A gifted purse – v2

I watched her gathering her change,
from a treasured gifted purse,
gilded, beautiful, a keepsake,
in texture, in gold and blues.
 
A representation of Mary, of Jesus,
the Madonna and child,
Eastern Orthodox iconography,
a talisman, tangible, a memory,
of that singular moment in time.
 
God come from heaven,
born to Mary, this Jesus,
fully God, fully man, precious,
held in the arms of Mary, His mother,
the nativity, His whole life…

------
Edited December 21, 2023
A gifted purse – v2
 
December 20, 2023
A gifted purse
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-gifted-purse.html
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10160149673728003
Madonna and Child (in Blue)
https://www.holytrinitystore.com/tapestry-cloth-tip73.html
https://www.holytrinitystore.com/virgin-mary-icon-pouch-tip4.html
https://www.olopgiftshop.com/madonna-and-child-icon-in-blue-gold-foil-arched-ic.html
 
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com )  for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com  Poetry Where You Live.
 
poetry, Madonna and child, Madonna, Mary, Jesus, God, Christ, Advent, Christmas, nativity, incarnation, Eastern Orthodox, iconography,
 
#poetry #Madonna and #child #Mary #Jesus #God #Christ #Advent #Christmas #nativity #Incarnation #EastermOrthodox #iconography

A gifted purse

Gathering her payment, her change,

from a treasured gifted purse
gilded, beautiful, a keepsake,
in texture, in gold and blues.
 
A manifestation of the
Madonna and child,
Eastern Orthodox iconography
a talisman, a memory,
of that singular moment in time.
 
God come from heaven,
born to Mary, this Jesus,
fully God, fully man, precious,
held in the arms of Mary, His mother,
the nativity, His whole life…

------
December 20, 2023

A gifted purse

https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-gifted-purse.html

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10160149673728003

Madonna and Child (in Blue)
https://www.holytrinitystore.com/tapestry-cloth-tip73.html
https://www.holytrinitystore.com/virgin-mary-icon-pouch-tip4.html
https://www.olopgiftshop.com/madonna-and-child-icon-in-blue-gold-foil-arched-ic.html

 

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com )  for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com  Poetry Where You Live.

 

poetry, Madonna and child, Madonna, Mary, Jesus, God, Christ, Advent, Christmas, nativity, incarnation, Eastern Orthodox, iconography,
 
#poetry #Madonna and #child #Mary #Jesus #God #Christ #Advent #Christmas #nativity #Incarnation #EasternOrthodox #iconography

A Dangerous Question – v2

As a lawyer, even as a middle-school teacher

you never are to ask these kinds of questions,

questions where you don’t know the answer,

those that can go horribly wrong, alert others to danger,

to culpability, to retribution, to a finding of guilt

No, you don’t ask those kind, their ilk; you avoid them

you avoid them at almost all cost

She knows too, in her line of work, her calling, to serve the Lord

that they are dangerous, unscripted, unnerving, all too prone

to grab the spotlight, grab the wheel or the rudder,

to pilot the plane, or at least her plan, into the ground

Yes, I am talking of a pastor and the children of the congregation

clustered within the expectancy of Christmas Eve, down in the chancel

for the impromptu questioning of a pastor, in “Children’s Time”

Maybe the title of that portion of the bulletin should give a hint,

or give pause; but not this morning, as we soon saw

Maybe she felt safe with these children, not quite as secular as the maddening crowd

but they answered in kind, from the tip of the neon reality of Christmas all around.

“Who is coming tonight?” between the Advent wreath lighting and

the reading from Luke Chapter 1, the Advent story

Naturally, the response was, _______________.

Go ahead, you can fill in the blank as well as I; It was the bearded one

not the swaddled babe in the manger, that was the first retort, almost in unison

With a bit of prompting, they came around; But. . . that was after she lost them

She asked again before the prayer, the benediction of the children’s time.

And, … , yes, it was Santa who was coming, once again.

And Jesus too. Thank God, for that. Amen.

Edited November 9, 2013

A Dangerous Question – v2

December 24, 2006 14:41

A Dangerous Question

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2006/12/dangerous-question.html

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 26,380+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

God Came Again – v2

The babe in the manger

was not the first time God

walked on the earth,

shared breath with creation,

with mortal man

It was the Garden, the holy garden

when God and Adam and Eve

were together, able to see

and be seen, to feel the warmth

of God with them in person

Before the fall, the shame,

the stain of the first sin

Breaking the bond

the iniquity plain

Never the same, shattered

until the Father was the Son

and Jesus was born in Bethlehem

Come to save us

to heal the breach

Edited April 23, 2013

“God Came Again – v2”

after Austin Masterson

included the original in a student assignment

Roswell, NM

December 14, 2006 21:54

“God Came Again”

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2006/12/god-came-again.html

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 23,060+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

