Pocket Pauses for the 12 Days of Christmas

1~
Silent night, Holy Light,
    In the dark came delight.
    Morning soft with the breath of a child,
    Fills our hearts with the wonder and wild
    Shape a cradle of me
    Shape a cradle of me.   (CES)

                                             (to the tune of Silent Night)

2~

“Older than eternity, 
now he is new.”

(Luci Shaw)

3~

Two days before Christmas in 1949, Thomas Merton returned to his room at the Abbey of Gethsemani and opened his mail. A Christmas card caught his eye and he sat with it, sinking into the picture, letting it become prayer in him. He expressed his response as a poem, The Christmas Card.

Is there a card you received this year or in years past that stays with you? Perhaps you can sit with it like Merton and let it grow as prayer in you.

4~

Dream a dream, a hopeful dream,
as children do on Christmas Eve,
Imaginings, surprising things
To hold and to believe
(Shirley Erena Murray)

Uncover a forgotten dream today ~

5~

Incarnation honours the life of the senses.
Without a screen or a book in front of you savour a piece of chocolate,
a cup of coffee, or some other favourite treat.

“Taste . . . how gracious our God is”

6~

Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let your God—
Love you.

                                                (Edwina Gately)

7~

As you follow the news today, let one story capture your focus.
Imagine holding someone, in the midst of the story, holding them as close as a beloved child.
Feel the weight and warmth of them.
Let love flow between you.
It will tell you the one thing necessary.

8~

Celebrate, celebrate,
dance to the music.

                                                 Three Dog Night
(perhaps, also, God)

9~

Birth is disruptive.
What disruption might you embrace today?
What birth?

10~

“Let go of the need to get it right
Remember you are responsible
for what you do, but what matters
is that God takes form in you.”

                                                        Meister Eckhart

11~

  “The world still knows its Herods,
    But it also still knows men and women
    who pack their dreams safely in their hearts
    and set off toward Bethlehem,
    Faithful against all odds.”

                                             Ann Weems

12~

It’s threshold time.
As you step into Epiphany,
what, of this brief season of Christmas,
will you choose to carry with you?