Faith-full friends:
Merry Christmas! Yes, I mean it—Merry Christmas! While much of the world has moved on to fitness resolutions and Valentine’s Day candy displays, we Faith folks are still lingering in the glow of the manger and the miracle of God among us in human form.
The Christian proclivity to adhere to liturgical seasons that aren’t always in sync with what the rest of the world is doing reminds us that God’s timing is often (delightfully, if you ask me) out of sync with the world’s priorities. Jesus wasn’t born into a world ready and waiting with party hats; he came quietly, unexpectedly, on God’s time. Sometimes, being out of step with the commotion around us is the most faithful thing we can do to make space and listen for God.
As we step into a new year, I’d like to invite you into a simple spiritual practice: “One Word Prayer.” Instead of making long lists of resolutions or crafting complex prayers, take some time this week to choose one word to focus on in your relationship with God for the year. Your word might be “hope,” “peace,” “patience,” “joy,” or something deeply personal.
Once you’ve chosen your word, carry it with you. Write it on a notecard and place it where you’ll see it often—on your bathroom mirror, your nightstand, or even the refrigerator. Let it guide your prayers. When you feel scattered or unsure, whisper your word and ask God to meet you there. This practice can center you and keep your heart tuned to God’s presence in every season.
Thank you for being a faithful part of this church community. May 2025 bring unexpected blessings, quiet joys, and the deep assurance that God walks with us daily.
I leave you with a poem I recently encountered, that is giving me much to savor as I think about what I hope to cultivate in this new year:
Ligatures
Binary thinking leaves out so much. For example,
Reading only left to right, or up and down,
Ignores all our wishes for comfort, for circular motion,
All the ways that the happier letterforms seek the option
Not to stand alone. Their living space is ample,
Hot in June, cold in March, with pencil lines of frost
Along the stems and twigs in all their dewy, new-built
Nests. Some warblers build more than one.
Each feels tiny compared to thunderstorms, construction
Cranes, plate tectonics and how the past
Harms the present with its slush-avalanches of guilt,
And yet it made us—us. How little we know. How much
Knowing isn’t the point. We love how the letters can touch.
by Stephanie Burt, from We Are All Mermaids
with joy,
-Intern Pastor Sam