DAY 23 - THE LONGEST NIGHT

"Lone Tree at Dusk" by Michael Bolognesi

A Liturgy for the Longest Night 
(a tradition in many countries on the winter solstice,
'Longest Night' gatherings offer spiritual companionship to
those who live with sadness in this season)

Hyssop
 
Jesse Tree Symbol: Joseph

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A Cry
Listen, God, to my prayer;
my cry goes out to you alone.
Don't hide your face
on the day of my anguish.
Lean your ear toward me;
when I cry out, answer me quickly--
 (Psalm 102:1-2)

A Reading

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
   my help and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
   therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar. 

Deep calls to deep
   at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
   have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
   and at night his song is with me,
   a prayer to the God of my life. 
(Psalm 42:4-8)

Music

 
Meditative Verse
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
(Psalm 51:7)
 
A Reflection
God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road,
to listen to our story, and to help us to realize that we are not
walking in circles but moving towards the house of peace and joy.
This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation:
we are not alone on our journey.
The God of love who gave us life sent us his only Son to be with us at all times
and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles
but always can trust that he walks with us...
Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and let him -
whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend -
be our companion.
by Henri Nouwen, Gracias!, A Latin American Journal
excerpted in Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen

Verse for the Day
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
(Psalm 32:7)
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A detail from "Nativity" by Giotto

Hyssop is a long and slender reed-like plant, found in differing species in the Middle East. Though not a 'tree', like the 'thicket' and the 'vines', it is found among trees and is conspicuous in Scripture. Along with cedarwood and crimson yarn, it was used for healing leprosy (Leviticus 14). But it was also specifically used during preparation for burial: hyssop is used to sprinkle cleansing water on the deceased and on everything in that person's surroundings (see Numbers 19). This is likely one of the reasons why it is hyssop that is used to offer Jesus a drink when he is on the Cross. Known for its medicinal herbal qualities, it is offered to Jesus as a comfort.

Joseph, the man who will be the earthly father of Jesus, is visited by an angel of the Lord a remarkable three times in the nativity story: once to be told the news of the coming birth, once to be told to flee to Egypt, and once again after Herod's death when it is time for them to return again (all are in Matthew only). While the visit of Gabriel to Mary is an essential part of any Christmas pageant, the visits by angels to Joseph are not, even though the promise of the newly born saviour relies on his safety. A tradition began in the late Middle Ages of painting Joseph in nativity scenes in a 'sorrowful' position. (Go here, for another example.) The 'sorrowful Joseph' is able to see into the future and is unable to join in the signs of glad tidings and joy around him. At the same time, this Joseph remains open to God's messengers, and from the midst of his uncertainty and fear, is able to receive and hear them when they draw close. They trust Jesus to his care. And he trusts in God's desire for Joseph to be the protector. It is with that courage that he is able to walk out of the darkness of the future and into the glory of the present.

"Hyssop in the Morning Sun" by Texas Dreaming

†

LC† The Trees of Jesse is a project of

Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.

DAY 19

"White Cherry River", uncredited image found on
wallpaperscastle.com

Cherry Trees

Jesse Tree Symbol: a Big Fish or Whale

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A Greeting
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
(Psalm 143:8b)

A Reading
[Jonah] prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.
(Jonah 4:1-6)

Music

 
Meditative Verse
But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, "You are my God."
(Psalm 31:14)
 
A Reflection
God, full of compassion, does not destroy Nineveh. It is Good News but we have a prophet who is so distressed that he would rather die than live! I hear Jonah saying, "I knew it! I knew you would drag me here and then you'd save them anyway!" But is it the job of the prophet to question the will of the Lord God? ...Sometimes we are not that much different from ...Jonah, although we might express ourselves differently. And God has even yet enough patience and compassion with us, too, and this is Good News!
A Prayer:

Lord God, you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Help us to trust you, to follow, to pay attention to the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst, and to go where you call us even if we feel the effort is fruitless, even when we don't understand and it doesn't make sense to us! In this season of Advent, help us to hear the call of John the Baptist, calling us to a baptism of repentance. When we are feeling rebellious, call us back again and again, back to yourself, back to life in you and back to the waters of our baptism where there is life, wholeness, and abundance for all. Amen.

