Contents of this page:

• December 1 - 10
  
  
• December 11 - Holy dreams
• December 12 - Our Fourth Antiphon - Key of David
• December 13 - Whatever will the neighbours say?
• December 14 - Good gifts from our hearts
• December 15 - Great with child reflections: You can depend on God
• December 16 - Our Fifth Antiphon - Dawn of the East, or Dayspring
• December 17 - Pregnant with God-all of us
• December 18 - A pregnant pause as we prepare for Christmas: Keep looking up
• December 19 - Our Sixth Antiphon - King of the Gentiles
• December 20 - Where will my baby be born?
  
  
• December 21 - 25

Welcome to a daily offering of Advent Devotionals 2000! Co-authored by God’s Gnome and Surprised by Joy. Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution.

"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name, JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:20-21

This is an important reminder that God can and does speak to people through holy dreams. These dreams might be difficult to interpret. They sometimes wake us as nightmares. It’s easy to attribute our dreams to indigestion from something we ate or a stress response to an important event. But the Bible is full of dreamers. They have changed the course of world history. It is helpful to write down our dreams so we don’t forget them.

God used dreams to save the baby Jesus.

When Joseph learned that his betrothed Mary conceived a baby "from the Holy Spirit," he didn’t believe her. He quietly planned to dissolve their relationship until God spoke to him in a powerful dream. Based on that dream, he took Mary as his wife.

Then remarkable and mysterious strangers known as "Magi" (sometimes called the Wise Men or Three Kings) from the east came to Jerusalem, searching for the newborn "king of the Jews." They came to worship him. Afterwards they were warned in a dream to return to their country by another route and not report back to King Herod.

That very same evening, Joseph received yet another powerful dream where he was warned to immediately flee with the child and his mother and leave the country. When those intending to kill the baby Jesus were dead, God again led Joseph to return to his home country. Through additional dreams, God led this remarkably sensitive man to eventually settle down in the town of Nazareth in the district of Galilee. This by the way, fulfilled many prophetic sayings about the Christ.

Do not brush aside your dreams. Be open and attentive to what God might be saying to you.

Prayer: God, help us be sensitive holy dreamers and recognize when you are speaking to us. Amen.

"I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no-one can open". "To the angel of the church of Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no-one can open."
Isaiah 22: 22, Revelation 3: 7

Today’s antiphon speaks of the tears and hopes of all people who have been excluded or disenfranchised, for today we discover that Jesus is the long awaited key, which will open all those doors which have been shut in our faces. Today we learn that truly there will be no more discrimination for any of the world’s minorities, and that all people will be recognised as equal. All who have been locked in prisons, both physical and social, because of their political beliefs or because they spoke out against injustice and cruelty are to take their rightful places in God’s dominion. Those who could not be silenced when threatened with the consequences of preaching the gospel of love, forgiveness and reconciliation will find their chains have been removed, their sight restored and their liberty reclaimed.

Any who have been excluded in the past from places of education because of their colour or because of their socio-economic status will find the doors to the halls of learning are thrown wide open. Those to whom work has been denied because of perceptions about their ethnicity, culture, religion, gender or sexual orientation will be welcomed as true equals. To those who because of genetic defects or of injury have been unable to comprehend the joys and wonders of life will be opened new clarity of vision and understanding so that they too may rejoice. For men and women who have been locked out of the churches where they were wont to worship, those who have had their clergy credentials invalidated, and those whose families have turned from them as if they were lepers, there will be a time of validation and reunion, for they will be welcomed as true sons and daughters of the living God.

No more will those who have learning difficulties, or those who suffer physical or emotional disabilities, be shut out from mainstream life. They will be recognised for the efforts they already made toward an all-inclusive society, and they will be praised for their courage. To those who have lost all their possessions because of the selfishness and greed of others will be given much more than they had ever possessed. Women who held their starving children in their arms and watched them die for lack of food and clean water will have those children returned to them as healthy young people who are aware of the sacrifice made by their mothers and grandmothers. The doors to freedom will be opened wide, and all children and adults impressed into military duties will be returned to their homes as the whole earth experiences peace. No longer will any be excluded from the demonstrated love and provision of God.

