I look this photo in our front yard early one morning!

 Download Chasing Daylight/Epiphany 2012 meditations written for 3rd Place here.

Chasing daylight serves as an apt metaphor to describe the climax of the Cycle of Light, the period of the liturgical year commencing with Advent, reaching a crescendo with Christmas, and concluding with Epiphany, the season to witness the light of Christ having not only entered the world through a newborn, but now dwelling within our souls and in all places on earth.

Robert Webber writes, “Now I am to be a manifestation of Christ. My part is to respond, to say yes to the calling, to commit my life to be a center through which the Epiphany could be extended beyond the crib to the world of my everyday experience” (Ancient-Future Time).

Our internal discipline is simple this month: Develop a short occasional prayer that pertains to a regular piece of your life. Invite the Spirit to engage your heart in a fresh way with a regular part of your life.

Epiphany is a particular season where we seek to chase the daylight we see within the neighbors God has place within our proximity.

 Download Chasing Daylight/Epiphany 2012 meditations written for 3rd Place here.

It's metaphorically ironic how much the NieuCommunities/Pangani Ark looks like a coffin (Something must die for something else to rise!).

Really proud of NieuCommunities South Africa  for carrying forward the mission and memory of NieuCommunities South Africa into the heart of Pretoria from our old stomping grounds way out in Pretoria North, Pangani.

I was initially called back to Pretoria to not only pursue Maxie (the real reason ), but also to help NieuCommunities South Africa move into the heart of the city center and transition towards apprenticing Africans into sustainable mission around the world. It’s been amazing as Maxie and I have somewhat returned to square one in the past few weeks of our discernment process to realize that my two initial reasons in mission for returning to Pretoria are well on their way to completion, within the time frame (2 years from early 2010) of my commitment towards this very transition (again, 1: helping our missional community move into the heart of Pretoria to align ourselves more centrally with the life and needs of the city, and 2: transitioning toward the apprenticing in mission of South African leaders).

This is happening people, as evidenced by NCSA’s wonderfully creative “Pangani Ark” retreat this past weekend. Here’s Joe’s thoughts, and a Facebook album:

As a missional monastic community, Pangani played a critical part in our formation. God met us all in deep ways. This is our constant reminder that we stand on the shoulders of many others who came before. As we move to where God has us in the city, we carry these memories with us. Baie dankie dat jy God vir die gawe van Pangani! (via Joe Reed, Director of NieuCommunities South Africa)

Passion 2012 literally just ended a few hours ago, and soaking in God’s presence for 4 days with 45,000 university students in the Georgia Dome (where the Atlanta Falcons play!) was amazing. More stunning (yet believable, as college students are not poor and have always been at the forefront of changing the world) is how worship was wed with justice, as we collectively chose to Do Something Now  to end modern day slavery around the world (A sobering reality: There are more slaves worldwide, 27 million+, than at any point in human history).

The result: Over $3 million US dollars (24.5 million RAND) raised through college students in 4 days to combat this!

Don’t ever count college students out!

I 'lifted' this from Jon Foreman of Switchfoot fame, it was simply too beautiful!

Consciousness

“To be conscious about something is to be aware of it. Dear Lord help me to remember that You gave me life.Thank you for the gift of life.Teach me to slow down, to be still and enjoy the pleasures created for me. To be aware of the beauty that surrounds me.The marvel of mountains, the calmness of lakes, the fragility of a flower petal. I need to remember that all these things come from you.” (via http://sacredspace.ie)

Spicy, sweet coffee roasting = The smell of Christmas!

 Download the Christmas +Advent meditations here.

As sent ones, how do we extend this welcome of Christ to our neighbors that God has placed in our world?

 Download the Christmas + Advent meditations here.

CHRISTMAS DAY {25.12}: THE S[c]ENT OF CHRISTMAS

Texts: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 98; Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-14

Mediation: The scent of Christmas: Spicy cinnamon cider, mingling with the promise of a new morning through that first glorious cup of coffee. The smells of Christmas lunch invading the entire house, promising a meal worthy of a King. Again, a metaphor much deeper than simple food and drink: Instead, an invitation to welcome the (gentle) invasion of Jesus into our world, a promise through an infant that reaches far greater than we can imagine or conceive. For it is “in Advent that we celebrate the beginning and ending of Christ’s victory over the powers of evil, and we call upon God to accomplish that victory in our own lives, to break in on us, to be born in our hearts, and to create us anew. This is the message of Isaiah to us: a Savior is coming not only to Israel but to the whole world” (Robert Webber). As sent ones, how do we extend this welcome of Christ to our neighbors that God has placed in our world?

