Merry Christmas. This is a little early but getting close.
I am taking a few weeks off from writing full blog posts as the year ends. Creating space to be with God and my family. To take time to savor this precious season and the gift of life. Time to reflect on the past year and dream into the next one.
May God bless you with peace, joy and hope this year and into 2024 and beyond. Here is a prayer written by Henri Nouwen. I love his raw honesty in his words and the personal intimacy he speaks with God. May it be so for us too.
O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.
As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness?
I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace.
Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.
Come Lord Jesus! Merry Christmas.
I am saying amen with you and Henri, Jean. Have a delightful, reflective holiday. God is so good.
so glad we figured out the glitch in your commenting and a very Merry Christmas to you too, LInda!
What a powerful prayer, Jean! May God richly bless you in this season of joy.
Blessings!
Henri’s prayers are so powerful – I have quite a few copied into my journal. So glad we connected – wishing you a wonderful Christmas too.
Thank you for sharing this prayer, Jean. I’m thinking how often we’re tempted toward self-pity–even during the Christmas season. If we can’t get home or other family members can’t come to us, if togetherness is hard because of misunderstanding and disagreement, if no one seems to notice the sacrifices we make for others, the enemy tries to use it to put us in a funk. But Nouwen steers us in a different direction, reminding us that Jesus experienced similar experiences to these and every temptation that assails us. This sentence especially spoke to me: “Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace [him] better and taste more fully [his] joy and peace.” Wise words, well worth taking to heart! / Merry, MERRY Christmas, dear Jean! Thank you for all the years you’ve ministered to me through your informative, inspiring blog posts. I look forward to more in 2024!
Thank you for all your wisdom in your blog, too Nancy. I am glad you mentioned self pity as that was what was hitting me today and your reminder by your words brought me back to Henri’s prayers. I needed to reread it once again. Have a wonderful Christmas, Nancy and onto a great 2024.
thank you jean…enjoy family time and complete rest…snuggle up with Jesus..peace
Love your words – snuggle up with Jesus – yes for both of us!