Providing Christian resources from the YMCA past and present to nourish inclusive, equitable work in our diverse and global neighborhoods that build up healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
Three amazing experiences I had while at the YMCA in Bethlehem:
* visit Basilica of the Nativity and kneel at the place believed where Jesus was born
* visit YMCA Field of the Shepherds where its believed angels announced the birth of the Christ-child
* and feast on falafels, believed by me to be the best in the world.
On February 14, 2020 the YMCA OnPrinciple team spent the day in Bethlehem.
Today is Christmas Eve, and I’m reflecting on life in February and how our world has changed since then; of my time in Bethlehem and how the world has changed from that first Christmas Eve, and how the YMCA as a global movement still strives to embody the good news in fields and little towns, crowded cities and refugee camps.
Be the light. A YMCA devotion for those called to bring hope to darkness and to stay faithful amidst suffering. Like Mary, the beloved mother of our Lord Jesus. #flourishingforall
When the times seem dark, when the burdens of living cause you to stumble, when you wonder why life is turning out this way, remember Mary.
Artistic gifts from the nations, of Mary mother of our Lord Jesus, at the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth Israel
Our OnPrinciple team of 24 YMCA leaders visited Nazareth in February 2020, and a highlight included visiting holy sites where it is believed that the messenger Gabriel announced to young Mary that through her the Messiah of Israel would be born – The Annunciation.
Below are more pics of the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation, as well as some from the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation.
Growing up as a Evangelical Protestant Christian in the Midwest, I was taught to be suspicious of Catholics, to not consider them as even Christian unless they had a born-again experience like me.
This included disregarding Mary, reviling at Marian devotion, and looking down on anyone who held Mary in high esteem.
I’ve been having to detox from this bigotry.
Visiting the Basilica of the Annunciation changed something within my heart towards the Mother of Jesus.
The pictures below try to capture some of the beauty created through architecture and art in remembrance and celebration of The Annunciation.
I was humbled by the lower section of the Basilica, which has an earthen, wooden feel to it, centered around the home of Mary, where Gabriel visited her.
The upper level is full of light, it draws your eyes up, particularly to the towering cupola, a structure of magnificence and awe.
What turned my heart towards Mary in a more personal way was the many works of art depicting her from the point of view of over forty different countries.
I posted a few of my favorite below – Brazil is so joyful, Mexico makes me smile; America makes me grimace, and I still can’t figure out the Canada one.
As I reflect on this place, this sacred space, I’m reminded of the light that Mary brings to those who remember: her simplicity, her faithfulness, her courage, her determination, her fierceness, her enduring hope, her generous love.
The times were dark when she was visited by the messenger of God. The times are still dark for many in the world.
We can look to the mother of Jesus as a source of inspiration, as one who trusts in the Lord, who will follow him to the end, in love.
When I think of the need for more light, I think of the need for more of us to let Mary light our way.
She was loved by Jesus; but it was her mothering love that shaped his infant, adolescent and adult life. It was her songs that stirred his soul, her faithfulness to God that he in part imitated when he faced heart-breaking hardships.
Be the light.
Let the light of Jesus shine through you in the dark.
Learn from Mary the mother of Jesus on courageously enduring to the end, to the vindication, when God makes all things right.
Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, IsraelBasilica front door; 8 engravings from the life of ChristBasilica lower level, facing 4th century basilica ruins over the home of Mary, where she was visited by the angel GabrielAltar inside the original basilica Upper level of basilica, facing the back of the sanctuary Facing the front of the basilica upper level sanctuaryFront altar, upper sanctuary Flower shaped dome jutting up above the front of the basilica sanctuaryMary the Magnificat : America
“And Mary sang out:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
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, just as he promised our ancestors.””
