DEVOTIONAL:
Christmas day! Presents unwrapped, Christmas dinner eaten. Grandpa snores silently on the easy-boy. Grandma fusses over the newest grandbaby. Aunts put puzzles together, while uncles watch reruns on TV. Nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, cousins all, go bowling in the basement on the Wii. Awesome are the experiences and deeds we expect and take for granted at Christmastide. The coming together of generations, whether in our families of origin or in the church or with friends and others we love, is one of the priceless gifts of Christmas!
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DEVOTIONAL:
This advent season, my regular activities of work and life have had a little more of a frenetic feeling underneath them than usual. As my kids get older, I find our family having to craft tight plans for all our days to get everyone to their rehearsals and Christmas parties. Weekends have been taken up with preparations for and performances in pageants, festivals and music recitals, and we’ve even been caroling with our Sunday school groups. We want all this activity to spread joy and create powerful memories of the season that remind us every year of God’s place in our lives.
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DEVOTIONAL:
As I sat down to reflect on today’s Scripture passage, I found myself steeped in the stress of the ending semester, a time when no one seems to be able find time to get all of his or her work done, let alone stop to breathe. In the hustle and bustle of school, I compartmentalize my life, convincing myself that if I only get through each of the parts, I will survive the whole of my busy existence. But in reality this separation will not help me come out the other side in one piece, and the comfort of to-do lists can only go so far.
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DEVOTIONAL:
In a few days, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah reminds us to loudly praise God in all we do because it’s only through God’s glory that Jesus was sent into the world as our salvation.
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DEVOTIONAL:
As I read this passage, considering my busy semester, I asked myself, “At what times have I truly praised God lately?” I seem to be more thankful to God than anything. Yet, the times that I have praised have been wonderful and rejuvenating.

I praised God in community when I sang in the Homecoming hymn sing. As I sang in harmony with an inter-generational group of people, I felt an unexplainable joy. I had this same feeling of joy and wonder as I was walking through the woods and I saw leaves falling off of a massive oak. The leaves seemed to fall with perfect timing, and I knew that because of the complexities of nature never again would I see that exact same sight. I then praised God.
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DEVOTIONAL:
I have sisters-in-law who are elementary school teachers. With the start of each new school year, our family is entertained by the unusual or ridiculous names of children in their classrooms. A familiar name gets an update with a unique spelling, or a child is saddled with a long title, or, as the present trend seems to be, children are named for an object. Listed under celebrity baby names, I found Apple, Banjo, Ocean and Moon Unit.
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“I wonder if God comes to the edge of heaven each Advent
and flings the Star into the December sky,
laughing with joy as it lights the darkness of the earth;
and the angels, hearing the laughter of God,
begin to congregate in some celestial chamber
to practice their alleluias.”

So muses writer Ann Weems in the opening lines of her advent poem, “This Year.” I love the striking image the poet’s words evoke: a brilliant star startles the dark sky as divine laughter sets all the angels abuzz; God’s glory radiates throughout heaven and earth.

Our Scripture texts this week bear witness to this radiant glory of the God who saves and redeems, who comes to dwell among us, whose name is praised from all corners of the earth. But these verses also tell of longing and anticipation. The people who walked in darkness have yearned for the great light. The gray-haired Simeon and Anna have waited all their lives for the Child to be born. As the glorious light of Christ’s nativity shines brightly this week, we hear in these verses the stubborn hope of those still waiting under starless skies.

Many of us know all too well what it is to walk in darkness. After a sudden decline into the final stages of dementia, my 84-year-old grandfather passed away early last month. His final weeks brought dark moments, as spells of delirium thrust him into frightening realms of his imagination. But there was something else in those last days. Not usually one to boldly announce his quiet faith, Grandpa could be heard reciting hymns and offering spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving, praise and hope. In the week leading up to his departure, he spoke of a new day dawning on earth that would bring healing to racial conflict, mercy to immigrants, release for prisoners and medicine for the sick. Grandpa’s last days glowed with the light of God’s glory anticipated and revealed, a light shining brightly in heaven and on earth.

In her poem, Ann Weems imagines the angels’ response to the brilliant display of God’s glory each Advent. Perhaps when the star appears, she concludes, perhaps the angels all come.

“Perhaps they come,
winging through the winds of time
full of expectancy
full of hope
that this year
perhaps this year
(perhaps)
the earth will fall to its knees
in a whisper of ‘Peace.’”

With Simeon and Anna and all souls who have walked in darkness, on earth and in heaven, we too lift our hopeful eyes to behold the star. May it be so.

