PEACEABLE KINGDOM
Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were having trouble finding the Christ child, so they decided the best strategy would be to reverse engineer some bible prophecy. “When the peaceable kingdom is ready, the child to lead them will appear” said Melchior. Caspar took some hay from a nearby manger to feed a lion. They barely escaped with their lives. Foolish Caspar, if he had only waited at that manger, the Christ child would have come to him, meeting him where he was in God’s time. During Advent, don’t just run around trying to feed lions, wait where you are.
SCRIPTURE: The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
FOOLISH WISDOM: There is almost nothing outside of you that will help in any kind of lasting way, unless you're waiting for an organ. You can't buy, achieve or date serenity and peace of mind. This is the most horrible truth, and I so resent it. But it's an inside job, and we can't arrange peace or lasting improvement for the people we love most in the world. They have to find their own ways, their own answers. You can't run alongside your grown children with sunscreen and Chap Stick on their hero's journey. You have to release them. It's disrespectful not to. And if it's someone else's problem, you probably don't have the answer, anyway. Our help is usually not very helpful. Our help is often toxic. And help is the sunny side of control. Stop helping so much. Don't get your help and goodness all over everybody. (Anne Lamott)
Buy cookies at the sale today and go to Bonfires and Carols tonight at CUMC!!!
MUSIC SELECTION:
Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine by Thomas Keesecker
© 2025 Birnamwood Publications
Laura Hesse, piano