Parishioner and poet, Pamela Pruitt, has created a poem for each day of Advent and the days leading up to Christmas. You can view the poems on our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and we hope you find them restorative, comforting, and inspirational. We are so grateful for Pam and her willingness to share her art with us. #adventpoem   #poems   #episcomd   #hocomd   #poetrylovers   #poetry   #poetryislife   #poetryoftheday

This past Saturday, we hosted a retreat for the confirmation class. Part of our conversation covered our covenantal relationship with God, identifying our unique gifts and the best possible ways that we could channel those gifts in service to God and neighbor. Before the retreat concluded, I shared my closing thoughts with the group. Those closing thoughts were the four things that I believe helps drive a meaningful and thriving life and faithful person. It isn’t about being successful; it is about living a meaningful, thriving and faithful life. These are the four thoughts: first, you should always have something to love. Second, you should always have something to believe in. Third, you should always have something to work on. Last, you should always have something to look forward to. Thinking about these four principles reminds me of a story. It is a long story, but I have tried to shorten it. "My name is Stuart. I’m twenty-eight, and as of last Tuesday, I was officially “redundant,” which is just a cold corporate way of saying "unemployed." I had spent more than five years studying Aerospace Engineering, graduating at the very top of my class, only to get dismissed from a mid-tier company because of “budget restructuring.” I was driving home in my old 2012 Ford Focus — a car that smelled permanently like stale French fries and disappointment — after yet another failed job interview in Philadelphia. The interviewer barely looked through my portfolio. He said I lacked something he called “real-world resilience.” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. I was exhausted. I was running out of money. I wanted nothing more than to return to my basement apartment, hide under a blanket, and sleep off my humiliation That’s when I saw them. A worn-out beige Buick Century was parked awkwardly on the shoulder. Its hazard lights blinked weakly through the storm. Next to the car, leaning into the wind while trying to work a tire iron, stood a fragile elderly man. He looked like he had no business being outside in a drizzle, let alone a downpour like that. Inside the car, an elderly woman sat stiffly in the passenger seat, fear etched across her face. Cars rushed past them at full speed — BMWs, Jaguars, Teslas — spraying them with filthy road water and not even slowing down. I sighed in frustration. I tightened my grip on the wheel. I truly didn’t feel like stopping. My energy was gone, my future felt bleak, and I wasn’t in the mood to play the hero. Then the old man slipped. He almost toppled into traffic. “Okay, fine,” I muttered under my breath. I pulled over. I threw on my heavy raincoat, stepped outside, and the wind immediately shoved me as if trying to push me back into my car. “Sir!” I yelled through the noise. “Get inside the car,” I told him firmly. “You’re going to freeze out here.” Twenty minutes later, soaked, shivering, covered in mud and grease, and definitely ruining my only good suit pants, I finally got the spare tire mounted. “You’re all set,” I said. “But that spare isn’t meant for long distances. Stay under fifty, and take the next exit.” The old man stared at me with eyes so intensely blue they didn’t seem to match his aged face. Sharp. Aware. “What’s your name, son?” he asked. “Stuart. Stuart Miller.” He reached into his pocket with shaky fingers. His wallet was old leather, soft and worn. He pulled out some bills. “Take this… I have forty dollars here.” I looked at the money. I knew it was probably a lot for them. “It’s okay,” I said, gently refusing. “Buy your wife something warm to drink. You both look chilled to the bone.” The woman spoke softly. “But your clothes… You look like you were on your way to a business meeting.” A bitter laugh escaped me. “I’m an unemployed aerospace engineer, ma’am. This suit wasn’t helping me much.” The old man raised his eyebrows. “Unemployed? Aerospace?” “Yeah,” I said, rubbing my hands. “But apparently, I don’t have enough ‘grit.’” I headed back to my Focus before they could insist further." The old man that Stuart helped was Arthur Sterling, the founder of Aero-Dynamics. Mr. Sterling would later explain at a press briefing that he began a personal experiment with his wife. They disguised themselves and traveled around the country, driving an old car to test how society treats strangers in need. On that day, although hundreds of cars passed him during the storm, no one stopped until Stuart pulled over in the pouring rain. Stuart fixed my car and destroyed his own suit doing it, and when I offered him forty dollars, he declined and asked me to buy some warm soup for my wife. Mr. Sterling then did something remarkable, looking into the plethora of cameras, he said this “Stuart, if you’re watching — I fired my current Head of Innovation today. The job is yours. Come claim it.” Stuart was picked up from his apartment and offered the position of Head of Special Projects & Innovation, $450,000 annual salary, stock options and a signing bonus of $50,000. That began a dramatic turn for Stuart. I don’t think he even thought about any potential benefit to what he did. All he thought he was doing was helping an old man in the rain, trying to fix his tire. At this time of the year, there are a lot of metaphorical old men standing in the rain trying to fix their tires. But you have also had a bad day; you have nothing in you to give, but you have one thing to offer. Are you going to throw caution to the wind and jump into the rain? Let’s chat next week! Manny+ (This article has been broken into two parts. Part 2 is scheduled for next week.)

