A Christmas Prayer

On the BeliefNet blog site, Progressive Revival, Paul Raushenbush, grandson of the well-known early 20th century Baptist pastor Walter Raushenbush, has this prayer:

Creator God,

On this Holy Night, still our frentic pace, and calm our worried minds so that we might experience the miracle and wonder of Christmas. Send your Holy Spirit to pierce the shadows of these uncertain times, rekindle our hope for the future, and guide us by the shining star of Bethlehem to the humble manger where your Love made flesh awaits.

Thank you for the beauty of this world and for the simple, true blessings of family, friends and loved ones. Guided by your spirit of compassion, help us to be loving, forgiving and gentle with one another. May the life giving spirit of Christ sanctify our celebration so that this might truly be a Holy day and bring us closer together as families and as a community.

In this world confounded by the false glitter of materialism and afflicted by the sin of greed, help us to repent of our selfishness and callousness. As we worship your son, born in a manger because there was no room for him at the inn, help us to see in Jesus all who lack the basic dignities of shelter, food, employment and healthcare. We remember especially those who are out of work or who have lost their homes in this time of economic crisis. May we be in solidarity with the suffering of others and each work to usher in your reign of justice, peace and good will on earth as it is in heaven.

We remember all those serving in our military in Iraq and Afghanistan. May they find joy and know that our thoughts and prayers are with them and with the people of those war torn nations. We pray for Israel and Palestine, the Congo, and cities around the world where violence and strife tear and the fabric of life. As we worship the one called the Prince of Peace, we pray that the day come soon when swords are beaten into plowshares and sisters and brothers of every nations, race, and religion live in peace.

Loving God, On this Christmas Eve we give you thanks for your son who loved the outcaste, healed the lame, preached Good News to the poor, was crucified and rose again; who was born so that we might be born again. May our lives reflect our gratitude.

Amen

Joy to the World

In time for your Christmas meditation is this quote from Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet who lived from 1875-1926.

Joy is inexpressibly more than happiness. Happiness befalls people, happiness is fate, while people cause joy to bloom inside themselves. Joy is plainly a good season for the heart; joy is the ultimate achievement of which human beings are capable.

When you sing "Joy To The World" during this Christmas season, I hope these words from Rilke will enrich you.

Freedom of Speech

In the current issue of The New Yorker is an essay written by Mark Twain in 1905 entitled "The Privilege of the Grave." In it, Twain comments on the delusion of free speech for those who are still living. Enjoy some of Twain's brilliance:
Its occupant [speaking of the grave] has one privilege which is not exercised by any living person: free speech. The living man is not really without this privilege - strictly speaking - but as he possesses it merely as an empty formality, and knows better than to make use of it, it cannot be seriously regarded as an actual possession. . . . Murder is forbidden both in form and in fact; free speech is granted in form but forbidden in fact. By the common estimate both are crimes, and are held in deep odium by all civilized peoples. Murder is sometimes punished, free speech always - when committed. Which is seldom. There are not fewer than five thousand murders to one (unpopular) free utterance. There is justification for this reluctance to utter unpopular opinions: the cost of utterance is too heavy; it can ruin a man in his business, it can lose him his friends, it can subject him to public insult and abuse, it can ostracize his unoffending family, and make his house a despised and unvisited solitude.

Twain made this observation long before the advent of the internet and blogging. It seems now, that, while one person's opinion will surely enrage someone, someone else will see it as a pure elixir of golden thought. So, do Twain's observations still hold true?

Do you refrain from expressing your true feelings on matters because you know the people around you will reject you? Should that be the case? Do you wish that you had the courage and the opportunity to voice what you truly believe on any subject to everyone you know? If so, what would you say?