“…the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around…But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the…century in a way that [people], in some strange way, are responding — something is happening in our world.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

Contemporary Testimony:  From “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – April 3, 1968

“The voice of GOD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
GOD, over mighty waters.
The voice of GOD is powerful;
The voice of GOD is full of majesty…
 
GOD sits enthroned over the flood;
GOD sits enthroned as God forever.
May GOD give strength to God’s people!
May GOD bless God’s people with peace!”

Scripture Readings:    Matthew 3:13-17     Acts 10:34-43

“Wisdom is a state of the human mind and spirit characterized by deep understanding and profound insight. It is elaborated as a quality possessed by the sages but also treasured as folk wisdom and wit. Wisdom is the power of discernment, deeper understanding, and creativity; it is the ability to move and to dance, to make the connections, to savor life and to learn from experience…Wisdom, unlike intelligence, is not something with which a person is born. It comes only from living, from making mistakes and trying again and from listening to others who have made mistakes and tried to learn from them. It is a perception of wholeness that does not lose sight of particularity, relativity, and the intricacies of relationships. Wisdom understands complexity and seeks integrity in relationships.” – Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-12

Contemporary Testimony: ​from Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization     Peter C. Phan

“Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
God will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
God will come and save you.’
 
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf unstopped;
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert;
The burning sand shall become a pool,
And the thirsty ground springs of water…
A highway shall be there,
And it shall be called the Holy Way.”
 
Isaiah 35:3-7a, 8a.

Scripture Reading:   Luke 1:46-55

Contemporary Reading:   ​A Litany for Survival - by Audre Lorde