Welcome to Resilient Faith , the podcast . Opportunities to find deeper resilience within ourselves can come when life seems most challenging . This podcast is to help you develop that resilience and connection with God . Being resilient and having power starts with faith . Welcome , friends , to our Resilient Faith podcast .
God bless you and thank you for being with us today . I am Reverend Laura East , the Associate Pastor at Brentwood Presbyterian Church . On behalf of myself and the entire BPC community , we want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas .
During this blessed Christmas tide , in the midst of the chaos of our world , it remains so important that we are able to find joy in God's love and God's mercy , that we are able to share in the joy of God's presence with us , the birth of Jesus Christ in our world .
We really remain grounded and rooted in the promises of faith and hope and love that sustain us during dark times . I wanted to bless us today with a poem by a colleague of mine . Her name is Reverend Sarah Speed and we have been using her poetry this season , this Advent season and into Christmas Tide .
She provides poetry for a worship resource collaborative called A Sanctified Art , and this is a poem that she wrote for Christmas Tide . I explained in last podcast episode about Advent being the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas Christmas Eve , christmas Day , and then , of course , we are in Christmas Tide for 12 days until January 6th when we are in Epiphany .
So here is a poem for Christmas Tide , the season that we are in of Christmas , of celebrating this newborn King who has come into the world . We are in a season of celebration that God is dwelling with us . So the title of this poem is Everywhere and Always Right here . That's where God is , in the sun that turns our bedroom gold .
In the creeks of this old house and in birthday candles on the cake . In clean sheets , sock feet and porch sitting . In pancakes for breakfast and pancakes for dinner . In the swell of a lit candle , in fireplace conversations , in your grandmother's carrot cake and the smell of evergreen .
God is in the seed starters on the porch and the space between my bones , in garlic butter , early mornings and twinkle lights , certainly in dancing and laughing in cups of coffee , in the art hung on the fridge , snail mail , long phone calls and , oh , how I love yous . God is right here . God pulled up a seat . God has traveled all the way to the heart .
Tell the next generation so beloveds . I do pose this question for us as we celebrate Christmas tide when are you seeing God in your life today or in this season of Christmas ? What is your example ? If you were to add a line to this poem of where you are seeing God , what would be your addition ?
I certainly hope and pray that you will be seeing God in things , large and small , and friends or family , or friends who are family . Sometimes it's the smallest things in our lives that make the biggest difference . So , friends , I hope and pray that you are feeling God's presence with you Right here , right now . May it be so , amen .
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