Psalm 38; Isaiah 6: 1-13; John 7:53- 8:11
Listen to the author read their meditation and prayer:
Rychelle Reiling, Advent Meditation
Advent is a season that invites us into a creative pause, when our hearts long for the Word-Made-
Flesh to break through the pages of scripture and meet us in the present moment.
In the gospel reading for today, we encounter men with stones who bring an adulterous woman to Jesus to test him and seek his judgment. Jesus, fully present, is not lured into the trap. Instead, he bends down and begins sliding his fingers across the landscape of the earth. A curious response.
The imagery of the Word, the eternal Logos, sliding his finger along the earth, forming word, completely in touch, embodied, fully present in the moment, is Advent. This creative pause is ripe with possibility for transformation. Perhaps this moment produced another image in him of the first dust animated by the breath of God.
For me, this moment in scripture strikes at the heart of God’s longing for creation, for mutuality in love and reciprocity of gift among each other—in stark contrast with the chaos and strong armed violence unfolding before him. Jesus stands up and with one simple statement subverts the plot, exposes their sin and instead of judging the woman, Jesus releases the captive, saying, “…sin no more.”
New life.
New breath.
Breathe…
God of creative pauses, animate our breath toward good that we might join in your longing and creative intent in the world.
Rychelle Reiling
Master of Arts in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care
Class of 2017
SEMINARY OF THE SOUTHWEST
Rychelle is a student at Seminary of the Southwest and will graduate in 2017 with a Masters in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care. She, her partner Madison, and their deer-like dog Fitz currently live in Austin and hope to land in the Pacific Northwest after graduation. She currently works at St. David’s Medical Center—as a PRN Chaplain.