From His Lofty Throne

The word come down
descended to flesh
from his lofty throne
laid in a manger bed

Brought low, to the earth
God walking as man
humbling himself
becoming the lamb

Giving all he was
going to the cross
paying all for us
such an awesome cost

Responding we do
not because we must
offering ourselves
at the foot of your cross


May 13, 2010
2 Corinthians 8:9
2 Corinthians 8:8-9
2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (Christian Giving)

&
Day 233, “A Cameo of Christ”,
in “Daily Mediations: On Golden Texts of the Bible”,
by Henry Gariepy
http://books.google.com/books?id=9tjVtRt3TUMC&pg=PP1&dq=henry+gariepy&ei=6tqBSqLVDJiQyQT4i9DOCg#v=onepage&q=&f=false
read 5/13/2010


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,710+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

The Book of Mary

She who was there in the beginning
the handmaiden of God
the mother of Christ
She carried the seed of the Spirit
her life forever changed
her child resting in the manger
gifts from kings
shepherds bow at his side
Watching him grow
in the shadow of prophecy
his steps according to God’s plan
A man, reborn, a descending dove
trials in the wilderness
her son wandering, healing
his words, his life
bringing the kingdom near
Her son, a sacrificial lamb
paying for the sins of man
dying on the cross
Our savior, rising from the grave
closing the Book of Mary


May 24, 2009, June 30, 2009, and July 1, 2009
title May 23, 2009

The Book of Joseph

Oh to have in our canon
the Book of Joseph

The story of the son
growing in the world
before the falling of the dove

To see the babe of the manger
the alien in the foreign land
the child, growing in faith

What he must have seen
the one who would raise the son
the holy one of God, into manhood

A special word of grace
in the Book of Joseph


May 24, 2009 and June 30, 2009
title May 23, 2009

Who is Jesus?

A child’s question,
shared by the pastor
shared with the children,
offered to the congregation
all of us involved, active
pondering our answer
to this question, so central

Partial answers only,
a mere cloudy foretaste
a baby, laying in a manger,
Son of God, Savior,
the part of God that is like us
our brother, our friend, our King
He is all that and so much more


May 17, 2009
Psalm 98:4-8 (Call to Worship)
1 John 5:1-5
John 15:11-15
Message for Children
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
sermon, “Friends”,
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
and final hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”,
United Methodist Hymnal #526
(Sanctifying Grace and Perfecting Grace section),
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
May 17, 2009

Return to the Cross

To understand, the real weight
the gravity of his act, we must return
As we return to Bethlehem,
as we kneel at the manger bed.

We travel, we journey,
our face, with his, set on Jerusalem,
We return to the cross
to his suffering, to his sacrifice

Each Lenten season a pilgrimage
from our comfort, our day to day
Walking beside our savior,
journeying with him, as they did

The first disciples, not fully comprehending
needing too this reminder
these days of reflection
preparing us, our lives to him
as we return to the cross.


March 15, 2009
on posting the poem, “Return to Bethlehem”,
to christianpoetry.org today
-----
Return to Bethlehem

We must return, to Nazareth, to Bethlehem
to the river, the Jordan
to the time of the Christ, with us
before his birth, hopeful, waiting
wondering when the Messiah will come
when the prophecy of old will be fulfilled

Each year, Adventide
journeying with Mary, with Joseph
following His star, traveling far
leaving our fields, listening to the angels

Returning to Bethlehem
to fall to our knees
at his manger bed

December 12 and 13, 2008

Manger - haiku - 3

lay down your head, Lord
in your humble manger bed
thank you for coming

January 30, 2009

Manger

At the beginning of his life
a humble couple, young, unsure
travelers, following the law
going to his town, their ancient home
unexpected vessels, agents of God
coming unheralded, unwelcome, no place for them
a humble stable would be theirs
this is where He would appear
the prophesized Messiah, born, witnessed
by the animals, by his parents
wrapped and placed
a humble manger
would welcome the king

January 29, 2009

Manger – haiku – 1

No room for them there
the baby in the stable
his bed a manger

January 29, 2009

Manger – haiku – 2

a humble stable
The king of kings, a baby
laid in the manger

January 29, 2009

A Reality

A dawning, a changing of the old
unraveling threads of time,
happening before the witnessing eye
A nation turning, transforming,
like a butterfly out of a cocoon,
a nation rising from a long night
slumber giving way to light
dawning, rising, renewing
a transition of power
moving forward, a nation
together, hopeful, prayerful
longing for the truth of our creed
the highest ideals, the better angels
our nature wrapped in the words
the oath, the prayers, and his speech


January 20, 2009
Inauguration Day
the message, “It’s not just a dream but a reality”
on the sign in front of church,
the story of Moses and Joshua,
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Joshua 1:1-9
and on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as President of the United States of America
along with
Micah 4:1-4
Matthew 5:43-48
the sermon, “Love Your Who???”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH

Not Just a Dream, A Reality

January 20, 2009
Inauguration Day
the message, “It’s not just a dream but a reality”
on the sign in front of church,
the story of Moses and Joshua,
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Joshua 1:1-9
and on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as 44th President of the United States of America
along with
Micah 4:1-4
Matthew 5:43-48
the sermon, “Love Your Who???”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH

