First Sunday in Advent - 2019


Advent, as I was taught, is a time of anticipation, of preparation. For what? For the coming Christ - the baby incarnate and the Christ Godhead. Over the years, I've searched to enrich that understanding, ground it in history, and ignite it with more than a simple understanding.

Today, I reflect back on the year, nearly gone. And the path my feet have taken me. I come to this point, this place, and I pause. Not only over the last year but the last life ... from birth to now.

I read somewhere that Advent is divided into 4 Sundays - the first two, to look forward to Christ's ultimate coming, and the last two, to look back at the point in time when He became one with humanity. Maybe I can use that as a bit of a guide for my reflections over the next four weeks. Maybe I can anchor myself in those constructs, therein giving dimension to this time, of pausing, of meditation, of receiving.

Let my heart be humbled and let me be open and sensitive to what is around me, both in spirit and in body. Let me seek that hope that comes from this divine purpose, in belief and trust that all is as it should be. Let me become less of me, of my wants and ego, and more of a holy and sanctified vessel for this purpose, a greater good and mission requiring all of who I am.

As I look ahead, prepare my heart for this, prepare my world for this. I put my faith in this Hope, the Hope that comes from beyond, sustenance in the midst of human struggle. I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless us with complete joy and peace. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill us with this hope, in the depths of all that surround us, in anticipation of the glory yet to come.

Oh, come, oh come, Emmanuel.
It is not my will, but Thine be done.
Amen.

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