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Toyohiko Kagawa (Paper Cranes: Icons of Peace)

Strange that the spring has come
On meadow and vale and hill,
For here in the sunless slum
My bosom is frozen still.
And I wear the wadded things
Of the dreary winter days,
But out of the heart of this
little flower
God gazes into my face!

Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960) was a Japanese writer, poet, social reformer, labor activist, and peace activist, known as the “Gandhi of Japan,” who dedicated his life to alleviating poverty by establishing cooperatives, improving labor/farmer conditions, and promoting Christian nonviolent principles for social justice, earning him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations.

Happy Hanukkah!

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
~ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tune in to YaH, O tzaddikim,
and the good people
will make harmony to your hymn.
Give thanks to YaH;
let the harp sound along
the ten string guitar as accompaniment.
Sing to Him a new melody
in friendly ensemble;
play to celebrate YaH’s Word—
by which all Her actions
are our assurance.
~ Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a portion of Psalm 33

I seek peace, let me be peace.
I seek justice, let me be just.
I seek a world of kindness, let me be kind.
I seek a world of generosity, let me be generous with all that I have and to everyone I encounter in my life and to those whom I do not encounter but who need my help…
Let me pass that love on to the next generations in an even fuller and more conscious way.
~ Rabbi Michael Lerner

It’s that time of the year when I dust off Bill Mallonee Music’s Christmas songs and ruminate on Christmas’s past. These songs can hold their own with the writings of Charles Wesley, and the traditional seasonal songs we’re so accustomed to. If you’re not familiar with them, treat yourself this Christmas. Bill has been offering these gems in his Bandcamp store.

Julian (It's December & I'm Lost), by Bill Mallonee from the album WHERE THE LOVE LIGHT GLEAMS ~ (14 original songs about Advent, Christmas & the Coming of Jesus) 2015

Saint Nicholas of Myra

A poem/prayer by Malcolm Guite

St. Nicholas, protector of the poor,
Gift-giver, wonderworker, patron saint,
Renew our generosity, and pour
Afresh on us your spirit without stint,
That we, like you, might notice, might respond
And rescue those whom we’ve ignored, whose plight
Cries out for our redress: near neighbours bound
By poverty and debt, the out of sight
And out of mind, the children of the poor,
All the exploited, those whose lives are wrecked
By others’ greed, indifference, and neglect,
Those overboard and floundering for the shore.
Help us make others merry with our wealth
And joy, like you, in doing good by stealth.

Some selections from my 78 Blues Series—Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Rev Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, BB King, and more! These original woodcuts & linocuts were inspired by early record sleeves.
Available here - www.etsy.com/shop/kkyingst

“Winter is a lesson about the fine art of loss and growth.
Its lesson is clear; There is only one way out of struggle
and that is by going into its darkness,
waiting for the light, and being open to new growth.”
~ Joan Chittister

Image: Variations of a Tree in Winter; woodcut, ink on Stonehenge; 6”x4”; Kreg Yingst

Poem, Listening to Winter, by Macrina Wiederkehr

The trees have shed their colorful autumn robes.
Winter is raging through the dark, empty branches and I am listening.
I am listening to the roar and to the quiet of winter.
I am listening to a beauty that sometimes remains unseen.

I am listening.

I am listening to the seed hidden in the earth.
I am listening to the dark swallowing up the light.
I am listening to faith rising out of doubt.
I am listening to the need to believe without seeing.

I am listening.

I am listening to the season of contemplation,
to the urgency of our world’s need for reflection.
I am listening to all that waits within the earth,
to bulbs and seeds,
to deep roots dreaming.
I am listening to the sacred, winter rest.

I am listening.

I am listening to long nights,
comforting darkness,
fruitful darkness,
beautiful darkness.
I am listening to the darkness of the winter season.
I am listening to the sparks of hope within the darkness.

I am listening.

I am listening to storms raging out my window,
to storms raging in my heart.
I am listening to all that makes me pull my cloak a little tighter.
I am listening to trust buried deep in the ground of my being.

I am listening.

I am listening to the kind permission of the season
to rest more often,
to reflect more deeply,
to pray without words.
I am listening to the sacrament of non-doing.

I am listening.

I am listening to my dreams and inner visions,
to the unknown wrapped in the mystery of my life,
to tears trapped in underground streams of my being,
to seeds watered daily by those tears.

I am listening.