Today let us join those who have prayed and sung the following antiphon with heart-felt yearning during twelve centuries, as together we offer our petition to the One to whom is entrusted the Key of David:

O Clavis David,
O Key of David,

et sceptrum domus Israël,
and sceptre of the house of Israel,

qui aperis, et nemo claudit,
you open, and no one shuts,

claudis, et nemo aperuit:
you shut, and no one opens:

veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
Come, and lead the prisoner from jail,

sedentem in tenebris,
seated in darkness,

et umbra mortis.
and in the shadow of death.

"Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace…"
Matthew 1: 19.

Poor Joseph, while he may well have been convinced by the dream in which an angel had confirmed the truth of Mary’s pregnancy, knew that the neighbours would talk just as soon as Mary started showing signs of her pregnancy. What could a respectable tradesman do in a small village such as Nazareth to keep idle tongues from wagging, and the gossip from spreading?

In Joseph’s own family there had been other women whose lives had produced scandals in their own day. In the genealogy of Jesus supplied by Matthew, we find four women listed. This in itself is remarkable, because normally a family tree listed only the names of males. The four women Matthew has listed are even more remarkable. Firstly there was Rachab (also known as Rahab), the harlot of Jericho (see Joshua 2: 1-7). Rahab hid two Israelite spies, sent by Joshua to spy out the land of Canaan, from the detachment sent to arrest them, for she had witnessed some of the miracles performed by their God. There was Ruth who was not even a Jewess but a Moabitess, a member of a hated and alien people despised by the Jews; Tamar who was a deliberate seducer and adulteress (Genesis 38), and finally Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, the woman whom David seduced while her husband Uriah was engaged in active military service. Uriah later died in the front line of battle.

According to Jewish concept of racial and moral purity these women were scandalous. Yet in Jewish history they all played significant roles. Now it seemed Mary, his espoused wife, was to add her name to the list of unorthodox women in his family line. Since Joseph was assured that the expected child was a product of God’s spirit rather than a human dalliance, he could keep his wife by his side through her pregnancy. Of course the rest of Nazareth would assume that they had been sexually intimate before their formal wedding had taken place. Nothing could stop the jests in the market place, or the sly looks and nods as they walked and worked together. The truth had to remain their secret; they could not contemplate any attempt at an explanation. Let their neighbours assume whatever they choose.

Many times the stories spread by worth of mouth are simply assumptions based on information which is incorrect or incomplete. Often the media appears to create situations which have no basis in reality. Gossip spreads like bushfires, and no matter how much material is brought forward to present the truth, it appears that truth becomes a casualty to sensationalism. In a small village such as Nazareth, Mary’s pregnancy would have provided the scandal of the year. In fact it is only in our own generation that most of the stigma attached to pregnancy in unmarried woman has been dissipated, and women have not been treated as if they had deliberately set out to disgrace their families. Societies don’t change in their attitudes until the "them" and "us" mind-set has been replaced by more loving, just attitudes. But even as advanced as we consider ourselves today, what would our own neighbours’ attitude be if we announced that we were about to give birth to a child who was conceived by God’s Spirit?

Prayer: Loving God, we are all guilty of wrong assumptions based on incomplete knowledge. Sometimes we share our suspicions without deliberately seeking out the truth; in fact we gossip. Open our eyes and our hearts to view others in the light of your love. Amen.

"…gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Matthew 2:11c

By now, many are still wondering what to buy for Christmas presents. Some are "born to shop!" Your gifts were bought months ago. I suspect however, that most of us are still looking for those perfect gifts for the special people in our lives.

Sometimes the gift buying and receiving becomes obligatory and devoid of joy and spontaneity. Perhaps you have felt this when receiving an unexpected present. Often we feel we must go buy yet another gift of equal value in return.

Then of course, certain people are extremely difficult to buy for. They may be blessed with so much prosperity that they don’t need anything. Others might have interests that are so highly specialized that it is impossible to buy the right things.

