Advent Calendar – Day 3

Welcome to Advent…Day 3
These short meditations can be done alone, with a partner, or with the whole family.
My suggestion is evening time; light a candle, play the music suggested below,
Have a little treat, it’s an Advent Calendar, after all!
(Maybe hide some chocolate around the house each day, or hang it from the ceiling?)
And read the material aloud together…
There’s quite a lot here. You dont need to do it all; either follow the story and the blessings, or simply enjoy the poems.
Make it a special moment, ten minutes of togetherness in this busy season.

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Zechariah at the Temple
It so happened that as Zechariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the Temple shift assigned to his order, it came his one-turn-in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was paralised in fear.

But the angel reassured him, “Zechariah Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll do great things with God.

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A Poem – Embryo by Meylana Jala ad-Din Rumi

When the time comes for the embryo
to receive the spirit of life,
at that time the sun begins to help.

This embryo is brought into movement,
for the sun quickens it with spirit.
From the other stars this embryo
received only an impression,
until the sun shone upon it.

How did it become connected
with the shining sun in the womb?
By ways hidden from our senses:
the way whereby gold is nourished,
the way a common stone becomes a garnet
and the ruby red,
the way fruit is ripened,
and the way courage comes
to one distraught
with fear.

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Blessing for you and your loved ones
The Poem reminds us that we are born with potential, and the universe welcomes us with a ‘yes!’

If you are with others, tell them a positive ‘yes!’ about the gifts they bring into the world. Or offer a prayer of thanks for someone who has been a gift in your life.

May the HOPE of God’s ‘yes’ be always with you. Amen

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The Food Bank

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