Celebration

Merry, Merry Christmas!!  Hope that no matter what you are doing, that you are able to celebrate.  The celebration of Christmas goes on for twelve more days so go outside, call a friend, make some cookies, play a game, cook some lasagna or look at Christmas lights.  Christmas as a celebration is about remembering Jesus' birth as God's gift to us but it is also about celebrating that the Word Incarnate is, has been and always will be active in the world.  It is the beginning not an end to a journey of experiencing Divine love, a free gift for everyone. Light a candle, knowing that whatever darkness you are experiencing, that Christmas shines light through the darkness encouraging to know that even in the unknown, Jesus the Christ is present. Regardless of what you feel in your heart, know that you are loved and that's something to celebrate!!

Peace

What is peace?  Is it the absence of noise or of violence?  Is it having enough money in the bank or a good job?  I would say to you on this Christmas Eve that peace is more than that.  We can have peace regardless of what is going on in our lives and in the world.  Peace is a state of mind, it is an interior practice.  The practice of peace is not a feeling but a sense of knowing that Jesus the Christ is at work in our lives and in the world.  It is the practice of giving our worries over to God and letting go of our circumstances.  Peace is allowing things to just be knowing that over time all is well and all will be well because someone greater than us is doing more in our lives than we could ask for or imagine.  This Christmas let us allow the Incarnation of the Divine infiltrate our hearts, minds and souls with the Divine Love knowing that the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer understands our circumstances and we can rest in peace.

Persist

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, the word is persist.   Perhaps today is a good time to review how we experienced Advent.  Were we able to persist in making time for Advent observances whether it be attending church, lightening the Advent wreath, reading a daily reflection or some other discipline?  Have we persisted in viewing this time as a birthing season and taken care of ourselves instead of rushing around?  Are we sharing with others and giving freely even when their persistence becomes an annoyance? Let's persist in our preparations  for the Christ child allowing ourselves to receive the gifts of love, joy, peace and hope offered freely to us. 

Expect

On this Saturday before Christmas, what are you expecting?  Are you focusing on the crowds at the stores or the packages you will receive?  Are you expecting a bonus check from your work place?  Are you expecting your church to offer good music and be beautifully decorated on Christmas Eve?  Yes, we often think about expectations as our preferences, what we would like to happen.  However, what would happen if we reversed it as they mentioned on the Advent Word site today, and we expected opportunities to serve.  How are we presenting ourselves to Christ?  Are we preparing to serve during this Advent season?  Are we expecting to give? https://www.adventword.org/

Sign

Signs are everywhere.  When we are going somewhere new we need to watch for signs.  If it is a new place and we miss the sign we might the place altogether and have to turn around.  A few times I have completely missed the signs causing me to get lost and then miss out because I have to spend so much time finding out where I am and heading in the direction of where I need to be.  God asks us to watch.  When we watch for the signs of God in our lives and in the world, then we can experience joy in the most ordinary things.  Have you ever stepped to watch a bird eating a worm or a squirrel digging for where he hid his acorns?  These are simple things which bring joy.  If we rush around and fail to notice the signs then we miss out on what God is doing and sometimes that  means making the wrong choices or simply wasting time doing things that serve no purpose in our lives anymore.  Today let's walk a bit slower and notice the signs of God in our world.  Keep watch that as we continue to prepare for our Savior's birth that we can experience all of the peace, joy and love of the season in spite of life's difficulties.  

Ablaze

In recent months, there have been many places across the USA which have experienced devastating fires.  Houses and businesses have been destroyed.  Part of becoming ablaze for the world is reaching out and being out a helping hand in times of need such as fires, hurricanes and tornadoes. Being ablaze is practicing daily acts of kindness and sharing Christ' love through encouragement and patience.  It is offering smiles to strangers, sending cards to the sick and offering food to those who are hungry.  Let us allow the Spirit to descend upon us that in this Advent and Christmas season we might be ablaze for the world in the love we share. 

Rejoice

Rejoice, Rejoice, again I say rejoice.  We are called to rejoice however rejoicing in the Lord is not about smiling or being happy all of the time.  Sometimes rejoicing in the Lord is trusting that as this Advent unfolds that a new day is coming. Rejoicing in the Lord sometimes me resting knowing that He cares for you.  Sometimes rejoicing in the Lord is knowing that She is comforting you.  Rejoicing in the Lord is knowing that the night will pass and a new day will dawn maybe not in the way we imagine it but nothing is too great for Him to handle.  God protects and provides for us no matter what the situation, we can rejoice knowing that we are being take care of at all times and in all places.  

Prepare

This is a picture of some pumpkin muffins and bars I made this year.  The photo is of the finished product.  However,  they required much preparation. First gathering the ingredients, then mixing the ingredients together and then baking. This is the call during Advent to take the time to prepare.  How are we preparing our hearts, minds and souls to receive the Christ, to receive the Word made Flesh who calls us to a more abundant, deeper life? Take the time to slow down, have a cup of coffee or tea, enjoy a conversation with God and then go have fun with a friend.  Advent is about silence, solitude, and study but it is also relational, a time of caring and compassion.  

