A long time ago a very pregnant peasant girl and her betrothed came home. They were looking for a place to stay with family but no one would take them in. This soon-to-be-mom was hungry, tired, and trapped in a bureaucratic maze of government paperwork. It was the sign of the times.
Hopeless? Dead end?
Hardly… for in God’s kin-dom the night is always darkest just before the dawn.
At the manger in a back alley in ancient Bethlehem, a cosmic convergence was taking place. The witness of the prophets of old showed up with a message of radical hope. Angels with a message of peace and encouragement set the light on a new path. And the poet’s prayer “Restore us, O God. Make your face to shine on us, that we might be saved” is answered.
This Christmas story of God shattering the darkness with light and healing brokenness with forgiveness and love, continues to be played out in every generation, including our own.
The soon-to-be-mom mentioned above is, of course, Mary. But we see her and her family in our neighborhood food pantry and they regularly joins us for our monthly community dinner. She may be one of the many who live in our East Portland apartment complexes… or she may exist temporarily in some back alley, waiting.
Please join us for the Cosmic Convergence at the Manger on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2011, 7 p.m. We’ll shatter the darkness with some great music, a word of encouragement and hope, and candlelight as we celebrate the in-breaking of God’s abundance and grace into our midst.
Christ the savior is born!
Peace – Bill
P.S. – join us Christmas morning for brunch in Miller Hall. We’ll sing Carols to our hearts’ content. Sunday, December 25, 2011, 10 a.m.