“And do this because you know the time; it is the hour
now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light; …put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rom 13:11-12, 14)
Advent Newsletter 2013
We are all on a journey. And like the three wise men who traveled
across the desert following the star to be in the presence of this newborn King
who was the Christ, God is leading us---each of us---in a journey into our own
deeper encounter with the same Christ.
God sees this journey clearly, where we are and where we
need to be, and how to best guide us to our destination. He sends us people and circumstances to aid
us. He sends us signs and ‘stars’ to reflect upon. And God knows how to work even our
difficulties for good along the way.
But keep in mind that while there is only one Christ to
discover at the end, there are, in a sense, two journeys we make to get
there. One will be an external journey---the
way we live and practice our faith outwardly.
The other will be an interior one---the journey we make as we follow the
desires and motivations of our heart, what we dwell on in our thoughts, and the
more ‘interior’ ways we live. I mention
two journeys because we can be doing all the right things on the external one
and still make little or no progress on our interior one.
Both journeys, though, will challenge us to make choices
that either draw us closer to Christ and his holiness, or draw and pull us in
another direction. Even now, perhaps, the
smallest choices can be making a difference in our journey’s end.
But we can remember that:
Quiet stillness to listen and pray will help. Determined efforts to follow the way of the
Lord instead of the way of the flesh will help.
Rejoicing in God’s goodness’, love, and constant faithfulness to us will
also help.
During this season of Advent I would like to offer a
suggestion:
Reflect especially on the journey of your interior
life. Reflect on its growth, reflect on
the signs God is sending, and on your own choices to follow, or ignore, his
leadings of Love.
Then, whatever encourages, supports, and deepens your
closeness to Christ and helps you grow as a true reflection of his selfless
love, follow that way. Do this every day
of Advent. And if we do, by the time we
celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas Day there will be, I believe, a new
and deeper ‘birth of Christ’ in our own lives---in our heart, our thoughts, and
in our desires and actions.
What joy for us when we get to that place of seeing Christ’s
presence come to life in deeper and richer ways. It will be worth the time we took to pray and
be still before Him. It will be worth
the struggle and the dying-to-self choices we had to make. It will all be worth it, and we will rejoice
with deeper faith, a firmer hope, and more authentic love in our heart. And that would be a beautiful ‘gift’ to give
to the Christ child on Christmas morning.
Blessings of Advent joy to you all. Cricket