Prune

When I think of prunes, I think of a fruit that I do not like.  Some of you might not like the word prune because it means trimming your trees.  Regardless of whether you like or dislike the noun or verb forms of prune,  God prunes us.  She does not ask if we enjoy it but rather seeks to purify souls of evil thoughts.  As God gets rid of the deadwood in our souls, we often  become aware of habits that no longer serve us.  This Advent as we move away from compartmentalizing and allow the dark and the light to interact within our souls, let us ask ourselves, what habits do we need to shed so that there might be additional room in our lives for God?

Visit http://www.quadratos.com/ and https://www.missionalwisdom.com/ to explore the interplay between light and dark further. (These ideas are not 100% original but rather grow out of the Advent reflections and videos individuals from these organizations are exploring and fleshing out during Advent. 

Smooth

If something is smooth it is pleasant to touch or see or listen to.  Most things that are smooth take time.  For example, if  we want our pants to be smooth and not wrinkled, we need to take the time  to iron.  If we are trying to make a floor smooth, it might take many hours of sanding.  Some things like rocks or shells become smooth over a long period of time. 

Rocks become smooth due to an interaction of the elements, often water and sand.  This is true for us as well.  We become smooth in God's time, kairos time rather than chronos time.  God's time of creating within us and preparing us to fulfill Her purpose often takes longer than we think it should.  God slowly molds allow us to become His unique sons or daughters.  Becoming smooth is a life long process that cannot be rushed.  So today we ask ourselves, do I want to allow God to make me smooth, to be created in Her image and be a full participation in the ongoing creation of the world.  

Rough

When I think about the word, rough, I think about being tossed around.  I imagine rough waters or a rough plane flight, in which there is a lot of turbulence.  On this day in Advent, we are called to take the time to remember that it is Jesus who calms the waters and make our paths straight.  When life feels turbulent and overwhelming, then is when we need to pray.  The prayer can be as simple as help me.  Jesus will give us the peace and strength to live out the storm.  The turbulence will not go away immediately but we can find a new perspective. 

Jesus stills the waters within us.  Slow down, and rest in Him. 

Go

Go, Go to Jail, Do Not Pass Go and Do Not Collect $200 it says in Monopoly.  The instructions are to go directly to jail.  Jesus calls us to Go, he calls us into relationship so that we can love Him and that through his love, we can love ourselves and others. Where is Jesus calling you to go? It may not be a physical place it may be an interior place.  Listen, and then go, do not wait.  Is Jesus calling you to pray, to take dinner to your neighbor, to give a coat to the homeless man,  to sit in silence or to rest?  Go knowing that the radiance of Christ
comes through the darkness and points the way.  

Cry

Today's word for Advent is Cry.   When we think of crying, grief or pain comes to mind.  I know mostly I used to think of this word as something I did and then sometimes I was called upon to comfort someone else who was crying.  However, during Advent, as we listen to the scriptures, John, son of Zechariah challenges us to a different kind of crying as he acts as a "voice crying in the wilderness calling for repentance."  Where are we being called  to be a voice for justice?   In the Old Testament, scripture tells us, "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."   The beating is not over yet. We need to keep beating and keeping crying out for justice, crying out for the voices of the oppressed and the wounded.  God calls us to participate in the cries of everyone's souls and all of creation's groans. 

The challenge is to move beyond ourselves even in the midst of our own  mourning to a place where the grieving places in our souls become cries in the world for change and an end to injustice.  

Wild

The 4th century monk, Evagrius Ponticus writes in his treatise on prayer, “pray first to receive tears, so that through compunction you may be able to mollify the wildness that is in your soul, and, having confessed against yourself your transgression to the Lord (Ps. 31:5), you may obtain forgiveness from him.”  The wilderness within the interior of our souls is the place we need to mourn.  As John, son of Zechariah calls from the wilderness, "Repent!"   However, God desires more from us than turning away from sin and changing our ways but rather wants us to be sorry for the pain we have caused.  

Yet also the wild is not a place that we need to be in by ourselves.  If we pray like Evagrius suggests with tears then not only will God forgive us but also soothe the wild places in us.  While we have to suffer the consequences of our sins,  God does not desire us once we are forgiven to continue to punish ourselves.  God sees the grief in our souls and shows mercy upon us.  
During this Advent season, I invite you to consider, where are the places within your soul that are still wild?  What are the things that you need God's help in grieving over so that you can be healed and not keep letting the past hold you back? 

Alert

Today's Advent word is ALERT.  In my own my life,  I have had and still have plenty of unanswered questions and situations that seem that there  will never be a resolution to them.  However, over the years I have realized that while 
I am  waiting I must not only be patient but I must also be alert otherwise I will God in the small things.  It is in the small things such as a phone call, a note, a letter in a mail, an unexpected encounter in grocery that God often speaks to us. 

