“And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”
~John 1:14
Dear Siblings in Christ,
We have moved through the waiting and longing of Advent and find ourselves before the stable together with the holy family. God’s Love, God’s Word to humanity, has become flesh, dwells among us, and cries out from the manger which serves as his bed. Here is the baby Jesus. Light of Light, who will grow to illumine the world with God’s abundant love.
We hope that in this Christmas season and through the year, you will feel the near presence of Jesus living with you in the joys and sorrows of your life. We also pray that God’s love will enlighten the wonderings, hopes, and uncertainties we may have in the year to come, showing us the way we are to go.
Love came down at Christmas, and everything changed. As we celebrate that same Love coming into the world today, may we be changed again and again into the People of God Christ calls us to be.
Be assured of our prayers, as well as the well-wishes of the staff at The Commons, in this Christmas season. We are grateful for the ways you extend the branch of ministry to your communities, and we are eager to continue to spread the Good News of Christ’s transformative Love with you in the new year.
We would like to close with a poem entitled, “It is Not Over” from Kneeling in Bethlehem by Ann Weems:
“It’s not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which
God can throw stars.
When we begin to think
that we can predict the Advent of God,
that we can box the Christ in a stable in Bethlehem,
that’s just the time
that God will be born
in a place we can’t imagine and won’t believe.
Those who wait for God
watch with their hearts and not their eyes,
listening
always listening
for angel words.”
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Jeff & Bishop Laura