In my adult years, “Once in Royal David’s City” has become one of my favorite Christmas songs. Ironic, perhaps, since it focuses on how Jesus was a child just like we are/were, and how He can empathize with us so well because He experienced things so common for many of us. Yet, I never remember learning that song in my own childhood.

I have wondered sometimes what types of childhood sadness Jesus personally understood. Did He break an arm or leg? Was He bullied by other children in His village or even by His siblings (perhaps in connection with His parentage)? Did Joseph or Mary yell at Him in exasperation when they were having a bad day? Did He know food insecurity in lean years? Was He troubled by scary dreams?

Jesus would grow up to become a staunch advocate of children, affirming their value and wellbeing, and declaring that anyone who would dare to harm the littlest of people would face horrible future judgement. He drew children close to bless them, and He loved them beautifully.

I have been thinking a lot recently about the power of empathy that springs from shared and similar experiences, or from a deeper motivation to bless another out of an empathetic understanding. “I haven’t been in your shoes,” one might say in such latter cases, “but if I were in your shoes, I would sure be blessed if someone else would do or say this…”

Then, this past week, I heard a story about a deployed soldier who longs to reach out and bless some orphans in his local community, even as he will be missing Christmas with his loved ones back here at home.

(Again the irony, that I should hear about that soldier during the same week when many celebrate the life of St. Nicholas: a boy who was orphaned from a young age. A boy who would grow up to pour out his wealth, love, energy, and time for so many in his region, but especially for the children. Nicholas knew what it was like to be small, helpless, and sad. He wanted to minister to children and protect them at times when they felt the same way.)

All these combined ponderings led me to write a poem in honor of that soldier and the spirit of the Advent season. I will share it here, and I pray it will bless you.

For the Children

Monktar and Mariam sit near the eastward gate,

Drawing bright stars in the dirt with some sticks.

Brother and sister, they walked from two towns away

After their mother had starved to feed them.

Now the home workers scrape up every bit they can,

Making it stretch so that every kid’s fed…

There is so little to cook in the pot tonight.

Stars dim as these two go, hungry, to bed.

~

At least they will sleep in a safer place now,

And dream of eating.

Perhaps tomorrow.

~

The orphanage sits near a camp full of soldiers.

One of them wakes a bit early, next day.

Uniform straightened, he picks up a box of food,

Carries it quietly through that east gate.

Rising sun graces broad shoulders which bear his gift:

Dense with nutrition and hope for less fear.

Same sun lights a worker’s face as she receives it

And thanks him again for blessing them here.

~

So far from home, with so little of his own,

He smiles and wishes her

A merry Christmas.

~

Christmas has never been just about happiness,

Lavish festivities, spending too much.

Christmas has always been carried on angels’ wings:

Spirit of selflessness embraced by love.

So it goes and it grows: this gift for all the year,

This light of sacrifice piercing the night.

Outside of duty, we hunger and thirst for peace.

Bellies full, now we sit, craving the light.

~

On this day and every day, may the heart of a baby

Beat in us and set a starving world

Free.

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My word art is back for the advent Sundays in December, highlighting a line of four different Christmas hymns before I share a blogging plan for the new year.

This week, I draw out a simple invitation. One extended to us from the Christ child and all of Heaven with Him.

He would grow to understand all aspects of the human condition, including weariness, and so He can empathize with us when all we want is to lie down, curl up, shut off.

Some would say His greatest gift is sacrifice, forgiveness, or grace. But I have sometimes felt that the gift of His rest is equal to all of those.

What is one of the sweetest ways to be blessed in the busy holiday weeks ahead? Receive His gift of rest each day.

What is one of the sweetest ways to bless others during the busy holiday weeks ahead? Practice patience and promote a slower pace, encouraging others to rest and supporting them when they choose to do so.

A small suggestion? Yes.

A simple task? Not in our culture.

But worth the effort of letting go?

I think so.

How else will we really have hearts quiet enough to hear the angels sing?

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One year ago this week, I became an “angel.” (I joined a group that encourages service members who are stationed around the world.) And it just so happens that my first anniversary of angeling lands on Thanksgiving Day itself.

I am indeed thankful, for I can see that lifting the hearts of those brave men and women (and their families too, by extension) has become one of the most rewarding and beautiful parts of my life.

We angels often say that we are blessed a dozen times over (or more) for every letter, card, package, or email we send to our troops. To me, it is a practical picture of the New Testament teaching on generosity: that when we give, it will come back to us–and not just in an equal measure but as an overflowing flood of blessing.