[The Magnificat, the Song of Mary, from the Gospel According to Luke 1:46-55 NIV]
Mary : MexicoMary & the Holy Child : FranceMary : PoloniaMary : BrazilMary : AustraliaMary : PortugalMary : CanadaMary : SpainMary : Japan
OnPrinciple Team, group pic at Basilica of the Annunciation
OnPrinciple Team enjoying the warm hospitality of the Nazareth YMCA board members and friends.
Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation; built over an underground spring where it is believed the angel Gabriel visited Mary
What’s your spirit searching for? Where are your steps leading you? A recent trip to the Holy Land and a visit to the synagogue where Jesus grew up reminds me of how simple yet complicated life and faith can be. Keep loving, caring and serving on your journey.
Upheaval, change, fear and meaninglessness have been a hallmark of the past century in the modern Western world.
The consuming destruction of the Great War, the economic crisises in the decades since , the horrific desecration of life through the atomic bombs and botched wars, insidious racial inequity – we are the offspring of those traumatized generations.
Having been raised a Christian, of the conservative evangelical Midwest Protestant type, the more awake I become to the fallen yet beautiful world, the more questions and grief I bring before God.
What is going on?
How are we to live as Christians?
Why is the world this way now?
God! Where are you?
When I discovered in college the U2 song on the Joshua Tree album, it immediately resonated.
Since that time I’ve been on an urgent search for God in the world, but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
It’s not been fruitless, and there has been much joy on the journey, but also more suffering that comes along with it.
In February 2020 a YMCA group called OnPrinciple brought a cohort of 12 Y leaders and 12 Y mentors together for a year program to grow in our ability to strengthen the Christian presence in the YMCA.
It included a 10 day journey through the Holy Land visiting sacred sites and fellow YMCA leaders there.
If anyone, I realized, has yearnings and doubts about the work of God in the world, it’s Palestinian Christian YMCA workers.
There were many transformational moments on the trip, one of them being Nazareth, which had several significant experiences.
One of them being winding through the bustling cobbled streets of old Nazareth in the Galilee area of Palestine.
As a large group we were making our way through the maze of covered markets and came into a narrow passageway that angles through brightly painted row houses; we stopped at an unassuming doorway.
Entrance to a 1st century synagogue in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus
It opens to a dark underground room, above the mantle is a engraved marble sign that indicates the place is a synagogue.
Descending the small set of steps ushers us into an old, old space built over two millenia ago.
Interior of synagogue, note the vaulted and arched stone architecture
It’s the synagogue where Jesus and his family gathered in Nazareth twenty centuries prior.
The experience within has changed a bit since then.
Now it is packed with many Christian tourists on modern white folding chairs, there is electric lighting and a microphone that helps us hear the words of the our guide.
Front of synagogue, Christian table & artistry in remembrance of Christ Jesus.
But to recall the gospel writings of Jesus in his synagogue, to remember the Jewish context of his upbringing, to imagine the pulsing energy and pietistic devotion to the LORD of the families gathered there – it all makes for a special, sacred moment.
Though the original structure wasn’t underground, over the milennia housing structures were built up over it, so now it has the feel of a place hidden away, easily overlooked, a space you seek on purpose.
Have I found what I am looking for?
Not yet.
But like the effort put into finding the synagogue, a guide is needed.
As a Christian, Christ is my guide in this world, he is present with me in his old synagogue, in the YMCA, here at my kitchen table, and out in the world.
His friends are with me, his spirit is with me, his words are with me, his stories are with me, if I will remember them.
Sometimes Christ works in mysterious ways; it doesn’t always make sense to me, and my trust is constantly tested.
I’ve found that in my busyness Christ’s presence can be easily overlooked.
But, he also goes ahead of me, and purposefully stays hidden, not in a coy way, but for his many reasons, which include the healing of the whole world he loves.
I hope to go back to Nazareth again, to sit in the synagogue with more YMCA friends and family, to share the the spiritual experience with them.
In the meantime I’ll keep looking for ways to love, care and serve in imitation of Christ Jesus; I trust that is how I will find what I’m searching for.
