At the Heart of the Matter
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Love is the very essence of God showing up in the world.
For Christ is born of Mary;
and, gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the King,
and peace to men on earth.
— Phillips Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Luke 2:20
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Matthew 2:12
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Food for Thought
Recently, while talking with my four-year-old nephew, I took my glasses off. He stopped mid-sentence, studied my face, and then said with concern, “You don’t look like Aunt Daryn. Put your glasses back on.” I laughed, and put them back on. Then took them off again, then on again, then off again. “What about now?” I asked jokingly. Finally, I told him, “Whether I have my glasses on or off, I’m still Aunt Daryn. I might look a little different, but I’m still me.”
I reminded him of people in plays or costumes — how makeup, wigs, and disguises can make someone look completely different, yet underneath it all, they remain the same person. Who we are isn’t defined by what we wear, how we look, or what we project in a given moment, but by who we are at our core — by what lives in our heart. It felt like an important thing to convey.
The truth is, we are all navigating a kind of theater — this world with its pressures and expectations. We wear masks and lenses of our own: to hide what feels vulnerable, to present what we think others want to see, to live into society’s visions of success or worth. The pressure to conform, to achieve what our world values as laudable, can be overwhelming. Social media has only intensified this, turning “likes” into measures of value and worth. Kids are pushed toward unhealthy levels of stress and despair. I worry not just for our youth, but for all of us, because the pressures they are experiencing were born out of the culture that we have created, adults. We too are caught in this glasses on, glasses off vortex of pressure.
But people of God, we were not made for never-ending pressure. We were made for everlasting love. Beneath everything else, we are beloved of God. That is our truest identity. As my daughter Fayrah says, “Our calling is not to seem, but to be, and to rest assured in knowing that no matter how we are perceived or fit into the markers of status that we’ve raised up so high in our world...these things all fall short, and pale in comparison to the realization that we are loved for who we are, unconditionally. And, because we are loved, everything else is enough, and nothing about us is insufficient. When we live into our calling to love others the way we are loved, we perfect the image of the divine in ourselves; we become who we are meant to be. And that’s the only thing that matters.”
Jesus was born as a sign of God’s love for the world. What if we saw ourselves that way too — as signs of God’s love? What if we remembered that at our core, we are here to love and to be loved? That this, above all else, is our calling? If we centered love as our primary purpose — for the sake of God’s name — it would become both our reason for every season, and the true source of our worth. And it could change the world.
Oh, that it would! This has been a difficult week to write about love. At times it has felt as though the heart of our world is disintegrating. We claim to follow Jesus, yet our priorities often bear little resemblance to the love, mercy, humility, and justice he embodied. It is as though we have closed our eyes to the things of love within and around us, and chosen other identities and priorities to take precedence in our world and in our living. Yet, the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” reminds us that “While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond’ring love.” Love remains the priority of God. Though our eyes are closed, something of God continues to keep watch over this world, continues to call us into the possibility of love, again and again. Continues to remind us of who we are at our core — at the heart of things.
I’ll keep watch with you, this Advent season, for signs of love and goodness. So that, like the shepherds and the wise ones of old, we might encounter something of the love born into this world for us, in us, and through us. Love enough to send us off proclaiming what we have seen of hope, that sends us forth by new light and right paths. Love often leads us there.
As you move through this week, be especially intentional about noticing moments of love. Where do you see folks showing up for one another with compassion, kindness, and mercy? If you’re crafty, you can make an ornament for each of these moments, writing a word or prayer of thanksgiving on the ornament and hanging it on your tree. You can light a candle - either at the beginning of the day to pray for signs of love in the world, or at the end of each day, giving thanks for those moments of love you have born witness to (you can use your Advent wreath for this if you have one, and light the fourth candle, the candle of love).
The holidays are upon us and maybe you are finding yourself slightly nervous. It can be hard to know how to navigate or approach all that might divide us if brought up in conversation. To help our readers navigate this season, our team created a short resource to provide you with Five Things to Remember When Setting a Welcome Table for the Holidays! We hope it will help you set a welcoming space before your guests even arrive!
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
God of Love,
Help us to recognize the love at the heart of who we are called to be. Allow us to prioritize it, to live into it more fully, in all that we do. May others see your love revealed in our living, and be inspired toward paths of righteousness for your name’s sake.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Where have you seen love in recent days? Where have you been love?
In your life, how have you been reminded of your own worth and value as a beloved child of God? Who has helped you recognize this? How might you remind others of this truth?
When it seems the heart of the world is disintegrating, what keeps you hopeful and centered in the possibility of love?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
What does the love of God look like to you? Feel like? How have you seen the love of God show up in the world?
How can we choose love in difficult moments? When you are angry, what does it look like to choose love? When you are sad, how has love shown up for you?
How can we can add more love to the world? Can you think of something you can do today that will remind someone they are loved?
Meet This WEek’s Writer...
Rev. Daryn Stylianopoulos is originally from North Carolina, but has called Boston, MA home for nearly twenty years. Daryn is an advocate for the marginalized and works against injustices in her community. She believes in creatively cultivating a spirit of cohesion, welcome, and healing in the world. A lover of art, music, gardening, and, most of all, family, she often looks to these for inspiration in her work and ministry. Daryn is on staff with American Baptist Home Mission Societies serving as Program Director for the Nurturing Children Initiative, and also serves as a Baptist pastor in the Boston area. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Boston University School of Theology.
To hear more from Daryn throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!