Day Five:
Angels We Have Heard
The Angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame
In the Bible, they're powerful messengers and not especially cuddly. Today, they're the stars of movies, TV shows, and songs. While some worry that the idea of angels is being secularized, many people feel angels have touched their lives. What would you do if you encountered one?
Accompanied by Angels
Stars and angels filled the night of Jesus' birth. Experience the miracle through poems about Mary and Christmas.
BY: Luci Shaw
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The Annunciatory Angel
(detail of Fra Angelico’s The Annunciation)
The androgynous visitor is dressed
in a rosy fabric thick as pigment, the tunic
blown back by turbulence to expose its lining,
a blue crescent under the right arm. Angels
are said to be genderless, so there’s a certain
enigma. A wing, the clue to otherness,
arcs in golden space. We are
at several removes from the reality, reading
between the lines, speculating on Angelico’s
speculation. How does an angel look? We are not
Daniel or Zechariah; we have not been shown.
This rendering suggests not celestial power and radiance
but a weight of apprehension; what must be announced
will not be entirely easy news
Wind is part of the picture, gusts
whipping the robes and body along a stretch
of baroque carpet. Gabriel seems to be
advancing up an incline, laboring with
the imperative of message, hair flattened against scalp,
features tense, hands folded tight to the chest,
agitation or awe--it is hard to tell. We can’t see
the heart hammering in the unearthly body,
but the announcement the cracking open of a space
that encircles earth and heaven, must weigh
like a gold boulder in the belly.
How might it feel (if an archangel has feelings) to bear
this news? Perhaps as confounded as the girl, there
in the corner? We worry that she might faint.
Weep. Turn away, perplexed and fearful
about opening herself Refuse to let the wind
fill her, to buffet its nine-month seed into her earth.
She is so small and intact. Turmoil will wrench her.
She might say no.
The Overshadow
"...the power of the Most High will overshadow you..." - Luke 1:35
When we think of God, and
Angels, and the Angel,
we suppose ineffable light.
So there is surprise in the air
when we see him bring Mary,
in her lit room, a gift of darkness.
What is happening under that
huge wing of shade? In that mystery
what in-breaking wildness fills her?
She is astonished and afraid; even in
the secret twilight she bends her head,
hiding her face behind the curtain
of her hair; she knows that
the rest of her life will mirror
this blaze, this sudden midnight.
The Labors of Angels
Upon seeing the painting by Roger Wagner,
The Harvest Is the End of the World and the Reapers Are Angels
Plucking our meager treasures, grain
by grain, we disregard celestial messengers
to our jeopardy.
Sexless and muscular, angels
must wrestle, pitting light against
sinew and darkness. They arrive
without notice, blazing, terrifying us
with good news.
Barren or virgin
we bear our improbable children
and angels raise heaven like a song.
Still, angels can weep;
in your mind’s eye, see
their clear, mineral tears.
Against the indigo sky,
where judgment pulses
like an aneurysm, sunlight spins
horizontal threads across the field until
the yellows in the standing wheat stalks
match the low light. Harvester angels
cast huge wings of shadow,
scything a crop, lifting it
from the skin of an acre
like fleece from a sheep's flank.
It is only later that they delicately
unhook teasel, thistle, burdock
from the heavy gold grain.
Star Song
Glimmers from stars
have flicked all year long,
and now, at its close,
when the planets
are shining through frost,
radiance runs like music in the bones,
and the hear keeps rising
at the sound of any song,
or with the silver calling
of a bell,
rounding, high and clear,
flying, falling,
sounding the death knell
of our old year,
telling the new appearing
of Christ, our Morning Star.
Now, burst,
all our bell throats!
Toll, every clapper tongue!
Stun the still night!
Jesus himself gleams through
our high heart notes
(it is no fable).
It is he whose light glistens in each song sung,
and in the true
returning again
to the stable
of all of us: shepherds,
sages, his women and men,
common and faithful,
wealthy and wise,
with carillon hearts,
and, suddenly, stars
in our eyes.
Advent Prayer: ListeningMonday November 30, 2009
Categories: Advent, Advent Prayer, Bible, Christianity, Prayer
By Claudia Mair Burney
Monday, the first week of Advent
"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call him Jesus." Luke 1:26-21, NRSV
Many Evangelical Christians are fond of saying they've accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. The words are often said fearlessly, and sometimes even proudly. How disconnected we can be from Mary's awe. We can take a few clues from Jesus' first disciple. She pondered Gabriel's strange greeting perplexed, before she sat in amazement at his message. It was only then that she believed, even before she became Jesus' mother. Without her exquisitely reverent hearing, believing, and then acting on God's directive, Mary would have never conceived Him.
