#reflection

Sensing Magic and Mystery 

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

Christmas is a magical time for children. They approach it with great excitement in their hearts as they open their Advent calendars. With each day’s offering they note how closer they are getting to Christmas Day itself.

Countdown

A countdown is on,
with the daily opening of a door
in the Advent calendar.

Some have their minds fixed
on consuming chocolate
or finding a small gift.

Others watch a scene
unfold, a marvellous story
slowly, slowly gets told.

Perhaps a candle is lit
and left to burn while we
reflect on a word, name or date.

Anticipation builds
in the daily noticing,
receiving, seeing and reading.

December's cold drabness
is lifted by an interest
in things outside ourselves.

Gradually, these small
snapshots of hope, joy, mystery
are unveiled and revealed.

Until we reach the climax,
where the action really begins,
with a birth in Bethlehem.
© joylenton

“Whoever possesses God in their being has Him in a divine manner, and He shines out to them in all things; for them all things taste of God and in all things it is God’s image that they see.” ― Meister Eckhart

As we grow older, we tend to become less proficient in the art of sensing and noticing the magic in our midst, so we often miss the awe and wonder that exists.

It’s more about having gratitude for Presence than receiving presents, more about Nativity than having delicious food to eat. It’s less about what can be bought and more about what needs to be sought. 

Giving gifts is a marvellous thing, and so is receiving them, but we can easily miss the holy point of Christmas when we’re overly concerned with purchasing stuff.

The hectic clamour of the world saturates our senses but it can be answered with the calming peace of God. 

When we seek God’s rest and peace, we awaken anew to the magic and mystery wrapped up in the Christ-child before whom we kneel.

Let’s take a few moments for a prayerful pause and ask for a little stardust to fall on us.

Stardust

Come warm yourself, your chilled bones
by the fire,
near these searing, chosen coals.

I've saved a seat beside me
as we watch
a growing, iridescent glow.

It's the blaze of mystery sparking 
the here and now,
as in-between this moment
and the next, it flows.

Hear it calling us forth to marvel
anew, to be inspired,
and to listen with each breath.

Let us be attentive, focused, still
as millponds,
with unbroken surfaces, like glass.

Let us wait for the fountain to flow
with a freedom
that is just within our grasp.

Let us stay with the silence, the best
approach to take
while we look, listen, and wait.

Then let us rise with stardust embers
shining from our eyes,
with gladdened hearts and minds
filled with a hope we dared to find.
© joylenton

Whatever you might be going through right now, my friend, my prayer for you is this:

May you make room for Jesus within this Christmas season and experience the Joy and Peace only He can bring to our hurting hearts. 

As you contemplate the magic and mystery of the Nativity, may it live on in your soul, strengthen your faith, and encourage you, always.

🎄I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed, Happy New Year! 🎄

With love and deep gratitude for your lovely company here. 

Joy Xx ❤️🎄💜🕊️🌺

Gethsemane: a place of anguished obedience, prayer, and grace

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

“Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’ He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, ‘My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’ Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, ‘Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?’” — Matthew 26:36-40 NLT

Gethsemane

To remain, stay awake, and pray,
these are the tasks
assigned to the disciples

and to us
as well, even now,
as we face our own battles.

Yet we brag, big ourselves up,
and anticipate greatness
from souls of dust,

or we cringe and creep
because we feel
like worms without worth.

But God knows the state of us
all too well,
and he grants us the grace

to have a fresh start
if we're willing
to ask for his help.

Jesus sought support himself
but found his friends
deeply lacking

in their ability to keep alert,
to pray faithfully
and to stay awake.

In the depths of his humanity
he identified
completely with you and me,

and he still gives 
us grace when we mess up
because he knows
just what we are made of.
© joylenton

Reflection

Picture yourself in this scene. Jesus, your close friend, teacher and miracle worker, is approaching his darkest hour. You’re aware that he is special, and talking about being crucified, but your mind hasn’t yet fully grasped the reality of who he is and why he came, though you long to please him.

But it’s been a long day, with a seemingly wasteful anointing at Bethany, an unexpected betrayal by Judas, a denial, a final supper together, and now this period of praying in the garden of Gethsemane. You’re just plain exhausted. Jesus gently scolds you, and you feel dreadful because your tired body has let you down.

Prayer

Suffering Saviour,

As we read these words, we wonder if we would have been any better at watching and praying with you than the disciples were. Sadly, their fatigue caused them to slumber in your hour of greatest need. You faced this ordeal alone because your friends failed you at this final hurdle.

Even so, you understood their weakness and gave them grace. Just as you do for us. From our post-crucifixion perspective, we know how it ends—how these failing, faltering disciples became devoted, faith-filled men with transformed minds and hearts. Oh may we have an ending like this too!
Amen

This post has been excerpted from my ‘Experiencing Lent: Sensing the Sacred in Our Midst’ book. You can discover more about the meaning of and the biblical context for Gethsemane in this article. Blessings and love to you! Xx 🙂 ❤

mirror: seeing ourselves as we really are

/ Joy Lenton / 4 Comments

It’s no secret that nature and wildlife have things to teach us as they quietly go about their lives. The poem below was written after observing a bluetit’s antics as she circled around our car’s wing mirror for a few minutes.

We were too entranced watching her to think of recording the moment. But oh joy, she returned the next day and I caught it briefly with these blurred, smudgy photos out of the kitchen window! 😉

Birdwatching 

She flits
back and forth
admiring herself in glass,
enraptured 
by the way her image
is captured 
so vividly in the wing
mirror, where she can’t resist 
such a view of loveliness.

It’s as if
she cannot quite 
believe that this tiny bird 
has anything 
whatsoever to do with her,
or is more than a passing 
resemblance, perhaps—
does this sight signify, imply
what she might really look like?

So she shifts
her gaze here 
and there, hopping keenly
once more over
the bonnet of the car,
then back again
to preen, to marvel,
to check she does exist 
in this world, in this space.

And she twists 
her perspective 
as she turns upside 
down, and almost inside
out in her eagerness 
to believe she is
just as sweet, just as
lovely, just as glorious
as the mirror suggests.
© joylenton

“But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB

This sweet incident made me wonder how we might respond when we catch a glimpse of ourselves in a mirror. Are we enchanted, curious, disinterested or disappointed? Does it matter if we’re less than thrilled with our outer appearance?

Because we are so much more than the sum of our parts. Though having a balanced love for ourselves and a healthy self-acceptance is to be encouraged. We need to transform our wounded minds and hearts by believing we are who the Bible says we are.

I can attest that it’s been damaging for me to have low self-esteem for years due to painful childhood experiences that seared my soul and induced decades of brokenness. God longs for us to see ourselves the way He does: beautiful, beloved, healed and whole, a joy to behold.

Maybe looking in the mirror might cause us to seek the kind of mirror that truly reflects our God-given beauty, grace and loveliness, especially if we’ve failed to fully notice or appreciate it.

Do we return, time and again, to check our reflection in Scripture as it holds up a mirror to our souls and gives us insight into the close, loving relationship we can have with God? Perhaps we should… 🙂 ❤