The beginning of Advent is still two months away. It starts December 1st, but it is time to get ready. Some of the stores are way ahead of us with Christmas decorations and gifts already prominently on display. They know that the longer and the more intentionally we think about an event before it happens, the more it will fill our consciousness.
I want to invite you to prepare for the real Advent and Christmas story. Last year’s theme was Let Us Wait As Children Wait. The blog posts were some of the most profound I have read. This year’s theme is Coming Home: Uncovering Our Roots in the Advent Story.
Joan Chittister in The Liturgical Year says: The function of Advent is to remind us what we’re waiting for as we go through life too busy with things that do not matter to remember the things that do (61). She goes on to challenge us by saying: Advent asks the question, what is it for which you are spending your life?
The incredible popularity of my prayer Lord Help Me to Live Simply on Godspace and Facebook this week has made me aware of how pertinent this question is. We all desperately crave more meaningful, less cluttered lives. Yet we rarely take the time to slow down and give up the urgent for the important. In preparation for Christmas and Advent this year consider her challenge. What is it that you are spending your life for?
Advent means coming and the season beckons us towards three comings we need to ponder on. The first coming, Chittister writes about is the remembrance of Jesus coming in the flesh, an infant whose birth captivates our hearts yet makes few, if any demands on our souls. For many the story is nothing more than a children’s story, a soothing tale that is little more than an add on to the secular celebration of consumption and overindulgence.
The next coming to which Advent calls our attention is the coming of the presence of God recognized among us now in the Scripture, in the Eucharist, in the community itself. This coming makes Jesus present in our own lives, eternally enlivening, eternally with us. (65)
The final coming to which Advent points us is the Second Coming of Christ, what my husband Tom calls Advent II homecoming. It is this coming that whets the desire of the adult soul. (65) We await with deep longing the return of Christ at the end of time when the eternal world of God for which we strive with every breath will come in all its fullness.
So think about how you could participate with us this Advent and Christmas season:
First save the date for our pre-Advent retreat Stop the Madness – Return to Our Senses in Advent. This will be held November 16th at the Mustard Seed House in Seattle, but we also hope to have an online download available for those who cannot attend. So set aside time in the next couple of months to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ.
Second, this is your invitation to participate in our Advent/Christmas series Coming Home: Uncovering Our Roots in the Advent Story. Consider writing a blog post that reflects on the question Which coming are you waiting for this Advent? Chittister reminds us that the comings – past, present and future- all live together in one long sigh of the soul (66) yet one aspect of Advent always grabs our attention more than others.
This series should provide plenty of scope for all of us, no matter where we are at in our journeys. I hope that you will participate and invite others to join the journey too. Posts should be 600 – 800 words. Please include a short bio with links you want included, and jpgs of photos with credits for the photos.
If you would like to contribute a post for this series leave a comment here or sign up to receive ongoing information in the Godspace Writing Community on Facebook or email me at christine@msaimagine.org for more details. If you know of others who might be interested please send them the link. I hope that this series will provide us with a rich array of viewpoints from around the world so that together we grow in our faith and rediscover some of the wonder and awe of the coming of Christ.
Third sign up to follow Godspace daily and encourage your friends to do so too. We will post daily meditations, weekly liturgies and podcasts, and other resources to help prepare you for the coming of Christ.
The Advent season kicks off the liturgical year and we want to make sure we begin it right – but that won’t happen unless we put effort and discipline into it. So we hope that you will join us this year.
Micha Jazz of the Contemplative Network posted this prayer on Light for the Journey yesterday. May it remind us of the heartache suffered over the weekend by so many in Kenya and Pakistan. May it stir within us a deep desire for peace and a longing for God’s world where violence and war will no longer exist
Let us join our prayers for the people of Nairobi tonight.Let s pray for peace and comfort for all those facing bereavement in Nairobi. Let us also pray for the perpetrators and their families. Lord have mercy.Kikuyu Peace Prayer
Praise ye Lord,
Peace be with us.Say that the elders may have wisdom and speak with one voice.
Peace be with us.Say that the country may have tranquillity.
Peace be with us.And the people may continue to increase.
Peace be with us.Say that the people and the flock and the herds
May prosper and be free from illness.
Peace be with us.Say that the fields may bear much fruit
And the land may continue to be fertile.
Peace be with us.May peace reign over earth,
May the gourd cup agree with vessel.
Peace be with us.May their heads agree and every ill word be driven out
Into the wilderness, into the virgin forest.
