Newton Cowan, Transitional Director of Pastoral Care
During the season of Advent, we are offering an opportunity for evening worship on Thursday evening. We gather with our Hot Dish & Hope guests and sit at the table and share a meal, and the pastors offer a scripture reading and devotional, and we sing hymns together.
This past Thursday evening was a spirit-filled night. The Rejoice! Band played as Will, Amanda and Anne sang. It was a joy to sit back and watch the guests seem to be transported to another time, perhaps to childhood or just to escape the world, but for a moment. The guests began to sway, gently back and forth, some mouthing the words.
Ann Weems offers the following poem:
In each heart lies a Bethlehem,
an inn where we must ultimately answer
whether there is room or not.
When we are Bethlehem-bound
we experience our own advent in his.
When we are Bethlehem bound
we can no longer look the other way
conveniently not seeing stars
not hearing voices.
We can no longer excuse ourselves by busily
tending our sheep or our kingdoms.
This Advent let’s go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.
In the midst of shopping sprees
let’s ponder in our hearts the Gift of Gifts.
Through the tinsel
let’s look for the gold of the Christmas Star.
In the excitement and confusion, in the merry chaos,
let’s listen for the brush of angels’ wings.
This Advent, let’s go to Bethlehem
and find our kneeling places.
– Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem, The Westminster Press, 1980
As the world has gotten back to its hectic pace, we often don’t take time to stop and listen to the music, to listen to one another, to listen once again to the stories of the birth of Christ.
Perhaps we can learn something from our Hot Dish & Hope guests: To stop, to sit — even for a moment — and to listen.
