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.
Click on pic to watch a short 30 second intro to Rays of Hope
Enjoy the introduction video to Rays of Hope World YMCA/YWCA Week of Prayer starting Sunday Nov 8, by Tim Hallman, Director of Christian Emphasis, YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne, Indiana USA
A prayer is available each day, corresponding to the daily theme. Subscribe to the blog to automatically receive the prayer each day this week, and future blogposts.
THEME 2020 Rays of Hope: creating resilient communities through practical spirituality
“Since 1904, the World YMCA and World YWCA have traditionally collaborated together for the World Week of Prayer and World Fellowship. Celebrated each year on the second week of November, both organisations join efforts to produce a booklet with a theme, a set of bible studies for each day, and an annual bible reading plan so that communities around the world can come together in prayer for a specific cause linked to current realities.”
“This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world immeasurably. It has exposed unjust structural systems and demonstrated how a global emergency affects lives disproportionally, especially those who are more vulnerable to inequalities. We are therefore called upon to reflect on all the good things in our lives, and challenged to take action to rebuild a world that promotes justice, love and peace in our communities and beyond.”
“The pandemic has also come with new opportunities for personal and spiritual growth. It has shed light and helped us see what is truly essential in our lives, how can we rediscover ourselves and how can we best invest our time spreading kindness and supporting those in need, including investing in our own mental and physical health.”
“This year, the World YMCA and World YWCA- Week of Prayer and World Fellowship will be an invitation to journey together throughout the week, reflecting on how to move from our individual calling to the collective for transformation to happen in times of the current global pandemic.”
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
The YMCA provides a unique lens through which to see the Holy Land.
Since 1878 Christian Y workers have been embodying their mission there, focusing on peace-making work in spirit, mind, and body.
In 1933 a building was finally constructed to give the Jerusalem International YMCA a permanent home from which to extend it’s influence and services to the wider community.
80+ years later, a lot has changed in the Holy Land.
Though James Michener helps put “change” in perspective in this sacred place, what’s transpired in the past couple of generations has its own unique element.
With the devastating tsunami of consequences from the Great War, to the horrific pogroms and holocaust of the Jews, and the shifting tectonic plates of nationalism in the last century, Jerusalem has become epicenter to peace and conflict in the modern world.
The Y has been deeply embedded in this storm and is positioned to strengthen opportunities for truth, justice, and reconciliation non-violently.
There is so much to look at in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities, towns, villages, and countryside. So much to see. Like everything, we get to choose how we see what we look at.
Everything is interpreted, it is given meaning, significance, relevance, value. We in part get to choose how we see what we see.
And because of the sacred nature of Jerusalem and the Holy Land to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, along with many others, there are many perspectives existing alongside each other; there are many ways to see the same sites and circumstances.
What does my Christian faith shape how I see Israel and Palestine?
What kind of lens does Christ make possible for me as I seek to understand what I can see there?
How do I “C” the land where Jesus was born, lived, gospeled, was crucified and raised up? I don’t pretend to have an easy answer – everything it seems is complicated in Jerusalem.
But am I aware of my assumptions, my biases, of what I don’t know that I don’t know, of what I may be a misunderstanding?
Thanks to emerging friendships and conversations, it’s slowly stumbling in that direction. I can be a dense, obtuse learner.
The YMCA offers a unique way to “C” the Holy Land due to its historical and organizational striving to put Christian principles into practice without delving into doctrinal differences.
The Paris Basis of the YMCA is a genius document that emphasizes imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the good news of his kingdom, and harmonious relationship for all who believe.
It allows different kinds of Christians to work together for peace, focusing on what we have in common, and building bridges over what we can’t agree upon.
This is important ecumenical Christian work that the Y offers, especially in light of the historical reality – that Christians are willing to kill each other over doctrinal and cultural divergences.
It matters in a place where people are willing to kill each other over beliefs about who ought to have the right to live and flourish in the Holy Land.
The YMCA is radically committed to non-violent practices that forge friendships in unlikely circumstances, not only among Christians but among those of all faiths or no faith. The Y isn’t the only organization striving to do this, thankfully.
When our OnPRINCIPLE YMCA group had its first tour stop on the Mount of Olives, it was a grey, bitterly cold, wet and windy morning. Miserable.
Shivering we looked over Jerusalem, seeing in the foreground ancient Jewish cemeteries. Our eyes were drawn to the aging walls surrounding the Old City, particularly the blocked up Golden Gate, which faces the east.
Behind it is the temple mount on which sit two sacred mosques. In the far background across the horizon are church steeples representing many different nations and traditions.
What did I see?
I saw a city beloved by three major world religions who all call Abraham father – yet a city whose streets have cruelly run with blood and tears from the children who have yet to found a way to live in peace here.
Like many, I see a city that yearns for peace but is unable to secure it.
I also see an opportunity to join in with my global neighbors to learn to love – in my case inspired and instructed by Jesus – to love not only those who love me back, but strangers and sojourners, and most importantly, our enemies.
On our way from the airport to our lodgings at the Y, we had to pull to the side of the road due to motion sickness from one of our fellow travelers.
We happened to stop at an entrance to a Palestinian village. I stunned by the guard tower, roadblocks, armed soldier, barbed wire, and a foreboding sign warning Israeli’s to avoid entering this dangerous area.
A stark reminder of the violent reality that infects the foundations of society in the Holy Land.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Either we can see those military outposts and accept the status quo, or we can “C” another way to build towers of hope that beckon enemies to reconcile and become friends.
That’s what I want to “C” in the Holy Land via the YMCA.
