Advent 3

Abundance of Spirit

 

" Emmanuel. God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God. " 

Oscar Romero 

 

Poverty of spirit, what does that mean to you?   Earlier this week, this was in one of the meditations that I am using for Advent.  It jumped out at me that day and has stayed with me ever since.  Why?  

 

We each can remember those times when life felt empty or challenging.  We walked around the streets of our lives and the people around us all looked happier, healthier and more together than we felt.  Perhaps, we had lost someone dear to us, and the hole in our hearts felt very deep.  Maybe our work was going poorly, or we had lost our job all together.  Maybe we were struggling in our relationships with significant people in our lives.  Our hearts felt very tender.  

 

Earlier today, I received a call from a friend and colleague that her Dad had passed away last evening.  I have been blessed to have walked this journey with her and know the deep faith that she has.  Over many conversations, she has shared with me how much of her faith and the way she lives it out was modeled by her father.  Many times she has told me, "he has great faith."  

 

During our conversation she shared that the presence of her family's grief was very real and very deep, but with that came the relief in knowing that her father was with a loving God.  

 

Christmas was my mother's favorite time of year.  She loved the decorations, the baking, the gift buying and any and all of the festivities that surrounded this season.  Somewhere in her childhood she had seen the Norman Rockwell pictures of what Christmas was supposed to look like, or maybe advertisements on television that showed an effortless, joyful,  peaceful, and love-filled time .  I have some wonderful memories of Christmas growing up.  But with those, I also have many that found my mother full of frustration and resentment that neither she, nor anyone else could live up to those expectations.  With all the "things,"  all the baking, all the preparations she still felt empty.  

  

"There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried."  

Oscar A. Romero

 

 Tears of grief and tears of joy can come from that place deep within us.  That place we share only with God.  We are truly here to make connections with others, to be the best instruments of God's love and grace that we can.  We are called to celebrate, to share and value the abundance that God brings.  But that abundance in it's truest form is abundance of spirit, of love.  

 

It has become clear why this quote spoke to me.  I saw my mother as a gifted artist, baker, and woman.  I wanted so much for her to see that.  She never did.  But as each year passed, as I tried each year to help her achieve the "perfect" Christmas, I came to know and love a God that was present in our lives.  I came to know that the gift we were missing was peace.  I came to know that the love she was seeking was there all along.  That love was there in her family, her friends and the loving God that she has been with for many years now.  I remember the poverty of spirit, the

emptiness. Perhaps because of that I feel a fullness of Grace and blessing that is beyond my wildest imaginings.  

 

Today I truly know that is from that place of poverty that I can enjoy and embrace God's Abundance.  May you do the same.  

 

Waiting peacefully, 

Rev. Sue