“The season that teaches us to wait for what is beyond the obvious.” --Joan Chittister

That Holy Thing
by George McDonald

They all were looking for a king
To slay their foes and lift them high;
Thou cam’st, a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.

O Son of Man, to right my lot
Naught but Thy presence can avail;
Yet on the road Thy wheels are not,
Nor on the sea Thy sail!

My how or when Thou wilt not heed,
But come down Thine own secret stair,
That Thou may’st answer all my need-
Yea, every bygone prayer.

----------------------------------------------------------

I have been reflecting quite a bit on change. I recently re-read Madeleine L'Engle's The Young Unicorns, one of her bizarre yet brilliant young adult novels involving the Austin family. In the book, the father and his daughter Vicky have this conversation:

“You’ve gone on in high and lofty tones at the dinner table about freedom, haven’t you?” 

“Well, yes,” she said, trying to sit up straight on the couch which was soft and invited relaxation. “I think it’s important, people being free.” 

“So do I, Vicky. But we aren’t free to remain static, to refuse to change. That isn’t freedom. That’s death, death, either for the individual person or for the family.”

“You’ve gone on in high and lofty tones at the dinner table about freedom, haven’t you?” “Well, yes,” she said, trying to sit up straight on the couch which was soft and invited relaxation. “I think it’s important, people being free.” “So do I, Vicky. But we aren’t free to remain static, to refuse to change. That isn’t freedom. That’s death, death, either for the individual person or for the family.” 

In the Old Testament, the people of God, even when they were oppressed and exiled, were commanded to not stay static but to live-- to marry, raise families, work, and rest.  To toil in such a way that they would have great joy in the harvest. 

C.S. Lewis, in his beloved Chronicles of Narnia, speaks of this same passage from brokenness to wholeness with the stories of Edmund and Eustace. These are the great "eucatastrophies" (a word coined by J.R.R. Tolkien, meaning, a sudden turn of events at the end of a story which result in the protagonist's well-being)--the epic transformations turning darkness into light.

Isaiah chapter 9 reminds us of this joyous event. That out of the deep darkness came a strong shouldered "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace!" What more can we do then but step out in faith, risking our life into the hands of our Almighty God? Is static-ness really death? After all, Jesus did not come that we be comfortable on this earth, but that we would have everlasting comfort in His arms.

Some things to think about.

Third Sunday of Advent: Joy

Happy third Sunday of Advent my friends. If you are anywhere near the Midwest, be safe out there in this crazy weather.

Here are some good scriptures for today:

• Isaiah 35:1-10
• Luke 1:47-55
• James 5:7-10
• Matthew 11:2-11 

An appropriately enough, the passage from Isaiah is all about Joy.

  

Joy of the Redeemed

 ¹ The desert and the parched land will be glad;
   the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
   it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
   the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the LORD,
   the splendor of our God.

 ³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
   steady the knees that give way;
⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
   “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
   he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
   he will come to save you.”

 ⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
   and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
   and streams in the desert.
⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
   the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
   grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

 ⁸ And a highway will be there;
   it will be called the Way of Holiness;
   it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
   wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹ No lion will be there,
   nor any ravenous beast;
   they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
 ¹⁰ and those the LORD has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
   everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
   and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Perfect Timing, as always.

Advent is about joyfully waiting. But this year my heart is weighed down, waiting for the Lord to open the great “full time employment” door. I am sure my motives could be more pure; my spirit could be more hopeful. But I am waiting just the same.

A couple months ago—back when the weather was still warmish—I was having an especially rough day. So after work I decided to go for a walk along Loyola University’s lake shore path. It was just about dusk when I sat down to finish watching the sun go down. I was having a quality vent session with Jesus when I looked over and saw, suspended from a railing, a rather large spider. It was surrounded by a brilliant web, which, I thought to myself, must have taken quite a long time to construction. At this point, one such as my sister would have booked it across campus. But I am not one to be extricated by a bug. In fact, I was quite fascinated by the scene. And then it was God’s turn to speak. 

In that little corner of creation, the spider had everything he needed: a home, a way of catching food, a way of defending himself and caring for his offspring. Pretty simple, but that’s all an arachnid really needs. And I got to thinking. Do I have all I need, right here in front of me? If yes, then why am I so inclined to want more? I’m pretty sure I am allowed to have hopes and dreams. By maybe the better question is whether these hopes are God-inspired or me sinfully coveting my neighbor’s “greener grass.” 

I am not sure I have come to a conclusion yet. But I do know that scenes like this stick in my mind for a reason. Micah the prophet spoke in a similar way when he said: 

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
   though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
   one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
   from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

Basically: Though you are silly little sheep, faith-wavering, and fearful, the Lord has decided to produce abundant fruit from your life. 

His promises are sound, my friends. The Lord has us where He has us—in this time and place—for a reason. I am not sure what that reason is yet, but then again, I am pretty sure no one in rural Bethlehem, much less Mary, expected the birth of a Savior that night. But He came anyway. He didn’t wait until we were ready. He came just as we were beginning to think our expectations would get dashed. 

