Advent Prayer

We gathered here at CtK last night for the first of three Wednesday evening soup suppers and services of Evening Prayer (the next two are December 9th & 16th, with dinner at 6pm and worship at 7pm). We use Holden Evening Prayer, a setting of the ancient vespers service, written by Marty Haugen. It is much loved, and quite beautiful. One of my favorite lines comes from his paraphrase of Mary's song, the Magnificat: "You have cast the mighty down from your thrones, and uplifted the humble of heart, You have filled the hungry with wondrous things, and left the wealthy no part."

It always makes me stop to think how it is that it is good news, and for whom it is good news. If you are one of the wealthy ones, I think it's pretty hard to hear - NO PART? And let's be honest, we are the wealthy ones. About this time of year, each year, I log on to the Global Rich List, a great site where you type in your annual income and it tells you how you compare to the rest of the world - talk about eye opening.
Here are some current examples: if you make $20,000 a year you are in the top 11.16% richest people in the WORLD.

If you make $30,000 a year you're in the top 7.16%.
If you make $40,000 - 3.17%.

$50,000 - 0.98% - among the richest 1% in the world.

Something to think about during this season of "I want...," "Gimme," and general over consumption in our culture.

The CtK staff put the ornaments on our Giving Trees yesterday - the good news is that all of the families in Family Promise had already been "adopted," so we're getting a little more creative, trying to meet some future needs for Family Promise (things like gift cards to Target, Wal-Mart, gas cards, games for use at their Day House and here at CtK) and current needs for Love, INC's Linen Closet (blankets) and Personal Care Pantry (everything from shampoo to deodorant to dish soap and laundry detergent). There are also a few ornaments listing needs we have here at CtK - coffee, copy paper, etc..

I know it's not as fun to go buy a 3 pack of Secret deoderant or a $25 gas card as it is to buy a winter jacket or teddy bear for a 3 year old named Tommy, but ALL of those gifts are needed.

Together we really do make a huge difference in our community.