A Child of God

Living as a child of God
washed clean, baptized
anointed by the Spirit
appointed, by the voice,
the hand of God, falling on us
descending down, from heaven,
resting on us, on our days
if we would walk with Christ

Filling us, our hearts, our lives
to his glory, in his service
walking differently, with our brother
trying, in our own way, and each day
to spread the message of Christ,
the changing of the world,
to the world God would have

To see our sister, our brother differently
to humbly serve, to care for one another
to reach out our hand, to share
the living waters of Christ
poured out for each of us
a love, a sacrifice beyond measure
from the one swaddled and placed in a manger
on that first Christmas morning, so long ago

January 11, 2009
Mark 1:4-11
Acts 19:1-7
and sermon, “Child of God”,
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss,
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH

Magi – haiku – 4

Outsiders worship
brought gifts, kneeling, to your bed
babe of the manger

January 3, 2009
Matthew 2:1-12

Shepherds – haiku – 3

Leaving their sheep there
going to his manger bed
sent by the angels

January 3, 2009
Luke 2:8-20

Shepherds – haiku – 2

Watching on the hill
Their sheep in the darkness, night
led to his manger

January 3, 2009
Luke 2:8-20

Sermon - "Can I Get A Witness", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, December 14, 2008

Have you ever known someone or been some place and all that you can do after is talk about it? There is this great bagel place at Boston University…it’s called Aesop’s Bagels. This place makes the best bagels…they also make great sandwiches. I eat there so much that when they see me coming they already know what I will order and almost have it ready when I get to the counter. What a great place that is. You should try it sometime if you ever go out to Boston University. I can “witness” to this bagel shop’s delicious food!

This morning’s John scripture talks about another kind of witnessing. It talks about a “witness” that we all should remember and share. It talks about John telling the Jews in Jerusalem who he is. Listen to this…

[John 1:6-8, 19-28]

John, using the words of Isaiah, told them that he was that voice…calling in the desert…testifying…witnessing…telling people to make straight for the way of the Lord. John testified to the one to come after him whose sandals he was unworthy to untie. He was testifying…witnessing…about our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. (And I can’t think of anything or anyone that I want to testify about more than Him…Can I get a witness!)

OK…so…you might be saying to yourself “Here we have John witnessing…but what does that mean for you and me in our day and age.” Well…I’m glad you asked that question…You see when we are baptized (not by water but by the Spirit)…We are called to witness to the light…the light of Advent. We are like Isaiah with the Spirit of the Lord upon us…and like Isaiah; we are anointed to preach the Good News to the poor and everything else he talks about in the Isaiah scripture we read this morning. WE are anointed and appointed to witness to those around us.

In our day and age…Christmas has become so commercialized it makes me sad. They start the commercials for those “must have toys” before Thanksgiving. Now I know most of you have had children so you know what I am saying when I say that when I get the “Oh mom…look at that…I want that…can I have that for Christmas?” from my daughters…even before Thanksgiving is here, and I know there is more than a month left that I will hear this “calling from the living room”, it makes me want to just shut the TV off until after the New Year. (Can I get a witness?) So what are we to do to keep the “light” of Advent…this “light” of Christmas…during this season and throughout the year?

I was reading the Devotionals in the Upper Room Disciplines this week and came to a devotional that made me stop and think about this light and witnessing thing. It was Wednesday’s devotional. It talked about “minding the light”. This is a term that the Quakers use. It means to notice the light which usually just illumines other things for itself. But…if we mind the light…seeing the light of Christ in ourselves and in others…We can testify…witness…to the light in ourselves and others. We can testify…witness…to God’s love and providence. We can testify…witness…to God’s goodness. We can testify… witness…to God’s salvation (I think the Quakers have it right. Can I get a witness?).

In another devotional I read this morning hit the nail right on the head for me. It was from a devotional called “The Quiet Heart” By June Masters Bacher. It states that “Christmas is a celebration of divine love. Love that goes beyond gift and feast. Without it, the season would be but a touch of tinsel. Share the priceless gift of God’s love. Only in this way (through simple things, their influence unmeasured) can the real meaning survive”. We must witness to the love we have found in God. We must witness of the babe in the manger and what His birth means to the world. We must witness to the saving grace we have received through that babe in the manger, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Can I get a witness?!)

I would like to end my sermon with a verse from a song by “Celtic Women”. When I think of being called to witness…this song comes to mind. It is called “The Voice”.

I hear your voice on the wind
And I hear you call out my name

"Listen, my child," you say to me
"I am the voice of your history
Be not afraid, come follow me
Answer my call, and I'll set you free"

Listen…do you hear Him? Can you hear His voice calling from the wilderness? Can you feel His hand upon you? It is our choice whether to listen or turn a deaf ear. Which will you choose?

AMEN