Author: Mari Walker

I started working at St. John’s two years ago. My very first Sunday was January 8, 2023 – Epiphany Sunday. I was immediately introduced to the St. John’s tradition of receiving a Star Word. There are a few reasons behind this tradition. First, the Magi followed a star, which ultimately led them to Jesus. Therefore, we too use all the resources we have available to us — including creative prayer practices and intention words for the new year—to move closer to Jesus. Secondly, we trust that God uses multiple ways to guide us and speak to us. Star words are one such lens that might provide us with a way to look for God in our midst, both actively and in hindsight.

This became a new favorite practice of mine, and I was excitedly anticipating receiving a new Star Word in 2024. So… on Epiphany Sunday last year, I reached my hand into a basket full of stars, grabbed an upside-down yellow cut-out, and turned it over in my hand to reveal the word “Harmony.”

To be honest with you, I did not like this word for myself. I was tempted to pretend like I forgot to draw one, sneakily slip it back in the basket, and pick another word instead. But I decided against it. Instead, I returned to my seat and started googling definitions and synonyms of the word “harmony.”

And let me tell you…I don’t know that I could have selected a more nuanced word if I tried. Merriam-Webster has about six different definitions for “harmony.”

The first definition, which is the one I immediately thought of when I read the word, has to do with music. It is “the combination of simultaneous musical notes in a chord”. 

I’m a fairly musical person myself. I grew up singing, playing piano, and attending dance classes because my mom had big dreams of raising the next *Broadway star*. My mom loves singing, too. She sang alto in the church choir, which means she usually sang the harmony lines of the hymns. She has a great ear for harmonies. When she sings along to songs on the radio, she almost always sings a harmony instead of the melody. Despite this musical environment, hearing the harmony does not come easily for me. My sister is pretty good at it, though. When we listened to music in the car together, I would usually sing melody and my mom and sister would sing harmony. I was always sort of jealous of how easily they could harmonize.

In the spirit of having a well-rounded understanding of the word, I looked for a few other definitions of “harmony.” One definition describes harmony as an “internal calm and tranquility.” Another definition explained harmony as “a pleasing agreement of parts; congruence; accord.”

“Yes,” I thought. “I could use some of that in the new year! That must be what God meant for me to take from this – not that other definition I didn’t like as much.” 

Now that I understood my Star Word, how was I going to allow it to guide me through the year? How was I able to live in “harmony” in 2024? 

Well, to cover the musical component…I led worship at the LSU Wesley Foundation a few times. I sang several duets during worship here at St. John’s, too!

To find internal calm and tranquility, I went to therapy and read self-help books. I visited National Parks and connected with God through nature. I discovered that I personally experience the most tranquility and harmony through God’s creation. I feel incredibly grateful and humble to have been created by the same God who created stars and sunsets and waterfalls and canyons.

To practice agreement and congruence, I challenged myself to listen more openly to others. 2024 being an election year, I had many opportunities to practice listening to views and opinions different from my own. But I wanted to listen to understand, not just listen to prepare for what to say next. I found myself asking clarifying questions more frequently. In doing so, 

I found myself gaining more wisdom from those around me.

You would think with a word like harmony, 2024 would only be filled with so much peace and agreement and no turmoil whatsoever, right? But that was not the case… For me – and probably for some of you – 2024 had its fair share of chaos, loss, disappointment, betrayal, insecurity, sadness, grief, anxiety, and exhaustion. At times (many times), it felt more cacophonous than harmonious. 

While writing this reflection, another definition of harmony caught my attention: “An interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative, as in the Gospels.” And I realized maybe the cacophony of 2024 was not the only account in the narrative. Surely, there were moments of peace, love, connection, trust, confidence, joy, and hope. For some people, 2024 was the year they celebrated the marriage of loved ones, the birth of a new baby, graduations, rekindled friendships, new travels, and many other positive experiences. So maybe my account of negativity is not the only important account in this narrative. Maybe finding harmony requires interweaving and cross-referencing a collection of varied accounts and experiences. 

Maybe harmony is not about musical skill or internal tranquility or pleasant agreement. Maybe it’s more about balance – balancing cacophony with symphony, balancing calm with chaos, balancing disagreement with understanding. 

Last Wednesday, the first day of 2025, my sister and I were driving back to her apartment late at night. We had just finished a wonderful day of sharing meals with friends and visiting the North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival, but my heart was weighing heavy because of the violence in New Orleans the night before. My sister turned on one of her Spotify playlists called “World Tour.” She sang melody; I sang harmony. (If you remember…I always sang melody growing up, and she usually sang harmony.) My spirits lifted slightly. It felt like a very full-circle moment. It felt like a God wink, as some of you might say. And I caught myself smiling and thinking, “Yeah, God, I hear the harmony.”