Perfect timing, as always. 

A thought from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes… and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent. ”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

The people walking in darkness

   have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

   a light has dawned. 

- Isaiah 9:2

Some Advent Resources

I've been spending quite a lot of time online, looking for quotes, poems, videos, etc. So I thought I'd share a few of my findings with you.

This is a video produced by a local Catholic media studio. 

Advent. from Spirit Juice Studios on Vimeo.

I am a big fan of Mark Driscoll's sermons. He is a pastor out at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. Right now he is going through the Gospel of Luke.

I encourage you to listen to as much as you can, but especially the early sermons on the birth of Christ.


If you are at all into Advent, you should subscribe to Biblegateway.com's Advent Newsletter. This is a great way to read the appropriate Scriptures for the season.
Click here for a link to subscribe.

I will close with two poems by John Donne. Interestingly, they run in succession. Notice the last line of the first and the first line of the second.

Annunciation

Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo, faithful virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He will wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son and Brother;
Whom thou conceivst, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother;
Thou hast light in dark, and shutst in little room,
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.

Nativity

Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-belov'd imprisonment,
There He hath made Himself to His intent
Weak enough, now into the world to come;
But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient,
Stars and wise men will travel to prevent
The effect of Herod's jealous general doom.
Seest thou, my soul, with thy faith's eyes, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

--John Donne (1572-1631)

Hope: a joyful expectation

If you have been following my regular blog, you might have noticed the sparseness of posts. It is not that I don't want to write, I just haven't had the inspiration lately. Already this has seeped into my Advent blog. I apologize. 

One of my favorite seasons of the year is Advent. But this year, some how, I am not "feeling it." According to the Advent wreath this theme does not come up for another couple weeks, but for the last week or so I have been praying for JOY. Joy that surpasses my circumstances and my surroundings. A Joy only found in Christ.

It's been a slow process, but the other day during my small group, and idea popped into my head. A friend and I lead a small group for our church that is centered on prayer. Each week the attendees fill out index cards with their prayer requests and then we redistribute them to pray for each other. Last week was the final session, so I handed back the cards from previous weeks and asked everyone to share the answers God had given. It was interesting, going around the room. Many of us had prayed long-term prayers and had not yet heard a "BAM" answer the Lord. And it got us thinking . . . Even when we don't see the "BAM" answers, our faith has proved that God's hand is indeed at work-- most evidently in our hearts as we learn to trust Him more.

I wonder if the people of God understood this (approximately 3000-4000 years ago) as they were waiting for redemption, for a messiah. Way back in the Garden, the Lord spoke of One who would come to crush the Serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). And all through the Old Testament prophets spoke of One who would come-- to rule over Israel (Micah 5:2), to be Immanuel, God with Us (Isaiah 7:14). But to wait so long for this "BAM" answer from God? I think none of us have the faith to wait 4000 years for anything. But it was in fact the lineage of expectation that the people of God passed down from generation to generation. There were, unfortunately, quite a few generations in the middle who did not adhere to the covenants of God, but the Lord's promises were secure.

One quiet night in the fields of Bethlehem the Lord finally proclaimed through a heavenly choir: "BAM! Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord!" (Luke 2:10-11)

This first week of Advent has been about Hope. Hope makes me think of the seasons. There are calendar seasons and life seasons-- each pointing us towards something. An expectation of what is to come. I know that for me, this is what some would call a "dry" season in my life. I'm waiting on the Lord for quite a few things. But the hope is that this is just a season. It will eventually fade into the next. And I will look back and probably wonder why I was so stressed and faithless. As our life seasons trail along (sometimes at a tortoise's pace) the calendar year keeps plowing ahead. Advent will happen whether my heart is ready for it or not. I just pray that I will be able to live in hope--in joyful expectation of Christ's birth and Life with us.

A re-introduction to Advent and "Lineage of Expectation"

Dear friends,

If you joined me last year, you are surely familiar with Advent. But for those new readers, this reintroduction will serve as an education.

In latin the word "adventus" means "coming." Within the context of western Christianity, Advent is the season of four weeks leading up to Christmas--the celebration of Christ's birth. It is a time of joyful expectation and preparation. The four weeks are marked by the four Sundays, on which the candles of the Advent wreath are lit. Each week/candle carries a theme: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

I will be writing within these themes, focusing on poems and reflections from some of the great writers in Christendom, as well as passages of Scripture that point to the coming of the Messiah. Christ's ancestry was indeed a Lineage of Expectation--a chronology of hopeful longing and preparation.

Last year I found this prayer by Henri Nouwen. It's such a good start to the Advent season that I couldn't resist posting it again. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the origins of its publication. If anyone knows where this prayer originated, please let me know.

Advent prayer by Henri Nouwen.

Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"
Amen.

Welcome Back to Advent.

It's been a year since we last met on this page. Let me bring you up to speed on what has changed. First, the design has is a little more snazzy. And secondly, blogger now allows tabs, so you can find all of last year's posts on the Archives page.

Keep in tune for the very first Advent 2010 post early next week. Until then, enjoy your leftover Turkey.

- Becca