An Assemblage of Graces

To cradle a newborn infant,

To hear a song for the first time and it brings me to tears,

To drive toward the shore and smell the first hint of the salty air

To witness one person come along side another with comfort and compassion

O to be comforted!

The first bite of a meal prepared for you, the aroma prepared your glands.

A story told with passion;

words meant only for you;

Commitment reaffirmed.

Swimming in a sea of hope,

Helpless!

Sipping the first hot cup,

Cool breezes after the heat,

Sun catching and settings glorious.

Your smiling and dancing eyes,

The curve of your face and light of your countenance,

The sound of your voice.

Beholding!

Laughter contagious,

Kindness in trouble

Love in the midst of war

At the center of the storm - peace

Joy not denying the pain,

Thoughtful!

© Catherine Mullaney 2011

Hope

I am really having trouble with posting my Advent Foretold posts and I still haven't figured it out. Perhaps, the revisiting of this devotional is for my personal benefit and not to be shared. Honestly, I have had a hard time getting into the Christmas Spirit this year. Tonight I am planning to go to a Christmas party and I am thinking that I want to just skip it. It is out of character for me. I am one of those people who drives her family crazy because I start listening to Christmas music in October. I am listening to some right now but even the music, I have been "eh," take it or leave it.

Nevertheless, Jesus Christ is the Hope of Glory, He is the Word who became flesh and He is the Light of the World. Jesus Christ is the Joy of our Salvation. He is the Alpha and the Omega and nothing I desire can compare with Him. My zeal, my love, my passion for my Lord has actually increased over the last few months, as I begin to see the Beauty of His Holiness. You read that right "begin." O Christians do you not believe what it says in the second letter to the Corinthians, "Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day?"

Now that I am writing I remember a song by my friend David MacAdam and in this song he writes, "Christmas can be everyday of the year when Jesus does your living. No longer a slave to yourself must you be when you can be forgiven." Yes, each day, I get up and say yes, LORD thank you for another day. With you there is Hope and with your Holy Spirit and by Your power will I live out this day. When (not if) I stumble and fall, your forgiveness, grace, mercy and yes, hope is right there enabling me to carry on. With this hope, I desire to bring life, joy, grace, truth, love and hope to each person I encounter because I have a personal relationship with the One who was born of a virgin, hailed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is called Immanuel, at birth was King of Kings, Lord of Lords. Jesus is the One who has given me His Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that I need each and every day in every season.

So, I am not into the festivities or the mood or the decorating or shopping or even the music that is brought about at Christmas time, but that doesn't make me a Humbug. It just makes me human in the midst of life, changes and challenges, joys and sorrows, faith, hope and love.

Have a day full of hope!