Today, as we begin the Advent journey, our scriptures call us to listen and stay awake. Isaiah evokes the image of children estranged from their parent, rebelling against their upbringing. The image is as contemporary as it is timeless.
It is easy to get wrapped up in the logistical preparation of Advent: get fresh candles for the Advent wreath, hang garland around the front door, decorate the Christmas tree, address and mail Christmas cards.
In all this running around, I am missing something deeper. How do I prepare my heart to turn toward Jesus?
One of the hardest spiritual disciplines is to surrender control. Part of what makes it difficult is the discernment required to know when such surrender is what God requires. Think of the Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
How long, O Lord,
how long must we wait
in the narthex of preparation,
marking time until
future’s procession is fully formed,
only then to be released
to step across the threshold and into
the revelry of vocative destiny.
I grew up on the Ohio prairie, where seasonal change is a concrete and tangible experience. Many childhood years of moving from season to season formed me and imbedded expectations for the changing seasons on the calendar.
“Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint
and moan, and he will hear my voice.”
Nothing quite captures the magic of the Christmas season like a psalm about betrayal, anger, and revenge. Today’s psalm surely doesn’t pull any punches; it’s an honest, heartfelt lament to God.
Have you ever been the subject of a book? Or even a character in a story? I can imagine that one might have a variety of emotional responses to such a moment. Perhaps one would feel pride at having been chosen for a close examination of action or character. Or, once your life is writ large for others to see, paranoia might set in while you remain vigilant for the presence of paparazzi.
Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny him, yet Jesus did not pray that the denial would not happen; he prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail him, that he would return again to the way that Jesus had shown him, and in the process that he might strengthen his brothers.