Prayer for January 3rd - Nurture

I am thinking about the journey of the Magi over the next few days as these blogs come to a close.

A place to be nurtured is important. This is the house I grew up in. I revisited my old room pictured here upstairs, yesterday. When life was tough, I used to stare out of the window at the world passing by. It was a safe space for me. I also went back to St Albans yesterday and walked round the lake at Verulamium, lots of times to think round it have happened over the years. I then walking through the city centre remembered school, cathedral services and being told off for letting the school down walking back disgracefully by the rather eccentric headteacher we had, Miss Legerton.

I wonder what sort of nurturing community the magi had. The magi would have followed the patterns of the stars religiously. They would have also probably been very rich and held high esteem in their own society and by people who weren't from their country or religion. I can imagine them meeting for years studying the stars, waiting for a sign, preparing for a special journey one day. I can imagine them going through the motions of their star gazing for year after year and then suddenly one day they see what they have been preparing for and their hearts beating fast.

This year not every day will great things happen for us. Most days will be ordinary, uneventful. Our churches will function through our faithfulness. We will worship, we will offer what we offer to the community, we will do our work with families and children, we will look after one another. As we are confident with one another, as we get more confident with the way of God, when God chooses to break in, we will be ready to respond. We need the resources to journey, and the journey can only happen through preparation, knowing God, and being faithful to our call. Barbara Brown Taylor, who is an American priest, in a super book called “Leaving Church” says this about the need to be nurtured in a confident and valuing community: “Church is not a stopping place but a starting place for discerning God's presence in this world. By offering people a place where they may engage the steady practice of listening to divine words and celebrating divine sacraments, church can help people gain a feel for how God shows up--not only in Holy Bibles and Holy Communion but also in near neighbours, mysterious strangers, sliced bread, and grocery store wine." The magi saw God in the world, they were not sure what they would find, but they were confident that God was active outside and they had to find what he was up to. 

I found this lovely in my old room in the current URC prayer book yesterday. Mum's cousin staying with her, had it by her bed:

We have seen the star at its rising, but have been too busy to take note. We have heard the angel’s warning, but have been too distracted to heed it. We have tasted the bread of justice but have preferred the wine of self-indulgence. We are Herod, alerted, alarmed and afraid, scheming for our own advantage, keen to keep hold of all we have accumulated, certain our security is in power, position and wealth. A star has arisen, we fail to stand. Light has come, we shade our eyes. Mystery has been revealed, we prefer our mirror to your horizon. Light of all peoples, born in the vulnerability of love, shake us from our sleep. Open our eyes to the dawn of your new day that we may see and become radiant.