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Love

Mary's Song

Magnificat

 

 

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

[And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."]

 

Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) 

 

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Visitation of Mary

detail

PONTORMO, Jacopo da

1528-1529

Pfarrkirche, Carmignana, Italy

 

The Magnificat of Mary follows the Gospel passage of annunciation. In her song of praise to her cousin Elizabeth, Mary celebrates the world-changing implications of Gabriel's message.

 

"Jean-Luc Nancy has written astutely of the "unnoticed" details of Pontormo's painting...The second sight to which we are recruited by Pontormo's painting of the meeting of the divinely impregnated Mary and her older cousin Elizabeth is signaled, according to Nancy, by the ecclesiastical Latin meaning of the word "visitatio." "Visitatio" denotes not merely a visitation but "a procedure for becoming aware of something, for examining and experiencing something." (Singer, 180) "The model of the embrace might have come from a slippage of meaning in the Greek word "aspasmos", which means a joyful, warm, and emphatic greeting." (from "Ground of the Image" by Jean-Luc Nancy, 2005, p. 155)

 

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20121219585968017&code=ACT&RC=49492&Row=2

 

 

 

 

 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day.

Their old familiar carols play.

And wild and sweet the words repeat.

Of peace on earth goodwill to men.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

 

 

Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love,

a time when the love of God and

the love of our fellow men should prevail

over all hatred and bitterness,

a time when our thoughts and deeds

and the spirit of our lives

manifest the presence of God.

~ George F. McDougall

 

 

 

 

Painted Toes Party on Monday

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Camille Scott and Linda Bradford

 

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Linda graciously hosted our entire group.

 

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Linda and Terrey Herrod

 

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David and Danna Cuin

hosted our Wednesday Morning Breakfast Group at their home.

 

 

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Danna showed Kate the beautiful quilt she just finished.

Some people couldn’t make it to the party because

of the snowy road conditions.

(See out the window.)

 

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Each panel is a reproduction of one of David’s fine art watercolors.

 

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Kate and Dave Loomiller

 

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Gangnam Style dancing lesson at Rotary this week.

 

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Gail Ridings managed even with her sling!

 

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Max and Nancy Priest hosted a lovely luncheon for six of us.

 

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Best Friends!

CV Martyn, Nancy Priest

 

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It was mighty chilly at the lake this morning!!!

 

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Anne Vickstrom was surprised at their party this evening

to have son Will turn up.  Mark, Anne’s husband, secretly

arranged to have Will come home from London for a week.

 

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Sally Hopper, Anne’s mother, Caroline, Will, Lizzie, and Anne Vickstrom

 

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Lizzie, Caroline, Will, Anne, and Mark Vickstrom

 

 

 

 

 

Hark!

The herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild;

God and Sinners reconciled.”

~ Charles Wesley, 1739

 

 

 

 

 

December 23, 2012     Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

       http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

A Little Piece of Heaven (condensed)

by Max Lucado


How great is God's love? How can the creator of the universe care about the twists and turns of your life's journey? Ponder this thought:

...Why did He do it? Did he have to give the birds a song and the mountains a peak? Was he required to put stripes on the zebra and a hump on the camel? Would we have known the difference had he made the sunsets grey instead of orange? Why do stars have twinkles and waves snowy crests? Why dash the cardinal in red and drape the beluga whale in white? Why wrap creation in such splendor? Why go to such trouble to give such gifts?

Why do you? You do the same. I've seen you searching for a gift. I've seen you stalking the malls and walking the aisles. I'm not talking about the obligatory gifts....I'm talking about that extra-special person and that extra-special gift. Why do you do it? You do it so the eyes will pop. You do it so the heart will stop. You do it so the jaw will drop. You do it to hear those words of disbelief? "You did this for me?"

That's why you do it. And that's why God did it. Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you."

I'm about to tell you something you may find hard to believe. You're about to hear an opinion that may stretch your imagination. You don't have to agree with me, but I would like you to consider it with me. You don't have to buy it, but at least think about it. Here it is: If you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean would still have its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evening and spray light on the desert in the mornings. If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree.

Because He did it all for you...and He's waiting for you to discover His gift. He's waiting for you to stumble into the den, rub the sleep from your eyes, and see the bright red bike he assembled, just for you. He's waiting for your eyes to pop and your heart to stop. He's waiting for the moment between the dropping of the jaw and the leap of the heart. For in that silence he leans forward and whispers: I did it just for you.

Find such love hard to believe? That's okay. Just because we can't imagine God's giving us sunsets, don't think God doesn't do it. God's thoughts are higher than ours. God's ways are greater than ours. And sometimes, out of His great wisdom, our Father in heaven gives us a piece of heaven just to show He cares.

 

http://hopingandpraying.blogspot.com/2006/12/little-piece-of-heaven.html

 

 

 

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Micah 5:2–5a

Luke 1:46–55 or Ps. 80:1–7

Heb. 10:5–10

Luke 1:39–45 (46–55)

 

 

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