Hope - The Heart of Christmas, by Deacon Sue Crowninshield

The Christmas Story tells us that God came into the world in the form of a baby named Jesus. Jesus came to bring love, light and hope to the hearts of humankind. It is with this hope that we can find positive vision for our lives today and in the future.
God created us a visual beings with incredible imaginations. Our eyes actually take in 4 billion bytes of information every second. The minute that input reaches our brain, that data is processed, forming a 3-D color picture in our minds.
If we hear someone say for instance, "A large speckled horse", our minds don't see words but our minds show us an image of that horse with speckles all over it. A picture conjured up from our computer memory banks.
In that same way, we each have a mental picture of our ourselves in our imagination. What might that look like? Our self image sets the standard at which we function. If we want to accomplish a higher standard, for instance, we must raise that standard higher. If we don't choose to raise our image our vision for our lives can be limited.
God created us with the ability for both physical and spiritual sight. When we learn to look at life through our eyes of faith or with our spiritual eyes, we can accomplish our dreams; receiving more, giving more, loving more, and enjoying our lives more. It is with the "God image" of ourselves and with the strength God gives us that allows us to do this imagery practice.
"We produce what we continually keep in front of us." If we keep an image of success in our minds, we will move toward success. But if we see ourselves as just barely getting by in the intelligence area, the success area or in anyway less than what God created us, then our lives will gravitate toward negative situations. It's a simple truth that we cannot give birth to something we have not yet conceived. We must conceive through the eyes of faith, that God gives us the power to carry out the promises he has given to us. Let's start allowing God to use our imagiantions to build us up to help us accomplish God's dreams for the world and the dreams God has for us as well.
Let's see our imaginations as a canvass that we can paint any kind of picture we choose through our thoughts and attitudes and what we decide to focus on. Don't let doubt and fear paint on our canvasses. We must paint with the brush of faith, the brush of hope, and the brush of expectation.
Jesus came to the world to bring light and love into the darkness; TO BE LOVE; teaching us to love ourselves and to love one another. As we celebrate Jesus'coming into the world, we celebrate Jesus being born anew within oursleves filling us with light and love. Let's us paint the hope of Jesus on our hearts.
A Very Blessed Christmas Season to you all,
Deacon Sue Crowninshield

EDS' Yuletide Eve Christmas Show and Pageant

The cast of Emmanuel Day School provided us yet again on the darkest day of the year, with the brightest light! I cannot begin to capture in words how magical, festive, and moving last night's Christmas pageant and show was. There were eaily 300 people here watching their little miracles sing and dance the night away! (go to www.emmanueldayschool.com for photos).
The Winter Solstice, or Yule Night is an ancient celebration to welcome back the light in our daily life...the days begin to get longer in light, and such is the perfect time to welcome the light of the world back into our hearts as we near Christmas Day.
I often tell the parents that this indeed is their first gift of the season. And I am never wrong about that. I always place tissues on our seats in the auditorium. Last evening a parent said to me that up until last evening they struggled to figure out why I did this. Was it cold season perhaps? And then she said when the curtain opened and I saw my child under the stable gazing at the manger listening to the Drummer Boy...I reached for the Kleenex!
The children do 2 very solemn pieces in welcoming Baby Jesus, or Baby Emmanuel as we have come to name our Jesus, to this world. Then the sunglasses come out, the star dons LED lights, and the singing Magi in sparkling capes make their appearance to rock the house with Boney M's version of Mary's Boy Child ...and EDS classic that has made its way on to last year's EDS Greatest Hits Vol 1 CD we gave out last year. The children couldn't have been better!! And I laughed and cried throughout the entire night! The parents were even singing and cheering us on!
We are so fortunate to share space with Emmanuel Church and really are so glad we have made EDS a ministry here in our parish. The children adore their school, but more importantly have been given a strong sense of God and God's love that they in fact "rocked the house" for Him! The in turn someday will be our future here at Emmanuel.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to my staff whom I could not do this without, (Terri, Trish, Christine, Jocelyn and Allison) for living with my perfectionism and persistence. They are the best colleagues and friends anyone could work with each and every day. I also want to thank Emmanuel's Vestry. The Tuesday Sewing Group for their constant praise and encouragement. And a big thanks to John Totter, Sue Crowninshield, Richard McMorrow, Ann Pelletier, Kathleen Skelley and Greg Cole for their daily efforts, support and helping me to do such great things for Emmanuel Church! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Miss Dawn

Christmas Messages

Christmas messages:

From the Archbishop of Canturbury, Dr. Rowan Williams - click here.
Dr. William's message is available as a Podcast here.

From the Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori - click here.

Emmanuel Teen Confirmed by Bishop Wolf

On Saturday, December 8, Bishop Wolf confirmed Rachel Franklin at the Cathedral of St. John in Providence. Rachel has been a long time member of Emmanuel and participated in our youth formation program for several years. It was a privilege for me to present her to Bishop Wolf during the service.
Here are some pictures:

John Totter Goes Back to New Orleans

This weekend I will attend a “summit” meeting of the partner churches and individuals of St. Anna’s Church in New Orleans. This is the second summit they have held. The first was in December of 2005. During this meeting, with grace and favor, a new vision for St. Anna’s Mission to Musicians will be cast.

Two years on from Hurricane Katrina and the forming of the Mission to Musicians the situation and needs have changed. The population is moving from the recovery stage to rebuilding. As we have seen in the news, government action towards rebuilding is stuck in its own bureaucracy. (The only part that moves quickly is the part that discontinues funding and services. FEMA is now evicting thousands of people from trailers, dumping them on the streets.) Individuals, churches and private organizations have taken up the leadership to rebuild homes and lives. St. Anna’s is one of those local leaders.

Emmanuel, as a partner church, is also one of the leaders in the rebuilding efforts. Keep the Music Alive! was the beginning of our efforts to aid the musicians and people of New Orleans. This Christmas we will send gifts to over 100 children in the Lower Ninth Ward. Next April, Emmanuel will send 20 individuals on a mission trip to physically participate in the rebuilding.

Please keep us in your prayers this weekend as representatives from churches all over the country gather to work, pray and talk towards a renewed vision for St. Anna’s Mission to Musicians. I will try to post up to date information on the blog, so please visit. SGD

– John

Youth Group Studies/Supports the Millennium Development Goals

At its last meeting, members of the youth group discussed the MDGs:

1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education for Children
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Mortality
5. Improve Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability
8. Create a Global Partnership for Development

(Learn more about the MDGs here.)

For 2007, the Vestry of Emmanuel Church committed 0.07% of its income to the support of the MDGs (approximately $2,300). The youth group was allocated $500 of that amount. One of the ways that we can help to make these goals a reality is by supporting Episcopal Relief and Development. They have a "Gift for Life" catalog that allows contributors to choose how their gifts are used. So, the youth divided into three groups, studies the catalog, and decided upon the following gifts:

12 mosquito nets to stop the deadly sting of malaria ($144)

2 sets of ten seedling trays of drought-resistant seeds to grow stronger communities ($60)

2 shares of vitamin and general medicine kits to help prevent malnutrition ($120)

a year long animals and agriculture program to help families to become self-sustaining ($180)

total cost - $504

If you would like to learn more about ERDs Gifts for Life program, visit them here.