This is part 2 of two; read part one here Sometime after he got his new gig, in another storm, Stuart saw a young woman stuck on the side of the road with a smoking engine and a frightful face. He pulled over. “I… I can’t pay you,” she whispered. Stuart smiled. “You don’t have to,” he said. “Just pass the kindness forward.” Because you never know whom you’re stopping for, and you never know whom you become the moment you decide to stop. That, to me, was such a powerful expression of what he had become, because he chose to stop by the roadside in the middle of the rain to help somebody. But then the important message he shared with this lady was to pass the kindness forward. The kindness cannot stop with you; pass it on. Kindness that depends on reciprocity isn’t kindness; pass it on to the one who has no means to repay you. This is the point where the four principles kick in: first, to have something to believe in is to believe that there is another human being who considers you their priority and does not expect anything in return for making you that priority. Hundreds of cars may have driven past Mr. Sterling, and some drivers may have wondered to themselves, ‘If the old man only had AAA. ’ They would have helped him in his time of need. But the reality is that it only takes one person, one human being who believes in the human enterprise. Because they believe in the human enterprise, they believe in another human being. And because they believe in another human being, they pull over to offer their assistance. It takes one human being to believe that they can stop by the roadside, put their own life at risk in the middle of the rain, and offer help. It takes one human being to believe that they can “Make a habit of two things,” as Hippocrates said, “To help; or at least not to harm.” It takes one human being to make that choice to help. And you have to believe in the human enterprise to make that choice to help.  It is not true that those who didn’t stop were bad people or that they didn’t believe in the human enterprise. Heaven knows what each one of them might have been dealing with at that moment. For those people, the simple reason is that they didn’t consider an old man standing in the pouring rain trying to fix his tire a priority. To believe in something is to give that something priority in your life; it keeps you grounded and provides a reason for your being. If we believe in God, as many of us profess, then God becomes our priority. But insofar as we do not see God, the people that we see become our priority because those people have something in them that tells us something about the God we believe in. I don’t necessarily know any difference between serving people and serving God. To serve God is to serve people and to serve people is to serve God. And to believe in the human enterprise is to believe in God. There is no doubt in my mind that we all have people we love and something we love. Having something to love invites these questions: What is it that most appeals to you? What is it that you can never have enough of? For whom and for what would you stand in a rainstorm in your last suit? These are serious questions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if none of the people who first come to mind are total strangers. The reason is that we are most wired to be attracted to the people we think we know and the things we think we can be comfortable with. To have something to love is always to keep an open mind, and to be open to the many possibilities and surprises that the world and life have to offer. Fact is, you don’t only have to love the people you know, or be comfortable with the things you know or have come to know.  I tell you what - the idea of love at first sight is such a powerful testament to the love that is made possible by people who are open to new possibilities. Stuart, like the Good Samaritan, didn’t know Mr. Sterling. But seeing another human being, this older man, standing in the rain and in distress, moved him to act simply out of love. When you are open to love, you do not underestimate the possibilities that await you. When you are open to having something to love, you take risks to express that love. When you are open to love, it feels like you have made yourself vulnerable to some of the treasured parts of the human story. To have something to work on is to be like Mr. Sterling, who decided to undertake this experiment with his wife. Their goal was not to find perfect people but to understand human decency and how we treat each other, especially those in need or distress. It wasn’t because they had finished working on themselves; they knew that we all have to work on ourselves. But here is the truth: To work on yourself is such a powerful, beautiful gift. It is a personal acknowledgement that we are not all where we need to be, that we are all a work in progress, and so we commit ourselves to the process of working on others by working on ourselves. It shouldn’t surprise you that the more we work on ourselves, the more we work on others, because our work on ourselves determines how others react to us. For that reason, we should never give up on the idea that there is something to work on. There is always something to work on, and part of that something that needs to be worked on is us - you and I. The question is, are we willing to undertake the task of working on ourselves? Do we see ourselves as a car with a flat tire that needs to be worked on? Your guess is as good as mine. Although Stuart’s job interview fell apart, the one place that he could look forward to going was home. His home wasn’t a palace, and doesn’t have to be. His home was the one place where, if all else falls apart, he could still go, be welcomed, and be assured that all will be alright. That is one place where a parent’s love is tested again and again. That one place where our seeds of hope are sown and nurtured and where meaning and purpose find their bearings. What inspires me about Stuart’s story is that he was down on his luck. Like, really down, deep down. He had nothing to look forward to. There was really nothing in him to give, and no incentive to help. But he didn’t allow his personal disappointments and challenges to cloud his judgment. He could have said, "You know, I have had a rough day with someone who questioned my grit, so why should I bother with some old man in the rain? He would sort himself out." But that’s not what happened. He offered what little he had without expecting anything in return. It isn't easy to look forward to life’s dramatic turn when you are down or when others have put you down. But what is hope if it cannot revive in us the gift of looking forward to something, anything, something worth living for or even dying for? I believe that there is always something to look forward to, not only because you know where you are going or what is expected of you, but that even when you don’t know where you are going, or even when life feels like a cul-de-sac, you can still make choices that speaks to the broader idea that you recognize each moment of life as being precious. To live a meaningful, thriving, and faithful life, we all must understand that the four principles are interrelated, just as our lives weave together like a thread. We are in a season of love, peace, joy, and hope. There is no doubt that it has been a very difficult year for all of us. Life feels like we are standing by our car in the rain by the roadside, watching people drive by, and wondering who will stop to offer help. Life may feel like we have concluded our job interview, and nothing is going well for us. It is amid all this that we have been invited to be joyous, to help, to give, to live, and to love - not out of abundance, but out of gratitude; not because our world is smooth sailing or hunky-dory, but because we recognize each moment as being precious. Manny+

