†
A Greeting
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
(Psalm 121:1)
A Reading
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
(Psalm 121:3-6)
Music
Meditative Verse
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:2)
A Reflection
Advent is a season of hope. It is a season which looks
forward in hope to a future... a future which says that God is a God of love
even when we see hatred, God is a God of life even when we see death and
destruction, that God is a God of peace even when we see war and terrorism,
that God is a God of justice even when injustice seems rampant.
Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope
alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become
stronger in us.
- from a homily by The Rt. Rev. Philip Poole, York-Credit Valley (Anglican)
in December, 2011 (reproduced by permission in our 2011 Advent project)
A Greeting
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
(Psalm 121:1)
A Reading
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
(Psalm 121:3-6)
Music
Meditative Verse
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:2)
A Reflection
Advent is a season of hope. It is a season which looks
forward in hope to a future... a future which says that God is a God of love
even when we see hatred, God is a God of life even when we see death and
destruction, that God is a God of peace even when we see war and terrorism,
that God is a God of justice even when injustice seems rampant.
Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope
alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become
stronger in us.
- from a homily by The Rt. Rev. Philip Poole, York-Credit Valley (Anglican)
in December, 2011 (reproduced by permission in our 2011 Advent project)
Verse for the Day
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)
†
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)
†
 |
| Detail from the mystery painting |
If there was an animal whom we could imagine might long for peace, it would be the biblical horse. The horse was reserved entirely for battle and celebrated for same. (See Job 39:19-25). Horses appear in Scripture only in connection with war and fighting and even in the book of Revelation, they are gloried this way. At the same time, however, Deuteronomy 17 prohibits against acquiring too many horses and the kings of Israel largely obeyed this edict. The prohibition was intended to prevent them from seeming or becoming too powerful, since owning them would be too great a temptation to turn from God and seek out greater human power. In Zechariah 9:10, the age of the Messiah is imagined as a time when all war costumery was put away and the horse could just be a horse.
In the last twenty-four hours the events in Peshawar, Pakistan have taken over our hearts and minds, causing us to feel more Lent than Advent. How is it possible to find or see hope at a time of such horrific realities in our world? Since these devotional projects come from a campus ministry, tragedies involving schools invite our special prayers - that in these moments of unanticipated darkness, we may experience an ever-deepening desire for the light. Come, Prince of Peace.
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| "Moments of Silent Unity" by Despite Straight Lines Balquhidder, Scotland |
LC† Psalms in the Stable is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
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Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.
