Each Day Begins the Journey
I have wanted for the last few days to write something about Advent, and what it means or can mean for us all. I found the image at the left over at
Curt Jester. Then, while surfing by my favourite blogs, I came across this meditation on Advent from posted
here at The Deacon's Bench.
"Where is our Holy Mountain of the Lord? Is it the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, City of Peace? Perhaps. Perhaps it is also wherever we plant our flag and declare, 'as for me and my house, we will follow the Lord.'
There is no harm, there; nor ruin, 'for the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord,' as it already is, although imperfectly. The knowledge is there; it is shrugged off, or dismissed, or sneered at, or forgotten in a moment's anger, or cast off in misunderstanding. Our Holy Mountain is shaken each day, mostly through our own inability to live as we know we ought, and as our hearts do desire.
While we are waiting for that day to be made perfect, we should consider that it has also already come; is here, even now. Today, a Word goes forth; today another word responds with perfect obedience, her holy "yes." Today, wood is being plied for a manger. Today wood is being plied for a cross. They are both for us. Each day we begin again, and choose whether we will accept them; each day begins the journey, from Genesis to Revelation, to that Holy Place."
-- Elizabeth Scalia, a.k.a. "The Anchoress"
Welcome one and all to Advent, a time of peaceful waiting, and preparation for the celebration of the arrival of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the flesh.
Michael:
ReplyDeleteI, too, have been giving Advent a lot of thought lately. "Preparing for Christmas" has always meant a lot more than Christmas shopping in our home. Indeed, my wife and I long ago decided to pass on the "gift exchange" tradition between ourselves in favour of giving more to our children/grandchildren. For the past few years, our children, their spouses and our grandchildren assemble at our home for a traditional Christmas dinner. Now, that takes a lot of preparation! Still, getting our act together to celebrate the birth of Christ doesn't really fill the "preparing for Christmas" bill, does it?
My wife and I find ourselves thinking and talking a lot about the meaning of the birth of Christ and the impact of that momentous event. We remain entranced by the romance of the Nativity story, but tend to contemplate the likelier reality of it - the cold, the destitution, the desperation that would lead to childbirth in a stable.
The leadup to Christmas is probably among the most contemplative times in the Christian calendar year, perhaps matched only by Easter. It's hard for those following God's path to NOT think about the enormity of the event we're celebrating.
Among the most important things of all, however, is to CELEBRATE, not commemorate. The Birth of Christ is not just something that happened over 2,000 years ago, it's something that happens every day in people's hearts and souls. So Christmas is not just a way of marking an historic Christian event, it's an event that brings Christians together worldwide in an historic manner every single year. Think about that! It's HUGE, and it brings meaning to the concepts of "living Christian faith" and "the body of Christ today".
Advent is a great time to connect the proberbial dots. And it all starts with birth. For Christians living Christian lives, the birth of Christ is probably the most important thing to have ever happened in all history.
INCONCEIVABLY IMPORTANT perhaps begins to describe my take on Advent and Christmas.
Preach it Brother. AMEN!!!
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