My life and your life was in His hands before we were even born!

Too excited to sleep last night.  Today we drive to see Ben in his role of Santa in the Christmas play.  Do hope his sore thorat is better. To become childlike in heart and spirit;,  brings the spirit of Christmas with all it's mystery and all it's struggles, all it's joys and hardship  to life in our souls once again.

 Sorry I will be missing the Jetlag luncheon.  December is a crazy month but lots of happy and exciting things happening!

The Hebrew Bible was the sacred scripture that Jesus would have used and even as some think he could not read he would have know it by heart!

"The Hebrew Bible provided the language of the Sacred Imagination
that placed within the psyche in which images of God,
the God-world relationship and the  God-human relationship reside."
From reading the Gospels Again by Marcus Borg.

The Hebrew Bible would be a part of shaping the vision of a symbolic universe, which would be the foundation of the teachings of Jesus and his followers.  Thus we understand the New Testament best when we understand the culture and beliefs at the time it was written.

And so we have the message of the greatest miracle of all
 when God was brought to earth by the birth of a baby,
 a wrinkled, blood-covered, crying baby.  He was one of us!

We do not know what happened to Jesus after he grew up and left home.  He had a trade he learned from his father and he had his mother's dreams and visions of who he was to become.  He may have wanted to run away and experience life with his own eyes.  He may have listened to many teachers always questioning.

I often question just what is God's will for my life. 

He walked towards John the Baptist drawn by the Holy Spirit and as he surrendered to being baptized he knew who he was and he knew what he was called to do.  The voice of God as a dove flew from on high to be a symbol of purity and peace.  The son has come home to take his place and to speak from his heart all that he had experienced.  Love would give him the strength and courage to fulfill his calling.

Jesus was and is a Jewish mystic, a healer, a teacher of amazing wisdom, a prophet who spoke for the poor and downtrodden.  He would speak of repentance as a way to freedom and a release from guilt.
Faith was a journey that would include the wilderness, false voices, stormy seas and final victory.

I cannot explain it but I sense that I am not alone on this journey and even when I feel lost and confused I can trust love walks with me and breathes new life into me when I feel so very vulnerable and weak.
Henri Nouwen reminds us that Christmas is a renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let the love that is greater than our hearts and minds can comprehend walk with us!

Our home a work in progress as dad puts up more lights.