Young, struggling families on the other hand, need everything.

One very good friend is extremely organized. Whenever she finds a great or "perfect" gift for a particular person throughout the year, she’ll buy it for a Christmas present! The coveted gift is carefully hidden in her closet until time for wrapping. She always has thoughtful, well-chosen gifts that she knows will appeal and delight the receiver.

I clearly remember one childhood Christmas when my brother was a little boy. He eagerly opened gift after gift, only to be increasingly disappointed with the contents in every box. All his relatives had bought him greatly needed items of clothing. It was evident that my brother wanted TOYS and not clothes. My parents saw his obvious unhappiness. They went shopping and bought some toys for him the very next day. Only then was he happy with his Christmas experience.

What are good gifts from the heart? Today’s Bible verse brings us to the famous story about the wise men sometimes known as "Magi." We really do not know if there were three, or even where they came from. We do not exactly know when they began their long, arduous and dangerous journey. But whoever they were, they were spiritually attuned people on pilgrimage. They were God-sensitive and alert. These ancient men were familiar with old prophecies that predicted God’s Sent One would be born in Bethlehem. When they saw THE special star (Matthew 2:7), they immediately began an adventure in God which eventually brought them to Bethlehem. Before beginning their journey, they determined within their hearts what their love offering would be to the Prince of Peace, King of the Jews, God’s Messiah. They chose to bring the very best, carefully selected and symbolic gifts money could buy.

Months later the star stopped where the child was living and they "were overwhelmed with joy." They entered the house and found the child with his Mother. These determined strangers knelt down and paid the young child homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered the child gifts fit for a King.

Immediately after this visit, both the wise pilgrims and the holy family were separately warned in dreams to seek the child’s safety. The young family literally ran for their lives into the next country. The valuable gifts were just what they needed to provide financial resources for their emergency journey and exile. God provided them with what they needed through these good gifts from the wise travelers treasure chests.

It’s good to remember that Jesus is the only reason for the Christmas season. Jesus is God’s gift to us. And we are God’s gift to the young child. We are more precious to Jesus than gold, more valued than ancient frankincense, and more cherished than the expensive myrrh. The best gift we could ever give him is our hearts.

So open the treasure chest of your hearts. Follow the example of the wise travelers from afar. Gift Jesus with your homage, love and respect. Your love is priceless and the perfect gift for giving the Christmas Child.

Prayer: Christmas Child, we kneel before you along with the wise and ancient travelers. Please accept the gifts of our hearts, we pray. Amen.

"He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers." Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home." Luke 1:51-56

We can depend on God. God is enough. God is generous. God’s ways are certainly not our ways. God’s faithfulness extends from generation to generation. Mary spoke these words with timeless first century wisdom. God will never leave or forsake us.

Her thoughtful and spiritually mature reflection helps us remember that God cares. God sees. God listens. God responds and gets personally involved in our lives. God scatters the arrogant and lifts up the lowly. God fills the hungry and sends the rich away empty. God is a God who keeps divine promises.

As Christmas draws closer, it’s good to remember Mary’s words as we shop for gifts and bring our children to see Santa Claus. Christmas is so much more than gaily decorated trees and presents. Christmas is about God in a diaper. Christmas is about God’s mighty deeds through Jesus Christ, the babe in the manger. Christmas invites us to linger in Bethlehem and be with this remarkable child.

Dag Hammarskjold reminds us that "the more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside." Reflect on today’s verses and let the Spirit of God bless your meditations. Listen to the still, often very quiet voice of God in your heart. As you do, you will better hear the outside voices clamoring for your attention. Center on Christ alone. You’ll be deeply blessed.

Prayer: God, thank you for caring for the poor, the humble and the hungry. Thank you for being dependable and just. Thank you for being our God. Amen.

