Use some or all of this reflection to help guide your personal journey through this week of Advent

Reflect

Prepare to be “not ready”.

The events of the past week have shaken most of us. It is hard to write a Christmas card with words of joy, peace, or hope and wish folk a merry time.

We were not ready for this.

But isn’t “this” exactly where God means to meet us?

Not where we are “ready” because the house is decorated, we’ve got the presents wrapped, the food prepared, the carols sung and we’ve done bit of praying for the world.

But in “this” place, which is uncertain, sometimes feels hopeless, and is devastatingly human and vulnerable; this is the place God entered as Mary accepted her role as a young woman carrying a child. This place, full of darkness and light; this is the place wherein John preached yet still asked “are you the Messiah?” This place where the disciples came to see their own reflected inadequacies perfectly loved into a new way of being.

This was where Jesus came and still comes.

Image: Tim Joyner Incarnation

Perhaps don’t “be ready” this week.

Just be you, coming to Bethlehem, waiting, expanded, different.

Read

Isaiah 9: 2, 6, 7

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.

⁶For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷Of the increase of His government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness
from that time and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

Ponder

How can we live in 2025 with the sounds of carols in every store, tinsel and baubles in every venue,  the rush and connections pulling at us, but also where we want to respond to the call that God is making upon our lives, a call that we know so truly begins with love and continues in the story of Christmas – of the incarnation of that love in a baby boy?

Do

In the many ways you will celebrate Christmas this year can you live true to everything that is about you and within you? As God became clothed in skin and bone, can you touch base with yourself about your being at this time -with the body’s aches, the mind’s scars and anxieties, the hungers, delights and sadnesses. Your soul’s restlessness?

Can you wrap these things for Christmas this year?

Each day until Christmas and indeed after the day…how will you mark what is being revealed as you ponder Christmas this year.

• Read a prayer – perhaps even compose it yourself.
• Sing a song (see below… Nil Desperandum)
• Dance a little dance       
• Sit with something beautiful from art, music, or nature
• Be still for a few moments, simply be-ing

Images
Borys Fiodorowicz (Polish), 3,1415926535879323846264338327, 2020. God has fingerprints!
Nabeela Al Khayer (Bahraini), “Shather Alfairooz (Gold Specks of Turquoise),“
Tim Joyner (American, 1987–), “Incarnation,” 2021

Prayer

There is so much to say, to ask for.
Yet, nothing is quite right to say, to ask for.
Please pray in me, Creator and Lover of us and this bewildering world.
I look to the baby, who will become the fulcrum for our Hope, the Beacon of our Peace and the Source of our Love for me, for us, for the whole world.

Emmanuel. Come Lord Jesus.

Listen

For our final week of Advent we have selected several things for you to listen to.

The first is a meditation spoken by John O’Donohue on the way that music can lift us out of despair.

Karl Jenkins Cantate Domino

And just for a bit of delight in the joy of singing, the joy of being together at Christmas time and a message of love – we hope you enjoy this choir.

For a printable PDF of the text of this reflection please click on the link below.

Use some or all of this reflection to help guide your personal journey through this week of Advent

Reflect

Prepare to see differently.

Advent has many nuances depending on your culture, background and traditions.

It depends also on what life is like for you right now. Advent can be influenced by past experiences, plus the anticipation of what might be coming next.

Also, for so many around the world, anticipating Christmas is coloured by their immediate (or past) experiences of war, famine, natural disaster, as well as current life circumstances – unemployment, family violence, illness and grief.

HOW COMPLEX, and how hard! This isn’t quite the story that we might want to be told, but its honest, and within it we find Grace.

Read

Isaiah 35 1-10

1 The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendour of our God.

³ Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”

⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
 and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

⁸ And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹ No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
¹⁰ and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Ponder

For this third week can we, who live in places that are relatively peaceful, safe and in circumstances that are relatively comfortable; be with those for whom this time is not safe, comfortable or easy. Can we be present to the complexities within our world, communities, families and within ourselves?

Image: Hosny Salah Girl in Gaza

Do

Can you put yourself somewhere different this week? Or can you be where you are…in all its complexity and need, suffering and hope? Allow time this week to simply be there.

Images:
Mohammed Ibrahim, Gaza
Daniel, Little Girl, Ukraine

However you are drawn, let this week be one where you sit with the deep needs of the world, those close to you -and yourself, and simply be there; knowing that advent actually contains those many spaces, feelings and difficulties. And Advent is preparing us all.

