Advent week 3: Sunday - Letting Go That Which Is Not Working

 

Blogging daily did not work the way I had planned. My family and being a worker in the world is the vocation God calls me to at this time.

The poem "She Let Go" by Safire Rose says it well. And thank you Jenice for the reference in the Saint George's Episcopal Church (Arlington) 2020 Virtual Advent Calendar.

I am not giving up blogging, I am confident new blog entries will occur, I just don't know when. Or how often.

A Prayer: Lord God, Thank You for what I have learned so far this Advent. Thank You for being with me and guiding me. Please continue to help me to do the work You have for me to do. And just as importantly, help me to care for myself appropriately as I continue to grow and live in this confusing,wonderful world. Amen.

Advent Week 2: Wednesday - "Give us grace..."

Advent is a time of pausing. In this pause we ponder God's grace in our lives. The Collect last week started "Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light..." This week we ask God: "Give us grace to heed their (the prophets) warnings and forsake our sins..."  Implicit is the understanding we cannot do it ourselves, no matter how much we try and how much we wish to do it ourselves, it is only with Your grace, God that we move forward and are closer to you.

A Prayer: Lord, be with me and give me this grace today to cast the works of darkness in my life away, to heed Your call to forsake my sins. Thank you.

Advent Week 2: Tuesday - "Jesus Christ our Redeemer"

• Sing a new song to the LORD,
• his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
• Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;
• let Sion’s children exult in their king.
• Let them praise his name with dancing,
• and make music with timbrel and harp.

Psalm 149:1-3 (RGP)

"Our Redeemer? Where?"

All day today I have been caught up at work. My email fills up with requests, status updates, the problems my group needs to solve... This morning (such a long time ago) I read from Psalms, took in some meditations, took a walk and talked to You. But then I jumped right in to the work of the day. I didn't think about the lines above (which I read this morning) or remember to say Thank You when things went well.

Advent is a reminder that yes You ARE here. This Advent I am spending a little more time with You. Truth be known I am not all that excited about that since taking time for You, well, takes time. And all day long there is the answer to the "where" and even the unsaid "how" of my busy day, my trying to take care of it all, and my not letting You in...

Where is our Redeemer? Right here, with us as we laugh, complain, succeed, fail, and just live.

A Prayer: Dear Lord, redeem my life, especially when I try to take over, or am so frustrated I give up, and stay with me always. Thank You. Amen. 

Advent Week 2: Monday - "Your Messengers the prophets preach..."

"...your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way..."

Being a "typical" mainline church goer and not a Bible scholar, I do not have an encyclopedic knowledge of the prophets in the Bible. Curious, I checked and found eighteen prophets listed under the heading "The Prophetic Books" in my copy of The New Oxford Annotated Bible. But I do keep trying. Today the reading was from Isaiah (Isaiah 5:8-23, specifically.) I read of coming punishment, drunkenness, the inability distinguish right from wrong... In just this short section of one prophet I find so many ways I feel I don't measure up.

Perhaps I am really getting too far in the weeds here. The big picture I see is that You, God, worked hard to provide us with an understanding of how we fail and what You expect of us. We didn't listen to the Prophets so now you sent Your Son Jesus to speak and be among us...

A Prayer: Give me the will to keep following Your path, even when I want to give up. Help me to keep reading regularly, and not lose heart when the path gets steep. Amen.

Advent Week 2: Sunday - (Listen) - Heed - Forsake

 

"Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins..."

To know what the warnings are for me, Lord, I need to listen, not just read, but LISTEN. I cannot heed, I cannot forsake until I understand what the warnings are and what I need to change. Listening is key. I am very good at reading, research, building lists, thinking of all the things I need to stop, or start, or change. I can prioritize them this way and that. I can build a Sunday Top Five, then on Monday prioritize again to get a new Top Five.

I need You, Lord. Not just listening to the latest preaching, wonderful hymns, guidance from those I report to, and listening to those I love... All of these are important and provide good input, but they are not the key. The key for me is to listen to You, to make time every day and listen. You know me, are always there, have been with me since I was born. You Love me and know me. You know what is best for me. When I listen to You, Lord, I must trust, trust in two ways:

• First: That you DO know what is right
• Second: That when I hear You incorrectly, or interpret what you say to my advantage (oh yes, I will do both of those) You are right there with me, ready to forgive me and for me try again...

A Prayer: I praise and thank You for my life with you. Please give me the patience to make time, be quiet, and listen for You. Once I have heard You, give me the courage to forsake my sins and do what You have called me to do. Amen.

Advent Week 1: Saturday - "...when he shall come again in his glorious majesty..."

Is the time now, Lord? Am I ready? I am so tired, please let this be the end time, and please let me join You in Heaven! Alternatively am I looking at my life with You and hoping, wishing, trusting that You will give me a few more days or years to get myself and my life in order? Maybe the more realistic view is I want to be ready to be with You, God, but if You don't mind there are a few things I am really enjoying right now. As long as I don't look too carefully I can call them enjoyment and relaxation rather than sins. And let's not even mention the sins I just don't have the courage today to face, and certainly am embarrassed to admit to You...

For me Advent is about living life today, preparing to meet You in the end, and remembering that You came among us so I can have life immortal with You.

