable to escape into safety.

Have you ever experienced this: someone freeing you so that you can fly again? It’s miraculous when freedom comes instead of pain and death.

Freeing the captives of their snares so that they can take flight. It’s as good an explanation of why God chose to enter human life as any I can think of…

Image by Riley Anderson, in whom God delights (reposted from 2016).

Advent, Advent 2025, Biblical Reflection, Meditation

Responsible

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Daily Readings: Psalm 124; Genesis 9:1-17; Hebrews 11:32-40

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Genesis 9:1-2, NRSV

God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature – birds, animals, fish – will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You’re responsible for them. Genesis 9:1-3a, The Message

The living things we claim also claim us. We are responsible for the animals in our lives. When we bring home that new puppy or kitten, when we buy the tank and the goldfish, we take on the responsibility to feed them, keep them healthy, and offer them our love and attention. Because they depend on us, we must be dependable. It takes time and resources, and a lot of affection, to be responsible.

Franklin

The same holds true for the animals who feed and clothe us. We are responsible for providing them with good lives, with adequate food, shelter, and space to live well before they end up on our tables. This, too, costs – either a price tag at the grocery store or the effort and resources to raise them ourselves.

The animals that nourish us – emotionally or physically – are connected to who we are in a spiritual sense (As are the plants and other humans). We are part of a great, sacred whole. When we act responsibly, we bless creation. When we do not, we harm not only the animals we treat poorly: we harm creation and our own lives. Let’s not do that.

Ebbtide
Advent 2025, Advent 2025, Biblical Reflection

But God Remembered…

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Daily Readings: Psalm 124; Genesis 8:1-19; Romans 6:1-11

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth.

Genesis 8:1-3a, NRSV

But God Remembered…

That word but confronts all those times we feel forgotten and forsaken, all those times our spirits are low and our hope is all but gone. There are those times in life when it is hard to gather the energy we need to keep on going, all but impossible to endure the tribulations that confront us. It is then that the word but is important. It means despite what we have endured, regardless of how we feel, there is another possibility for us.

But God remembered…

That possibility rests in the remembering of God. God remembers the care with which our world and everything in it—all creation—were formed. God remembers that it was good. And God remembers us. That is good, too. What makes it even better is that God’s remembering isn’t just about the past. It also leads to the future—and a promise. God’s promise was a promise to care. That caring came in a pledge that As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).

It may seem strange to begin the season of Advent reflecting on Genesis. But there is a thread that ties the two together, a thread that runs through the entire Bible. Advent is a time for us to remember—to remember that God remembered and still does. God remembered Noah; God remembered people in need of a savior; God remembers us and our need for a savior. Advent is a time for us to remember God’s remembering. It is only when we do so that we can prepare ourselves to fully receive that great gift of Christ.

Remember.

Offered by Jeff Jones, in whom God delights.

Advent, Advent 2025

Once More, With Joy

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It’s starting tomorrow – the yearly journey of Advent. Daily readings, images, reflections, prayers, and poems mark the way to the incarnation: God With Us. We’ll never understand the mystery of why God chose to be with us in Jesus, son of Mary. But if we put in a little time and effort, we might just catch a glimpse – not because we become one with the mind of God, but because we might see more fully the Us in God With Us.

You and I weren’t given life to fulfill a particular role, earn a living, give birth or raise others – at least not in a definitive way. All of those aspects can challenge us and give us a sense of accomplishment (or failure), but none are big enough to contain the mystery that we ourselves are.

We are here because we are beloved children of the one who made and continues to make all things.

We are here because no one else can bring what we bring to life in this time and place.

Mostly, we are here because we are a delight to God (even when we aren’t being particularly delightful or delighted).

This year, I invite you to try something new. At the beginning of each day, before life’s obligations and business begin, remember who you are. If it helps, whisper this truth:

I am (insert name here), in whom God delights.

Welcome to Advent.

Advent, Advent 2024

Advent Authors and Artists, 2024

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Welcome to the world, Christ Child! Our souls rejoice at your coming!

