Eph 1:3-6, 11-12
Brothers and sisters:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.
In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Advent: an Invitation to Slow Down, Be Still, and Pay Attention
Today I have been waiting for news from an old friend who expected to give birth today... I had performed her wedding to her husband, Tom and baptized their first baby, Ciaran. She went into labor this afternoon!
For me, the fact that Deirdre is giving birth today helps me to focus my thoughts on Advent, this season of spiritual preparation for Christmas. While it is my favorite liturgical season, these four weeks of expectation, with themes of God's promises, of the call to awaken and be watchful, of focus on the role of ordinary people called to play extraordinary roles in the history of salvation, it also is such an incongruous time as well. Incongruous because the circumstances of our lives and of the commercial holiday season seem to militate against the core themes and meaning of Christmas. I don't know about you, but it is hard to settle down into those deep things, the mystery and meaning of it all, when we are rushing headlong into the stress and anxiety of exams, of upcoming holidays, of sometimes stressful times with family... Do you know what I am talking about?
This is why I love Lessons and Carols, because it opens up a window for us to breath in some of that mystery, to help draw us into the mood and meaning of this season. To gather as Christians have gathered for hundreds, even thousands of years to sing ancient hymns and recall this story.
The fact that Deirdre is giving birth today somehow brings this season into perspective... that what we prepare to celebrate is new life, new hope, even the future itself. And I think about the way that Deirdre and her husband, Tom have been preparing themselves... how Deirdre became not just a physical vessel for this new life to take shape over these nine months, but how their relationship, their love, and their openness to the future was also a spiritual vessel in which this baby is being born today.
Maybe that physical and spiritual preparation to give birth and welcome new life is a good analogy for what each of us is invited to do in Advent. And maybe it would help to get specific.
A few weeks ago when I was talking to Deirdre on the phone, she was sharing how in these last few weeks, feeling really heavy and uncomfortable, she was sometimes not have energy to do much more than slow down, become still, and pay attention to what was going on within her. Slowing down, becoming still, and paying attention.
I imagine that Mary of Nazareth did the same, and that at times when she did slow down, become still, and paid attention, what she became aware of was the life of God within her, the tiny movements and kicking feet and elbows, the heartbeat of Christ within her.
I've come to believe that this is what Advent is about for me... an invitation to slow down despite the fact that the rest of the world seems to speed up these next four weeks. An invitation to become still, like the stillness of snow falling in dark empty streets, stillness and silence that is somehow anything but empty. An invitation to pay attention, because in that stillness there is a fullness that is nothing less than the presence of the Divine One, the Christ, within me.
I know, it might seem some more familiar, maybe even safer to give into our nostalgia and to focus on a quaint little creche scene where the baby Jesus rests a hay-filled manger surrounded by warm golden light. And we can worship him, and maybe pause a moment to consider the awesome mystery of the Incarnation because it happened so very long ago, in fairy tale time, in way off distant place.
But much less safe, and maybe even terrifying and wonderful, like the birth of a child, there is the one we are called to bear into the world, the real living Christ, who desires to be borne into the consciousness of our minds and hearts so that we grow into his own image through the lives we live in this world.
Slowing down, becoming still, paying attention... to the Christ who waits to be borne within each of us.
And incidentally, as I checked my email just now, greetings and peace to baby Eamonn Ignatius Ryan, welcome to the human race!
For me, the fact that Deirdre is giving birth today helps me to focus my thoughts on Advent, this season of spiritual preparation for Christmas. While it is my favorite liturgical season, these four weeks of expectation, with themes of God's promises, of the call to awaken and be watchful, of focus on the role of ordinary people called to play extraordinary roles in the history of salvation, it also is such an incongruous time as well. Incongruous because the circumstances of our lives and of the commercial holiday season seem to militate against the core themes and meaning of Christmas. I don't know about you, but it is hard to settle down into those deep things, the mystery and meaning of it all, when we are rushing headlong into the stress and anxiety of exams, of upcoming holidays, of sometimes stressful times with family... Do you know what I am talking about?
This is why I love Lessons and Carols, because it opens up a window for us to breath in some of that mystery, to help draw us into the mood and meaning of this season. To gather as Christians have gathered for hundreds, even thousands of years to sing ancient hymns and recall this story.
The fact that Deirdre is giving birth today somehow brings this season into perspective... that what we prepare to celebrate is new life, new hope, even the future itself. And I think about the way that Deirdre and her husband, Tom have been preparing themselves... how Deirdre became not just a physical vessel for this new life to take shape over these nine months, but how their relationship, their love, and their openness to the future was also a spiritual vessel in which this baby is being born today.
Maybe that physical and spiritual preparation to give birth and welcome new life is a good analogy for what each of us is invited to do in Advent. And maybe it would help to get specific.
A few weeks ago when I was talking to Deirdre on the phone, she was sharing how in these last few weeks, feeling really heavy and uncomfortable, she was sometimes not have energy to do much more than slow down, become still, and pay attention to what was going on within her. Slowing down, becoming still, and paying attention.
I imagine that Mary of Nazareth did the same, and that at times when she did slow down, become still, and paid attention, what she became aware of was the life of God within her, the tiny movements and kicking feet and elbows, the heartbeat of Christ within her.
I've come to believe that this is what Advent is about for me... an invitation to slow down despite the fact that the rest of the world seems to speed up these next four weeks. An invitation to become still, like the stillness of snow falling in dark empty streets, stillness and silence that is somehow anything but empty. An invitation to pay attention, because in that stillness there is a fullness that is nothing less than the presence of the Divine One, the Christ, within me.
I know, it might seem some more familiar, maybe even safer to give into our nostalgia and to focus on a quaint little creche scene where the baby Jesus rests a hay-filled manger surrounded by warm golden light. And we can worship him, and maybe pause a moment to consider the awesome mystery of the Incarnation because it happened so very long ago, in fairy tale time, in way off distant place.
But much less safe, and maybe even terrifying and wonderful, like the birth of a child, there is the one we are called to bear into the world, the real living Christ, who desires to be borne into the consciousness of our minds and hearts so that we grow into his own image through the lives we live in this world.
Slowing down, becoming still, paying attention... to the Christ who waits to be borne within each of us.
And incidentally, as I checked my email just now, greetings and peace to baby Eamonn Ignatius Ryan, welcome to the human race!
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