Our stories

Among the oxen (like an ox I’m slow) I see a glory in the stable grow Which, with the ox’s dullness might at length Give me an ox’s strength. Among the asses (stubborn I as they) I see my Saviour where I looked for hay; So may my beast like folly learn at least The patience of a beast. Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed) I watch the manger where my Lord is laid; Oh that my baaing nature would win thence Some woolly innocence! "The Nativity" by C.S. Lewis

Dear Friends at Calvin Church, In my daily meditations for Advent, I have been focusing on Jesus being sent to be the light of the world. Though we see and hear of much darkness in our world, we know that God has given us His son to be our light. We know that darkness is the absence of light. In John 1:4,5 we read, In Him was life, and the life is the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And in John 1:9 we read, the true light

When the world beats you down to the ground Love abounds between the beams of the cross, When you’re hopeless and lost, Riding waves that carry and toss You farther out to see than your heart ever dared, There’s no reason to be scared. His love is always there, deep enough to bear Cold, iron nails and a crown adorned with thorns. So when your hope is waning and worn, Remember the child that was born To bear all your burdens and to light your way. Remember the price that was p

A silvery moon shines down on the earth -- the trees shudder under the weight of the mystery, as if shaken by the wind and far away a star flickers and wanes. out there, strange travelers seek you in the unknown -- -- -- but you are not found thru study of charts, of prodding into the unknown you are here, in what is known, in everything that is soft and precious; – helpless and vulnerable – you cannot be contained in books and scrolls and ink -- -- because you are here; in e

I know not all of that which I contain. I’m small; I’m young; I fear the pain. All is surprise: I am to be a mother. That holy thing within me and no other is Heaven’s King whose lovely Love will reign. My pain, his gaining my eternal gain My fragile body holds Creation’s Light; its smallness shelters God’s unbounded might. The angel came and gave, did not explain. I know not all of that which I contain. “Young Mary” by Madeline L’Engle A Cry Like a Bell: Poems, 1987

A member of Calvin Church once told me that the hour and a half he spent in church each Sunday was the most stressful hour and a half of his week. At the time, I remember being surprised and feeling a bit sad as this person was a life-long Calvin member, volunteered as an usher and had served in many different capacities through the years. As it turns out, not only do I understand what he was saying but I feel much the same way. The person I was talking to was telling me how