That has been true…even yesterday. Somehow, one of my adoptees had gotten his hands on a Thanksgiving card and he sent it my way, hoping it would reach me in time. When I opened it, my heart filled up and overflowed with happiness when reading the kind words he’d written.

With the most meaningful service, we do not serve and give only because of the blessings we feel and receive in return. But such return blessings do help us feel motivated to keep serving and giving out of far more than just a sense of duty and obligation.

This Thursday, I will pause to be thankful for and pray for my adoptees who are far from their loved ones, in places where they cannot enjoy even that simple pleasure of gazing at marvelously brilliant autumn foliage.

And as I pause to focus very deeply on all the ways I have been blessed, I will ask God to keep showing me where to pour out the renewed blessings in my heart, to shine light in the hard spots and the dark and shadowy places of the world.

NOTE: For more information about how to become an angel of encouragement to deployed troops or how to receive free encouragement as a deployed troop or for a deployed loved one, please visit: www.soldiersangels.org

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In this month, one hundred and ninety-nine years ago, a large ship was rammed and sunk by a male sperm whale in the farthest reaches of the Pacific. The following summer, several of the men from that ship’s crew, who had miraculously survived the ordeal afterward, made it home.

Safe and sound.

I have the honor and privilege of supporting members of our armed forces while they are deployed. It is completely voluntary on my part…and one of the best parts of my life. This past week, I heard from one of the soldiers I had encouraged via letters for months. He sent me an email to let me know he was finally home.

Safe and sound.

What does it mean to return to our loved ones safe and sound? When I meditate on that, I think of safe as physical wellness and sound as soundness of mind.

But while many have appeared to be of sound mind after surviving chronically or acutely stressful and even traumatic circumstances, that soundness does not always continue.

At least one of those surviving sailors struggled with symptoms of what we now call PTSD and paranoia the rest of his life, even more in his old age when he was eventually declared to be insane. And while some service members really do maintain strong mental health, some of them bear more pain and psychological imbalance than they can truly handle alone as life marches on.

In truth, soundness of mind is one of the greatest blessings any person can be given.

And if something happens to disrupt that soundness, unwavering support and compassion from others is perhaps an even greater blessing bestowed.

Has God blessed you with sound mental health? Or brought you some healing of mind? If so, be thankful and cherish it every day.

Do you care about someone who is struggling with or in danger of developing mental health concerns? Pray for strength to love them and to bless them with your support. And be blessed in knowing your support of them is a heaven-sent gift.

Most of all, thanks be to the God who desires for us to be safe and sound. But who blesses us because He loves us always, especially when we draw near to Him. In any state of mind.

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Over the past few days, I have had one person each day (most of whom I had never met in person before) look me in the eye and say, “Bless you, child.”

(This is not a common experience for me.)

My reply each time, after a moment of surprise, was, “I thank you and receive the blessing.”

Though I look younger than my age, I am no longer mistaken by anyone as a child. But when I received each of those blessings, I was not offended by the wording. Whether I am 40 or 60 or 80 years old, may I always be a child of God, and never too old to notice and receive His blessings!

Noticing the blessings is a lot easier when we hear the words said directly to us. Yet, even if such words are not said directly to us, blessings are spoken all around us every day, if one’s heart will have ears to hear.

So see the genuine smile on a neighbor’s face reflecting goodness…

And feel the wind slip over your skin, reminding you of the gift of life in your lungs…

And hear the sound of a child squealing with laughter where she sits nearby…

And look up to view sunlight in a hundred finely-graded hues, whipped across the sky in glory…

In all these things and more, hear the words in your heart: “Bless you, child.”

And receive each blessing with thanksgiving.

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Looking back on themes covered in the first eight months of this year and looking ahead to 2019’s remaining weeks, I want to usher in this final, dual focus of receiving blessings to be a blessing with a new poem. I hope it will encourage you today.

Before and Behind (a poem of gratitude)

I couldn’t be blessed until

I knew I was loved. Really

Loved

For who I was and am

(And will be).

Then, the patches on my soul

Were sown, tight

And the reserve of that love

Filled me to overflowing.

I couldn’t be blessed until

I knew I was known. Really

Known

For who I was and am

(And will be).

Then, the scars laced ‘cross my soul

Were soothed, smooth

Because the love had not evaporated

With the knowing.

I couldn’t be blessed until

I knew I was seen. Really

Seen

For who I was and am

(And will be).

Then, dormant seeds inside my soul

Were awakened, green

To sprout as they were

Always meant to.

I couldn’t be blessed until

I knew I was heard. Really

Heard

For who I was and am

(And will be).

Then, a melody surrounding my soul

Was absorbed, sweet

With acceptance of that clear

And ancient truth.

