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<v ->Amen.</v>

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(resonating choral music)

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I saw a man last October

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who looked like Santa Claus.

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He did not have on the traditional red suit.

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He was wearing blue jeans and a plaid shirt.

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He was not on a rooftop, or on a sleigh,

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or even in a parade.

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He was getting ready to sit down at a seafood dinner

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at a restaurant in Hazelwood, North Carolina.

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He had flowing white hair and a white beard,

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and a pleasant smile.

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But none of the other things

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that I usually associate with Santa Claus.

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However the reaction of two little girls in that restaurant

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was enough to convince me that he was Santa.

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They were awestruck.

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Their eyes were twinkling with excitement.

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One of them had her doll, and she was too fascinated to

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speak to Santa, but she held out that doll for him to see.

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Their mother did most of the talking.

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Santa grinned and shook hands with the two little girls

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as the hostess waited patiently to usher him to his table.

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The little girls backed out of the front door,

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their eyes staring in wonder and disbelief.

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That restaurant was the last place

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they expected to see Santa Claus.

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It was October, there was no snow on the ground,

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Christmas was two months away, there had been no parade,

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there was no even an available fireplace

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where he could descend, nor was he dressed

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as one usually expects Santa to be dressed.

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And yet, to those two little girls,

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he was there.

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Neither of them asked him: are you the real Santa Claus,

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or do we have to wait for Christmas Eve?

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Even though there were none of the usual

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and expected things to prove that he was real, he was.

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To them.

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They were thrilled and excited to shake his hand.

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One offered to show him her prized possession

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and backed away absolutely amazed.

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I can imagine they called their friends when they got home

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that night, to tell them about the marvelous thing

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that had happened to them.

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They were little girls, maybe four and six years of age.

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Their concept of Christmas is limited.

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At this point in their lives, Christmas and Santa Claus

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are synonymous, but even in their childish concepts,

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I relearned some lessons

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from those two little girls.

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They taught me that Christmas can happen any time,

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anywhere, Emmanuel,

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God is with us.

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They taught me that I should offer to Christmas

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and to God's presence my very best.

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And they helped me to learn again,

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that I should never cease to be amazed, awed by it.

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And to wonder at it.

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We do not have to read too far in the gospel records

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before we discover that John the Baptist was a preacher

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who did not hesitate to speak out boldly

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against any kind of evil or wrongdoing.

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He would not soften the word of God for anyone.

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He was a man who kept the agenda on the table.

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And was willing to speak out,

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even if it endangered his position.

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He had the kind of

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openness, honesty, candor,

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that the current chairman of the Council

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of Economic Advisors, Martin Feldstein, has,

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when he persists in pointing out

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the dangers of deficit spending.

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John one time spoke out fearlessly

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and very pointedly,

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almost too fearlessly and too pointedly for his own safety,

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King Herod of Galilee had paid a visit

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to his brother in Rome.

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During that visit, he seduced his brother's wife.

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He went back to Galilee, dismissed his own wife,

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and married this sister-in-law, whom he had lured away

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from her husband.

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John rebuked the king,

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publicly and sternly.

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It was not safe to denounce Eastern royalty.

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King Herod got his revenge by throwing John

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into the dungeons of a prison down in the mountains,

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near the Dead Sea.

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And it was there that John began to ask himself

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some questions about his cousin, Jesus,

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whom he had baptized in the Jordan.

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Was he the Messiah?

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At the beginning, he had been positive that Jesus was the

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one for whom the Jews had waited with such expectations.

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Was he right?

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Now he was beginning to have doubts.

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John was the forerunner, who recognized Jesus,

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baptized him, announced him to the world,

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but here he was, having second thoughts.

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John's preaching had been a message of doom

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to those who did not repent.

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The ax is ready to cut the tree down

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that does not bear good fruit.

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The one who comes after me will separate the chaff

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from the wheat and throw the worthless grain into the fire.

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But in the dampness and darkness of his prison cell,

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John was wondering:

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when is Jesus going to do something?

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When is he going to blast his enemies?

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When is the day of God's holy destruction going to begin?

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Will he ever restore the glory to Israel?

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So he sent his disciples to Jesus with the question:

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are you the one who was to come?

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Or must we go on wearily waiting for someone else?

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Jesus told those disciples: go back,

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go back and don't tell John what I am saying.

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Tell him what I am doing.

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Don't tell John what I am claiming.

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Tell him what is happening.

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Tell him that those who were blind to the truth

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about themselves and about their fellow men

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and about God are having their eyes opened.

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Tell him that those whose feet were never strong enough

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to stay on the right course are being strengthened.

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Tell him that those who were deaf to the voice

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of conscience and of God are beginning to listen.