Response: Join the world in a chorus that Charles Wesley first penned in 1745:

Come, Thou long expected Jesus Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s Strength and Consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone; By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal proces- sion and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are…an aroma that brings life” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NIV)

Maxie's First Tree Day (The most important of Kamalski/Gerdts/Lagier holidays!).

Merry Christmas Eve!

I found myself reflecting on the nature of ‘eves’ a year ago, and thought this summed up my feelings as the culmination of the Advent & Christmas season is upon us. Enjoy:

I awake this cold Christmas Eve with a building sense of anticipation and hope (Is joy creeping in?), still chewing on what I posted yesterday:

Anticipation is a joy, and at Christmas the Eve is often better than the indulgence of the Day. Our preparation is for a guest.

A thought emerging out of the fog of my tired mind (It is the end of the year, after all) is this:Does growing maturity (which I would directly correlate with a parallel sense of willingness to embrace change) move one towards the process of enjoying anticipation, as opposed to consuming the end result? As I look back on significant moments in my life, I realize that even my memories are strewn with moments leading up to the ‘Big Events,’ as opposed to the actual experience itself. Rather, it is the process which is burned into my recollections, as opposed to the destination. This is simple when you think about it: My family honors Tree Day (the annual ritual of cutting down a fresh Douglas Fir) more than Christmas, the ingredients of Christmas Dinner more than the actual meal itself, the obscene pile of presents overflowing underneath the tree more than the actual gifts contained within.

The parallel journey of our own lives is striking to the point of chills, if you let yourself actually connect the dots. God seems to be more concerned about the preparation, than the Day itself. Could He be more interested in what happens along the way, as opposed to where we actually end up (Knowing in fact, that as we are present in opening up to Him and ourselves along the way, where we end up will be exactly right anyways!)?

And so, I offer a simple thought this Christmas Eve: Maybe this day is more significant as we mature.  Maybe ‘the Eves’ in our lives are a deep gift to be embraced whole-heartedly, in whatever Eve or darkness or light you are found within.

Eves are better (For Now).

The unconscious dogs are so awesome!

Download the Advent 2011 meditations here.

As sent ones, what is more selfless than forsaking one’s life as a mother to allow the growth and flourishing of a child?

Download the Advent 2011 meditations here.

ADVENT WEEK 4 {18.12-24.12}: THE S[c]ENT OF LOVE

• Love |ləv| noun: deep affection or attachment to someone.

Texts: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Meditation: The scent of love: The blending of dirty diapers and baby pow- der, selflessly applied to a newborn infant. The warm embrace of mother and child, lingering under a shady tree, enjoying a few stolen moments of rest, experiencing an intimacy that the Father longs for us to know through Christ. As Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” As sent ones, what is more selfless than forsaking one’s life as a mother to allow the growth and flourishing of a child?

Response: Deliberately serve family and friends in areas that you know they will experience the scent of love the greatest, regardless of what you receive through this act of service.

Maxie and I spent much of last week with our extended NieuCommunities family in Golden Hill, a neighborhood in San Diego. An inspiring, filling time watching their community multiply and birth fresh expressions of mission!

Rob Yackley, Director of NieuCommunties, is helping Jon Huckins write a book describing the postures of mission that form the common rhythm that make up the heartbeat of missional community together. It’s called Thin Places and is supposed to be out early this coming year! As a part of the story-telling process, they are gathering feedback about NieuCommunities’ impact around the globe. I thought John Hayes’ words were especially powerful, and accurate in describing what we were about:

“There is a ‘come and see’ authenticity about NieuCommunities that is so reminiscent of Jesus calling the disciples out of fishing boats on the shore of Lake Galilee I can almost taste the salt air. At the same time, the “come and see” community is balanced by a “go and do” mission that gives me hope for inside-out change in neighborhoods in the global city. At a time when many are talking about missional communities, NieuCommunities quietly and expertly goes about doing it—forming young men and women and transforming neighborhoods. The vitality of NieuCommunities is less about what is being said than what is being lived.”

[John Hayes, founder of innerCHANGE and author of Submerge, Living Deep in a Shallow World.]

If you are able, will you prayerfully consider partnering with us financially as we end 2011? Our potential transition to Vancouver has caused our financial needs to grow dramatically.