Encourage-[en-kur-ij] to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
The enCourage Blog is weekly dose of encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. We offer life-giving entries each Monday and Thursday written by gifted women from across our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). You can subscribe below to have them delivered to your inbox. With hundreds of blog pieces, you can search on a variety of topics in the search bar above to read and share with friends. Christina Fox, a gifted author, serves as our enCourage General Editor. If you are interested in submitting a piece, you can contact her at cfox@pcanet.org.
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Merry Christmas!
CHRISTINA FOX | EDITOR Merry Christmas to you and yours from all of us at enCourage! "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger'” (Luke 2:10-12). Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash
Awaiting the Light of the World
KERRY ANDERSON | GUEST I’ve always loved that we celebrate Christmas during the darkest week of the year (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). I love that Christmas lights start going up just as the days are the shortest. In the dark mornings, I love coming downstairs, not to a dark and lifeless kitchen but to the warm light of the Christmas tree that turns on before I wake up (thank you, light timers!). And I love that when we’re introduced to John, the forerunner to Jesus, in John 1, scripture tells us that John “came to bear witness about the light”…to tell us that “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:6-8,9). There are so many descriptors and names for Jesus throughout the Bible, but in these verses, we’re told that what is coming is light, the true light. What we’re waiting on in this dark month is the Light of the World. O Splendor of God’s glory bright, from light eternal bringing light, O Light of light, light’s living Spring, true Day, all days illumining...
Singing Through Christmas in Minor and Major Keys
JOANNA HODGES|GUEST ‘Tis the season of bright and glimmering baubles, loud and busy parties, and exuberant and merry music. As we prepare for Christmas, we eagerly anticipate singing our favorite festive songs around the piano. Through well-known happy tunes in a major key, we proclaim “Joy to the World” because Christ came to crush the head of the serpent. We gather our friends to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” and can’t wait to hear our kids shout “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” in the church program. Yet the more holidays God gives us in this broken world, the more we realize that every Christmas season rightfully includes not only the triumphal tone of major keys, but also the wistful waiting and somber tone of the carols in a minor key. A Partial Celebration Even though the Savior accomplished His earthly mission and sits at the Father’s right hand to reign in victory, those nagging foes of the world, the flesh, and the devil still assault us here on earth. They don’t take a vacation during Christmas, and often it seems they rear their ugly heads even more intensely this time of year. Our hearts may be filled with awe and wonder as we read our Advent devotional in the morning, yet by the afternoon we are overwhelmed by the Christmas day menu, family dynamics around the holiday table, and the jam-packed calendar of parties. We scroll through Facebook’s Time Hop pictures of past Christmas gatherings and realize how much our own bodies and those of our loved ones have been marred by disease, dysfunction, and death over the years. Sometimes it’s not easy to take a deep breath and sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” with smiles on our faces when the sadness of a sin-cursed existence makes us want to silence our voices and quietly mourn....
The Journey of the Magi: A Christmas Reflection
REBEKAH COCHELL | GUEST James Tissot, Journey of the Magi, 1894, Minneapolis Institute of Art. Public Domain. There is a Christmas poem that has haunted me ever since I read it years ago: The Journey of the Magi by T. S. Eliot. It is not your typical cheerful Christmas poem; it has a somber tone, contrasting the Birth of Christ with death. Yet I keep revisiting it, finding truth and beauty—and, ironically, Christmas cheer. If you are unfamiliar with it, you can read it here. A Brief History Between 1927 and 1931, the publisher Faber & Gwyer created Christmas pamphlets called the Ariel Poems. Each pamphlet was a collection of beautifully illustrated Christmas poems meant to be given as Christmas cards. They were collaborations between popular poets, artists, and typographers. Among them, Eliot’s Journey of the Magi (1927) stands out as a strange inclusion. It begins: ‘A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a long journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter.’...
Waiting in the Hope of Coming Redemption: Walking with Our Sister Anna
ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR “Lead us this day, Lord Christ, that we might walk its paths in the light of the hope of our coming redemption. Amen.”[i] As we move through the season of Advent, which literally means “coming forward,” we remember that God’s chosen people once waited for our Redeemer to come and now await His final return. Advent is a season of waiting. What indeed does it look like to walk the paths of each day “in the light of the hope of our coming redemption”? Anna, the prophetess and widow of Luke 2:36-38, shows us the way. When we meet her in Luke 2, Anna is an older woman, either 84 or 104.[ii] Widowed as a young woman, probably around the age of 20, and apparently childless, Anna had no means to support herself. She likely became a recipient of Ancient Near Eastern welfare, moving near the temple, where she could access food and shelter. Despite her many losses, Anna avoided the secondary suffering that can add to affliction—she refused to indulge in self-pity. Instead, she devoted her life to waiting for redemption. Over time, she became known as a prophetess, someone who delivers messages from God. As we study how Anna spent her days, we discover a compelling portrait for walking each day in the hope of redemption. Anna shows us how to wait for our returning Redeemer who will one day come to restore all broken things...
Jesus: The Perfect Gift
SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR When our children were growing up, Christmas celebrations included gifts under the tree that appeared Christmas morning. During the season, the kids would make lists of their desired presents, mostly based on the recently advertised toys. But rarely did they receive something on their list. As parents, we took delight in finding the perfect gift for each child. I once overheard our second oldest tell his younger siblings not to waste their time making lists. The gifts they would receive were always far better than the ones for which they wished! Our Father’s Perfect Gift Our heavenly Father sent us the perfect gift, the gift of His only Son. Some had wished the promised Messiah would come as a king, saving them from their enemies. But our heavenly Father knew we lived in darkness, so He sent the perfect gift, Jesus, who would bring light into the darkness. When Jesus started His earthly ministry He declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12)...