The weekly round up of prayers from Light for the Journey includes two that I posted as separate posts during the week. However as these have been extremely popular prayers I thought that I would include them here for those that missed them.
A blessing
John O’Donohue,
May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life..
Posted by Contemplative Network
This prayer inspired by reading the various views about food stamps and who is responsible to help the poor.
God you call us your friends,
Not just one but all.
Not just the rich but the poor,
Not just the powerful but the marginalized,
Not just the vocal but the voiceless.
Befriended, made family together,
One in you, responsible to care for each other.
God we all live in the light of your goodness,
We all rely on the light of your love,
Renewed as we share the mind of Christ,
Renewed together with the abandoned and abused,
Welcomed, cherished, restored,
With transformed minds and renewed hearts.
One in you, made family together.
I love to start the day with a breathing prayer – reminding myself that I am created by the breath of God. Here is one I wrote at the beginning of this week:
Breathe in the love of God,
Let if fill you will grace and mercy.
Breathe in the life of God,
Let it empower you with truth and justice.
Breathe in the peace of God,
Let it sustain you with faith and hope.
Christine Sine
For the many who battle with dementia and feel isolated, frightened and alone, a prayer written by one who suffers with them. Let’s be the church that prays because we care and cares because we pray.
Oh dear Lord, hear my prayer,
And show me that you really care,
Trouble is I can’t remember,
All my prayers for you to tender,
Will this matter, on the day,
When we meet, what will you say?
If I didn’t have dementia
I would recall my holy Venture,
If I don’t pray, from time to time,
Remember that my minds not mine,
Please forgive me, as you know,
No matter what, I love you so.
Norman Mc Namara
Posted by The Contemplative Network
I feel the older I get that life requires tremendous courage on behalf of every person. I came across this lovely Lutheran prayer for courage, and having prayed it myself I offer it as a prayer for each one of us.
Lord God,
you have called your servants
to ventures of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden,
through perils unknown.
Give us faith to go out with good courage,
not knowing where we go,
but only that your hand is leading us
and your love supporting us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Posted by The Contemplative Network
God you only will I serve,
Through faithfulness and righteousness.
God you only will I follow,
Through justice and in truth.
God you only will I exalt,
Through praise and worship.
For you alone are worthy,
You alone are holy,
You alone are eternal.
Christine Sine
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Posted by The Contemplative Network
God may we look to eternity,
With hope and not with fear,
With expectation and not with dread.
May we see the tree of death
on which our Saviour died ,
As a tree of life connecting heaven and earth.
May we see the wind
that whispers through the trees,
As your life giving Spirit
Breathing your life through all the earth.
Amen
Last but not least I wanted to make you aware of a resource available from John Birch, one of the regular contributors to Light for the Journey. His new book God of Compassion is currently available for download for £1 (about $1.60 U.S.) I love his prayers and have thoroughly enjoyed his previous books Heart2Heart and Prayers for the Journey
God awakens the dawn
As I sat in the presence of God this morning the sun was rising. The mountains outside my window were tinged with red and the setting moon glowed in the light of the pink hued clouds.
Moon setting in the dawn light
This is one of the delights of the shortening of the days at this time of the year. In summer I am unaware of this awe inspiring slow change from dark to light. But this morning as I watched the changes I was was overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God – light always follows darkness, dawn will always come and often, as I experienced this morning, the longer the period of darkness, the more spectacular the breaking in of God’s light.
Setting moon tinged with morning glow
So often we rail against the darkness. We feel depressed because God’s presence is hidden in our world and in our lives. The coming of dawn reminds me that God’s light is never far away. It will break in to every darkened night. And the bright globe of the moon this morning reassured me that even in the midst of darkness God’s light shines.
God’s light shines even in the darkness
I must confess that I did not get to the reading of scripture this morning, or to my usual prayers. All I could say to God was thank you, thank you, thank you and within my heart the joy of God rose like that light giving sun. May it do the same for you this day.
Abundant tomatoes for BLTs and salads
It is harvest season. I am frantically drying, preserving and freezing the abundance of apples from our trees, making green smoothies from the delicious salad greens and indulging in wonderful tomato salads and sandwiches. It seems fitting that I am in the midst of reading Fred Bahnson’s delightful memoir Soil and Sacrament. I was particularly struck this morning my his comment:
Our ecological problems are a result of having forgotten who we are – soil people, inspired by the breath of God… in St Augustine’s phrase, terra animata – animated earth.
