We Are Thanking the Lord

Matins

Now we are awake
and now we are come together
and now we are thanking the Lord.

This is easy,
for the Lord is everywhere.

God is in the water and the air,
God is in the very walls.

God is around us and in us.
God is the floor on which we kneel.

We make our songs for God
as sweet as we can

for God's goodness,
and, lo, God steps into the song

and out of it, having blessed it,
having recognized our intention,
having awakened us, who thought we were awake,
a second time,
having married us in the air and water,

having lifted us in intensity,
having lowered us in beautiful amiability,

having given us
each other,
and the weeds, dogs, cities, boats, dreams
that are the world. 

What Do We Know: Poems and Prose Poems by Mary Oliver

From A Place For Prayer, November 25, 2011

New Year

It's been quite the fall. This fall was full of travel, memories, work, conversations and fruitful service. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving felt like a sprint towards the closing of the season and preparation for a new rhythm of work and service.

This Thanksgiving has been bittersweet in some way. One relative passed away on Thanksgiving morning after a long battle with cancer. I am watching another relative slide away from awareness of the present time, and that has been very difficult to watch. (For the record, I was the kid who cried when reading Flowers for Algernon in the sixth grade.) But every Thanksgiving season - for all of us - can hold in tension the joyful and the difficult.

I've preached before about how living one's faith takes practice - practicing being in community, practicing spiritual disciplines, practicing prayer. It is funny to think about our faith this way. I remind myself sometimes that while Sundays come up over and over again, each and every week (imagine that!), holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas arise just once a year. Therefore, even as we sink into familiar rituals and actions, we encounter layers of experiences from years past....and these experiences only come around once a year.

I received a Common English Bible in the mail this week; it was an unexpected surprise. I received it in return for filling out an online survey a couple of weeks ago. I flipped it open at random, and was confronted with Luke 8:40-56. This is the story of the bleeding woman who touched Jesus' cloak. In the middle of this story, we are interrupted by Jairus' daughter's miraculous healing. In both instances, there is an undercurrent of trust, and faith. A good theme to lean on.


This coming Sunday marks the start of a new year - the beginning of Year B in the Revised Common Lectionary, and the first Sunday of Advent. It is a season of renewal, and a fresh start, and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead. Advent is a time of waiting, of being present, of anticipating the familiar while also being ready for the fresh, new murmurings of the Spirit. O come, O come, Emmanuel.

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Thankful: This year, I am thankful for deep and abiding friendships with colleagues across the conference and across the connection. I did not expect to deepen so many friendships over the past few months, and I am thankful for the movement of The Divine within our lives, surprising us when we least expect it.