Melissa Hatfield

The Ministry of Presence :Missional Church Network

December 29, 2010 in Church with 0 Comments

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More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.

My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

- Henri Nouwen

via missionalchurchnetwork.com

Advent Devotion

December 4, 2010 in Faith with 1 Comment

Here is the devotion that I wrote for our church advent devotional book. It ran today. Maybe it will bless you and remind you, if you are in darkness, that the darkness will not win. The Light of Heaven will always break through the darkest night.

You’ll have no more need of the sun by day
nor the brightness of the moon at night.
God will be your eternal light,
your God will bathe you in splendor.
Your sun will never go down,
your moon will never fade.
I will be your eternal light.
Your days of grieving are over.
All your people will live right and well,
in permanent possession of the land.
They’re the green shoot that I planted,
planted with my own hands to display my glory.
The runt will become a great tribe,
the weakling become a strong nation.
I am God.
At the right time I’ll make it happen.” (Isaiah 60:19-22, The Message)

I don’t like the dark. Literally. I never have. As long as I can remember, I’ve slept with a nightlight. When I was younger, I had two nightlights and a bright street light right outside my bedroom window. At 37 years young, I still have a nightlight in my bedroom. The light is my salvation, the destroyer of the dark.

I don’t like the dark, metaphorically, either. My heart breaks for those who are imprisoned by the darkness of life. My blood boils against those who bring darkness into the lives of others. My life exists to share the Light, the Destroyer of the dark.

When you have a deep fear and hatred of dark, the imagery of the Lord as the everlasting Light resonates with you more than any other image. Some nights never seem to end and the fear is immobilizing. Yet when the first fingers of dawn reach through the blinds on your window, you are full of hope. A new day is dawning.

The words in Isaiah 60 are words of hope. One day, there will be no more darkness, no more mourning. There will be no more need for the sun or the moon that pale in comparison to the Everlasting Light of the Lord. The night may try to persuade you that it has blanketed the Light but in its time, the fingers of Light will reach through your darkness and a new day will dawn. Quickly.

May this Advent we find hope in the Everlasting Light of the Lord that reached into our dark world in the form of a baby.