Advent III at Christ Church 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist in Old Brick 9:00 a.m. Family Worship in New Brick 10:30 a.m. Choral Eucharist in New Brick Sunday School (Pageant Rehearsal), Adult Forum, and all other formation and fellowship gatherings take place this Sunday morning. Join us! Collect for Today: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. This Sunday's Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10 Canticle 15   James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 Sermon for This Sunday: The Reverend Emmanuel Ato Mercer delivers today's sermon, and you can view it in the video below once the service starts. You can also read the sermon's text here . Sunday Worship Livestream: Our service livestream begins at approximately 10:20 a.m. this Sunday. The service leaflet for this worship service is here .

Parishioner and poet, Pamela Pruitt, has created a poem for each day of Advent and the days leading up to Christmas. You can view the poems on our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and we hope you find them restorative, comforting, and inspirational. We are so grateful for Pam and her willingness to share her art with us. #adventpoem   #poems   #episcomd   #hocomd   #poetrylovers   #poetry   #poetryislife   #poetryoftheday

Gather with us this Saturday, December 13, as Mike Looney @mikelooney is ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons by the Diocese of Maryland! As a Seminarian at Christ Church for the past few years, Mike's been a vital part of our parish, and The Center for Spiritual Nourishment has now become a permanent part of our common life. It's been a true joy to witness Mike's walk firsthand, and now we get to celebrate with him as he takes this next step in his faith journey. We'll gather at The Church of the Redeemer for the 11:00 a.m. service - 5603 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21210, so come with us to support Mike. If you can't make it in person, you can watch their livestream here . You can learn more about the Center for Spiritual Nourishment on our website - https://www.christchurchcolumbia.org/spiritual-nourishment - and gather with us for the next CSN day on Saturday morning, January 10.

