December 24
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised … One generation shall extol your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.
Psalm 145:3-4 (NRSV)
Be a storyteller of wonder!
Dear reader, as I write this devotion my mind is fast-forwarding from autumn to the Advent season. So, I leap from October to Christmas Eve. Isn’t that part of the wonder of being at once here in this present moment and yet looking forward to what is to come? And, how marvelous to have the ability to look backward, remembering and honoring what has already been. Even today, I can inhabit years past, remembering Christmas traditions shared with my family as we filled the kitchen with baking and laughter. Even old recipes hold the riches of loving memories.
From generation to generation, we join in the sacred act of sharing our stories. We tell what God is doing in our lives! We remember our place in God’s story and find ourselves in the great sweep of God’s time. We need that long perspective. We can be terribly myopic and disgruntled in the now… Grumbling that an infant can hardly make a difference in this world. Seek a small bit of wonder, a baby in a manger. Let that mystery dwell with you. Walk in wonder even through darkness.
The psalmist declares “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.” Yet, we do search and stumble towards faith and hope. Perhaps wonder is the doorway we seek? Let us stand in awe of God’s works. How wonderful that we are participating in God’s creation, that we witness God at work in the world … that we are here to tell the story.
Prayer: Holy One, who comes to us in the ordinary and the wonderful and in unexpected places and people, attune our hearts to your grace. Your wide love encircles us. You invite us to see the world with tenderness and compassion. Let us walk humbly with you in every season as we meet those who need your mercy, justice and peace. Amen.
Melanie Woodard
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