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)
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)
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
Camille
Scott and Linda Bradford
Linda
graciously hosted our entire group.
Linda
and Terrey Herrod
David
and Danna Cuin
hosted
our Wednesday Morning Breakfast Group at their home.
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.)
Each
panel is a reproduction of one of David’s fine art watercolors.
Kate
and Dave Loomiller
Gangnam
Style dancing lesson at Rotary this week.
Gail
Ridings managed even with her sling!
Max
and Nancy Priest hosted a lovely luncheon for six of us.
Best
Friends!
CV
Martyn, Nancy Priest
It
was mighty chilly at the lake this morning!!!
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.
Sally
Hopper, Anne’s mother, Caroline, Will, Lizzie, and Anne Vickstrom
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
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
Micah 5:2–5a
Luke 1:46–55 or
Ps. 80:1–7
Heb. 10:5–10
Luke 1:39–45
(46–55)