Prayer

Creator God

We come to this time and want to be honest about the brokenness of the planet, global and personal relationships, systems and indeed our own selves. But we also want to hold the deep, joyful expectation of your presence, your love, your promises in the world, so differently offered by a baby born in a manger. Help us to stay present to what is happening but also to keep our eyes upon you.
Amen

Helen Keller, “Prayer for Peace,” delivered April 5, 1936, at the “East of Suez” bazaar at the New History Society’s Caravan Hall, New York City

O Lord, in whose countenance is the morning of all things made new, shine upon us that we may illumine with peace the world-home thou hast given us. Remove from us pride of might and arrogance of possession. Stretch our thoughts, O Divine Mind, that we may see the whole earth as our country, and the inhabitants thereof as our neighbors. Fill our hearts with love that changes discord to trust.

Temper to our good the weariness and the broken hopes we cannot escape. Pour into us the strength of all valiant spirits. Put into our hands constructive tasks of peace. Let not our striving end with condemnation of folly and stupidity in high places.

Quicken in us the will to resist the hysteria that they who take the sword raise to turn us aside from thy commandments. Give us power to the depth, breadth, and height of our souls to prevent the destructions we have lived to weep. Out of the embers of fires that have scorched and blackened thy kingdom on earth, help us create a new order in which we will no more become savages through fear. Unite us, millions strong, against the darkness of hate, as unnumbered sunbeams streaming one way sweeten the sod unto green ecstasy and fruitfulness.

Listen

Two songs to listen to as you reflect on the week.

Audrey Assad Your peace will make us one.

Trio Mandili – Galoba (The Prayer)

Our Father, Who art in heaven,
Mamao ch’veno, romelits’a khar ts’at’a shina,

With tenderness I stand before thee on my knees;
mukhlmodrekili, lmobieri vdgevar shen tsina:

I ask for neither wealth nor glory;
arts’a simdidris, arts’ didebis t’khovna ar minda,

I won’t debase my holy prayer with earthly matters.
ar minda, amit’ sheurats’kh-vhqo me lots’va tsminda…

I would wish for my soul to rest in heaven,
aramed mtsqurs me ganminat’ldes ts’it’ ch’emi suli,

My heart to be radiant with love heralded by thee,
shengan namts’nebis siqvarulit’ aghment’os guli,

Even if they pierce me in the heart:
rom mtert’at’visats’, romelt’ t’unda guls lakhvari mkran,

Forgive them: “Lord, for they know not what they do!”
gt’khovde: ”sheunde, – ar its’ian, ghmert’o, ras ik’man!”

Even if they pierce me in the heart:
rom mtert’at’visats’, romelt’ t’unda guls lakhvari mkran,

Forgive them: “Lord, for they know not what they do!”
gt’khovde: ”sheunde, – ar its’ian, ghmert’o, ras ik’man!

For a printable PDF of the text of this reflection please click on the link below.

Use some or all of this reflection to help guide your personal journey through this week of Advent.

Reflect

Prepare to be expanded.

Author Stephanie Duncan Smith writes of Mary’s yes to God as a choice for expansion over contraction, mirroring God’s own yes in creation:

Genesis tells the story of God’s radical choice for expansion over happiness, and the world is born. Advent echoes and reprises this divine choice, and the world is reborn. First, life from the womb of God, now, life from a woman who made a radical choice for expansion, not just over happiness, but over personal comfort, safety, and reputation. Expansion was the call, and against its many risks, the mother of God said yes—stretching her body as well as her imagination for just what kind of hope this might be, growing now within her.

Stephanie Duncan Smith, Even after Everything: The Spiritual Practice of Knowing the Risks and Loving Anyway (Convergent Books, 2024) pg 16

Image: David Grossman, Rising

We also read about John the Baptist. He became the voice for radically shifting the focus. He used a word that isn’t all that popular today: Repentance. At its core it’s about a change …a change that leads to a deeper engagement, so that we and others experience things differently…it is about Expansion.

The prophets, like Isaiah, probably expected to just be regular folk doing regular things. Each of them was changed dramatically…and each in a way led with their actions, their willingness to announce in some way the good news…they expanded and so did those who heard!

Advent is an opportunity for us consider again the ways we might be being led to repent, change, to live within the ways of the Spirit…to as Duncan Smith describes it, expand!

Read

Matthew 3: 1-12

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

⁴John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Ponder

• How do the stories of folk being changed sit with you?

Could you simply be with one of the people who stand out for you as having been changed, and let their story seep into your soul?

Take Mary, or a prophet or Paul and perhaps make it a part of your week this week to read their story from the beginning and to let yourself feel what it must have been like to be so changed. Does it feel like an expansion?

