Advent is a time to wait, listen and ponder the awesome wonder of God who sent his only son as a baby to save us. Pause and spend some time this season reflecting on God's gift of love. Looking for some more information about Advent: Download my free Advent Resource Guide here. Perhaps one of the following inspirational quotes will help: "Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent…If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time." Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac “The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before… .What is … [Read more...]
Advent Reflection
RIGHT NOW – the manger, composed of ordinary straw and hay,waits,empty and open,for the gift of Life.RIGHT NOW - bird nests lie high in barren trees, composed of ordinary twigs and mud,wait,empty and open,for the gift of life.RIGHT NOW – my heart, full of ordinary clutter, noise, to do lists, worries and pride,like no room in Bethlehem,my heart has no room for You.So I slow down this Advent season and let go of what blocks me from YouAnd wait,empty and open,For the extraordinary andastonishing gift of Life.RIGHT NOW – I prepare my heart for YouWaitingto be filled by You,Waitingto be filled with You. … [Read more...]
Happy New Year – Welcome the new Church Year – Advent begins November 29th
November 29 begins the new church year with the season of Advent. Here are some interesting facts about Advent: The word Advent, from Latin, means “the coming.” For centuries, Advent has been a time of spiritual reflection as well as cheer and anticipation.Advent is the beginning of the church calendar year since the fourth century. Originally, it was a time when converts to Christianity readied themselves for baptism.Historically, the primary sanctuary color of Advent is Purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King.More recently some churches, including my own, use the Blue as the liturgical color. Why the switch? Advent is a season of preparation that anticipates both Bethlehem and the consummation of history in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Since this anticipation is characterized by hope -- in contrast to the repentance characteristic of Lent -- the color for the season should not be purple, with its mood … [Read more...]
Three Thoughts about Thankfulness – 2009 Thanksgiving Reflection
The United States celebrates a day of Thanksgiving this week. Many families pause and share something they are thankful for as they stuffed themselves with food, football, and family.Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (New International Version)What? In all circumstances? Come on, God, you don’t really mean that, do you? I am supposed to give thanks for everything – even the crummy, dirty, unfair stuff? I try to remember to show my appreciation when good things happen and even remember some of the time to shot up a “hey thanks, God” for some of the ordinary events in life, but really God, in ALL things?Oswald Chambers reminds us that “The best measure of the spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience.”Difficult, isn’t it? I have a long way to go in learning to express thanks, but here are three thoughts about Thanksgiving that are nurturing a spirit of gratitude within me.Pay Attention for Times to be … [Read more...]
Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary and Finding God
Ordinary. Mundane. Routine. Common. Does this sound boring to you? We have entered the church season called the Ordinary Time running now until Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent. A long drawn out season of 33 or 34 Sundays, depending on which calendar the church follows. Ordinary time gets its name from the word “ordinal”, which means counted time and we count each Sunday as in the First Sunday after Pentecost, etc. The liturgical color for this season is green – very appropriate for summer time and for the idea of a fresh growth and new life. So how do we keep growing during ordinary times of our lives? How do we find the extraordinary in the ordinary and find God? Richard Foster in his wonderful book Prayer – Finding the Heart’s True Home, writes about the sanctity or holiness in the ordinary. “We pray the ordinary in three ways: first by turning ordinary experience of life into prayer, second, by seeing God in the ordinary experiences … [Read more...]