 Like Elijah' experience, God speaks to us is in the still small voice or  in a dream like He spoke to Joseph.  If we are not paying attention, then we might miss these small events which might bring an answer to a problem or a resolution to a situation in a way that we had never thought of before.  In this time of being refreshed and renewed in the darkness of  being prepared for the next step to come,  may we stay alert and not miss out on God's demonstrations of love. 

Sprout

Merriam-Webster defines sprout as, "to grow, spring up, or come forth ."  The image of a plant growing comes to mind, the first shoot coming out of the soil. However sprout also leads to other images, a small child, food for a sandwich, a cable channel or a brand of baby food. 

 Many of us are now eating sprouts as food as not are they healthy but they also add crunch to our foods.  I like to think as crunch as something different.  Have you ever noticed how when chips to your chili or nuts to your dessert that it adds to the taste and gives a different perspective to the dish?  Sometimes our soul need a bit of crunch. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Advent is a time of birthing.  In this time of birthing the soul like the body needs a variety of nourishment.  Sometimes it is the most unlikely things,  for one person it might be running or for another it could be working at the food pantry or maybe its engaging in extended silence.  It is easy to do the same things over and over again.  What might add crunch to your spiritual life?  Is there a practice you have let of that you need to refresh?  Or maybe you need to step out of your comfort zone and try something new?  

For me this Advent, it is returning to writing.  Until I started writing these daily Advent reflections, I had not written any blog posts in over a year and I had not realized how much my soul was nourished by them.  Writing these reflections provides me with insight into how my soul is and also allows me a way of giving to others.  

Light

What do you think of when you think about light? - light as opposite of dark or light as in the electric light or as in the natural light of the sun or moon or maybe light as opposite of heavy or a perhaps a light day or job as in less responsibility

What about light as the place of God or the radiance of the Holy Spirit?  Evagrius Ponticus drawing upon Moses' experience in Exodus of experiencing the place of God on a mountaintop and seeing a light the color of the sky describes the mind as the place of God and the blue sapphire light as the light of the Holy Trinity.  While we may not see the light of God in the physical world, we can experience the visible light of the spiritual world.  In the Skemmata, Evagrius writes, "prayer is the state of the mind that comes to be from the single-light of the Holy Trinity." Even when the world around us seems dark, we can experience God in our souls through prayer.  This Advent allow your mind to become the place of God, a place where light shines and illumination occurs.  Let go that the radiance might begin. How is the blue sapphire taking root in your life?

Night

Night can be many things.  It is night time here in Tennessee right now.  It is dark and cold.  Night can be an interior time, a time of fear and unknown.  It can also be a time of creation.  There is no dawn without the night.  Dr. Alexander Shaia writes, "Darkness is where the new radiance begins."  Night is a place of birthing, a place of creation.  Jesus the Christ calls us to give him our burdens and he will give us rest.  Advent is a time of renewal and a time of creation.  It is the darkness of winter before the radiance of spring.  What are the dark places you are holding onto too tightly?  We have to choose to do the work of the dark, allowing the new radiance to begin.
I know for myself that certain things in my life did not change until I allowed them to be rather than tried to fix them.  New radiance does not come by pushing away the dark or ignoring the dark but by embracing all of its pieces and letting Jesus the Christ begin to radiate healing into those dark places bringing new growth.
What is the one thing that you can allow yourself to let go of and say I am not afraid I can let this darkness be a new beginning?

Visit http://www.quadratos.com to learn more about Advent and Dr. Alexander Shaia's work.

Focus

It is the third day of Advent and the question is are we becoming more intentional or already losing focus?  After all our world teaches us to always be looking for the newest thing to satisfy our desires.   Do we feel we must multi-task because it is expected or do we have the courage to slow down and listen? 
Focus is something that has always been extra hard for me even before the Internet and smart phones became the order of the day.  I tend to swing between the two extremes of being hyper-focused to the point of not being aware of anything else or so unfocused that I am not paying close attention to anything to the point at times of putting myself in harm's way.  Focus does not mean don't watch but rather choose what you are going to pay attention to.  Be intentional with your focus. 
How will you offer God your focus today?  How will you be intentional about Advent rather than jumping ahead to Christmas?  Scriptures tells not to be afraid or be in hurry or to worry but rather to seek and trust. 

Watch

On this second day of the Advent, the word is Watch.  Advent calls us to both an interior and an exterior watchfulness.  Internally, are we listening to God's still small voice

or is our soul being blown the wind grasping onto to whatever feels good.  Externally, are we watching for opportunities to serve?  Are we watching for those moments to love without exhausting ourselves?  

From the 21st Chapter of Luke: 34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

We are called to be alert and to pray, what is God putting on our hearts today? 

Journey

Today the Advent journey begins. It is the first day of the Christian year, a new dawn. It is a time of growing, waiting and anticipating. However, unlike other journeys, the Advent journey is an unknown one, we can set intentions and participate in Godly activities but we can only nurture what God is creating. Perhaps my friend , Alexander, says it best with these words, “Womb Time in God, ” and thus I wonder where is this journey going, can I wait?, can I trust? and can I participate? without knowing. Visit http://www.quadratos.com, to learn more about Alexander John Shaia’s work and the Four-Gospel Journey.