No, I couldn’t be blessed until all these things

Finally occurred to the soul of me.

Then, with eyes open wider, in the echoing song,

I saw I had been being blessed all along.

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In this final post about shining, I want to share a brief thought and a short, related poem.

The thought:

True shining is born when we are what we are created to be and we do what we are created to do. When those two factors dwell together in a person’s life, genuineness and warm peace are sure to result.

The poem:

Solaris

On the fourth day

He made

Lights to shine and guide.

The greater,

A star so near it would be our sun,

Began to burn,

To do its work.

“An assignment or an existence?”

We may now ask

While sitting, warmed in its ancient rays.

Can the two, by design, be separated?

Why

Would we try?

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Today, I was thinking about the concept of shining, and for some reason the adjective resilient came to mind. So I did a little hunting. “(Of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions” was the first meaning listed in the online dictionary. In the etymology notes, it said this comes from the Latin root, meaning “to leap back.”

There is something about this word that should particularly appeal to members of my contemporary culture. Not only are Americans generally know for our future-focused, independently-formed outlook on development and improvement. We are also, now more than ever, attracted to and driven by what is instant, painless, and doubtlessly positive.

By all accounts, then, a resilient person should be admired, our ideal. So does it follow that the person who cannot spring back at all is a hopeless case, or that the person who cannot spring back quickly is not worth our patience, compassion, or company? And even if a person does spring back quickly, what if they dare to admit that what knocked them down has changed their life forever and they recognize it will never be the same again? Is resignation to a new view of reality a sign one is not really resilient?

Here is where shining, persevering, and being resilient intersect in my mind.

Sometimes shining the light of Christ means giving another a hand when they are struggling to get back up via their courage and faith that have taken a beating. Sometimes it means respecting their “new normal” and respecting the time it takes for them to adjust to that new normal. Sometimes it means choosing to love those around us who would be dismissed by others, simply standing by the hurting ones because true love is patient.

And sometimes being like Christ means facing our own trials and mistreatments and dark nights of the soul with all the emotions and questions that are human while we continue to put one foot in front of the other. Being real without giving up.

We are told, after all, to look to Him as our example: the one who sweat blood when He was under duress, the one who sighed in exasperation when others simply didn’t get Him, the one who went on a cleansing rampage of rightful anger, the one who withdrew when He was exhausted. The one who was swallowed in a dark tomb for days until He was called forth to shine, brilliantly, with the morning sun.

In all these things, He was not faithless or slow or bad.

Just because one does not spring back in an instant, that doesn’t mean one will not spring back at all. And just because one springs back in a changed form doesn’t mean the end result is wrong or a loss.

In truth, perhaps that is when we will most fully and brilliantly shine, as we never could have before.

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The past couple of nights, a moon like this one has hung, low and brilliant, in the clear evening sky as I have driven home from various tasks. Reflecting on God’s faithfulness in every moment and our struggle to understand what it means to shine in challenging times, I now write and share this short poem.

Mirrors

I thanked the sun for warming my day,

Asked it to never go away.

But it did. Replaced by a circle of stone

Gracing me: cold and alone.

At the night stretching on endlessly

And the rock hanging over me,

I shook a fist. And I railed hard against how

The sun was light years away now.

Then a whisper rode to me upon the wind,

A timeless message sent:

“The sun is shining in a different form

And this light also warms

The heart which trusts a reflection bright

In the darkest of nights.”

So I lifted my face, set down my fears,

And reflected radiance in tears.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:4-5

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“You are the light of the world… Therefore, let your light shine before all men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” ~ Jesus (Mt. 5:13-14)

I was invited to shine. But it was not specified at exactly what intensity.

That’s good. Because this little light is not equal to the same type of shining every day.

And that’s okay. Because the people around me, both known and new, may need different types of light.

In that light, here is a prayer for all followers of Him.

Lord Jesus,

You call us to shine. Let us choose to do so from a willing heart.

When another’s heart is bathed in sorrow, let us be a quiet lantern hung by their side, silently and warmly present for them.

When another is searching, weary, doubting, or weak, let us be a candle burning in a window, welcoming and patiently waiting.

When another is trying to rise above troubles and trials, let us be the gentle evening sunlight that works its way through thick clouds after an afternoon thunderstorm, cheering them on until they see Your rainbow.

And when another is overjoyed, let us be brilliant sunshine echoing their praise and delighting in the gift of goodness.

In all these things, let us be more than simply nice, far more than thoughtful. May we be eclipsed in the light of You so You are the One who blesses because it was really You who was shining all along.

Amen.

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