THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Dec. 26, 2021, Sunday, First Sunday of Christmastide. We will be celebrating a “Holy Holiday” this Sunday. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Community of Pilgrims!
Merry Christmas! As I write this newsletter, and as you read it, it is not quite Christmas, let alone Christmas Eve. It is Thursday, Dec. 23rd, though the roadways around the Portland area are telling me that holiday vacations have started in earnest, because the roadways are busy with people traveling to get home for the holidays by whatever means might be available. And just a reminder: we are joining Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church on Friday night, Dec. 24th, at 5 pm, at 7119 N. Portsmouth Ave., Portland, OR. It will be a service of Lessons and Carols, as we hear, again, the story of the birth of the Christ child, and sing some familiar hymns, masked, and with some windows open.
Even though we won’t meet this coming Sunday, Dec. 26, and will be celebrating a “Holy Holiday,” the Scripture focus is Luke 2:41-52. This is a delightful and meaningful passage for many of those of us who were either children who didn’t always do what our parents said we should be doing, or if we were parents who lost track of our children and didn’t know where they were in a department store, mall, or supermarket (to name a few places I lost track of my children). Twelve-year-old Jesus decided to take off and take time to sit with the elders in the synagogue in Jerusalem, without telling his parents where he was going. He just wandered off. Sounds pretty normal for a child of 12 years of age. The Jewish elders who were in conversation with Jesus were surprised at how well he understood what he was talking about, and the kind of questions he was asking. Precocious much? They were delighted and astonished at his level of understanding Torah, no doubt. When they finally found him, Mary expressed her care and concern, and was probably ready to both hug and scold him: “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Then Luke uses this event in Jesus’ young life to make a point, a sign, as to who this Jesus is as Jesus replies, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It must’ve been hard for Mary and Joseph to figure out that adult-like response. This is but one of the first signs that Luke uses to show us the nature of Jesus, both who he is, and who he will become. Think about these things this Sunday, as we celebrate the twelve-days of Christmas, and share time with family and friends on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021.
And Merry Christmas, everyone!
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THANK YOU! Thank you for supporting us, The Community of Pilgrims in 2022. If you still haven’t sent us your Pledge form send it to Bill Kinsey, our Treasurer, via email (email address is part of this email.) Thank you, again, for supporting us.
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Events!
Dec. 24, 5 pm, Christmas Eve service at Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church, 7119 N. Portsmouth Ae., Portland, OR 97203!
Dec. 26, Holy Holiday! Happy Christmastide!
Jan. 2, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Jan. 9, Celebration of Epiphany! 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Jan. 16, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
· Families from Afghanistan where the country is facing famine and from Myanmar where civil war has spread throughout the country and for peace in these parts of the world.
· Peace in the world.
· The opportunity to be with the families we have adopted for holiday giving.
· Thoughtful consideration for families to stay healthy, strong, and still keep the hope and strength to continue on.
· Health and care workers who are the foundation of our health systems.
· Sherry, a friend of Roberta and Randy's, whose husband of 50 years died on Tuesday.
· Scott Campbell who just received a bone marrow transplant as a last effort to stop his cancer.
· The mentally ill and those with addictions that they are able to get services.
· Friend Jim who lost his sister.
· Doctors, nurses, and all those caring for people.
· Friend whose husband Fred is in the hospital on a ventilator.
· People follow protocols for their own safety and the safety of others.
· Carol's sister Paula who is in hospice and doing fairly well, that she will be able to get through the Christmas season.
· Gratitude for people who show care for others by getting COVID vaccine and boosters and for wearing masks in public.
· All who are facing surgery and 'dire' diagnoses.
· All affected by mental illness.
“God, in your love, attend our prayers…”
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Poem
How the Light Comes, by Jan Richardson
I cannot tell you
how the light comes.
What I know
is that it is more ancient
than imagining.
That it travels
across an astounding expanse
to reach us.
That it loves
searching out what is hidden,
what is lost,
what is forgotten
or in peril
or in pain.
That it has a fondness
for the body,
for finding its way
toward flesh,
for tracing the edges
of form,
for shining forth
through the eye,
the hand,
the heart.
I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.
That it works its way
into the deepest dark
that enfolds you,
though it may seem
long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape you did not foresee.
And so
may we this day
turn ourselves toward it.
May we lift our faces
to let it find us.
May we bend our bodies
to follow the arc it makes.
May we open
and open more
and open still
to the blessed light
that comes.
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Buen Camino! Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.