December Twenty-Seventeen
Eating, drinking, loving, writing, working, reading, praying, playing: God is Immanuel.
-Advent Word 2017
It is
Advent again. In his sermon this morning, Oscar Uzin said: "Be alert, be
alert, so that you will be able to recognize your Lord in your husband, your
wife, your parents, your children, your friends, your teachers, but also in all
that you read in the daily papers. The Lord is coming, is always coming. Be
alert to his coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will
recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is
recognizing the coming of the Lord.” –Henri Nouwen, Gracias! A Latin American Journal
It is tempting this Advent to see only leafless trees, falling sunlight, and a darkening cultural horizon. But this is God’s pattern: death to life, bad news to good, sorrow to joy. Lift up your shoulders, shed your burdens, and open your eyes; joy springs up in unlikely places.
-James Amadon
Advent, in particular, gives us the opportunity to
practice the challenging spiritual discipline of waiting. Advent, which
literally means “arrival,” teaches us to wait for the coming of Christ into our
world, not just way back in Biblical times, but now—in the places where we long
for his presence and need his intervention.
This season ushers us into a special kind of waiting that is
alert and watchful, patient and yet full of anticipation. Like the doorkeeper
in the Gospel reading for the first week of Advent who is assigned to keep
watch while the master is away, we are instructed to be aware and awake so that
we don’t miss Christ’s coming in ways that we could not possibly predict. This
is the kind of waiting that has us perched on the edge of our
seats!
-Ruth Haley Barton
The point is too
make room for God to speak to us in that still, small voice;
He will show up in the space that we give Him.
That’s what Advent is all about–preparing room for the Savior
to come.
-Jody Collins
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . .means a little bit more!– Theodor Seuss Geisel, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Christmas, my child, is love in action. – Dale Evans
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
– Charles Dickens
God came to us because he wanted to join us on the
road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in
circles but moving towards the house of peace and joy. This is the great
mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are
not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent us his
only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to
feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us...
Christmas is the the renewed invitation not to be afraid and let him- whose
love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend- be our
companion. -Henri Nouwen
There is a
love that is patient and kind and that keeps no record of wrongs.
There is a
love that does not envy or boast and that is never rude or self-seeking.
There is a
love that always hopes and always perseveres and that never ends.
But our love
is not like this.
We have
sharp edges, and we wound our lives and the lives of others
with our imperfect
love.
And that is
why we need Christmas.
We need the
gift of Emmanuel to come into our work,
into our families, into our
relationships.
We need to
be reminded again and again that God’s love is the deeper magic at work
bringing light into our darkness if we will just open up our hearts to this
transforming power.
We need this
season to remind us of the hope that is before us.
Oh come let us
adore him
just as we
are-- in all our messy glory.
Oh come let
us adore him, Christ the Lord.
-ewh 2017
