Colossians 1:27 (NRSVUE)

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ lives in me.

Richard Rohr

“The Christ Mystery

is not something to admire from a distance.

It is something to participate in.

God has chosen to dwell

not merely among us,

but within us—

so that divine love

might continue to take flesh

in the world.”

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Matthew 1:23 (NRSVUE)

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.”

God is with us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from *God Is in the Manger*

“God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings.

God marches right in.

God chooses people as his instruments

and performs wonders where one would least expect them.

God is near us—

in the midst of our lives.”

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Luke 2:6–7

While they were there, the time came for Mary to deliver her child.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son

and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger,

because there was no place in the guest room.

God is found in the ordinary.

Madeleine L’Engle, from Walking on Water

“There is nothing so secular

that it cannot be sacred.

And nothing so ordinary

that it cannot be filled with God.

If we believe that God took on flesh,

then every place

where life unfolds

is holy ground.”

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John 1:14 (NRSVUE)

And the Word became flesh and lived among us,

and we have seen his glory,

the glory as of a father’s only son,

full of grace and truth.

God is closer than I imagined.

Meister Eckhart

“God is nearer to me than I am to myself.

My being depends on God’s nearness

and God’s presence within me.

God does not come and go.

God is always here.”

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Luke 1:38 (NRSVUE)

Then Mary said,

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord;

let it be with me according to your word.”

Then the angel departed from her.

I make room for God.

Jan Richardson

“This is a season

for making room—

for letting the heart

be opened

not by force

but by consent.

The Holy does not arrive

with demands,

but with an invitation

that waits patiently

to be welcomed.”

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Deuteronomy 33:27 (NRSVUE)

The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

I am held in God.

Julian of Norwich

“For I saw no wrath in God,

only mercy.

And I saw that we are all held,

and shall be held,

in love—

and this holding never fails.”

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1 John 4:16 (NRSVUE)

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,

and God abides in them.

God’s love moves through me.

Howard Thurman

“When love is present,

it does not force its way.

It creates space.

It releases fear,

loosens the grip of control,

and invites life to unfold as it must.

Love does not originate with us.

It passes through us,

shaping the world

as it goes.”

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Philippians 2:3 (NRSVUE)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

I am free to be small and loved.

Meister Eckhart

“The more completely you are able

to empty yourself,

the more room God has to act within you.

True humility is not weakness.

It is the spaciousness

that allows divine love to move freely.”

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