Parishioner and poet, Pamela Pruitt, has created a poem for each day of Advent and the days leading up to Christmas. You can view the poems on our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and we hope you find them restorative, comforting, and inspirational. We are so grateful for Pam and her willingness to share her art with us. #adventpoem   #poems   #episcomd   #hocomd   #poetrylovers   #poetry   #poetryislife   #poetryoftheday

Parishioner and poet, Pamela Pruitt, has created a poem for each day of Advent and the days leading up to Christmas. You can view the poems on our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and we hope you find them restorative, comforting, and inspirational. We are so grateful for Pam and her willingness to share her art with us. #adventpoem   #poems   #episcomd   #hocomd   #poetrylovers   #poetry   #poetryislife   #poetryoftheday

Christ Church Sends Aid to Episcopal Relief & Development to Help Jamaica Cope in the Aftermath of Hurricane Melissa After Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean in late October as a powerful Category 5 storm, Jamaica is facing a long recovery process. A report by NPR that aired on Dec. 1 describes a town where not a single house survived. At its December meeting, the Outreach Commission approved a donation of $200 to Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), which said in an online post on Oct. 29 that it would be working with local dioceses and agencies to respond. Last month, Christ Church gave $500 to UNICEF, which had begun to aid families across the Caribbean who were displaced by the hurricane. These are Vestry-approved funds derived from your pledges and contributions. Thank you! ERD also offers people seeking comfort and hope an online resource in the form of its Prayer Hub . You’ll find a link that provides meaningful prayers in a time of a disaster , amid crisis , and for other needs such as for mental health and mindfulness . Our Deadline to Bring in Angel Tree Gifts is Noon this Friday, December 12 Parishioners have kept a long tradition by signing up to fulfill all the wishes of a dozen middle-school-aged children identified by the Central Maryland division of The Salvation Army . Instructions for bagging and tagging the items can be found on the Angel Tree signup list . The deadline to bring unwrapped gifts is noon on Friday, Dec. 12. Please put them in the Parish Hall Operations Room. Any monetary gifts go toward the cost of purchasing a pair of shoes for each child. To help, consider a contribution to Christ Episcopal Church made online through Realm , by check, or by putting cash in a marked envelope in the collection plate. Please designate Outreach/Angel Tree in the memo section. Thanks for lifting the hearts of the children and their families who turned to The Salvation Army for help, which conducts the original Angel Tree effort here and elsewhere. Buy DreamBuilders Tea, Coffee, and Chocolates On Sundays before Christmas Look for fair-trade coffee, tea, and chocolates being sold to benefit DreamBuilders after worship services on Sunday, December 14, and Sunday, December 21. It’s for a good cause, so teams can prepare to rebuild after disasters strike. Most recently, the group of volunteers, including Christ Church parishioners, traveled to Kentucky for the third year in a row to build homes after devastating floods. Purchases of these goods help teams complete these much-needed projects - and they taste great! Community Action Council Raises Funds to Provide Holiday Gifts for Children of Disadvantaged Families in its Howard County Programs The Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC), which operates multiple programs to help struggling Howard County families, is staging a fund drive to buy holiday gifts for children in these families. The Outreach Commission, at its December meeting, approved a $1,000 donation to CAC for its campaign. Parishioners who wish to donate individually may go online to CAC’s fund drive for clothing, books, and toys. Please spread the word among family, friends, and co-workers. CAC leaders hope to receive donations by Friday, Dec. 19, and expect to distribute gifts on Saturday, Dec. 20, at CAC’s Children's Learning Center at the Howard Community College location, which offers Early Head Start programming. CAC is the county’s designated anti-poverty organization, providing multiple services as described in its 2024 Impact Report . As a partner of CAC, Christ Church is most familiar with the Howard County Food Bank , which benefits from our Thanksgiving Drive and our Fall and Spring Food Drives at Giant supermarkets. We have also supported CAC’s additional programs , including eviction prevention, utility assistance, weatherization, and