1 Samuel 2:1-10  •  Luke 1:46b-55  •  Mark 11:1-11

“There is no Holy One like the Lord,
     no one besides you;
     there is no Rock like our God.” 1 Sam 2:2-4

I want to be rock-strong and capable of holding still while chaos whips around us, and yet, rocks crumble; over time, something as light as wind or falling rain is enough to cut through it. Rocks are strong, and yet the elements are stronger and so they crumble.

When I think about how our earthly existence both reflects God’s strength, and is also fragile, vulnerable, and in a perpetual state of erosion, I feel grief. We are not like God who is a Rock like no other- a Rock of strength and permanence by which all else is weighed. When I think of that, I also feel relief because the parts of me that are seeking to be mighty and strong are not always trustworthy.

The advent story is a reminder that God came to us not as mighty, but feeble – a Rock vulnerable to erosion. And as he grew, Jesus girded on – put on, encircled himself with – strength through trust in God. What does it mean to us that God is a Rock of strength like no other? What does it look like for us to practice trusting God this advent season, as chaos whips the elements into a frenzy around us, perhaps eroding all that is no longer trustworthy and in need of crumbling?

Holy One, grant us knowledge of Your strength which permits us
to be human, as we trust you to hold us together. Amen.

Dr. Gena Minnix
Director of the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation and Associate Professor of Counselor Education
Seminary of the Southwest

Dr. Gena Minnix is the Director of the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation, and Associate Professor of Counselor Education. She is a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist trained in systemic therapies, EMDR, trauma and neuroscience, attachment and play therapy, and the Enneagram. In 2013, Gena helped co-found The Human Empathy Project, a nonprofit in Austin that exists to foster empathic connection with members of faith and LGBTQ communities. She is the author of several articles and chapters on the intersection of spiritual, religious, and ethical values in counseling, and is currently working on a book that applies neuroscience to Christian theology. Dr. Minnix and her family attend Vox Veniae church in East Austin.

The Advent Meditations and Prayers are a gift to our seminary community and are made possible through gifts to our Annual Fund. Seminary of the Southwest appreciates the support of its friends, alumni, and the communities around the world that its graduates serve for the glory of God. This support ensures that Southwest, as an institution made of individuals dedicated to service to God and their fellow members of the body of Christ, can continue doing its part to build the body of Christ.