Category: advent
-
advent: family trees
Especially this time of year, projections of happy, marvelous relationship with friends and family abound, conflicting with the reality many of us are living. Our family trees are complicated, messy, the bonds seemingly unresolvable. Pondering these incongruities, I read about the heritage and life of Jesus. His family tree includes: foreign women, non-Jewish women, public…
-
advent: stars and stables
John Maxwell asks, “What if you follow a star and find a stable?” Consider the Magi. Wisemen from the East, donned in kingly array, bearing precious gifts for the new King. On their long journey, following the special heavenly star, anticipating a grand royal palace, royal court and kingly throne. Instead, the eastern kings find…
-
advent: duality of thought
By their very nature, spiritual beliefs and doctrines present paradoxical dilemmas. God is three in one. Jesus comes as a human and is of divine nature. His mother Mary is a virgin and a mother. To understand these and other contradictions, those with rational minds search on, through other modalities: intellectual, spiritual, emotional. Creatively searching…
-
advent: waiting
The word advent derives from the Latin adventus, meaning coming, arrival. For Christians, advent is a time of reflection and expectation. As Christians, we are admonished to live in a state of “non-fulfillment,” believing perfect restoration (personal, family, societal, nature, etc.) is promised to come in the future. Demanding the future we want leads to…
-
advent: living in darkness
We must accept darkness surrounds our lives, acknowledging this earthly darkness will never go away. We must also remain hopeful, shining a light in the darkness (hunger, poverty, contentiousness, killings from womb to tomb, etc). This is not giving in. Hope is transformation through the risen Christ. We must receive this Light, then spread this…
CJ's World 