DEVOTIONAL:
I can’t imagine what Mary would have felt when she received Gabriel’s message that she would be the mother of Jesus. Mary found herself in circumstances she could not explain. The social ramifications of her pregnancy were daunting, and she must have experienced moments of fear and uncertainty. Part of me likes to think that Mary didn’t accept Gabriel’s message as easily as Luke portrays — that she tried to rationalize with Gabriel, or was even angry with God.
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DEVOTIONAL:
Those of us who live the North American lifestyle tend to live planned, non-mysterious and time-centric lives. Everything that matters can be easily explained and whatever cannot may be ignored or neglected. Often this even extends into our faith.

It is in the proclamation of Jesus Christ and his message in which Christians hold steadfast and find eternal salvation. Paul expresses this as the mystery that God revealed to the Gentiles, to bring about obedient faith in the one true God.
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DEVOTIONAL:
This is an exciting time. Waiting in joyful hope, preparing for the coming of Jesus and all the rituals, meals and gatherings that come with it.

I find it easy to become engrossed with activities during the holiday season, trying to ensure that everything is just right. My desire to make the holiday time special and help take the burden of busyness of others begins to take over. If I’m not careful, I become a doing-machine with grandiose ideas working at a pace that is not sustainable.
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DEVOTIONAL:
In these verses, I am struck once again by how God works with and through ordinary people, and how these important stories must be told and retold. In doing so, the retelling becomes a form of praise and adoration of the Creator and Sustainer.
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DEVOTIONAL:
Questions: the mark of human nature. We want to know why things happen and how things work. We want to predict the future and explain the past. Google provides a world of information at our fingertips. Psychology gives the brain a way to understand itself. Technology does what was inconceivable but minutes ago.
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DEVOTIONAL:
It was just over a year ago that I was introduced to the Mennonite game. I grew up a “Coaster,” a funny and indecipherable surname, unindicative of its Polish roots, and married a Mennonite in a far away land where “Goertzen” was as unique (strange) as the gringos who bore it. It was only after returning to the U.S. (and a couple specific Menno-lands) that I learned there were more of us out there and that lines could be traced. I also learned that in the Mennonite game, Coaster got me nowhere.
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DEVOTIONAL:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.
We know this is not our first nature. How many times do we have a rough day, not wanting to rejoice, failing to pray because we don’t find the time or the desire?
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DEVOTIONAL:
When reflecting on the theme “awesome deeds we do not expect,” I am reminded of an incident from my summer. I was driving from my home in Ohio to the peaceful woods of Camp Friedenswald in Michigan. About an hour from my destination, my car started acting up. I discovered after pulling into a fast food drive through, I could only drive in reverse.
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DEVOTIONAL:
I look back on that perfect day in early fall, sunny and cool, flowers fading but still glorious, and I was in “the groove.” You know those days, where things come together and you know you are exactly where you’re supposed to be and doing what you’ve been made for. Things are good, I’m in sync in with people around me and the check offs on the “to do” list are flying as we build a vision together. It was the simplicity of that day that I so appreciated. I looked up as I walked across campus and thought “thank you God for this moment.” Because this moment was perfect and I know from experience that it would only last a moment. I realized this magnificent day was God’s gift to me and my acknowledgment of this day was my gift to God. We were in tune and it was good.
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DEVOTIONAL:
The first semester of my junior year has been a rough semester for me. I’ve felt the strain of long work hours and overwhelming amounts of homework. Life itself can be overwhelming. I’ve struggled to find time to just be present. My spiritual life ha waned. I’ve felt empty and been broken. Many times this semester, God has seemed distant.
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DEVOTIONAL:
Today’s text offers us “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” As we read on, if we’re honest, it’s something of an odd beginning. Or at least an unexpected beginning. True, the story begins with reference to the prophet Isaiah, and faithful readers of the Hebrew Scriptures might well recognize the call to “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
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DEVOTIONAL:
We all have expectations of what the ‘day of the Lord’ might be like. I remember as a child wondering what it would be like, though I was strongly influenced by the “Left Behind” movie. I remember having irrational rapture scares when my dad forgot to pick me up or when I would return to an empty house.

The return of Jesus is not something that I think about often. It seems so far away and not in touch with the reality of today.
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DEVOTIONAL:
A command resounds throughout the divine assembly, addressing the attendant beings gathered before Yahweh. The heavens have been burdened with the sufferings of a people. The sheer gravity of their loss, the trauma of their fate, the numbness that has settled upon a once thriving community, now dislocated and disheartened – hangs like a shroud upon heaven and earth. Comfort them!
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DEVOTIONAL:
When I think of the Advent Season I can’t help but think of the tradition in our home surrounding the Advent calendar that hangs on display at this time of year. As we count down in gleeful expectation of Christmas day, my three brothers and I also look forward to the thrill of moving the little mouse from one day to the next. I am only partially ashamed to say that now as adults, this thrill still exists and we revel in who got to move that silly little mouse. The daily excitement and expectation in this funny illustration of our childlike joy adequately describes what the heart of advent is all about.
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DEVOTIONAL:
The lovely apple trees that I planted more than a decade ago in my back yard are now bare. There was a good crop this year, but no fruit remains on the spurs or branches. There is not even a single leaf remaining on the trees. Can there be any hope when the trees appear so barren?

