Look Where You’re Going – Day 11

•December 11, 2012 • 3 Comments

I was always told by my wonderful driving instructor

Look at the place you want to go

Don’t look at what’s either side, or in front of the bonnet, but up the road at the place you’re aiming for, then you’ll be on the right course.

It turns out, they were wise words, not just for driving, but for life and faith as well. Thanks Llew!  We can easily be distracted by things that aren’t important, or are only of temporary significance, when our focus needs to be on where we’re heading.  As we wait, as we journey through Advent and beyond how true that is.  Yet it can be so easy to be distracted by things that don’t really matter…

And so Henri Nouwen tell us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus – the one who behaves the right way.  Who isn’t looking for power and self-glorification, but touches the lame, the poor the weak; who speaks forgiveness and encouragement – and brings peace.

I don’t know about you, but in a world that increasingly frustrates me and often makes me despair, that’s somewhere I’d much rather be looking.  Yes we have to cope with the daily distractions around us, but we can only really achieve that by keeping our focus on Jesus.  That’s not a cop-out, or to be ‘other worldly’, or no earthly use, but to keep in mind what really matters, and to emulate in our lives the ways of Jesus.Perhaps that will make the world a little more bearable for others.

12 God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. 13 Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. 14 Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

15 Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.

Lord,

there are so many distractions;

so many things that seem important

– but aren’t really;

situations that vie for attention

that are only temporary.

Help me not to be swayed by what doesn’t matter,

to forget what is really important.

Lord,

Prince of Peace,

forgiver,

encourager,

may my focus be on you,

and your ways

This year for Advent, some friends and I are using Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J. M. Nouwen.   You’re welcome to join us on this journey.  Feel free to comment here, or on Twitter using #adventbookclub

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But… – Day 10

•December 10, 2012 • Leave a Comment

You always know when there’s a but coming! An enthusiast response – that then goes on to have some kind of qualification, a condition on which we will comply.

I’ll do it – BUT

  • I’ll do it my way
  • I’ll do it when I’m ready
  • I’ll only do it if…

God is waiting for our response.

What he offers to us is nothing less than the deepest love, a whole different depth of our perspective on life.

And he waits for our response, with his arms open wide.

Not really my idea of what God looks like, but you get the idea!

 

Henri Nouwen asks how this effects our waiting in life?

Are we waiting for the right thing…?

The Lord Has Saved Us

6 On this mountain
the Lord All-Powerful
will prepare
for all nations
a feast of the finest foods.
Choice wines and the best meats
will be served.

8 The Lord All-Powerful
will destroy the power of death
and wipe away all tears.
No longer will his people
be insulted everywhere.
The Lord has spoken!

9 At that time, people will say,
“The Lord has saved us!
Let’s celebrate.
We waited and hoped—
now our God is here.”

I love this passage, and its echo in Revelation 21.  God is going to do a new thing. The tears will one day be wiped from our eyes.

We wait, we wait in hope. Wait for God to do what he has promised – because he will.

But as we wait, are their qualifications? Little things that we want to see differently?

Or can we just rest in God, and wait for him to do his thing – no ifs, no buts?

Lord,

I wait

– with you

and for you.

No ifs,

no buts,

no trying to make my ways your ways.

I wait for you,

for your time

This year for Advent, some friends and I are using Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J. M. Nouwen.   You’re welcome to join us on this journey.  Feel free to comment here, or on Twitter using #adventbookclub

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Mother Mary – Day 9

•December 9, 2012 • 2 Comments

All photos By Ori~ (Own work) [Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons

The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazarethis a fascinating place. Around the wall are various tableaux of Mary, all from different communities around the world, each depicting Mary and child in their own culture.  Each one is very different, but show how Jesus, born of Mary, fits into their culture.  It’s also a good reminder to us, that Jesus was not a white middle class European, as much as many pictures we are used to seeing might depict him as such.

They speak to me very much of God coming into each time and place – for the whole world, not just me where I am.

Today we are asked to reflect on Mary as our mother, and being born anew in her.  That’s not a concept I find that helpful, but I do get this:

Mary offered an immaculate space for God to take on human flesh

And I can see that in my life, and in the life of every one of us, whoever and wherever we are, that this is a task for us.

So, what am I doing in my life to create or allow an immaculate space for God to take on human flesh?

3 Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ is, they don’t know who we are. 2 My dear friends, we are already God’s children, though what we will be hasn’t yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is.

And as I see Mary lovingly holding her child, I try to grasp that I do not need to “wonder anxiously whether I am truly loved”, as I allow myself to be held and loved by God, and by those who seek to love me.

Thank you Lord

for the depth of your love for me,

that I do not have to wonder

anxiously

if I am loved

– but can be wrapped deep in your love

for me.

Lord,

as that sinks in to me…

…may I make a space

where others can discover that truth for themselves

This year for Advent, some friends and I are using Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J. M. Nouwen.   You’re welcome to join us on this journey.  Feel free to comment here, or on Twitter using #adventbookclub

Posted in Advent, Advent Book Club, God, Jesus, Religion, theology
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