• For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
• he bestows favor and honor.
• No good thing does the Lord withhold
• from those who walk uprightly.
• O Lord of hosts,
• happy is everyone who trusts in you

Psalm 84:11-12, NRSV 

Advent Week 1: Friday - "Mortal Life and Life Immortal"

 

"...now in the time of this mortal life...we may rise to life immortal..."

Can we really know life immortal? I know my mortal life, the one I have lived since I was born. From my first memories to today, that is the span of what I understand as "mortal." I experience the birth and death of those around me. But what of this "immortal" life? I hear stories of those before me and I have hopes for those living after me, but all I really know is based on the now that I live in...

Life immortal? What does it mean? We get glimpses in the stories of the bible. Do we really know what immortal is? Today the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) came to my mind. In that story a chasm separates the Rich Man from Lazarus, just as my life today is separate from my immortal life to come. I cannot clearly see immortal life today, the path between now and there is misty and confusing with the glowing city of God just visible on a good day, far in the distance. My life getting to that city is like tramping through hills and valleys covered with clouds, the mountain peaks on the horizon bathed in the sun... With God's help, I will safely travel to life immortal. 

A Prayer: The views here on earth call me, and I thank You. Your words of heaven above call me, and I thank you. Thank you for being with me, and all of us. We praise you for  giving us the glimpses that keep us moving on the path to immortal life. Amen.

Advent Week 1: Thursday - Rebuild

 

Is this the year to rebuild? Rebuild is a big word and means many things. Rebuilding takes time, effort, commitment, and resources. We can renew, we can repair, but sometimes we choose to rebuild. We can rebuild houses, engines, relationships, trust, even lives. 

Advent is our time of anticipation and waiting. We pause and consider what the birth of our Lord means to us and for us. It is the beginning of a new year. In this year of COVID we may be especially anxious, we may wonder if we have time and energy for renewal or repair, let alone rebuilding since so much of our time, our life, is simply taking care of every day so we can get to whatever is next.

Advent is also a time of discernment and stepping out boldly. Remember Mary, she stepped out boldly when she said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38, NRSV) Just as advent is only the beginning of our glorious church year, our discernment now is just the beginning of the next part of our life with the Lord!

Even if this year is not the right time for that major rebuild, even if all we accomplish is minor repairs and renewal, may we remember our Lord is always with us, listening, waiting, and loving. And go read ahead just a little in Luke 1, check out verses 46-55 and hear Mary’s response to her child leaping in her womb…

A Prayer: Lord thank you for today and this Advent season. Be with me as I discern, once again, what you are calling me to. If this is the time for rebuilding, guide me, hold me, carry me when I am afraid. But whatever time it is, may my life be yours, just as Mary’s life is yours… Amen.

(Originally posted by Saint George's Episcopal Church as part of their "Virtual Advent Calendar 2020" project on Thursday 03-Dec-2020. See the complete calendar at https://www.saintgeorgeschurch.org/2020-virtual-advent-calendar

Advent Week 1: Wednesday - "Jesus Christ Came to visit us in great humility"

Humility is a perennial favorite. I usually think of how I want first prize for being humble, for having humility. As the old joke goes, "if I go around crowing about winning the prize for humility I have just lost it..." But You, Lord, humble? I think of you as Creator, Saviour, the God of All reigning in Majesty and Splendor! Your Majesty and Splendor ranges from the mountains to the dew on the grass to the stars in the sky. You are the Creator of the Universe!

But... When you came to visit us you chose to come into the world just as each of us: Born a baby, dependent on your mother and father to feed you, to keep you safe, even to move you to another country when you were in danger. When tempted in the desert you simply kept praying. When your mother asked you for more wine at the wedding you simply did as asked. You didn't make a splashy show of turning the water into wine, nor did you make a scene that it was not yet time... And in the end You chose, with only a simple confirmation that Your death was not to be avoided, do die, just as we each will die.

A Prayer: Oh Lord, thank you for giving me life and giving me today. Help me to simply do what is before me, neither complaining nor waiting for praise and recognition. And when I feel the call to complain, or the need for recognition, help me to remember Your visit to us, and the humility and strength you displayed. Amen.

Advent Week 1: Tuesday - "...put on the armor of light..."

 

Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13:12b-14, NRSV

I love the light. As we remodeled our house this year I noticed I picked lighter colors and I am leaving the blinds open to the sun much more often than I used to. Perhaps a bit of this comes from being ten years older than when I painted the same rooms when we first moved in to our house, perhaps some comes simply from growing closer to God.

The lines from Romans are a good reminder that I am human, with sin and failure built right in to my life. I feel pretty good that I am not drunk and licentious in the crudest forms, but that bit of light shining in my life does find dark corners. I need that armor of light when I see those corners,  and especially when I see those corners and realize I need to put on my spiritual gloves and get out that spiritual soap to get rid of the collected crumbs, dust, and forgotten spills in my heart and in my actions.

So, let the light come into my life as well as my house, and give me the armor of light that is God with me, even, or perhaps most especially, when reveling, debauchery, quarreling, and jealousy look so wonderful with their own shiny temptations.

A Prayer: God, thank you for today and being with me. Thank you for your light in my life. Help me to put on this armor, this light, and to bring this armor and light to others in our world.