He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly… – Luke 1:52

One of the blessings of my work with the TRIO program is getting to know some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Many of my students speak two or more languages with varying levels of fluency, and they have accomplished so much more in their lifetimes than I ever will. Many came to the US as children and had to navigate the educational system in a language that was unfamiliar to them. Others had to leave school to work and support their families, so some of them are getting their GED or high school diplomas in their fourth decade of life. The difficulty of this is not lost on me, so I make it a habit to keep star stickers in my bullet journal to hand out to reinforce their successes in tutoring. If they do well on a test, they get a high-five from me and I take them into my boss’s office to brag about them to her. One student in particular just got recruited for the Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management program at Skagit, a new two-year degree program for students who already have an Associate degree, and I could not be prouder of her than I am right now.

I compare them to those in leadership positions and privileged circumstances, and it angers me that these people are considered successful in our upside-down world. They were sent to the best schools that money could buy, and many of them inherited successful companies from their parents. Their successes have largely been at the hands of other people, and some have engaged in dishonest and predatory business practices to succeed, resulting in lawsuits, fines, and criminal charges.

However, everything they have could be taken away from them at any time. They have no foundation to stand upon because all of their gains are dependent on the work of others. My students, on the other hand, will prosper because they have put in the work necessary to build a solid foundation. They know what it is to work for one’s living, and they have shown that they can overcome adversity. They will prosper in life in ways that benefit the kingdom of God.

God, thank you for the example of those who have faced true adversity and overcome it. Help us to learn from their example. Bless their work for your kingdom and help us to be good co-workers for them. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. – Luke 1:51

When I read this passage, I immediately think of our society today. I picture God’s mighty arm sweeping away all of the proud, rich and powerful, leaving room for those who have little or nothing to be restored to health and well-being. God will be faithful in doing this, but we must take part in it. It is good to pray for God’s help, but we must also act. As we say in our Mission Statement, “…we are recipients of and participants in that healing and restoration.” What are we, as individuals and as a community, doing to bring this about?

Lord, help us to be part of making your world a good place for all to live to your glory. Amen.
-Penny Worrell

His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. – Luke 1:50

It seems to me that mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. In mercy, the shepherd goes looking for the lost sheep. In mercy, the father scans the horizon, looking for the return of his long-lost runaway child. In mercy, Jesus heals men and women of their various ills. In mercy, Jesus shares truth with a Samaritan woman at the well. In mercy, Jesus sets a child on his very own lap and suggests we be more like that child than like ourselves! Scandalous, eh?

As I survey the scriptures ever so briefly, reading and hearing the many stories of Jesus and his mercy, I find myself bewildered at the complete lack of charity amongst so many of them that (or those who) claim to follow him.

It seems to me that Advent invites us to ponder the mystery of mercy. God is not merciful because we deserve it; I’m not even sure we need mercy, most of the time. We’re generally fairly decent to one another; faithful in church, home, work, and school. We’re honest in our dealings with one another; keep our acid tongues in check; grin and bear life as best we can. So why is God merciful?

Because it is God’s nature to extend mercy to all those who are perfectly imperfect. It is the mercy of God that allows us to “fear” God. Not with knee-shaking fear, but humble adoration. And being the recipients of God’s loving mercy, we take time to extend a merciful hand to the world around us, for our world, too, is desperate to be held in the strong, loving, and merciful arms of God.

God, have mercy on us, sinners of your own redeeming. Forgive us our shortcomings during this season of cold and dark days and help us to see your mercy in action during this Advent season, for that is the mercy we and this world of yours so desperately need! Amen.
-Fr. Keith Axberg

“… for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” – Luke 1:48-49

Luke tells us so much in these few words about Mary, a very young teenage woman. Fear, doubt, and vulnerability are balanced with courage, faith, and strength. This Mary is so different from the assumptions and stereotypes we know of her. Mary could have kept God’s revelation a secret. Instead, she chooses not to go it alone and seeks out community, the community of her cousin Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is quick to see that Mary’s favored-ness has nothing to do with wealth or easiness of life. Her blessing is connected to her trust in God, in her willingness to surrender to the will of God, to believe God’s promises, and to trust that God will sustain her through whatever happens. She will not be alone. God is faithful.

