Advent Calendar: 22 Dec 09-The Gift of Grace!

Well it's a Tuesday here on the Advent calendar and the animals and I decided to go visit old Mother Goose and according to her Tuesday's child is full of grace...so it led myself, all the animals and the three shepherds to discussing this thing call Grace!

Here is how we organised our talks:

-Meady's Musings: some of the everyday use and meanings of the word 'Grace'
-UCP:Divine Grace
-Books and Films Corner: The 2006 film Amazing Grace!

Divine Grace

As defined by the catholic encyclopedia New Advent

"Grace (gratia, Charis), in general, is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness. Eternal salvation itself consists in heavenly bliss resulting from the intuitive knowledge of the Triune God, who to the one not endowed with grace "inhabiteth light inaccessible" (1 Timothy 6:16). Christian grace is a fundamental idea of the Christian religion, the pillar on which, by a special ordination of God, the majestic edifice of Christianity rests in its entirety. Among the three fundamental ideas — sin, redemption, and grace — grace plays the part of the means, indispensable and Divinely ordained, to effect the redemption from sin through Christ and to lead men to their eternal destiny in heaven."

As defined in Judaism...taken from the World Religions Index

"Salvation and the Afterlife

One's eternal existence in the hereafter is determined by moral behavior and attitudes. Although there is no Christian notion of saving grace in Judaism, it is taught that God always offers even the most evil men the possibility of repentance (teshuva, "turning"). After such repentance one can atone for one's rebellion against God's ways by positive action.

But the notion of individual salvation and heavenly existence is not prominent in Judaism. In fact many Jews criticize Christianity for being a "selfish" religion, too concerned with personal eternal rewards.

The notion of an afterlife is not well developed in the Old Testament. Later writers speculated unsystematically about a final day of judgment.

Jews still hope for the coming of the Messiah, who will hand out eternal judgment and reward to all. This hope is largely communal; the entire Jewish race and the whole of creation is in view more than individual men.

In the end the moral life of man here on earth is considered the most proper concern of man; final judgments are best left to God."

Happy Epiphany Day!

Will post more later...for now just enjoy for the fifth and final time of the Advent season as we say goodbye...

We Three Kings! They're having such fun!:)



Hi again! I couldn't finish this post off this morning before work but I wanted to have it up early instead of posting on the evening...so I've now come to finish it off...

I had the most fun this Advent season with those Three Kings and for sure the YouTube video I have up today to celebrate them one last time was my fav this season and so it makes its grand 5th appearance on my blog today! Again what fun they are having! :) Maybe because this year as I plan to get my own video equipment and do some of my own vids on Youtube I will do my own praise video thanking Hugh and they for this as my Advent gift to them in 2009! :)

It's sad to say goodbye to the season but as is said in the Holy Bible to everything there is a season...

'To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.'
-ecclesiastes 3:1-8

And as this season closes I look forward to participating in Universal Collective Prayer from all traditions as they come up...I think the next big event for me will be the Hindu time of reflection and inward search through meditation of Maha Shiv Ratri...and then I will be sitting in awe at the feet of my guru-Shiv.

But for now I give it one last dance with the great men three! In Hindu tales there are always three too...so many times in Hinduism we have the three wise men ...the holy trinity... take form as incarnate ones...Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh.. Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer.Who knows maybe it was they who took form and came from the East to see the babe? Cause in the Holy Bible no one knows their details...and like in Greek tales in Hindu ones when the great ones take form it can be in any disguise under that sky...so maybe they just appeared in magic coats saw the babe (in Hinduism this is called 'Dharshan') and then just as magically they disappeared away from Herod's sight!?

But here is what the Bible does say about the Great Men Three....

'The Visit of the Magi- Matthew Chapter 2 verse 2 to 21

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magia from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christc was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’d”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the easte went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”a

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”b

The Return to Nazareth

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” '


So today in humble Universal Collective Prayer I surrender to the Universe and besiege:

As I ask on bended knee
Of these Magi Three
Protect the children
Let them not be harmed
Even though there is now war in the land
Where once a child fled from an evil man
If you must great men three
Appear once more for me
Don again your magic coats so bright
And guide us to that perfect light!


BLESSINGS TO ALL!

Advent Calendar:HAPPY NEW YEAR!-Morning has Broken...

I always associated the song 'Morning Has Broken' with Cat Stevens well before he became known as Yusuf. And only cause it was playing before my heart this morning in song and in the visualization of fresh, white roses blooming did I decide to research and explore it as part of my journey into Universal Collective Prayer...and I have now found out that it is indeed a Christian hymn...so it makes it most appropriate for us to open this New Year's Day with as we take part in Universal Collective Prayer! :)

A bit about the song's origin from Wikipedia:

'"Morning Has Broken" is a favorite and well-known Christian hymn, especially popular in children's services. Pop and folk singer Cat Stevens included an acoustic version on his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat. It became a signature song for Stevens when it reached number 6 on the US pop chart and #1 on the US adult contemporary chart in 1972.[1]

The hymn originally appeared in the second edition of Songs of Praise (published in 1931), to the tune "Bunessan", arranged by the composer Martin Shaw. In Songs of Praise Discussed, the editor, Percy Dearmer, explains that, as there was need for a hymn to give thanks for each day, English poet and children's author Eleanor Farjeon had been "asked to make a poem to fit the lovely gaelic tune". The original poem can be found in the anthology Children's Bells, under Farjeon's original title, "A Morning Song (For the First Day of Spring)", published by Oxford University Press in 1957.

"Bunessan" had been found in L. McBean's Songs and Hymns of the Gael, published in 1900.[2] Before Farjeon's words, the tune was used as a Christmas carol, which began "Child in the manger, Infant of Mary", translated from the Gaelic lyrics written by Mary MacDonald.[3] The English-language Roman Catholic hymnal also uses the tune for the hymn, "This Day God Gives Me".

Writing credit for "Morning Has Broken" has occasionally been erroneously attributed to Stevens, who popularized the song abroad. The familiar piano arrangement on Stevens' album was performed by Rick Wakeman, a classically trained keyboardist with the English progressive rock band Yes. In 2000, Wakeman released an instrumental version of "Morning Has Broken" on an album of the same title. That same year, he gave an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live in which he said he had agreed to perform on the Cat Stevens track for £10 and was "shattered" to be omitted from the credits, adding that he never received the money either.

The familiar piano intro and general structure of the piece may be attributed to Stevens or to Wakeman. Although some sources report that the song was released on Floyd Cramer's 1961 album Last Date, discographies of the artist demonstrate that the song is not on that album. In fact, Cramer did not record the song until 1972, when he used the arrangement that he attributed to Cat Stevens.[4]

The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, including Judy Collins, Michael Card, Floyd Cramer (twice), Dana, Neil Diamond, Art Garfunkel, Joe Longthorne, Nana Mouskouri, Aaron Neville, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Sister Janet Mead, Roger Whittaker and Ellen Greene recently on Pushing Daisies.

In November 2008, the Teaser and the Firecat CD was re-issued in a deluxe version which includes the original demo of Morning Has Broken.'

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day