"But unto you who fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall." "Through the mercy of our God, in which the dawn from on high has graciously visited us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to direct our feet on the path of peace."
Malachi 4:2, Luke 1: 78-79

Here we are presented with a picture of the dawn represented by a rising sun with its rays extended which will illuminate the lives and minds of all those who have not yet known the Light of the World. Malachi touches one of the greatest needs of the human race when he speaks of the Sun of righteousness within whose wings we will find healing, for there is much in our world that needs healing. Our planet, with its rainforests decimated as cabinet timber is plundered and the balance of vegetation is torched, needs God’s healing hand. Our rivers, streams and oceans, groaning with pollution, long to be cleansed so that once again life, sufficient for our needs, may be re-established. The very air we breathe is filled with smoke, with acrid fumes, with chemicals of every sort, and each day we choke as we breathe. Malachi promises that with the return of the Dawn of the East we will grow to our full potential, lacking nothing, for we shall be fed as carefully as are hand raised cattle.

Our planet cries out for the return of the Dayspring, for at that time all its illnesses will be healed. We too in our turn plead in prayer for the return of the Sun of righteousness. With Christ’s return darkness will be removed from our lives. No longer will there be a place for all those fears that haunt us from the dark recesses of our beings. No longer will we be crippled by self-doubt, for God’s light will shine clearly and we will discover that in God’s eyes we have always been beautiful and perfect people. No longer will there be a residue of pain caused by those who have hurt us, and even the memory of iniquitous words which have been used to vilify us will be robbed of its former power. Physical hurts will find their cure in the balm of healing that Christ’s presence brings. Sorrow and emotional pain will be replaced as we see more clearly God’s perfect plan for all our lives.

We are among the people who have groped for answers and direction during periods of darkness in our lives, during those times when we have felt totally separated from God. It is in answer to our prayers that we will see the approaching light as God’s Sun of righteousness appears with the dazzling brilliance of dawn bursting forth upon our lives and our planet. No more fears, no more tears and no more night, for the Dawn of the East has returned. Just as the Magi of old followed the light that lit up the heavens and beheld the splendour of the new born king, so in our turn will we behold the glory of our Sovereign. In wonder and awe today we lift our voices in prayer as we repeat this antiphon:

O Oriens,
O Dawn,

splendor lucis aeternae,
splendour of eternal light,

et sol justitiae:
and sun of justice:

veni, et illumina
Come, and shine on those

sedentes in tenebris,
seated in darkness,

et umbra mortis.
and in the shadow of death.

"Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 1:18

Mary was literally pregnant with God. She was a remarkable young woman, open and receptive to the life given her from the Holy Spirit. She was chosen above all other women to give birth to God in a diaper. She has been venerated throughout the centuries by adoring worshippers within the ecumenical Christian Church for her life of faith and discipleship. But we are all pregnant with God—all of us! The Holy Spirit wishes to birth new life within us too! And this new life is an inner soul birthing.

Each one of us will experience our spiritual birthday uniquely. God meets us one by one and wishes to birth new life in our hearts through the babe in the manger. The babe in the manger, God in a diaper, grew up and became the greatest spiritual teacher and leader world history has ever known. He insisted that all of us are pregnant with God and need an inner birth experience/awareness/awakening in order to see and fully experience the kingdom of God. We must be born again.

There is only one place in the gospels where Jesus insisted on the necessity of new birth. We find this in the third chapter of John’s gospel. A deeply religious professional named Nicodemus sought Jesus late at night and they had a profound spiritual conversation.

"Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘you must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" (John 3:3-9).

Each spiritual pregnancy is different. Each spiritual labor and delivery is unique. Each birth is a miracle of God’s grace. God’s grace is within all of us, waiting to birth us into new life through the Christ child.

Now spiritual birth has many parallels to physical birth. Some of us may be unaware that we are pregnant with God! Others might chose to terminate their spiritual pregnancy. Then still others might try to ignore, hide or even deny their pregnant condition, insisting that they do not need God in a diaper in their lives. But we are all pregnant with holy longings within us.

