First Sunday of Advent -- December 2, 2018

Stepping into Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36


The season of Advent invites us home to our deeper selves as we move toward the celebration of Jesus' birth. We move through the days mindfully. The Advent journey unfolds within each of us as we step with intention toward Bethlehem. As the saints have reminded us consistently across the centuries, it matters little that Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago if he is not born anew in our hearts today.

Thus, the early readings in the Advent season begin soberly, reminding us of the state of the world and of the ongoing work of mercy that is God's chief work in the world.

In a theme that will come up often in the Advent readings, Luke's Gospel today is careful to remind us that we must be careful, keep watch, and have a heightened sense of readiness for what God is doing in the world. Otherwise, we will miss it.

One of the Zen Masters advocated living each day and each hour in the same frame of mind as a person falling off a horse. The person falling from a horse has no time to obsess about the past, no time to beat herself up about who she is or where she is, no time for regret. Nor does she have a thought for the shape of the future. There is no time to look around to see how other people are falling (or not falling), or to see how her fall compares to their fall.

In fact, the person falling instinctively gives his or her full attention to that very moment, to the split second in which they are living. The moment is intense, focused, and calls for the person's full attention.

Such intensity sounds intimidating. Who can sustain that kind of heightened awareness? Yet, our spiritual teachers -- Jesus foremost among them -- have consistently called for us to stay awake, to be ready, to pay attention. In many ways, this kind of heightened awareness is the heart of the spiritual life . . . and this is also the area in which we most need assistance.


For Reflection:

In your prayer and reflection, explore what it means for you to "pay attention" today. Have a conversation with God about having a heightened awareness. Or write out your thoughts as if you were writing a note to God.

Then at the end of the day, check in with yourself. How did you do in paying attention over the past 24 hours? What did you notice? As you reflect over the day, be sure you do so without judging yourself. There is no failure, no shame involved in the exercise. You are simply asking God for the grace to see what is, not beat yourself up for what you missed.