Week of December 11, 2000
Pastor Dan

Beholding Life from the Underside

  1. Visit a real barn
  2. Visit a live nativity scene (e.g. Bethany Lutheran Church on Parkside Ave., Ewing)
  3. Take a brisk walk in an unfamiliar area
  4. Visit a prison, nursing home, or homeless shelter
  5. When you visit a friend or family member in the hospital, enter through the "bowels" where the medical wastes are carried out and the orderlies take their cigarette breaks
  6. Sharpen your interest and reading about an imperiled region of the world

Giving Alms in Secret

  1. Deliver food baskets incognito
  2. Give an anonymous gift to a local charity
  3. Pick out one friend or neighbor and do something special for him or her incognito
  4. Prayerfully plan your charitable giving for the entire year so it becomes more than just a sentimental part of the pressured Christmas and IRS rush
  5. Stuff brief notes of kindness and compliments in special places for family members and significant others

Praying in the Flow of Life

  1. Drive around your neighborhood or another neighborhood of your choice. Enjoy the lights while praying for all those living inside the houses
  2. In congested traffic, sing the quiet words of Advent waiting: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" or stick the serenity prayer on your car dashboard
  3. Enjoy the simple Advent wreath lights and table prayer at home
  4. Come to worship a few minutes earlier for quiet prayer

Caring for Yourself as a Disciple

  1. Get ample rest
  2. Moderate the eating and drinking
  3. Step out for fresh air during the day
  4. Throw out the impossible idealism of Martha Stewart
  5. On the shortest day of the year, acknowledge your pain, your memories, and your disappointments before God in that time of prolonged darkness. Utilize the church's gift of private confession and absolution. Call the pastor for a confidential appointment
  6. Purchase one new inspirational tape/CD or book that tells the Christmas story in a fresh way and give it to a significant other
  7. Write down all your intense resentments, wrap them in a box, and burn or dispose of the package in prayer
  8. Select one character of the Christmas story with whom you personally identify this year. Imagine life in communion and conversation with that person.

O God, you know us well and truly love us well. Your Word comes to us anew in this Advent season. Make level our pathway when we try to do too much or attempt to be more than human. Lift us upon the pathway when we fall into the shoulders and ditches of downtroddenness and loneliness and see ourselves as less than human. We praise you for coming to draw us into the joys of discipleship in this glorious season. Grant us peace, Lord Jesus. In your name we pray, Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Dan
Published Monday December 11, 2000
Week 3 of Liturgical Year C