These two verses are Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s blessing, something that she so needed and would remember all of her life.

In community, we have the gift of glimpsing God among us, within us. In community, our shared fears, doubts, and vulnerabilities draw out our courage, faith, and strength. In community we receive the blessing that sustains us, reminds us that God is faithful, renews our trust in God, and empowers us to be far more than we can imagine. Like Mary, we are God bearers, God magnifiers, the body of Christ.

Think of a time in your life when the gift of community was just what you needed. I remember how important community was for me when I was first thinking about ordination. There were times when I truly feared pursuing it and doubted my gifts. At such times one of three women would somehow find me and over a walk or coffee and their loving listening, courage and faith would take over and I would leave their presence wanting to sing and dance, blessed by their trust in God and their embodiment of love. So grateful!

Community. Communion. The indwelling of God…The breaking and sharing of bread…The gifts of incarnation… “…for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Gracious one, in whom we live, and move and have our being, we give you thanks for the gifts of community and blessing. Bless our journey inward this Advent season for it is only out of the prayerful place of solitude and introspection that we can hope for community and ministry. Give us courage, faith, and strength for our journey. May our lives truly magnify your holy Name. Amen.
-Rev. Vicki Wesen

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” – Luke 1:46-47

One evening when I was visiting someone in the hospital, I came into contact with an elderly lady who proceeded to share her wondrous joy at the safe delivery of her new great-grandson. It was a difficult birth with the cord wrapped around his neck. The first few hours of his life were full of struggles, but he has brought immense joy and gratitude to all around him.

I think that was what Mary could see in Luke 1:46-47, that with God as her savior, her human spirit—her very essence—could glorify the Lord. As Christmas draws near with only a few days left to go, we can look back on 2019 with all the heartache, worry, sorrow, ups/downs, lefts/rights, zigs and zags, and we can put it all into the hands of God our savior and allow him to give us a new beginning with the birth of his son, Jesus Christ. Let Jesus come and absolve all that hurts and accept the hope we have that for each trial as there is a peace that we can only know by trusting in God. So, let our souls extol with praises and acknowledge all the greatness God has done and all that is yet to come in our lives.

Christmas is a week away… are you excited?? He is coming!

O God from the depths of our inner person do we give you glory for all you have done. Give my soul peace in the throes of a trial to know that I can magnify and rejoice in your greatness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
-Natalee Raymond

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” – Luke 1:39-45

Christmas Eve, 1974
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Huntington, L.I., N.Y.

The candlelit sanctuary was silent as night as I walked to the center of the altar robed in blue. I was escorted by Richard Ohlenberg, Joseph to my Mary. We were surrounded by angels and shepherds and wise men as we took our place in the age-old pantomime of the living crèche. Baby Sam Swisher was my Jesus, and as I took him in my arms, I rose and began to sing in a trembling soprano: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

It was a moment in and out of time: in time, that I was a senior in high school applying to elite women’s colleges with a long-time boyfriend and plans for a future; and out of time, that I was touched by grace, chosen to represent the Mother of God, Mary-in-absentia singing alone.

I cannot begin to know what Mary felt, at 15, to hear the words that she was to become the mother of the Christ Child. But now, all these decades later, as a mother and grandmother, it is no less terrifying/thrilling remembering when I was first told that I was with child (or when my daughters broke the news to me that they were expecting). My very soul singing! To bring into this world a helpless baby to love, nurture, train, and discipline to then—after all those hours and days and weeks and years (and skinned knees and tuna fish sandwiches and help with homework and drying tears)—to send them out into the world without us is life’s greatest joy and sorrow.

But Mary bore the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow of all. I am humbled to have had her voice for one brief moment, that moment of moments when she declares her joy to all the world.

I pray that I am able to raise my voice in tandem with Mary’s, for as long as I draw breath.

Help me, Lord, to magnify you daily in my words and actions. Amen.
-Ashley Sweeney