The birthing of our spiritual lives varies with each one of us. Some spiritual births are dramatic, traumatic, difficult and/or painful experiences. Others need a bit of help from a spiritual friend, who might help through prayer, conversation and friendship. The spiritual friend could even be a total stranger sent our way in a divine appointment, interruption or special event. There are even some who cannot remember their inner birth, for their earliest memories center on a loving relationship with Jesus. Whatever our spiritual birth experiences may be, Jesus promises us abundant joy, peace with God and strength for the day through our new inner lives.

All newborns are vulnerable and need tender loving care in order to grow into healthy maturity. Newborns need spiritual milk, diaper changes, love and attention in order to thrive and develop. Our spiritual lives can no more be neglected than the lives and daily needs of our earthly children!

Each of us needs this new inner life from God. Let God be your midwife today. This miraculous birth is for people of all sexual orientations. This new spiritual orientation and birth does not require anyone to change their sexual orientation. Enjoy God’s Christmas gift to you. May inner joy, peace and harmony be yours this Christmas.

Prayer: Dear God, birth within me new inner life, spiritual rebirth and renewal today. I need this new life Jesus insisted on. Care for me as a newborn in Christ. Amen.

"For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth." Luke 21:35

As I was cleaning out my old files the other day, I discovered an old Advent series I had preached on a Navy ship while stationed in the Persian Gulf in 1992. Oh, that brings back some memories! One sermon was based on an Advent lectionary reading from Luke 21:25-36 and was titled, "Ready and Waiting."

The ship was in a ready and waiting mode as we protected an uneasy peace in dangerous waters. We had a constant mine watch day and night. It would have been catastrophic to hit a floating mine. We were on a heavily loaded ammunition ship. It would have been a big bang.

One day a ship wide security alert was called. The mine watch had spotted floating objects ahead that could possibly be dangerous. The floating objects turned out to be dead sheep. Freighters carrying animals would throw the carcasses of dead animals overboard. While it was sad to see the dead animals in the water, it was a relief to know they were not floating mines.

We lived in this state of constant alertness for several months. We were not allowed to relax our watchfulness for a moment. Our very lives depended on it.

Advent is a reminder for Christians to wake up and be alert for the Second Coming of Christ. The Bible tells us that some day he will return to planet earth. Dramatic and terrifying signs, as some believe, will mark the end times. Everyone will see these signs. The sun, moon, stars and tides will be deeply affected. The world will be convulsing. There will be worldwide political, social and physical upheavals. There will be much terror, anguish and dismay. Heaven will shake and we are told that fire will destroy the earth. Jesus’ return will be marked with power, glory, brilliance, majesty, holiness and love.

And the Christian can respond to these events with joy and courage. We’re to stand up and lift our heads high. Jesus will return for us. And until that day, we are to guard our heart with God’s values of holiness and godliness. We are to live honorably, without carousing, drunkenness and debauchery while avoiding jealousy and fighting. The Bible reminds us to constantly be on our guard and give our anxieties and worries to God.

When this Second Advent occurs, we need to pray for exceptional strength and endurance for our loved ones and ourselves. So live in a state of daily readiness. The babe in a manger will someday return in power and glory.

Will we be ready and waiting for him? My beloved grandmother had a favorite saying. She’d often say, "Keep looking up. Jesus is coming. Maybe even today."

Prayer: Help us be ready and live alertly for that day, dear God. Amen.

"[They] sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: ‘Great and marvellous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.’" "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone." "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed." "You are members of God’s household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself to be the chief cornerstone."

Revelations 15: 3; Psalm 118:22 (quoted in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, and Acts 4:11), Isaiah 28:16 (quoted in 1 Peter 2: 6), Ephesians 2:20:

Both Testaments resound to the news that God’s household has been built, and that the very foundation for its soundness is based on Christ, the chief cornerstone. That stone which was dismissed as unfit for a task, and left to the mercy of the wind and the rain, has risen to become the most precious of all jewels, the capstone of eternity. How often do later day prospectors come by the mullock heaps left by previous miners and, turning these over with much care and attention, discover that within the abandoned refuse lies a gem of priceless value. It is only on the cornerstone provided by Christ that the nation whom God redeemed from slavery in Egypt could be brought into an enduring relationship with all whom were previously classed as outsiders, as Gentiles. Only the stone rejected by his builders in his own country, the Chosen of God, could unite all the peoples of the world.