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Tell him that I may not be doing the things he expects

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me to do, but that the real enemies of mankind,

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guilt, greed, despair,

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are being overcome.

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John had doubts because Jesus was not doing the things

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he expected.

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Sometimes we have doubts because the way the faith comes

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to us cuts across all of our ideas of how it ought to come.

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And that's why I value the lesson those two little girls

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taught me, that evening in a restaurant in Hazelwood.

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They taught me that Christmas can come any time.

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Anywhere.

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Emmanuel, God is with us.

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Emmanuel,

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God is with us in the most unexpected places.

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And at the most unexpected times.

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Once at an early morning study and prayer group,

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I heard a man say: if God would take one of the town's

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reprobates and change him overnight,

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it would do more to convince this town

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of God's presence than anything else.

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What about Bob, I responded.

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He was certainly at the bottom; look at him now.

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Bob had been an alcoholic, hopelessly so.

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He had drunk himself out of a job, out of a family,

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out of the town's respect.

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A new preacher was assigned to the Methodist church

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in that little town.

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He and Bob struck up a friendship,

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and through that influence,

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Bob started going to AA meetings.

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Soon he was sober, after three years he was back at work,

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back with his family, back in church.

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When I knew him 10 years later, he was a leader

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in the community, a lay-speaker in his church,

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and a successful merchant.

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I wondered, I wondered, I wondered why that transformation

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had not convinced the town of God's presence.

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The world has always had trouble recognizing God

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when he comes; the Hebrews grumbled at Moses.

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The prophets were considered eccentric.

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The Bethlehem babe, the teacher on the hillside,

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the savior on the cross were not enough.

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We've always had difficulty recognizing the presence

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of God, because of some preconceived notions

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of the way God is supposed to come to us.

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In the city where I live and work,

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we have a place called The Ark.

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It's an urban ministry center, supported by 35 churches.

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In a variety of ways, The Ark seeks to minister

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to the needs of the poor, the lonely,

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the desolate, the troubled, the broken.

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A Roman Catholic sister directs this mission.

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She is assisted by over 100 volunteers.

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One of the churches in Raleigh decided to investigate

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the Ark before lending its support.

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Members of that church's committee on missions

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came one morning to spend the day with Sister Helen.

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They sat with her, as she listened to the visitors

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who came to that place seeking help.

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They saw food distributed after verification

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that there was real need.

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They watched her direct people to places of employment.

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They listened to her contact every other helping agency

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in our city, regarding transportation, housing,

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medical service.

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They saw a volunteer sit for hours and work with someone

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who wanted to learn to read.

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They heard another volunteer tell young mothers

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how to care for their babies and how to feed their families.

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The needs were as varied as the people who came.

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And every person who came that morning,

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every visitor, was treated with dignity and respect,

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valued as the human being he or she is.

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When the day was over, the members of that church

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commended Sister Helen for all that was being done.

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But we cannot support, either with money or volunteers,

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they said, because you never question anybody

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about their salvation, and about eternal life.

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There are no pamphlets around for them to read

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about sin and redemption.

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You never offered them the gospel.

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And Helen's response: my heavens!

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What do you think we have been doing all day, if we have

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not been showing God's love and the spirit of Christ?

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Emmanuel, God is with us in the most unexpected places.

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At the most unexpected times.

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Those two little girls also taught me that I need

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to offer God's presence my very best.

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Always to offer it my very best.

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There was a tender moment that night when the little girl

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with the doll held it out for Santa to see,

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I wondered if she would have given it to him, had he asked.

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I believe she would have.

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Today we are celebrating the founding of this university.

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It's here because of the influence of the church.

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I've read about Mount Bethel and Mount Hebrim,

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and how deeply rooted the Duke family traditions

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and patterns of giving, go back

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to those two little churches.

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This was where a concern for the less fortunate

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became ingrained in a family.

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One of the prime factors leading to the establishment

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of the Duke Endowment was the low income of the people

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of the two Carolinas, knowing that service to mankind

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was the best offering they could make to God.

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Gifts were made by the Dukes to support educational,

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healthcare, and other eleemosynary institutions.

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Their intentions are clearly stated in the indenture.

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An endeavor to make provisions in some measure

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for the needs of mankind, along physical, mental,

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and spiritual lines.

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They were offering God their best,

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so that eyes would be open to truth.

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And ears would listen to the voice of God.

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This chapel stands here at the center of this campus

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to remind us of God's presence,

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and I need to offer it our best.

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There are two other places that remind me of the offering

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that the Dukes made, and I confess that I missed them both

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when I was a student here, 30 years ago.

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I stood at those two places recently.

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One is on East Campus.

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It's the statue of the sower.

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I looked at that statue and I reminded myself

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that I must be as diligent in offering my best

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as the sower is in sowing seed.

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And I must provide the kind of soil in which

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that seed can take root and grow.