- from "The Grumbling Prophet", a blog post by Pastor Fran Schmidt
found on her blog, devotionalwonderings

Verse for the Day
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
(Psalm 16:9)

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Jesse Tree image by Eric Westra

The prophet Jonah has one of the shortest books in the bible, but his story is among its most famous. Sent to bring a message of doom to the people of Nineveh, his hesitation is reflected in the raging elements and, during a storm at sea, he is thrown overboard by the men of his ship and swallowed by a "large fish" (the text doesn't say whale, but tradition has made the big fish a whale). Nineveh, his destination, is the more likely of the places proposed by scholars as the site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, an extraordinary construction of trees and plants that appeared to 'hang over' the river. Although the gardens are largely attributed to Nebuchadnezzar, recent scholarship positions them a few hundred years later in the reign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. The horticultural make-up of the gardens is not known, but flowering trees were an essential part of it. There is no specific mention of the 'cherry tree' in the canon of Scripture, but in a text known as Pseudo-Matthew, there is a nativity story in which the unborn Jesus commands his father to pluck cherries from a tree for his mother.

In the verses of today's carol, which captures that story, Mary and Joseph are en route to Bethlehem. Mary is hungry and asks Joseph to get her cherries from the tree. He becomes impatient and denies her twice. Then Jesus speaks from the womb to Joseph and makes the command, and Joseph suddenly understands that the request is bigger than the one he thought. Both Jonah, and Joseph in the carol, are surprised by the will of God, who speaks to them in and from the most unexpected places.

"Cherry Blossoms" by Jeff Kubina

  †

LC† The Trees of Jesse is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.

DAY 14

"Cedar Snow, Lebanon" by Leandra Fallis

Cedars of Lebanon
 
Jesse Tree Symbol: Solomon's Temple

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A Greeting
Bless the Lord, winter cold and summer heat;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
(Prayer of Azariah 1:45 )

A Reading
At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem.
It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of
Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,
tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not
believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
(John 10:22-25)

Music


Meditative Verse
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
(Psalm 104:16)

 
A Poem
And I came to the place where all the paths of Life meet,
There I fell a wounded prey before the face of despair
And it was there that I heard unseen great wings
moving about me,
And as I turned my eyes I saw Thee
Standing before me as the cedar of God on Lebanon -
I knew thee because the light was in thine eyes,
And the motherly smile on thine lips.
You blessed me with a touch,
and whispered to my soul these words -
" Follow me child, I am thy guide..."
Behind me contentment
Before me joy
Within me Love.
- from The Cedars of Lebanon by Khalil Gibran

Verse for the Day
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
(Psalm 118:24)

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Jesse Tree image by Eric Westra

It was the dream of King David to establish an elaborate temple in Jerusalem that would house the Ark of the Covenant. It fell to his son, Solomon, to complete that task. Like his father, Solomon was a writer: the biblical books of Proverbs, Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon) and Ecclesiastes are attributed to him. The book known as the Wisdom of Solomon is pseudepigrapha; it was written much later in the 2nd century BCE but as if in the voice of Solomon. Solomon's great strength was his military fortitude and his innovations in trade. The wealth he amassed allowed him to begin work on the great temple, a project that took twenty of the forty years that he reigned. Despite his zeal to house God, Solomon fell away from his faith and began worshiping idols and building altars to them. In the wake of his fall from piety, and soon after his death, the United Kingdom fell apart and Judah and Israel were irrevocably separated. Solomon's story illustrates the underlying tension in the lives of the biblical kings: how to demonstrate the effects of power required of the era while remaining a model of righteousness. 