• Is there something that perhaps has been tugging at you recently or for some time… something that you want to change…to turn away from or more importantly to turn towards?
•  Is expansion something you can imagine, not as the world might but as Mary modelled?

David Grossman, Spring Apple Tree

Do

It may be that you are already doing something that is a change for you from the first week of advent…maybe it’s enough to continue with that.

It may be there IS an activity attached to your change that you’d like to make real now, or plan for sometime in the future.

It is sometimes helpful to write down what is coming to you as you ponder these things.

• Could you make a list of words that come into mind when you think of ‘repent’, ‘change’, ‘expand’?
• You might just write a few lines or even a poem.

David Grossman, Autumn Tree with Birds, Reaching, Taking Flight

Prayer

Dear creator and lover of me, I’m coming to understand what Mary and John the Baptist and Isaiah were talking about and living. They knew something was coming. That something was Jesus. That something was life changing and expanding.

It feels like an invitation; to join Isaiah, Mary, and John and simply wait as they did for You to expand me.

Come Lord Jesus, come.

Listen

Here are some songs that you may like to listen to as you reflect on the week.

Room for More O Come down
written by Jon Markey, an American pastor who works as a missionary in Ukraine

Voces 8 Magnificat Primi Toni,
Palestrina, English translation below.

1    My soul doth magnify the Lord :
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
2    For he hath regarded :
the lowliness of his handmaiden.
3    For behold, from henceforth :
all generations shall call me blessed.
4    For he that is mighty hath magnified me :
and holy is his Name.
5    And his mercy is on them that fear him :
throughout all generations.
6    He hath shewed strength with his arm :
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
7    He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
8    He hath filled the hungry with good things :
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
9    He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel :
as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be :
world without end. Amen.

The Porter’s Gate – Psalm 126

For a printable PDF of the text of this reflection please click on the link below.

Use some or all of this reflection to guide you through this week of Advent.

Reflect

Prepare to wait and move at the speed of love!

How will you move into this time of advent?

There’s so much to do.

SO much to prepare.

And the pace of life is frantic anyway!

Can you imagine being like the prophets who waited for years for the promises of God to be made human? Can you wait with Mary?

God’s love is slow. Indeed, love is slow.

Love doesn’t work at a fast pace.

It takes its time. It takes patience and it takes attention.

Riki Yarbrough (American, 1975–), She Prepares

The prophets waited. They attended to what God said – in a burning bush, from the sky, from the wind, behind the cleft of a rock. Not easy to catch; but they waited and hoped and believed and attended to the “voice of thin silence” that called and promised.

Mary opened herself to a completely unexpected, and unsettling way. Then she carried the promise for nine months.

Can you listen, can you wait, can you carry HOPE at the pace of LOVE, through this season of advent?

Read

Isaiah 2: 1-5

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

² In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.

³ Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

⁵ Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Romans 13: 8-10

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Ponder

• How do you want to approach advent? Not Christmas, not preparing for Christmas but
  How can you be in this time of waiting AND moving at the speed of love?
  
  
• What makes waiting hard for you?
  
  
• What is on your heart and in your mind at this time – things you hope for, people you love, the world in need.
  Can you imagine holding them as you wait?
  
  
• What might happen if you attend to the voice of God – the voice of thin silence, in a slow, loving dance, simply waiting, even if you “hear” nothing?

Riki Yarbrough (American, 1975–), She Carries

Do

This week as you begin the advent season, marked by waiting and living at the speed of love, can you open your self to one “new” or even an old way of being with God, of waiting, of loving?

Could you commit to that being a daily or weekly practice for advent? Some options might be:

• If you have a daily/weekly prayer practice, could you do that at a different time of the day – or add something at a different time?
  • Could you plan a regular midday time where you sit and simply “wait” for 10 minutes…wherever you are, whatever else you are doing?
  • Could you take some time each evening to write something about the day and what waiting feels like.
  • Once a week could you reflect on the times in the week you’ve loved and perhaps celebrate that “love has its own speed” that has woven itself into your loving.

Riki Yarbrough (American, 1975–), She Sows, She Labors, She Gathers

Prayer

Creator, lover and coming Hope, may I live this week aware of whatever distracts me, whatever makes me restless. Help me, guiding Spirit to wait; however that is for me this week. Guide me to live at the pace of love.

With Mary can we say:

May it be to me as you will!

Listen

Here are some songs that you may like to listen to as you reflect on the week. Three very different pieces.

Arvo Part The deer’s cry

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in me, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me,
Christ with me.

For a printable copy of the text of this reflection please click on the link below.