Both frankincense and myrrh are the gifts of trees. Frankincense trees grow on the Somali coast, without soil, out of polished marble rock. The trees are attached by a thick oval mass of substances resembling a mixture of lime and mortar. Myrrh is more of a bush than a tree. The bushes do not grow more than 9 feet in height. They grow in an area along the Red Sea coast; in an area that has been so bare and dry it has been nicknamed "hell".
After three weeks of Advent waiting, suddenly we are standing on the brink of Christmas. All of creation takes a deep breath. The lights go down. The great curtains sweep back and, through a cold starry night, we hear the clear pure voice of Mary singing her canticle of praise: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...
Each of us needs to find a path that works, and those of us who have been around for a while need to be ready to serve as guides for any who come. The more I sit with our challenge to be both inclusive and intentional, the more I see belonging as a relationship that includes spiritual accountability. The challenge is how to make sure there is a spiritual director ready in Seekers Church for anyone who wants that level of connection here.
The Japanese kanji for Hope looks like this ... Here at the bottom is the symbol for Earth, or ground. ... on top of it is the symbol for person ... together it means King ... a person on top of the land. To the left is the symbol for eyes, wide open; to the right is the symbol for the moon. So all together the symbols for Hope are: A person who stands on top of the land, with eyes wide open gazing up at the moon. Hope is found outward and upward.