Forgiveness, hope, creativity and love.

"Henri's entire ministry was built around Jesus' farewell address in the Gospel of John in which Jesus says, "I have called you friends"; "I will not leave you orphaned";" I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you"; "My peace I give to you"; "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you"; and "You will have pain, but your pain will turn to joy." For Henri, Jesus' revelation was primarily in the real of relationship; in Jesus, God invites us into a relationship of forgiveness, hope, creativity, and love." 
From; "The Essential Henri Nouwen, edited by Robert A. Jonas

Forgiveness, hope creativity and love.  I find it really interesting that forgiveness is before hope.  Hope continues to be an important theme for me this advent.  Hope that God can stoke the fire of love and passion within me.  Hope that we can experience God in the lives we live.  Hope that when we experience that fire we are driven into the world to be a sign of God's love. 

What gets in our way?  So often we live with messages from our past or from the world around us that we are not enough, we don't have enough or some form of shame based negative message.  Those dark messages, those places within us that hide or squash God's passion do not reconcile with the God of my understanding.  God's love and compassion are so vast that we truly do not have the capacity to warp our hearts and minds around it.  As human beings we listen to our elders, parents, teachers, ministers.  We listen as children, we come to the world with wonder and innocence.  When fear and darkness replace the wonder, God struggles to shine through. 

Forgiveness can be looked at as removing a veil.  What would it be like to let go of the messages that stand in your way?  What would it be like to stand still and listen?  Have you ever been for a walk in the woods in the wintertime?  You are the only one there.  The stillness surrounds you, the breaking of a branch, startles you, and the quiet feels like a blanket surrounding you.  In the stillness you experience a knowing, a knowing that allows you to remember that you are God's beloved, a knowing that the fear of those messages was not your fear.  The fear of those messages was about something or someone else.   

At this time of Advent, ask yourself what those messages are that block the light of God's presence within you.  How are messages of fear and shame darkening your way?  Prayers of forgiveness for those people or institutions that are the source of those messages can be offered up to God.  I am not suggesting that this is easy or that these prayers will be needed only once.  Discipline is a crucial element of the Christian walk. As we are reminded in the Gospel of John, "I will not leave you orphaned"; "I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you."  But, I am here to suggest that if we do offer up those prayers, if we do then move to embrace hope, creativity and love, it is in those places that we will experience God's grace. 

Advent is a time of preparation, a time of making room.  Could forgiveness be a form of cleaning out our basements?  Letting go of all those things that we really don't need, and perhaps are suffocating who we are and who God is calling us to be. 

Why are we watching?

Advent is a time of preparation and wonder.  Recently I have been aware of how much I really love Advent.  Why?  What is so different about our lives, our circumstances this day?  During prayer and writing it came to me that Hope is central to the journey to the manger.  Hope in new life, new paths, new beginnings. 

Could we be watching with the hope that we will be found?  One of the significant differences between Advent and Lent is the difference between honest self appraisal and preparation of the self.  Let me explain.  Lent is a time where we know that like everyone else we have parts of who we are that block our way from being in right relationship with God.  In Christian language, our sins stand in the way of our being the authentic light and love that God so calls us to be.  Throughout the year we ask for God's forgiveness as we prepare for Eucharist.  Advent is a time when we prepare for and make room for new life.  We are again reminded of how it is truly with God that we live our lives with joy and purpose.  Advent is the time when we prepare for the sacred presence of God living within and around us. 

Within each of these seasons comes a very intentional message of hope that we are not alone.  We are on this road of life with a divine source that continues to want more of us than we can imagine.  But Advent allows us to know that it is never to late.  God is always ready and longing to be with us, ready and longing to bring new life and joy through us into the world. 

We are watching so that we can be found. We are watching because we never really know when or how Christ will be born into our lives. 

I have added a list of special Advent resources on the right hand side of this site.  Please explore any and all of them.  Most of all I encourage us to spend time in prayer and reflection.  Some may do this in the traditional way, others may choose to do it while running, walking, painting or playing your favorite instrument.  How are you making room for the presence of the divine in your life? 

I look forward to hearing from any of you about disciplines or practices that you are using.  Do you have memories of years past and the new births that you can see and remember in retrospect? 

I end this post with a prayer written by Michelle Thomas-Bush.  She is today's writer of the "Following the Star" advent meditations.  I encourage you to visit, the music and images are beautiful, as is the reflection. 

"Let us begin Advent, waiting.

Not the “going back to sleep” kind of waiting.

Not the impatient pacing, or the wasted anxiety of waiting.

Not even the passive-aggressive waiting that says, “Really? We’ll see.”

Let us begin Advent, waiting.

Getting up and joining the adventure,

Even when we don’t know where it will take us.

Shifting the impatient waiting to expectant living.

Boldly claiming the Good News that we know will come.

Waiting with joy as we reach out with the grace of God that is so much more than amazing.

Let us begin Advent."

Life from Wakefield to Ireland

Advent is upon us.  It is a time when we are called to see the many places that God breaks into our lives.  We are called to prepare and nurture that place deep within us that longs for the all powerful love of God.  Look around your life......what do you see?