12.31.2011

Quote of the Week: "Ring out the old, ring in the..."



"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
 
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

12.25.2011

Quote of the Week: "Let Christmas not become..."


"Let Christmas not become a thing
Merely of merchant's trafficking,
Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
And surface pleasure, but beneath
The childish glamour, let us find
Nourishment for soul and mind.
Let us follow kinder ways
Through our teeming human maze,
And help the age of peace to come
From a Dreamer's martyrdom.
"
~Madeline Morse

12.18.2011

Quote of the Week: "The universal Joy of Christmas is..."



"The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful.  We ring the bells when princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away.  Nations have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life."

~Author Unknown

12.11.2011

Quote of the Week: "If we have no peace..."



"If we have no peace, it is because 
we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
 
~Mother Teresa

12.08.2011

A Wesleyan Statement in One Sentence



"A journey of holy discernment enhanced by our traditions, cultivated by our experience, guided by scripture, and enlightened by reason."


This statement was generated as a United Methodist Doctrine class exercise on what it means to be Wesleyan and United Methodist.  This is my statement that came out of that project.

12.07.2011

12.05.2011

2nd Sunday in Advent – Peace “Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose”

Welcome to week two of this Advent season! For our 2011 – 2012 journey from Advent to Epiphany, I have put together a weekly series of devotionals that is enhanced by Anglican prayer beads. Each devotion in the series will follow a typical Anglican prayer beads pattern that I have written to include a favorite hymn of the season.  If you have just joined us and want to start from the beginning here's week one.

So take a moment to reflect on today's message of Peace.




The Cross
We beginning at the cross of your prayer beads, we say a prayer that sets the tone for our prayer session.

“May the God of Peace be with you (me).”
Romans 15:33
The Invitatory
Move to the invitatory bead as we say a prayer that invites God's Holy presence.

“Let me hear what the LORD God says, because he speaks peace to his people and to his faithful ones.”
Psalm 85:8

The Cruciforms
Move to the first of four cruciform beads. The prayers for these beads act as a kind of refrain.
 
“Thou hidden source of calm repose, thou all-sufficient love divine”
 
Charles Wesley
The Weeks
Move to the first set of weeks beads on either side of the first cruciform bead. There are 7 of these weeks beads, representing the 7 days of the week to encourage us to make our prayer a daily practice. These beads are at the core of our prayers.


1. My help and refuge from my foes, secure I am if thou art mine; 
2. Thy mighty name salvation is, and keeps my happy soul, 
3. Comfort it brings, and power and peace, and joy and everlasting love; 
4. To me with thy dear name are given pardon and holiness and heaven. 
5. Jesus, my all in all thou art, my rest in toil, my ease in pain,
6. In war my peace, in loss my gain, in shame my glory and my crown. 
7. In want my plentiful supply, in weakness my almighty power, 


*Special thanks to these online resources who helped me pull this together.

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