Nigel Wright

Light, burning bright...

perhaps 200 candles & room at the back

            with beautiful music, carols to journey to

                   a place often forgotten, a mental lack

              body, mind & spirit

                            - engaged?!

moving forward, looking back,

                                remember the present...

        the here and now

                        the blessings of the  moment

                                        the wonder of how?

                a baby smiles.... 

                               ... relax...

                                            Emmanuel

                                                            the moment of now!

According to your word

"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."

All the very best this Christmas.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

"Long before Jesus was born the prophet Isaiah had a vision of Christ's great unifying work of salvation. Many years after Jesus died, John, the beloved disciple, had another but similar vision: He saw a new heaven and a new earth. All of creation had been transformed, dressed with immortality to be the perfect bride of Christ. In John's vision the risen Christ speaks from his throne, saying: "Look, I am making the whole of creation new. .... Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone" (Revelation 21:5; 21:3-4).

Both Isaiah and John open our eyes to the all-inclusive nature of Christ's saving work."

Henri Nouwen keeping us focused on what needs to be focused on...

Peace

Wishing everyone a peaceful and blessed Christmas - a few snaps from the Wright household as we enjoy some much needed family time together.

Not a white Christmas...but...still stunning!

The Writing's on the wall

"Today, as in Daniel's time, God's words are being written on the walls of our city, in the places where lawyers walk and shoppers shop. We at Opawa rejoice in being God's handwriting. And we pray that today, as in Daniel's time, our city might have the wisdom to discern the words of God."

The above is taken from here - gives much food for thought for what could be done around say shopping centres, ie. an Advent "stations" type idea, on a smaller scale but still with the potential for powerful impact.

OK so I love these guys anyway, not least as this year my involvement with Opawa (and  here etc) has been a pivotal point in my (and my families) journey of faith and I thank the Opawa Baptist community (and the Baptist community in NZ).

Advent - choice - and the voice

"And a voice came to me in a dream and said:

‘Come with justice, for I am hungry and thirsty in a land of plenty,’

and a voice said,

‘Come with mercy, for I am a stranger in this place,’

and a voice said

‘Come with righteousness, for I am imprisoned without trial,’

and a voice said

‘Come with love, for my heart is sick with hopelessness and fear.’

And a voice said,

‘Come, live with me in this divided community and we will break down the walls together.’

and the voices were many

and the voices were one.

And the people knew whose voice it was

and their faces were etched with the agonies of decision.

And the dream ended.

But the voice remains

And the choice remains,

And the people still wait for light

And the GOD who lives with the least of his children in the wilderness places –  still waits for them."

***

Thanks to my guardian angel for the above adaptation of the final part of "Light in the Asphalt Jungle" by Vincent Harding.

Words for Advent prayer

"Open our eyes Lord

especially if they are half shut because we are tired of looking

or half open because we fear to see too much

or blurred with tears because they are filled with pain or disappointment

Help us now to worship you."

Advent Eucharist

Leading worship through music have seemingly always been part of my ministry but I still remember the time when I realised that I could participate in leading and also be worshipping at the same time – very special and wonderfully liberating.

Tomorrow I assist (the Deacon bit) in the Advent Eucharist and am looking forward to it in the realisation (much more recently), that I have crossed a bridge in leading the liturgical aspect of worship too – not sure when I got across this particular bridge but training etc…

Advent chaos

Today has been a day of ethics assignment research and prep, digesting prebudget reports, hyper active children (all the excitement of Christmas preps) and general mayhem, as our house is turned into a catering and retail establishment (Jo my wife is a chef by training and gets called on to do all sorts of stuff for church and charity - she is also pretty hot with all things textiles - so I am sure you get the picture at this time of year)...

I needed a brisk walk this evening in the chilly winter air, once the kids were in bed, to clear my head and plug in the spiritual battery charger!

On my return to a warm cosy house, with wonderful baking smells, a candle lit lounge (forgot to blow out the advent candle!)  and snuggly children drifting off to sleep... I smiled from inside and said thank you.

emergent...advent...

"adj. 1 appear, arise, come into view, come out, surface. 2 become known, be revealed, come to light, transpire, turn out."

Just a reminder - quite appropriate for advent

speaking of which,

How long did it take you to burn down to number one on the Advent candle, check out here, here and some advent fun here.

P.S. The quote is from The Little Oxford Dictionary