Do you feel like this sometimes?
The season of Advent is just about here, yet again. Recognizing this season of preparation and anticipation for the gift that it is can often be a challenge in our rush . Reluctant to wait, we tend to hurry ahead skipping over the deep meaning of this brief season.
Challenge yourself this year to wake up to the gift of each week of Advent. Be present to the possibility of going deeper in your faith by attending to daily prayer and meditation, scripture reading, study, and contemplation, and allowing for periods of stillness and quiet.
The appointed lectionary readings for the four weeks provide a worthy guide for this journey. On the First Sunday of Advent, we are reminded of our desperate need for a God to restore and save. We hear the cry to keep alert and stay awake.
Mr. Bean goes to extraordinary lengths to stay awake!
Isaiah contends that like a leaf, we all fade, wither, and fall; that like the wind, our sin sweeps us away. We hardly need reminding of this reality, do we? In fact, we would rather not remember this. We tend to keep ourselves distracted with other things. This busyness competes with God's desire for us to be still, to keep silence. Our perpetual motion can hinder us from whispering with the prophet:
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter;we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)
Enjoy a few minutes of listening to this Advent Hymn as you anticipate the beginning of this new church year on the First Sunday of Advent:
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