I know that the trees are planted in good soil, because I dug the holes myself. The shape of each tree is pleasing, because I have pruned the trees. The trees are healthy, because I have added fertilizer and practiced careful pest management. Yet when I look at the trees now, I see barrenness.
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DEVOTIONAL:
What an inspiring verse to study with going into the first Sunday of Advent, the season of hope. Sometimes when I think about the day Jesus returns, fear overcomes all other feelings. At first, these verses can have the same impact, instilling the idea that some will see eternal punishment. However, I encourage you to look at these verses with only hope and a challenge.
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DEVOTIONAL:
Each morning, my husband Ken and I face each other with outstretched arms and greet the new day with thankfulness. We began this little ritual after walking through the valley of the shadow of death last summer. In that walk we learned that gratitude is the bedrock of faith.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with Ken’s story: Last spring he was a strong and healthy high school physics teacher who climbed stairs two at a time and played racquetball twice a week. But he began to experience increasingly irregular heartbeats. He was hospitalized four times in the month of May while doctors struggled to find a diagnosis.
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DEVOTIONAL:
The theme for this week of advent is “Restore us.” But whom do we really need to restore? Ezekiel 34 speaks from the tradition of those held captive in a foreign land. The Hebrew people had been forcibly brought to Babylon following the destruction of their holy city and temple at the hands of their captors.

The verses leading up to it condemn Israel’s leaders for failing to act appropriately as shepherds of their people. They did not care for the weak and they allowed the flock to be scattered. In light of the failings of Israel’s leaders, God makes a commitment to fill the vacant role of guidance and protection, as shepherd to the flock.

Many people today are disenchanted with their leaders. One does not need to be a misanthrope or believe in an approaching apocalypse to appreciate that there is a crisis of corruption, inequality, and environmental degradation in our world.
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DEVOTIONAL:
For me this is one of the most powerful and challenging passages in the entire New Testament. Although it is familiar, beyond being a concise synthesis of Paul’s teachings, it is also a summary of what Christian belief could be.

As a Catholic Christian who has been in religious life for over forty years, and who has most recently taught at a Mennonite college and studied at a Mennonite seminary, I cannot help but wonder how our church might be today if all parties involved in the Reformation had been able to fully embrace these verses. What if they had fully recognized God’s all-encompassing power and strength as the ultimate source of guidance for daily living? How might a different sort of embodiment of this belief united Christians rather than divided them?
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DEVOTIONAL:
WELCOME:

Welcome to Goshen College’s online devotionals for the 2011 Advent season! Our theme this year, taken from Mennonite Church USA worship resources, is “Awesome Deeds We Do Not Expect.” Every Monday a writer will introduce the sub-theme, whereas the following weekdays writers will reflect on a specific Scripture passage.

Advent 2011 bursts upon us with the impassioned cry of the prophet Isaiah: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence!” (Isa. 64:1). The prophet goes on to remember “awesome deeds that we did not expect” from the past and longs for God to show up again in such mighty ways.

Isaiah’s words reveal the heart of Advent: an in-between, paradoxical season, bordered on the one hand by memories of how God has appeared in the past and on the other hand by anticipation of God’s presence still in front of us. “Come, Lord Jesus” is a prayer that points both backward and forward: backward to the baby in the manger but also forward to the Lord of all entering our world. Yet God’s presence can’t be contained by our expectations.
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As churches prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth, Goshen College offers an online spiritual resource to help believers make time and space in their hearts and minds to welcome Advent, even in the midst of busy schedules and hectic lives.

Beginning Nov. 21 (the Monday prior to the first Sunday in Advent) and culminating on Christmas Day, Goshen College students, faculty and staff will provide weekday reflections based on lectionary Scripture passages. Many writers will reflect on the Advent theme: “Awesome Deeds We Do Not Expect,” taken from Mennonite Church USA worship resources.

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The devotions will reflect honestly on the Scriptures and offer words of assurances of faith. The spiritual offerings will include poetry, personal stories, reflections and prayers, all intended to more closely examine the call to change and follow Christ.

Since 2001, Goshen College annually celebrates special seasons of the church calendar, particularly Advent and Lent, with online devotions.