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The other place is a bronze plaque

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in the central quadrangle.

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I walked by it hundreds of times in the 1950s,

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and I never saw it.

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A few weeks ago, I stopped and read it.

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It states the aims of this university,

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urging it to keep on offering the best in knowledge

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and faith, and service.

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Offering the presence of God,

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our best.

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Well, those two little girls backed out of that restaurant,

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absolutely amazed at what they had experienced.

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They taught me that Christmas, Emmanuel, God with us,

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should never cease to leave me amazed,

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and awestruck.

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Three years ago about this time the UPI carried a story

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about the Mike Goldberg family in Los Angeles,

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whose Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights,

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was almost ruined one year.

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A cleaning woman had mistakenly thrown away

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a priceless family treasure.

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A 16th century menorah.

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This liturgical and symbolic candlestick had belonged

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to Mr. Goldberg's ancestors.

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Desperate, he called the city refuse disposal office

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and asked if he could speak to anyone who was Jewish,

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so that they would understand.

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And they connected him with a Miss Ackerman,

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and she took the problem to the boss,

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and they discovered that the truck that picked up

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the garbage in the Goldberg neighborhood

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was now on the way to the city dump.

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Mr. Goldberg sped to the dump, intercepted the truck,

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found the drivers to be sympathetic but cautious.

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They warned him that that truck carried eight tons

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of garbage, trash, and then they spread it out for him,

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over as long a stretch as they could.

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And he began to dig with his hands, wishing for a shovel.

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Suddenly, he found one, a shovel he himself had thrown away.

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He regarded this as a sign from God.

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He dug for several hours, and finally he found the menorah,

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and there in the dump, he raised his voice

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in prayer of thanksgiving: Hear, O Israel,

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the Lord our god, the Lord is one.

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Signs of God's kingdom are all around us.

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There are signs of his holy presence,

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even in the most unlikely places.

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But we have to have eyes that want to see,

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and ears that want to hear,

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and a heart that desires God,

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one willing to wade into the waste places

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and common places, meeting places, and strange places.

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I wished I could see those two little girls again.

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I need to thank them for reminding me

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that Christmas can happen any time, anywhere.

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And that I should offer it my best,

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and that it should always leave me awestruck,

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amazed.

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Wondering at the presence of God.

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Amen.

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(organ music)

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(echoing choral music)

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<v ->As the people of God, let us affirm what we believe.</v>

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We believe in God, who has created and is creating,

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who has come in the truly human Jesus to reconcile

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and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.

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We trust God, who calls us to be the church,

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to celebrate life and its fullness,

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to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil.

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To proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

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our judge and our hope, in life, in death,

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in life beyond death, God is with us,

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we are not alone; thanks be to God.

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The Lord be with you.

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(murmuring)

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Let us pray.

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Our Lord, Jesus Christ, oh son of the most high,

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prince of peace, be born again into our world.

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Wherever there is war in this world,

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wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness

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and devastation, wherever there is no hope,

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come, oh long expected one, with healing in your wings.

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Oh holy child, whom the shepherds and kings

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and beasts adored, be born again.

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Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear

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of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong

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to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart,

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come, oh blessed one, with healing in your wings.

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Oh savior of the world, be born in each of us

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who raises his face to your face.

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Not knowing fully who we are, or who you are,

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knowing only that your love is beyond our knowing,

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and that no other has the power to make us whole.

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Come Lord Jesus, to each who longs for you,

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even though we have forgotten your name.

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With your love, seek us, oh Lord, and find us

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that we may find ourselves and our places in your kingdom.

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With your light awaken us, oh Lord,

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and give us a vision to seek out neglected tasks

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and the desire to accomplish them.

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With your truth, guide us, oh Lord, as we make our

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pilgrimage toward a joyous Christmas this year.

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And may we find that truth and that hope

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and that joy and find it through Jesus Christ our lord,

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who taught us to pray, saying:

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our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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Thy kingdom come, they will be done,

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on Earth as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread,

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and forgive us our trespasses,

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as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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And lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom,

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and the power, and the glory forever.

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Amen.

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(tranquil organ music)

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(reverent choral music)

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(triumphal organ music)

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(reverberating choral music)

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Oh God, merciful and gracious, accept this offering

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of your people; remember in your love those who have

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brought it and those for whom it is given.

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So follow it with your blessing that it may promote peace

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and goodwill among all people, everywhere.

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Through Jesus Christ, our lord, amen.

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(sonorous organ music)

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(somber choral music)

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The peace of God, which passes all understanding,

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keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love

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of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our lord,

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and the blessing of God almighty, creator, redeemer,

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sustainer, be among you, and remain with you always.

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(soaring choral music)

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(intricate organ music)

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(murmuring)