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You Don’t Have to Pretend You’re Ok…(Advent 2024)

“You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.” - Psalm 80:5-6

The scriptural tradition is hopeful, optimistic, and determined. It is also honest and raw.

When the writers feel abandoned and forsaken, they say so. When the writers feel overwhelmed, they say so. When they feel like they’re clutching their last straws, they say so.

They give themselves permission to feel what they feel and they honor those feelings.

That said, after we cry, we get back up, wash our faces, anoint our heads with oil, and move forward into our future. We trust that our footsteps will be led out of the shadows and into the sunshine of God’s love.

You don’t have to pretend you’re ok, but know that you’re going to be ok.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Honesty, Gratitude and Trust Equals Peace (Advent 2024)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” - Philippians 4:6

Paul had a lot to be anxious about. Even though he had some relative privilege as a Roman citizen, he knew everything could be taken away from him.

He was arrested, beaten, and would eventually be tried and executed because of his devotion to a movement, that was highly disruptive of the status quo.

Yet in the face of all this he was able to trade his fears and anxieties for a peace that surpassed all understanding.

He did this first through his practice of prayer and supplication where he named everything that was on his heart and mind, his fears, concerns, hopes, dreams and desires.

He then coupled that with radical gratitude where he named any and every good thing he already had.

Honesty, Gratitude and Trust equaled peace.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 minutes of Hope. Peace be with you.

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60 Seconds of Hope: What Now? (Advent 2024)

“And the crowds asked him, "What, then, should we do?"

In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."

Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages." (Luke 3:10-14)

While we wait for the world to become what it should be, we must focus on doing the things we can do to move it in that direction.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Putting Away Our Sorrow (Advent 2024)

“Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.”

- Baruch 5:1

Loss is a part of life. Because loss is a part of life, mourning and grief are a part of life as well. Not only are they part of life, for most of us mourning and grief are a necessary part of life.

Thomas Dorsey wrote the song ‘Precious Lord’ after the deaths of his wife and infant son. Of this he said, “ I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs.”

There’s no short cut in moving from the pain of sorrow and affliction to the beauty and peace we experience as we glory in God’s presence. We simply pray as Dorsey writes:

“When the darkness appears

And the night draws near,

And the day is past and gone,

At the river I stand,

Guide my feet, hold my hand:

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

Peace be with you.

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It Won’t Be Easy, but Don’t Be Afraid (Advent 2024)

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like washers' soap;” - Malachi 3:2

I don’t believe we are pawns on a divine chess board. I don’t believe that every thing that happens is in accordance with a master plan. However, I do believe that the presence and power of God in our lives is transformative and liberating.

Advent means: coming to. Each year we pause to celebrate and anticipate God’s presence breaking through into our everyday lives.

There’s nothing easy about it for us. The presence of God in our lives is like a refiners fire cooking the impurities out of gold. It is like the course washer’s soap scrubbing the fabric of our lives clean.

Some of the things we go through are indeed incredibly difficult. Yet we need not fear. We are in the hands of a master crafter who will make us shine.

I’m Horace McMIllon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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We will become our best selves. (Advent 2024)

“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it…” - Philippians 1:6

Some of us are very hard on ourselves. We are discouraged because we keep falling into the same bad patterns and we keep making the same foolish mistakes.

We must never give up on ourselves. We must never give up on each other. Because God never gives up on us.

The spirit of God lives in us. That spirit living within us enables us to grow in our faith, hope, and love.

The spirit of God living within us enables us to be gentle, patient, resilient, and relentless.

The spirit of God living within us allows us to learn and grow, to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off, and try once again to get it better and then get it right.

We will become our best selves because the Spirit lives within.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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60 Seconds of Hope: Dawn is Coming (Advent 2024)

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,” - Luke 1:78

For any of us and all of us going through difficult times, Advent is a reminder that as the old gospel song says “Trouble don’t last always.”

For any of us and all of us who are facing problems with no easy solutions, when we can see no way forward, Advent is a reminder that “God will make a way out of no way.”

For any of us and all of us who are lost in any kind of wilderness, be it poverty, neglect, abuse, addiction, injustice or or despair, Advent reminds us that God is still with us and is preparing a way for us in the wilderness.

Advent is a reminder to any of us and to all of us who are surrounded by darkness, that dawn is coming. Sorrow may last for a night, but joy is coming in the morning.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…” - 1 Thessalonians 3:12

We have to learn to love and care for each other. We have to grow our capacity for empathy and understanding. for compassion, to nurture.

We have grow our willingness to do this and be this not only for our friends, and families and communities, we have to learn how to do this for the ones we consider other.

We have to open our eyes to see the many things we have in common. We have to open our minds to understand that we are all interconnected, that we share a common fate.

Abounding in love may not come easily or naturally for all of us. Some of us are so filled with righteous indignation and rage that we don’t even want to.

Yet it’s the only way we can experience inner peace and wellbeing. It’s the only way we can build the world the prophets and poets described where everyone sits under the share of their own grape vine and we study war no more.

May the Lord make us increase and abound in love for one another and for all.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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