Drying apples
So as we contemplate this day and this season may we indeed remember who we are and who God has made us to be. Last year I wrote this liturgy for the harvest season. I decided I could not improve on it this year so add it again here as a way to draw all of us into the blessings of this season.
God we thank you for a harvest of plenty,
Small seeds that multiply to feed many,
Trees that blossom and produce abundant fruit,
Tomatoes that ripen on the vine with sweet flavour.
God we thank you for abundance overflowing,
Enough for our own needs and an abundance to share,
Enough to feed the hungry and provide for the destitute,
Enough to reach out with generosity and care.
God we thank you for seeds you have planted in our hearts,
Seeds of righteousness yielding goodness and mercy,
Seeds of love yielding justice and peace,
Seeds of compassion yielding healing and renewal.
God we thank you for the bread of heaven,
Christ our saviour planted in our lives,
Christ our redeemer growing in our hearts,
Christ your Son making us one with you.
God we thank you for the gift of life,
Like water poured out on thirsty ground,
Spring and autumn rains that revive and bring life,
A river that flows from your heart and out into the world you love.
Amen
Preserving the harvest – Canning Tomatoes
For other posts on harvest season you like might to see:
2011 I wrote this reflection: The Harvest is Plentiful But the Labourers are Few;
2010 I posted this: Praying for an Abundant Harvest
2009 I wrote this litany: God of the Bountiful – A Harvest Prayer
And my first post on this theme in 2008: The Generosity of God – Fish and Loaves for all
Gomphrena pink zazzle shoing tiny yellow flowers
Many of you know that I have been reading a lot lately about Social entrepreneurship, business and imagination. Lots of new and stimulating books out there but probably the greatest lessons I have learned in this regard come from the garden, and as I read some of the books on my pile it seems that many of them just reiterate what I am learning:
- There is no failure in the garden – if something doesn’t work this year, try again immediately or next year or plant in a different place in the garden. One of the primary tenants of social entrepreneurship is fail well, some even say we need to become masters at failure. (see Imagination First 187) Failure is not disaster it is a learnable skill that is necessary for success.
- Plan for surprise – there is nothing more wonderful than going out in the garden and discovering something totally unexpected. Developing a business is a little like that too. Routine can stifle our imagination. We need to regularly rinse out our expectations (Imagination First 158) and allow the random unexpected happenings to take over. This year for example my best autumn greens in the garden are a patch just behind my raised beds that self seeded. One of my garden helpers almost covered them over thinking they were weeds. Fortunately I stopped him in time and have just encouraged everyone to walk around the patch. This unexpected surprise has provided an amazing harvest for my green smoothies.
- Look, listen and learn. Stillness is a fertile breeding ground for ideas (43). Wandering through my garden with no other intention than to breathe in the stillness of God and admire the flowers gives unexpected rewards. For example, to fill in my flower pots which had been decimated by the summer drought here in Seattle, I planted gomphrena – I knew nothing about it but the plants in the garden nursery caught my attention. Usually I look at them from a distance but a few days ago I walked close and was stunned by the beauty. The wonder of the leaves covered in dew and then the emergence of tiny yellow flowers has awed and stirred me.
Gomphrena covered in dew
- All good things begin small. We are easily overwhelmed by the immensity of the problems in our world- gun violence, poverty, sex trafficking, climate change – no matter what the issue we want to respond to, we can easily become powerless because our own small efforts seem so trivial. But every plant grows from a tiny seed – a seed that germinates in darkness away from the world. Forcing it into the light too soon destroys it.
- Share with others. Gardeners are the worlds greatest sharers or cross pollinators. They love to talk about their garden designs, share recipes, produce and techniques. they love to hear the stories others have to share and never feel they know it all. Along the way they learn, rethink their ideas, experiment and come up with new and creative plans that improve their harvests. For too long we have thought that the way to effective business is to hold our ideas to ourselves – patents and copyrights though sometimes necessary to protect our intellectual rights can also stifle creativity and new design. When we share all of us benefit.
Still grappling with these words from Daniel Taylor’s book In Search of Sacred Places:
Simplicity is no great virtue unless wedded to right priorities. A desirable simplicity entails the recognition of what is important in life, coupled with the strength of will to structure one’s daily existence around that recognition. It requires minimizing the impact of one’s life of unimportant things, an extremely difficult task in an acquisitive and schedule-filled culture. (148)
My reflections inspired this prayer:
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