early childhood education. MOCC's Random Act of Kindness The MOCC's current R.A.K. ( Random Act of Kindness ) is supporting Comfort Cases, and they can use your donations and assistance. A Comfort Case is a small duffel bag or backpack designed to provide comfort for youth as they enter the local foster care system. In today's world, the number of kids entering the foster care system is rising, and so anything that can be done to help provide a level of comfort and care for the youngest is welcome. The MOCC is accepting donations from now through January 10th, and you can find details and a donation bin in the Narthex. You can also speak with Duane Smith, Ed Chrzanowski, or any MOCC member to get more information about Comfort Cases or upcoming MOCC gatherings. CCC Holds Its Annual Toy and Gifts Giveaway to Help Howard County Kids Columbia Community Care (CCC) plans holiday activities to help children and their families. Its annual giveaway of children’s toys and gifts for kids 2 to 16 will be held on Sunday, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during a celebration at Wilde Lake High School. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 12 to donate a new, unwrapped toy or new or gently used books at Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way, or at CCC Pantry, 8775 Cloudleap Ct., Suite 107, both in Columbia. Find dropoff times on CCC’s Facebook page . FISH and CCC partnered earlier this year and merged their pantries. CCC continues to hand out food at three sites on Saturday mornings and deliver it to Howard County residents. For information, visit  Get Help online . FISH continues to pick up donated goods from Christ Church and others. Please put non-perishable food and personal care products in the altar basket or in a bin just inside the Parish Hall. Look for a combo label “FISH/CCC”. Bring baby wipes and diapers, especially large sizes.  Kindness Pantry Assistance Needed Thanks to all of you who helped the students and families of Lake Elkhorn Middle School over the last month. To those of you who contributed funds this fall, some of your contributions helped to supply water, medals, and prizes for the annual one-mile Turkey Trot. All students in each grade compete to see who can be the fastest runners and the best athletes. Jan DeBoissiere and Cathy Whittaker were at the finish line to congratulate the 7th graders and hand out water. There were smiles on lots of faces, whether they ran or walked the course, because they were outside in the sunshine, having fun. And one of the staff dressed up like a turkey, so that added to the festive spirit. Next Wednesday, December 17, is the next Kindness Pantry, so we are asking that you sign up for one or more items on the SignUpGenius form . As we reported recently, demand exceeds supply. This is a hectic time of year when you are asked to contribute to just about every worthy cause imaginable. One of the best things about giving to the LEMS Partnership is that ALL your contributions go directly to families in need of support. There are no administrative or advertising costs. Please sign up for the Kindness Pantry here . We will need your contributions by this Sunday, December 14th, at the latest. Please put them in the blue bin in the New Brick Narthex. In general, if you have suggestions about ways to help the community, if you want to get involved, or if you need assistance, please email Christ Church Outreach at outreach@christchurchcolumbia.org . Your help is greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.

Saint Nicholas, the third-century Bishop of Myra, serves as an example of living out service to Jesus Christ by showing God’s love to others through his protection of children, sailors, and all in trouble and need. St. Nicholas Day is traditionally celebrated on December 6, but since our Sunday services were the following day this year, Saint Nicholas took time out of his busy schedule to stop and say "Hello!" to our children at the 9 a.m. Family Worship. Mother Marcia and Jan DeBoissiere led worship, and George Toth made it extra special. Thank you, Saint Nicholas! “In all this, I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ~ Acts 20:35   #saintnicholas   #saintnicholasday   #episcomd   #hocomd   #saintnick   #bettertogivethanreceive

Parishioner and poet, Pamela Pruitt, has created a poem for each day of Advent and the days leading up to Christmas. You can view the poems on our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and we hope you find them restorative, comforting, and inspirational. We are so grateful for Pam and her willingness to share her art with us. #adventpoem   #poems   #episcomd   #hocomd   #poetrylovers   #poetry   #poetryislife   #poetryoftheday