Connor Dean

As Connor presented on Sunday, January 5, 2025.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given… – Isaiah 9:6

I don’t remember what it was that I was wishing for that Christmas. I was ten and was very much into riding my bicycle and nurturing my four pet chickens. In fact, I had combined those two interests by teaching Peter, one of my smaller chickens, to cling to my bicycle handlebars as I rode through the neighborhood in the small mining town where I grew up. I loved climbing the giant mimosa tree in the backyard, was good at jumping rope and had won the Polk County hula hoop championship that summer. I’m certain that my request to Santa that year was for some outside-oriented toy or device. But what he delivered was something quite different – a lined and zippered cover for my violin case.

When my sister Ann and I hurried down the stairs in the dark that Christmas morning to look under the branches of the beautiful white pine that my daddy and I had cut down far out in the Tennessee woods, we both were anticipating the fulfilment of our wishes. I remember the redolent aroma of the fresh tree, simply decorated with one string of multi-colored lights and handmade garlands we had carefully strung of popcorn and cranberries. The tree had a wonderful, magical quality about it – an aura of mystery and promise.

Ann’s eyes lit up when she saw the shiny necklace and lovely dress carefully laid out for her. My eyes searched for something bright, something promising outdoor fun. When I spotted the violin case cover, I can still remember the initial sense of disappointment and almost confusion.

The year before, I had begged my mother to let me take violin lessons. This was a desire I had held for several years after discovering a violin in the house where my beloved grandfather had lived in north Georgia. Although he died when I was just six, we had spent enough time and love together that he had become my hero. I wanted to be just like him. He was a lawyer, a bigger than life personality in his community, but a humble man with a kind and loving heart. When we walked together from his house to his office on Main Street, he greeted every person we met with great kindness and respect. I learned to look at people through his eyes, and as an adult I came to realize that he viewed everyone, no matter their background, race or status in life, as a child of God. I have always wanted to be like him, then and now. He ate mustard on his hot dog. I hated mustard but I wanted mustard on mine and grew into loving that taste. He had played violin. I wanted to play violin.

At the time of this Christmas, for the previous year my mother had made violin lessons a reality for me at great effort and expense, for we had to travel sixty miles every other week over winding mountain roads to Chattanooga for those lessons. I loved the lessons and the world of classical music that was opening up for me. I worked hard and practiced every morning before school.

So, when my eyes lit on the violin case cover, I saw the love and encouragement inherent in the wonderful, unexpected gift. I remembered my history with my grandfather. I let go my childish disappointment of not receiving what I had expected from Santa. The legacy of that gift has remained with me through all the years of my life and has continued to fill me with gratitude for the love of family, the opportunities that were given to me through that love, but most of all for the gift from my grandfather of learning to see all people as children of God.

God of love and promise, in our humility and awe we thank you for the best gift ever given to mankind, your son Jesus. Help all people grow in their acceptance of your gift and in love for each other. Amen.

Betty Schroeder

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them … for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Isaiah 11:6, 9

The orchestra members prepare for the concert in a cacophony of tuning instruments. Patrons entering the hall rustle, finding seats, crawling over others in rows too narrow, settling coats and purses, chattering with excitement. Suddenly the lights go down; the discordant sounds of trumpet, oboe, cello and cymbals cease; violin bows are raised; the conductor’s baton is held high. There is stunned expectancy in the concert hall with all awaiting the sonorous harmonies to finally begin.

That moment is like Advent – the breathless moment of waiting in anticipation of a gift of amazing beauty.

In today’s climate, more than ever, we long for a world that knows peace throughout all countries, acceptance throughout all cultures, wholeness for all people and for the earth itself. Instead we are bombarded hourly by images of war and suffering and devastation of all sorts. How has the world become such a place of madness, a cauldron of greed and inhumanity? We just want to see, to hope for, a resolution of all that is so wrong, of all that is so much against God’s will and plan for humankind.

The early arrival of dusk now and the darkness of the winter sky, for me, bring a sense of tranquility and prompt a longing for simple peace. This is Advent! In this time of waiting once again for the birth of our Messiah, we have the opportunity to sit in quiet hopefulness, to dream of a world filled with light and love. We are waiting for the conductor’s baton to fall and the glorious gift to arrive. Come, sweet Jesus, come!

God of all creation and author of all gifts, as we await the birth of Jesus once more in this beautiful season of Advent, we pray for our world, your world. In these tumultuous times help us focus on the promise that the birth of Jesus brings and give unending thanks to you for this ultimate gift. Amen

Betty Schroeder

Ruth 1:1-22

There is a contemporary gospel song that I tend to laugh at because it is not necessarily true.

