Fully Alive in God

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Isaiah 61:10–62:3; Ps. 147; Galatians 3:23–25; 4:4–7; St. John 1:1–18) “Comfort, comfort ye my people” we sang a little while back, words that also come out of the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. And God responded to that call. God came to us, to live with us. The Greek says “God pitched his tent with us.” In the land of a desert-dwelling people, this meant that God firmly placed his lodging in Jesus alongside all the other frail but faithful homes in the wild landscape of an unforgiving world. God pitched his tent among us. And God came as an infant. What a wonderful strange thing that is. We cry for comfort and God responds. But interestingly as a small creature himself in need of comfort and care. He came to give us comfort and joy. But what comfort did we give him? There was not much in his life that spoke of our care—a wonderful mother, yes. A woman who washed his feet with her hair, some perfume and tears. There may have been

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Isaías 61:10–62:3; Salmo 147; Gálatas 3:23–25; 4:4–7; San Juan 1:1–18) Consuela, Consuela a mi gente. Comfort, comfort ye my people. Así dice el profeta Isaías en otra parte de lo que leímos hoy. Y Dios responde a nuestro llamado para consuelo. Dios viene con nosotros, viene a vivir con nosotros, la palabra significa, viene a poner su carpa entre las nuestras. En un pueblo del desierto, es decir, que Dios se puso firmemente en nuestro lugar de vivir. God pitched his tent among us. Y Dios vino como un niño, un bebe. ¡Qué cosa bella y rara! What a wonderful strange thing that is. Una criatura en necesidad de consuelo; de confort, vino a nosotros, para darnos consuelo. Pero ¿Qué consuelo le dimos? No había mucho en su vida corta que hablaba del consuelo de la humanidad. Una madre cariñosa, sí. Una mujer lavando sus pies con sus lágrimas, su cabello y su perfume. Esas y posiblemente más de que no sabemos, pero la vida no trat ó tan b

From the amazing John August Swanson M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Isaías 62:6–12; Salmo 97; Tito 3:4–7; Lucas 2:(1–7), 8–20)                           Can you imagine what it was like for us shepherds? ¿Pueden adivinar como sentimos nosotros los pastores? Yo y mi hermano hubiéramos estado caminando tras los cerros por días con nuestras ovejas. We poor shepherds had been wandering the hills for days with our sheep. Fuimos en la zona de los pastores. We were in the shepherd zone, and to be honest, felt a bit out of touch with the world. Es difícil para nosotros, los pastores, sentir conectados con el mundo judío en que vivimos porque trabajamos con los animales todo el tiempo y comimos afuera mucho, sin siempre lavar según las costumbres. Es difícil mantenernos kosher. It is hard for us to keep kosher because we are always going about with animals, eating in unclean conditions according to our Jewish brothers and sisters, so we feel a bit out of the loop. We don

(divinemercy.sg) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Zephaniah  3:14-20, First Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 12:2-6), Philippians 4:4-7, St. Luke 3:7-18) “We have a God who sits high, and looks low.” This was the refrain that the Rev. Dr. Renita Weems repeated to us over and over during her words at Diocesan Convention last weekend. These words have echoed in my mind as I have noticed many things about the world in the past couple of weeks and months. We have an anxiety in our country right now – an understandable one – but it is at risk of robbing the soul of our belief system. We must be careful. We must remember that we have a God who sits high, and looks low. And here, the words of St Paul to the Philippians today: “Rejoice always… DO NOT WORRY…” These might seem very disconnected from our current context, but in reality they are not. The Philippians had unrest in their lives, reasons to be anxious. But as one commentator put it, gratitude counters anxiety. [1] Paul k

(divinemercy.sg) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Sofonías 3:14-20, Primer Cantico de Isaías (Isaías 12:2-6), Filipenses 4:4-7, San Lucas 3:7-18) “Tenemos un Dios quien se sienta en lo alto, y mira para abajo.” “We have a God who sits high, and looks low.” Esas fueron las palabras de sabiduría de la Revda. Doctora Renita Weems que comparti ó con nosotros en la convención diocesana la pasada fin de semana. Estas palabras se han repetido en mi mente mientras he notado las cosas que han estado pasando en nuestro mundo en los tiempos recientes. Tenemos una ansiedad en nuestro país ahora. Y se entiende. Pero hay un riesgo aquí de perder lo que está a la base de nuestras creencias. Tenemos que tener cuidado. Tenemos que recordar que tenemos un Dios quien se sienta en lo alto, pero mira para abajo. With all that is going on in the world right now, we must be careful not to lose our sense of values. Y aquí, las palabras de San Pablo a los Filipenses hoy: “¡Alégrense! …

(https://yourcoachingbrain.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/pause-1.jpg) Melissa Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25:1-9, 1st Thessalonians 3:9-13, St Luke 21:25-36) In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety (Jer. 33:16a). Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. What do we desire right now more than to be safe and sound? There have been so many violent events all around the world in recent moments. Just in this past week, on the day after Thanksgiving, another violent attack, this time in a women’s clinic in Colorado. Lord, have mercy. We also heard more about another shooting death of a young black man in Chicago. Christ, have mercy. And environmentalists tell us that the carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are now above 400 parts per million, a number that is dangerously high, and could quickly become toxic. Lord, have mercy. And we are tired. Tired of hearing bad news. I hear that our festival o