Often we find marvellous achievements that owe their birth to those who had been overlooked, or who had been judged unfit or unskilled. Only God can know fully our capabilities, and our weaknesses. It is often those who have been overlooked who set out to demonstrate that they can achieve what was deemed impossible. The Paralympic Games bear witness to the fact that despite physical disabilities men and women of determination can achieve those feats that had previously been judged beyond their capabilities. From prison cells have come words and books that perhaps owe their inspiration to those incarcerations. John Bunyan was imprisoned for twelve years in Bedford Prison, by it was there he wrote as never before, and it was there that Pilgrim’s Progress took shape. On 23rd August 1944, just a few months before his execution by the Gestapo at Flossenburg, Martin Bonhoeffer wrote: "I am sure of God’s guiding hand, and I hope I shall never lose that certainty. You must never doubt that I am travelling my appointed road with gratitude and cheerfulness. I am thankful for all those who have crossed my path, and all I wish is never to cause them sorrow, and that they like me will always be grateful for the forgiveness and mercy of God and sure of it. Let our hearts rejoice in all of this." To his tormentors, he was finished, but his words continue to ring down through the years, encouraging each new generation of disciples.

Heaven’s capstone, deemed by the builders as unsuitable, a stone with no value or use, is Jesus. So with the hosts of witnesses, with the apostles and prophets of previous times, with those who have been martyred in all centuries we join our voices in a song of praise to the King of the Ages, to Jesus, firstborn of God. To Christ who, with God our Parent, made us from the dust of the earth, shaping our bones and adding flesh and muscle, skin and hair, until our creation was completed, we cry with longing, "O come again, most precious of all heaven’s jewels, and save all the peoples of this earth. We are not whole without you, we are not at peace without your presence, we long to witness your return." We join the choirs of angels as we lift our hearts in prayer in the words of the sixth antiphon:

O Rex Gentium,
O King of the Nations,

et desideratus earum,
and the one they desired,

lapisque angularis,
keystone,

qui facis utraque unum:
who makes both peoples one:

veni, et salva hominem,
Come and save humanity,

quem de limo formasti.
whom you shaped from the mud.

"…the time came for her to deliver her child." Luke 2:6b

I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph traveling on a donkey to Bethlehem. Her advanced pregnancy probably made it very difficult for her to move and travel. Poor Joseph probably felt terrible about the forced journey, her obvious discomfort and the uncertainty of where the baby would be born.

I’ve often wondered what Mary’s thoughts, feelings and dreams were about her pending birth event. Did she want her mother to be with her? Was she afraid? Where was God in all her discomfort? Where was God as the birthing pains began and there was no room in any of the local inns? The scripture story does not provide us with any of these insights or details. Instead, we are simply told "the time came for her to deliver her child."

Years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote a meditation titled: "No fairy tale." In it he notes that "God was born in very humble circumstances—he was, as the hymn puts it, born "in a lowly cattle shed". The actual event was far from romantic. There is nothing gay and amusing about a young woman having to hunt desperately for some shelter where she could give birth to her first child."

The timeless reality of this birthing story continues every day around the world. There will always be desperate women urgently hunting for some shelter and assistance where they can give birth. No woman wants to give birth in such dire circumstances and without experienced assistance.

Earlier in the year, catastrophic floods forced many in Ethiopia to flee for higher ground. One desperate woman was in active labor. As floodwaters swirled and rose menacingly beneath her, she sought shelter in the branches of a tree. There she gave birth to a daughter. Rescuers were captured on film as they dramatically pulled the mother and tiny infant to safety from a hovering helicopter.

For today’s prayer, consider praying for all the desperate women in the world today as they search for shelter to birth their children. Pray for their unborn children and tiny newborns. May they find compassion, care and concern in their hours of need.

Prayer: God, hear our prayers. Amen.