Destination Bethlehem

Daily Meditations, Prayers, and Poems to Light the Way to the Manger

Shepherd

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498209236
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

This book is intended as a devotional guide for the Advent season. Through the mediums of meditations, poetry, and prayer, it offers a spiritual resource for readers seeking to explore the many dimensions of this beloved season, and to deepen their appreciation of its mystery and wonder. Each day the reader is provided with either a prose meditation, based in Scripture, or a selection of poems, composed around the traditional themes of Advent/Christmas. The overall effect is that of a journey--a journey which moves, devotionally, through the days and weeks of December, toward Bethlehem, the stable, and the manger. Images, incidents, impressions, and items from the daily news are woven together to form a rich and rewarding tapestry, a pathway leading onward, an open door into the quiet places of the soul. Christmas Eve and Day are given special treatment, followed by a final section covering New Year's Day and the twelve days of Christmas. The book also provides a source of creative imagery and language for clergy, and other worship leaders, as they face the challenges of speaking traditional truths in a new and inviting way. Yet another use would be as a small group study guide for Advent.

Advent Week Three

Sunday

Something for Christmas III

Something Worth Praying For

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

—Isaiah 9:6

This Advent season, in church tradition, is not only a time of expectancy and waiting, not just a time of looking forward and hoping; it is also a time for praying. Indeed, along with Lent, Advent has long been observed as a period when Christians have intensified their devotional life, have reclaimed the disciplines of prayer, have sought to renew neglected spiritual resources. Visit any religious bookstore over these December weeks and the sheer volume and weight of publications in the area of prayer and meditation—“Spirituality,” as they call it—can drive you to your knees, if nothing else will.

Yet, while Lent, those lengthening days of late winter/early spring, does naturally lend itself to such pursuits, I must confess that these Advent days, these last few weeks before Christmas present much more of a challenge. In fact it is my suspicion that, for many, the only prayers to be uttered amid the holiday rush and hustle are what I call, Good God Prayers: “Good God, is it that late already?” “Good God, what are all these people doing in the post office at eight in the morning?” “Good God, what happened to Christmas, anyway? Where did it go?”

On the other hand, there are those letters to Santa Claus; and if anything nowadays can be said to come close to actual prayer, perhaps they fit the bill. I am reminded of the youngster in a popular cartoon who is depicted, leaning on a punctured pigskin, musing to himself:

I need a new football. I don’t know if I should send up a prayer, write a letter to Santa Claus, or call Grandma.

That’s the trouble, of course, with so many of our prayers; they tend to be solely concerned with things and how to obtain them, or with escapes, ways out of impossible situations. There’s a lively old story about this in which someone asks God, “How long is a thousand years to you?” To which the Eternal One replies, “Oh, just one second.” “Well then, Almighty, how much is a million dollars to you?” The Creator shrugs it off as, “No more than a penny.” With a gleam in his eye, and a smile creeping across his face, the inquisitor poses one last question, “Lord, can I have just one penny?” To which Omniscience responds, “Perhaps, but in just one second.”

What then is worth praying for? What might there be, beyond the Christmas lists and the latest global crisis, that could bring us to our knees in honest prayer, even in this busiest, most packed and panicked season? There is, of course, our concern for others. Each Sabbath day, and every single day in many places, in sanctuaries of all varieties across this land, people bow their heads to pray, not chiefly for themselves, but for family and friends, for this world and its wretched ones, for those who face illness, bereavement, turmoil. And all that is certainly something worth praying for.

But what about ourselves? Is there something about our own selves that is worthy of our prayers, worth spending time on our knees, searching the scriptures, gazing within, and without, and above? Do we ourselves have anything worth praying for? The answer here can be different for each one who reads these words.

For some—ironically enough—it is a moment of peace from others that they pray for, a brief surcease from all the pressures, demands, responsibilities, of daily, hourly love. For others the need is for someone to love, someone to feel responsible for, to care deeply about, to share their daily joys and pains. For some it might be a job, a steady income, the assurance of security and self-worth; others, again, seek freedom to let go, take time off, become that fuller person who has been swallowed up within the all-enveloping identity of what he or she does for a living. For some, perhaps, the need is for the healing of an ancient, festering wound or grudge; others may seek deliverance from a very present fear. Something worth praying for.

Then what is it that we get? When all the prayers, candle lighting, carol singing has finally run its course, what is it that we receive for all this effort? Isaiah made that clear long ago:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . (Isa 9:6).

Or, as Luke’s angel told those startled shepherds:

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe . . . (Luke 2:11–12).

A child, then, a newborn infant, that is God’s answer to our prayers, to all those needs and wishes, those fears and dreams we thought of just a moment ago, to the prayers of all the centuries since first we humankind lifted hands and voices toward the heavens.

I’ve been watching children, little children, recently; catching sight of them in those marvelous carrying pods parents pop them into at the post office, toy store, potluck supper and the like; they’re to be found these days all over the place, once you start to pay attention. I’ve been noticing again the inner peacefulness of infants. Oh yes, I fully realize that children have been known to fuss from time to time. After four children of our own and three grandchildren I will not soon forget that indisputable reality. But, when they are not fussing there is about them that sense of inner calm and trust, a confidence these fortunate youngsters have—that each and every child deserves to have, must have, if our society is ever to become truly human. This is a confidence that all is basically well, that they are cherished, cared for, held and watched over by strong, protective arms.

There is that bewitchingly wondering gaze these little ones can turn upon a parent, their own fingers, the living room carpet, or a total stranger. There is the way they have of ca...

Table of contents

• Also by J. Barrie Shepherd
• Title Page
• Last Sunday in November
• Advent Week One
• Advent Week Two
• Advent Week Three
• Advent Week Four
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• Twelve Days of Christmas
• New Year’s Day