God of amazing grace, Am I really listening to you? And more than listening, am I pondering deeply what You've said? I don't want to lose my reverence and devotion. Help me to know, always, that your indwelling presence is a gift. I did not, and could not earn it. Without Your enabling grace I could never have accepted Christ. Therefore, I must obey you. What good is a gift of such magnitude if I refuse to submit to your will? I pray that You'll give me both the willingness, and the obedience of Mary, so that I may bear Christ faithfully, rather than abort His inner workings through my doubt and disobedience. "Come, Lord Jesus."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/prayerplainandsimple/2009/11/advent-prayer-listening.html#ixzz171HLgQjU
Advent Prayer: Jesus, Dwell In UsTuesday December 1, 2009
Categories: Advent Prayer, Advent Prayers, Jesus
By Claudia Mair Burney
Tuesday, the first week of Advent
"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit." Matthew 8:8, TNIV
Few of us think deeply about how Mary's acceptance of Jesus mirrors our own Christian lives, but all believers are meant to be pregnant with Him. After we receive Him into the womb of our hearts, we allow Him to grow by decreasing so that He can increase. But we can't do this alone. We need grace in order to even begin to be diligent enough to assure nothing that goes into us that will harm the Beloved Child. Prayer, God's Word, and Love of God and neighbor all nurture Christ within us, and having thus fed and strengthened Him, we may watch in humble wonder as He is formed in us.
Gracious Father God,
The humility of Mary, the mother of our Lord, seems so out of reach. She accepted you without hesitation, but when you want to come to me I'm tempted to look at my life first, to determine myself whether or not it's good enough for you to enter into. Lord, I'm not wise enough to understand where You may wish to dwell, so give me the faith to say like the centurion, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the Word, and my servant shall be healed" And then I will say with great joy,
"Come, Lord Jesus."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/prayerplainandsimple/2009/12/advent-prayer-jesus-dwell-in-us.html#ixzz171HVn8tz
Advent Prayer: Grant Us UnderstandingWednesday December 2, 2009
Categories: Advent, Advent Prayer, Prayer
By Claudia Mair Burney
Wednesday, the first week of Advent
"Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for he will save people from their sins." Matthew 1:19-21, NRSV.
Joseph was obviously a compassionate and deeply devout man with every instinct to protect Mary from public shame, and possibly a stoning. But even with his remarkable qualities, he could not see what God had done. Most of us would have reacted the exact same way. We do so daily in some way or another. The holy and sublime breaks through our ordinary existence, and we fail to see the gift we've been given. But all is not lost. God, in His great love for Joseph, simply found another way to reach him.
Merciful Father,
How often do I fail to understand what You are doing, but You are always sending me help, and even deliverance from my sins. Do not give up on me, good Father, when I am too practical to see the miracles right in front of me. You know how to get my attention. Quiet me, Lord, so that I may hear from you, and see the magnificent gifts you have placed in my life. Help me to receive them, be obedient, and always cry out from the depths of my soul,
"Come, Lord Jesus.
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/prayerplainandsimple/2009/12/advent-prayer-grant-us-understanding.html#ixzz171HfxJrj
Advent Prayer: Welcoming GraceThursday December 3, 2009
Categories: Advent, Advent Prayer, Prayer
By Claudia Mair Burney
Thursday, the first week of Advent
"In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country where she entered the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit..." Luke 1:39-41, NRSV
This is such a startling moment. Elizabeth had waited a lifetime, living righteous before God and blameless, yet she bore the shame of being barren until she received the promise of a miraculous birth, around the same time Mary did. Mary's visit set a number of wonderful actions in motion, beginning with Elizabeth's immediate recognition that Mary was indeed, full of grace. How often does God actions come to our homes? Will we recognize His work and praise God, or will we simply miss Him, once again, not seeing the holy in the wholly ordinary.
Generous Father,
When your grace comes to me in such a personal way, do I recognize that it is You? Or do I go on doing things the same way I always do, or seeing things the same way I always see them, without Your knowledge and insight? Will you please help me, kind Father, to know when You indeed, have come to visit me. And may I rejoice as Elizabeth did, at my marvelous fortune, saying,
"Come, Lord Jesus."
Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/prayerplainandsimple/2009/12/advent-prayer-welcoming-grace.html#ixzz171Hq9KJE
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