“Well, I’ve been lied on, cheated, talked about, mistreated, I’ve been used, scorned, talked about sore as bone. I’ve been up, down, almost to the ground. But as long as I got King Jesus, long as I got King Jesus, long, long, long as I got. I don’t need nobody else.” (Long as I Got King Jesus – Vickie Winans)

Yes we got King Jesus but aren’t we also the hands and feet of Jesus? Therefore we need each other. 

I don’t like asking for help. It’s not a natural instinct for me but I enjoy helping others. I know that people are busy and I don’t want to be an unnecessary burden on anyone. Yet there have been many times when I had no choice but to ask for help.

When I joined St. John’s God blessed me with a true church family. My Sunday school class is called the Seekers. I can share anything with them. When Devin started middle school I was working at Wildwood Elementary School; I needed help picking him up from school. Fran Anderson and Buffie Grayson were super grannies who started picking Devin up from school and dropping him off at Wildwood. There’s no way I could have made it through those years without them. Yes I got King Jesus but I also need somebody else.

When Kevin went to Southeastern University I didn’t know how I was going to find the money to get the things he needed for his dorm room. No worries, auntie Daphne Grady had it covered because she bought his comforter, sheets and other goodies. I didn’t even have to ask her because she knew he needed them. Yes I got King Jesus but I also need somebody else.

God doesn’t want us to go alone. I know this is true because of the countless times he’s sent family both blood and church to go with me. You already know that I’m a breast cancer survivor not once but twice. Each time I’ve needed someone to go with me for a biopsy or surgery. Jane Rassi, my mom Mary, my sisters Ann, Thelma  and Charlesetta were with me. Oh I must not forget Pastor Lane and Pastor Deidre prayed with me right before my surgery. Yes I got King Jesus but I also need someone else.

We don’t have to go alone, we have King Jesus and we also have each other. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. “When the world keeps spinning and the sun keeps shining: all we really need is just you and me. Keep on dreaming, keep on living all it’s gonna take is just you and me. This is love, this is life, all we really need is just you and me.” (When I’m With You – The Katinas)

L. Darlene Dickson

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. – 1 John 2:24

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:22-23

Advent is an invitation for each of us to begin again. What will we be starting again? On what do we need to have a re-do ? We begin our Christian year with Advent, which symbolizes the expectant waiting of the nativity of Christ at Christmas and also the return of Christ at the second coming of Christ. We are celebrating love, hope, joy, and peace.

Most of us have had a tremendous number of new beginnings. When we are born we are mostly helpless beings who depend on the goodness of our parents to feed and clothe and take care of our needs. We had a new beginning when we no longer got Mother’s milk but started eating solid food. Another new beginning in our world was when we started being able to move around and explore our surroundings. After a while our world got bigger when we started walking and running. There was a new beginning when we had to go to daycare or to school. For some this was a traumatic beginning and for others it was a delightful exercise in being independent.

As adults we had the beginning of a new marriage and having to live with someone who was not like our previous family members. We had to learn to combine traditions for holidays and find our new traditions. Do we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25 or is it that the only time we can really have a Christmas celebration is on Thanksgiving Day when everyone can come? We had to learn that our own parents were not going to bail us out anymore when we used up all of our money. We had to make our money last and learn not to spend what we did not have. If we had not done so previously, we had to have the new beginning of being an adult. Adulting is hard!!

Then another new beginning was when we found that sleep was indeed a precious commodity when we had that baby who did not know daylight from dark and had to be taken care of 24 hours a day. While the baby was having new beginnings, we were learning that things had to be planned, and baby sitters were not available on a moment’s notice. No more last-minute trips to the movies or the beach.

As the years passed we had new beginnings when that baby started to school, graduated from school, and went away to join the military or go to college for more new beginnings. By now some of us were beginning to think about retiring from a lifetime of working outside the home. What am I going to do all day long? I have always worked. 

Then comes the beginning of becoming a caregiver for an aging parent or a child who has returned home with disabilities. I do not know how to take care of anyone. I am not trained for any of this. How can I begin again?

By now we might think that there can be no new beginnings because we have experienced them all. Then comes the new beginning of looking forward to seeing your mate again in heaven. This beginning can be a truly awful experience or it can be so joyful because your mate is with God and is no longer in pain.

How many beginnings have we had in our lives? In reality each new day is a beginning. We can put away our past and know that our sins are forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. God is the King of second chances and new beginnings if we accept that gift that was given so long ago. There is no limit to new beginnings and as long as we live with the faith that we have heard from the beginning and know that each new day is a gift of a new beginning, we will have many new adventures with the Lord who made each day new. Great is HIS Faithfulness.

Morning by morning new mercies I see.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endures.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
As He has been, He forever wilt be.

Excerpts from Great is Thy Faithfulness
Hymn by Thomas O. Chisolm

Lord help me to look at each new beginning with hope, and give me peace in each new adventure with you. AMEN

Daphne G. Grady