Today’s email has a call to be vulnerable, to be fully incarnate (part of the world) …
When the Word becomes flesh and lives among us, we see this in action, in the practical wonder of Incarnation. God is willing not just to touch but to be touched by humanity. Cradled, nurtured, raised. He will laugh, and weep; love, and be scarred. Heal.
Being part of this may not be easy … but head out and look at the moon – it’s the same moon that Jesus looked at..
I love the way this first chapter has been written, as a life story (and I’m always a bit of a sucker for those), knowing that ‘today’ she has met the Light of the World.
Anna, an old lady, widowed early, who sits in the Temple day and night (seen as a bit of a ‘crazy’), waiting for ‘the light’ to reach her – initially the sunlight, for which she waits, allowing herself to bathe in its presence … but she knows that she is waiting for something larger.
She sees that many come to the Temple seeing it as the destination, but she dreams that they will understand (or simply remember) that it was built to point to something greater, and not for its own sake.
She speaks of ‘today’, an ordinary day, in which a tired looking couple come in to have their firstborn male brought for the purification ritual. Simeon, who has been waiting for the fulfilment of a prophecy, now knows that his wait is over – he has seen the salvation of God, and the fulfilment of God’s promises to the whole world.
Jesus is described as the light – burning more brightly than the sun, which won’t burn us but kindle the fire in our hearts “a light that warms and consoles, illuminates and cheers” .. defeating all darkness… shining within us and revealing everything.
Anna sees what is to come for Jesus, the sorrows and the shadows, but she grieves that although many see her as the mad old woman shouting praises to God, that they won’t see the miracle in front of them. She talks of hurts and regrets remaining, but that they have been “illuminated, integrated and healed.” After such a meeting, the days following cannot be the same…
Brian Draper, on his #advent20 course, is also dealing with questions of dark and light, although with a particular encouragement to become comfortable with the dark (which Anna did in the Temple at night) – with a challenge to remove as much artificial light as possible and see what we notice, also noticing that in difficult circumstances (e.g. grief), the light that does shine through is even more powerful.
I can remember once, in prayer, soon after being diagnosed with depression, seeing a black night sky, in which one lone star twinkled as if this was the hope to cling on to… faith small as a mustard seed is enough.
Brian describes how we often view the dark as ‘bad’, but the light as ‘good’, but:
We need darkness. Imagine if there were no sunsets, no chance to see the last colours of the afternoon flare and fade, or to feel the first cool breeze of the evening after a hot day, or to see the first star glimmering, or to sink into the luxurious depths of pitch-dark sleep.
He then goes on to talk about Moses meeting God on Mount Sinai, when a dark cloud envelops the mountain, obscuring the presence of God, because he’s too much for us to see uncovered. The photo above was taken on Christmas Morning, from the top of Mount Sinai (which I’d climbed over night), as the sun rise … a special experience .. but we’d had to “stumble” through the dark first .. but with our guides leading the way (they seemed to know the uncrowded, but potentially slightly more difficult route).
Also – look out for opportunities for #GivingTuesday (doesn’t need to be cash, suggestions include hugs, encouragements, etc.)
Also checking out @love_theology.
If you’ve never joined an online book club, well, there’s still time. Pam Webster has pulled together material for #adventbookclub, drawing on Stephen Cottrell’s Walking Backwards to Christmas, published by SPCK.
I have written in the diary to read a chapter every couple of days, but last night I read the introduction. Recently I went to see Simon Callow in That Man Jesus, a one man play that uses the voices of those associated with Jesus to tell the story of Jesus. This was the first thought that came to mind as Stephen Cottrell mentioned that he wanted to retell the Christmas story, telling the story ‘backwards’, through the voices of the different characters involved in the drama of that day.
We become so familiar with “The Christmas story”, that we forget what it’s all about, so I’m hoping with this book to be challenged into seeing the story afresh (in both its light and dark elements) as we move through Advent, and love the promise that we’ll get ‘underneath the skin’ of the story and begin to see ourselves in it.
Meantime, daily, I will be also be reading Brian Draper’s Advent 20, which today encourages us 2-3 times per day to:
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1. Stop. Bring yourself to a halt. A proper one. Be still. 2. Relax. Notice if you’ve any physical tension, and let your body relax. 3. Breathe. A little more slowly and deeply. It will reconnect you. 4. Smile. This is a good and important thing you’re doing. |
Today we’re encouraged to take some time to ‘be in the dark’ (if possible getting away from light pollution), as we await the light.
I’m also completing the Simplify plan on YouVersion – thankfully short and simple itself, with just one thing to think about each day…
Well, that’s an easy one – almost exactly 24 hours ago I took this photo as we prepared for 9ish hours back to the UK – thankfully I slept for most of it (good journey in my books), and watched Life of Pi
C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy
Bree. “Slavery is all I’m fit for. How can I ever show my face among the free Horses of Narnia? … Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn’t follow that you’ll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you’re nobody very special, you’ll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another.”
This is a really interesting insight into “pride” – and I know we so often look for things that we can do that others will praise us for … and sometimes being a ‘big fish in a small pond’ can go to the head… Accompanied by the idea that we have been encouraged to remember in Uganda – everything we have is a gift from God (material goods, and skills..) and therefore whatever we do – we’re nothing special… but we are all special! Makes sense?
Bible: 2 Timothy 1:7
New Living Translation (©2007)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
http://bible.cc/2_timothy/1-7.htmMakes me think what does “power, love and self-discipline” look like in the service of God.
Pray: We thank you that we are all equal in your eyes, and that we would remember that we are special to you, but no more special than any other.
Bit disappointed again in today’s – another post that says that with social media we have lost ‘real relationships’ and that all surprises need to be done face-to-face – I get some great surprises, and the biggest encouragements, from friends who I see more often online than anywhere else.. But yes, look for opportunities to surprise people!
And another inspiring thought from Brian Draper which ties in well with today’s #BigRead13:
I don’t have a life, depending on whether I’m successful or not. And it’s not ‘mine’ to do with what I like. It is life. I am life. As you are life, too.
We are life, and have been given life – regardless of whether we are successful (particularly in the world’s eyes)…