Rocking Into Advent

My first moments of Advent were spent in our leather rocker recliner with my grandson, Ryder.

Ryder and his parents were getting ready to head back to their home after spending the Thanksgiving holidays with us. I told his mom to let me have Ryder when he woke so I could spend a couple of hours with him before they hit the road.

Snuggled up with me in his Christmas pajamas, Ryder and I began to rock, and then we began to sing. Okay, I did most of the singing, but he cooed along. As we rocked and sang, I began to think about the irony of me holding this precious baby on the same day we prepare for another baby's coming into the world.

Away in a Manger was our first carol. It really is a lullaby itself.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,

I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever,

And love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children

In thy tender care,

And fit us for heaven

To live with Thee there.

Advent reminds us that God showed up for us in the form of a baby. God became a tiny life held by human hands – small and vulnerable.

While I held and rocked Ryder, I took in every detail of his face, hands, and toes. I soaked in his smiles and listened intently to his coos, and I wondered if the Baby Jesus looked the same – small, sweet, and cuddly when he was three months old. Did his parents and grandparents marvel at him in the same way that I marvel at Ryder?

How can a baby bring so much love and hope to the world? I believe that is the gift – that God brings hope from the simplest of life forms. That “out of a stump would grow a shoot…and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-2)

Christ comes to us in this small, tender way – as a baby. He comes as a shoot from Jesse’s branch ready to bear fruit in the world. Ready to bear fruit in you and me.

God begs us to pay attention to the small things – the infant, the shoot, the least, and the lost. Those are the places where God shows up. Emmanuel – God is with us.

God's Table

The days that we live in feel heavy. They are punctuated with political upheaval, divisive opinions, weariness within the family structure, and uncertainty in our houses of worship.

We pull and tug with each other over every imaginable opinion. Our hearts beat with a heaviness over war and mistreatment of those who bear the mark of being “different.” Our world is damaged by greed and misuse.

When I feel the weight of it all, I pray for a way to move forward. I want to find community, acceptance, and fairness. I remember the words of Micah 6:8 and pray that I can live into them.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

As we approach this season of Thanksgiving, we anticipate the gathering of family and friends around a common table. In our gathering, may we remember that God invites all to the table in loving hospitality. God’s table is set with peace, gratitude, humility, and acceptance of all.

In 1998, Shirley Erena Murray wrote a beautiful hymn titled, For Everyone Born. This hymn represented the Christian equivalent of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” drafted by the U.N. General Council. In the hymn, she speaks about the basic human rights of all people to have adequate shelter, to abide in safety, to have enough food, and to exercise their right to free speech and worship. Through the years this hymn has expanded to remind us that we are a diverse people, yet each of us is invited to God’s table.

If you don’t know this hymn, I invite you to listen to it and make its text a prayer of your heart.

You can find several beautiful renderings of this hymn online. Here is just one for you to enjoy.

For Everyone Born

For everyone born, a place at the table, for everyone born, clean water and bread, a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing, for everyone born, a star overhead.

Refrain: And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy,

Compassion and peace.

Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy.

For woman and man, a place at the table, revising the roles, deciding the share, with wisdom and grace, dividing the power, for woman and man, a system that’s fair.

For young and for old, a place at the table, a voice to be heard, a part in the song, the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled, for young and for old, the right to belong.

For everyone born, a place at the table,

To live without fear, and simply to be,

To work, to speak out, to witness and worship,

For everyone born, the right to be free.

Shirley Erena Murray

Ryder's Lullaby

Lullabies are ancient songs. Their beginnings date back to 2,000 B.C. Babylonia. However, the words of those early lullabies were far from calming and soothing. The first recorded lullaby sounded more like a threat as it warned the baby to stop crying lest they disturb the house gods and force their wrath upon the family.

Even as lullabies evolved they continued to carry a warning or reprimand. We find that to be true in one lullaby that is still sung today. Rock-A-Bye-Baby possesses a warning about limbs breaking sending the cradle and baby falling to the ground.

Fortunately, in recent years, lullabies have changed their tune. While many still adhere to their predecessors' rhythmic triple meter and swaying lilt, contemporary lullabies tend to offer more soothing and prayerful words.

Singing a lullaby is an effective way to bring peace and solace to a fussy, tired baby. As a parent sings and sways, the baby feels comforted and loved. In this act, parents are literally holding their baby in love and creating for that child a beautiful image of how God loves and holds each of us.

Last month, on August 14, Ryder Hendley Goff, came peacefully into the world. I say peacefully because he literally didn’t cry for several hours after his birth. Nothing was wrong with him. His vitals were good and his skin was a healthy pink. He simply came into the world at peace.

Of course, the tears came later, and that was okay. I like to believe that Ryder was born knowing that he was loved and wanted and that his parents waited in patient hope for his arrival.

Ryder made me, and my husband, Cass, grandparents for the first time. He has shown us a new depth of love that we didn’t know existed. Holding this precious boy, feeling his soft warm breath against our cheek, smelling the sweetness of his downy hair, and simply holding the weight of him in our arms is an indescribable feeling. He has awakened a new love in us causing us to see the world with new eyes – eyes that know that God continues to create and make all things new, despite the destruction and violence we see in the world. God comes to us in new life.

We have also loved watching our daughter and son-in-law, Caitlyn and Brennan, become parents. They have anticipated this day for a long time, and they have waited in faith for God to bring Ryder into their lives. Listening to them pour out their love for him with their tender words and prayers has been a beautiful experience.

In the days ahead, we will sing lullabies to Ryder, and we will pray that the comfort he feels when we hold him, will be just a small reflection of the love that God has for him. We want Ryder to know that he is held, not only in the arms of his family but most importantly, in God's arms.

Ryder's Lullaby

Gently, sweetly soft blue eyes

Peer into my heart.

You awaken love in me,

Treasure of my heart.

(Refrain)

You are a new song.

Sung within my heart.

Sleep in peace, my precious one.

God holds you this night.

Onward move the stars and moon,

Until the new day dawns.

May their light shine down on you.

Treasure of my heart.

(Refrain)

Sun’s new light will bring the day.

Birds will sing their song.

Slumber now, and rest your eyes.

Treasure of my heart.

(Refrain)