Many thanks to God’s beloved children who offered their talents to this year’s daily offering…

Bill Albritton continues to lead Coffee & Conversation, a weekly study at Saint John’s in Duxbury; he also coordinates the parish’s prayer ministry. His thoughtful additions to this yearly offering began in its first year, and continued every year since.

David Anderson is a retired Episcopal Priest living outside Philadelphia. He is the author of Breakfast Epiphanies and Losing Your Faith, Finding Your Soul. He assists his wife, Pam Anderson, in running the Copper House retreat center. You can find more of his writings on his blog, Finding Your Soul.

Linda Benningfield-Hashman listens for God and writes to foster the spirits of others.

Donna Eby takes pictures of sunsets and writes poetry in the Plymouth area. She finds her faith home at Christ Church.

Bryan Fredrickson moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, after retiring, and is taking full advantage of all it has to offer. He found his worship community at the Unitarian church there. His words have been an Advent gift many times over the years.

Dave Fredrickson is the priest-in-charge of Zion Episcopal church in Manchester Center, Vermont. He is a coauthor of  Being Church in a Liminal Time: Three Images to Shape Your Congregation’s Future.

Jill Fredrickson lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, living in a way that honors the earth and life. She practices the art of Japanese floral arranging. Her words and images have graced this devotional for many years.

Michael Giordano is a member of Zion Episcopal Church, and serves on the Vestry. He serves as a reader in worship and leads the congregation in morning prayer when the priest is away.

Debbie Hill is a singer, artist, and calligrapher who offers her talents at Christ Church Episcopal in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She and her husband, Don, have provided music for the Saturday evening service there for many years, to the great delight of the congregation.

Margaret Hill loves God, self, and neighbor in Duxbury, Massachusetts and at Christ Church Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Her art has graced this blog and many homes.

Jeff Jones is a retired minister and field education teacher for seminarians. His book, Being Church in a Liminal Time: Three Images to Shape Your Congregation’s Future, was last year.

Robin Nielsen serves God and neighbor at Christ Church in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She has led the altar guild for many years, both at church and in the local region. 

Advent, Advent 2024

At the Manger

God With Us

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:8-20, NRSV

A Cradle In Bethlehem, Nat King Cole, Capitol Records, 1966

Advent, Advent 2024

Find Our Way Back

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Christmas Eve Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

Advent 2024

It was a different world and place,

Still…very much the same,

When in the silence of dark night

A holy prompting beckoned.

And time ceased all turning

As shepherds, kings, and cattle

became aware;

A promise kept,

A truth fulfilled,

Joy to end all bleak yearning,

And they believed.

In the cacophony of our dark night

may we listen for the whisper

of angel melody,

Watch for the brilliance of the star

behind the clouds of dissent,

Remember the promise,

And find our way back

to the manger.

Offered by Debbie Hill, God’s beloved child.

Advent, Advent 2024

Advent Waiting: A Poem of Hope and Restoration

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Daily Readings: Psalm 113; Genesis 25:19-28; Colossians 1:15-20

In a world where shadows stretch and fall,

We lift our eyes, we hear the call.

Psalm 113, a prayer for grace,

To God who holds our broken space.

In contempt and sorrow, we wait and yearn,

For mercy, for healing, for the world to turn.

Like Rebekah’s heart, torn deep inside,

We wrestle with pain we cannot hide.

Yet in struggle, God’s hand is near,

His purposes unfolding, though unclear.

In every battle, in every tear,

His redemptive plan draws ever near.

Christ, the Creator, entered our night,

To bring us peace, to set things right.

Through his cross the world finds grace,

And in his return, we’ll see His face.

The King who suffered now glorified,

Will heal all wounds, no more to hide.

Advent calls us to hope, to wait,

For the One who opens heaven’s gate.

Though brokenness still marks the earth,

In Christ we find our second birth.

The Savior who came in humble form,

Will return in glory to end the storm.

So let us wait, not lost in fear,

But filled with hope, the day is near.

For Christ the Healer will come again,

To make things new, to end our pain.

In this Advent, we lift our song,

For in Christ, we know we belong.

Offered by Donna Eby, God’s beloved child.

Dawn, Donna Eby