#Adventword Day 13: #Act

The Work of Christmas by Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

#Adventword Day 12: #Breathe

Breath by Kabir (trans. by Robert Bly)
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor in kirtans, not in legs winding around your
own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly—
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.


I haven't been writing any commentary when offering the poem and picture for Advent but for today will pose a question . .. how would the world be changed if we acknowledged the presence of the Holy in the breath of others?

#Adventword Day 11: #Wake Up

WHY I WAKE EARLY by Mary Oliver from Why I Wake Early (Beacon Press)
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories, 
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety – 
best preacher that ever was, 
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness, 
to ease us with warm touching, 
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

#Adventword Day 10: Encourage

Come, Come, Whoever You Are by Rumi
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.Ours is not a caravan of despair.Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times

Come, yet again, come, come.

#Adventword Day 9: #Respond

Personal by Langston Hughes
In an envelope marked:
PERSONAL
God addressed me a letter. 
In an envelope marked:
PERSONAL
I have given my answer.

"Water of Life" fountain created by Stephen Broadbent for Chester Cathedral

#Adventword Day 8: #Show Up

What I Have Learned So Far by Mary Oliver from New and Selected Poems (Beacon Press)
Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.


All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.


Be ignited, or be gone.

This is a picture of the Jesus minaret at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Muslims believe that Jesus will "show up" on this minaret before the final judgment. 

#Adventword Day 7: #Watch

People, Look East by Eleanor Farjeon

People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,

One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.