First Sunday of Advent

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Hope


In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house
   shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
   all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
   "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
      to the house of the God of Jacob;
   that he may teach us his ways
      and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more.

O house of Jacob, come,
   let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 2:1-5

Let Us Beat Our Swords into Plowshares

VUCHETICH, Evgeny

1959

UN Headquarters

New York, NY

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54228

The bronze sculpture "Let Us Beat Our Swords into Ploughshares," was created by Soviet artist Evgeny Vuchetich, and presented to the United Nations on 4 December 1959, by the Government of the USSR. The sculpture, depicting the figure of a man holding a hammer aloft in one hand and a sword in the other, which he is making into a ploughshare, is meant to symbolize man's desire to put an end to war, and to convert the means of destruction into creative tools for the benefit of mankind. It is located in the North Garden of the United Nations Headquarters.
1/Oct/2001. UN Photo/Andrea Brizzi. -- (from Flicker.com)

 

 

 

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
~ Oliver Goldsmith

 

 

 

Perhaps the
that it is a fragment awaiting perfection.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

 

 

 

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving
as you gave thanks with a grateful heart.

Suzanne, SuSu

Vicki, Suzanne

Carol Patterson’s family had her Memorial Service while her grandchildren were home from college.
Carol would have LOVED this angel in the church and would have wanted to paint it!!!
She was my very first Memories in the Making artist at Life Care.

Her family had many of Carol’s paintings on display including the framed one that was selected nine years ago to be the Christmas card for all 250+ Life Care Centers of America.





The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted,
that something has begun
.  
~ Henri Nouwen






November 28, 2010     First Sunday of Advent

Previous OPQs may be found at:      

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm 

[Jesus said:]
"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Matthew 24:36-44

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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

Hanukkah

(Chanukah)

December 1-9, 2010

There is a story of a wise old Rabbi who instructed his students by asking questions. He asked, "How can a person tell when the darkness ends and the day begins?" After thinking for a moment, one student replied, "It is when there is enough light to see an animal in the distance and be able to tell if it is a sheep or a goat." Another student ventured, "It is when there is enough light to see a tree, and tell if it is a fig or an oak tree." The old Rabbi gently said, "No. It is when you can look into a man's face and recognize him as your brother. For if you cannot recognize in another's face the face of your brother, the darkness has not yet begun to lift, and the light has not yet come."  Dennis Bratcher

http://web.me.com/lindyblack/Sermon_Fodder/Lectionary/Entries/2010/11/28_ADVENT_1A.html

Romans 13:12

http://www.heartlight.org/gallery/355.html

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 122

Romans 13:11-14

Matthew 24:36-44