Sacred Stories

“In all sacred literature, the hearts of the storytellers are revealed in the stories, their breath is felt in the words on the page, and we may be touched or moved or stirred by their ancient art. And maybe we can glimpse a truth that they saw, if we read closely and reflect on what we have read. And we can get a glimpse of what later interpreters saw, if we serve up their symbols as a separate dish rather than baking them into the story. We need a chance to savor each perspective.” -Paul Beedle

How have you found new perspectives in sacred stories?”

Poets

“What do you do with the secret verses of your heart? With your need for redemption, the story without words? With paradoxical truths, too private and nuanced to share, that cannot be printed or spoken aloud?
“You weave their energy into a poem, carefully, carefully, over and under and through, luminescent strands that cannot be un-teased, until the poem is shot through with light from an unknown origin. And you whisper it into the dark. Breeze-forms delivered into the deep.” -“How Poets Pray,” by Angela Hererra

Weave your prayers into a poem today.

 

Birthing Peace

We have waited, hopeful, for the birth of love into the world.
We have waited, hopeful, for the birth of joy and peace.
Let every heart now prepare them room.
Let heaven and nature sing the good news of the arrival of something new.

We have arrived here as weary travelers longing for a rest,
Here, we are greeted with an ancient story
A story of possibility
A story of hard work
A story that reminds us that the creation of the world we want to live in is possible,
And that it is ours to do.

How can you participate in birthing peace into this world?

Which Story?

“If you came to this place expecting a tame story, you came to the wrong place. If you came for a story that does not threaten you, you came for a different story than the one we tell. If you came to hear of the coming of a God who only showed up so that you could have a nice day with your loved ones, then you came for a God whom we do not worship here. For even a regular baby is not a tame thing. And goodness that cannot threaten complacency and evil is not much good at all, and a God who would choose to give up power and invincibility to become an infant for you, certainly didn’t do it just you could have dinner.” –from “What Are You Here For?” by Quinn Caldwell

How can the story of Christmas challenge and inspire you?