The cedars of Lebanon provided the foundation of many massive construction projects in the ancient world, including Solomon's Temple. These fragrant and woody trees were also known for their healing qualities: the bark was used for ritual cleansing in the recovery from leprosy. It is one of the most prolific trees of the bible, significant for assisting in establishing relationships of trade in communities. Today, the cedars of Lebanon are threatened by climate change (to read more go here) and deforestation.     

The festival of Dedication referred to in John 10 is Chanukah. When Jesus was walking in the portico of Solomon, the festival was still relatively new, commemorating events which had occurred less than 200 years before. The question about his identity as messiah, in a place where historically the 'light of the temple' had been extinguished, and then restored, is significant. In John, Jesus becomes the new temple: "‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’" 
 

"Here I Am" by McLara

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LC† The Trees of Jesse is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.

DAY 13

"Morning Mist" by Steve Lacy

Terebinth Trees
 
Jesse Tree Symbol: a Crown and/or Slingshot

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A Greeting
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust;
I am not afraid.
(Psalm 56:4a)

A Reading
God is our refuge and strength,
   a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.
(Psalm 46)

Pistachia terebeintha flowers by Abrahami

Music

 
Meditative Verse
Like a terebinth I spread out my branches,
and my branches are glorious and graceful.
(Sirach 24:16)
 
A Reflection
The celebrative psalms of thanksgiving and hymns powerfully express experiences of reorientation. The reorientation is always a surprise and a gift. It always comes to us just when we thought it not possible, when we could not see how it could be wrought in the present circumstance. The reorientation is not an achievement coming from us. It is not an automatic "next stage" ordained in our body, but it is something we receive when we did not expect it at all. Life falls into patterns of wholeness where we did not think it could happen precisely and only because God is at work.... Sometimes in a world where the circumstances are hopeless, then a promissory word is all that stands between us and the chaos. Then it is important to pray and speak and sing and share that word against all that data. For such a word stands like a barrier thrown up against a sea (see Jeremiah 5:22). And we do know that in our most precious friendships, sometimes there is only a word between us and misery, between us and death. But that word is not a fantasy. It is, rather, a precious gift on which we will stake everything. Thus as the psalms of complaint are acts of painful relinquishment, so celebrative psalms are acts of radical hope.
- from "Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the LIfe of the Spirit
by Walter Brueggemann

Verse for the Day
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
(Psalm 72:19-20)

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Jesse Tree image by Eric Westra

In Elah, where the young David famously fought the Philistine Goliath, the valley is filled with Terebinth trees. Elah, is a Hebrew word for 'terebinth'. Despite that there are separate Hebrew words for 'oak' ('alon') and 'terebinth' ('elah') modern translators often mistakenly name them interchangeably (the NRSV, most especially). The Tanakh and other Jewish translations are careful to distinguish them because the oak and the terebinth have distinct characteristics. (The terebinth, for instance, has small red blossoms.) In Judges 6, Gideon receives a visit from an angel under a terebinth and eventually builds an altar there. Because they were tall, both the oak and the terebinth were believed to possess divine power and strength: both trees have the word for God ('el') in them. As a result, both trees were used for idol worship and this is why Jacob buries the idols of Laban in Genesis 35, under a terebinth. Both trees when cut down, regenerate very quickly.

It was most likely from a terebinth tree that David, the youngest son of Jesse, fashioned a slingshot. The conquest begins the narrative of one of the most profound figures in the bible.
A king, a warrior, a lyricist and musician, the author of a substantial part of the book of Psalms, a very human and flawed man who nonetheless became an icon of righteous leadership, David became the inspiration for generations of Israelites. Falling at exactly the halfway point of Advent, the David symbol of the Jesse Tree begins the descent from Jesse himself, toward Jesus. Isaiah's prophecy that a shoot will come out from Jesse, marks the beginning of the House of David. Most importantly, David's kingship and his contribution to the psalms point us all toward God. "Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." (Psalm 105:3)
 

"Pistacia Terebinthus" by Manuel M. Ramos

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LC† The Trees of Jesse is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
Join our Facebook page. Follow us @LuTConnect.