My college aged nephew was visiting from Maine last weekend. One of the stops on his tour of NYC was the Museum of Modern Art. He wanted to see Van Gough’s Starry Night (which we did, after making our way through a sea of other people with the same desire!). And as is always the case in museums, beyond the famous works there were unexpected treasures that caught our eyes.

For me, one of those treasures was a grouping of photographs from a series by photographer Aaron Siskind titled “The Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation.” One of the many images in this series is included above; singular moments of individuals caught in mid-air. Each person is posed differently against a blank backdrop. Are they rising? Falling? Suspended? The details are left to the imagination of the viewer….

When we think of monasticism today, we might think of Benedict of Nursia (6th century), or Theresa of Avila (16th century), or Thomas Merton (20th century). But the man who perhaps started the monastic movement in the first place is much less well-know. Antony of Egypt (356) lived a few hundred years earlier than Benedict, and his feast day is today, Friday, January 17….

n this week’s written meditation, I offer some words from a guest poet. Hamza Mohamed is an eighth-grade writer from Minneapolis. He is a member of the After-School writing lab and the Young Author’s council program at his public middle school. As we move closer to Inauguration Day and as we continue to discern how to respond most faithfully to a new political administration, here is written work and some explanatory words from one of our younger citizens. Titled “If I Was President,” this poem was published recently in the book Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President….

Throughout life there is uncertainty. Uncertainty about the weather, our health, financial outlook, relationships, jobs, what the New Year will bring, etc.

If you were to go through an obstacle course in the dark but a friend who can see in the dark is there to guide you would have to trust their voice and follow instructions, even when it’s scary or doesn’t make sense. That’s what it’s like to trust God in uncertain times.

Life can be confusing and sometimes it’s hard to know what to do or where to go. The good news is that we have a God who loves us, guides us, and understands our struggle.

In Matthew 2:13, we see God guiding Joseph, a person we never hear speak. He trusts God as an angel tells him to go to Egypt to escape from Herod who is searching for Jesus to destroy him. Then when Herod died an angle again appeared in a dream and told Joseph to go to Israel….

I attended a conference in October that focused on various aspects of clergy health and wellness. The national church offers these conferences to all priests vested in the Church Pension Fund once every ten years after they are ordained. The gatherings are one week long and are scheduled at different places in the nation throughout the year. Because clergy sign up according to what fits into their schedule, it’s rare that participants know one another when they arrive….

…In the middle of the week one of the leaders asked us about our “play style.” She said that we all talk a lot about work, and rest, and physical health, but that adults often forget the art of play that was so formative during childhood. She gave us a link to an online quiz (www.lindsaybraman.com) and asked us to think about how we have fun—just for the sake of fun, with no expectations, agenda, or assumed outcome….

If you haven’t been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see “Siena: The Rise of Painting,” I hope you will have a chance to do so. The exhibit focuses on works of art painted in that Italian city just as the Renaissance was beginning to come to life. Between the years 1300 and 1350, Sienese artists moved the art of painting into a new era of detail, color and perspective…..

When we take the opportunity to share with another person about what having a real and life directing faith in Jesus Christ means to us, what will we say? When the moment comes when God is depending on our voice to prepare the way for another person to come closer to God, will our voice be heard and what will we say? Will we share what is important or slide by with peripheral talk?

What a message for us at Advent, “Let every heart prepare him room….”

Last Wednesday evening, I had the privilege of attending a program at Carnegie Hall featuring work from participants in the Creative Arts Therapy Program at Rikers Island. It was a beautiful evening. Original artwork was all over the walls of the reception area. A short film featuring dance and music programs was shown, and then a panel including Arts Therapists, a former program participant, and someone working with citizens returning to their communities went deeper into the power of creative work in helping people find their voices….

C.S. Lewis was an Irish-English author as well as a tutor and lecturer at Oxford University, and then Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature at Cambridge University. He is called a Christian “apologist,” a technical term for those who explain and defend the Christian faith. One of his most popular books, Mere Christianity, was based on a series of fifteen-minute radio addresses for a broad audience interested in learning more about Christianity. And of course, many of us have read his Chronicles of Narnia series of fantasy novels for children (and adults!) that have underlying Christian themes….