Showing posts with label Carolyn Arends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carolyn Arends. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

advent day 10: irrational season

This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild
For if Mary had been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child
There’d have been no room for the child
Words taken from a poem by Madeleine L’Engle,
Music by Carolyn Arends, The Irrational Season (Prelude)

***

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.

”And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.

Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38 The Message

Friday, December 03, 2010

advent day 22: may you seek

May the one who has come guide you and keep you
May you seek his face as all wise men still do
And may Bethlehem’s road rise up to meet you
Till you find him and see that God is with you
Lyrics by Carolyn Arends - A Christmas Blessing

***

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

hourglass

Seize the day, seize whatever you can
'Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand
Seize the day, pray for grace from God's hand
Then nothing will stand in your way
Seize the day

Carolyn Arends, Seize the Day

Sunday, May 23, 2010

spirit

But you’ve always made disciples
Out of prodigals and worse
Just by giving us your Spirit
You make us into your church.

Carolyn Arends

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

pretending

Oh how I need a vacation
‘Cause it’s so exhausting pretending I’m God
There would be much less frustration
If I would let you do your job

Carolyn Arends

Monday, April 05, 2010

soul



















I have a body, but I am a soul
I see a fraction, it's not the whole
I cannot prove it, but still I know
I have a body…I am a soul

Carolyn Arends, I Am A Soul