Daily Advent Reflection: Dec 12

Okay. Prepare the way. That's the theme this week.

But how do we know what to do? How do we prepare? Where's the list?

What if ...

our doing is best preceded by being.

And our being is best done in God.

And God is perhaps best known in whispered stillness.

And in stillness there is waiting and listening.

The Tao Te Ching asks:

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and your water becomes clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

—Tao Te Ching 15

And once that "right action" arises from the clear stillness, we can step out to do.

All the while remembering that our right action is our right action. It is our piece in the larger mosaic. We are freed from trying to do everything. My list won't look like your list.

So today, prepare the way for God to be born in the world anew! But first, wait.

—Carol Bradsen

Daily Advent Reflection: Dec 9

As we wait, it is not easy.

As we long for God to show up and fix everything, we are just reminded during Advent that once when God did show up, God was a baby. Vulnerable and crying.

As we prepare the way for God and for justice, it can be exhausting and disheartening to honestly confront just how high the mountains reach and how low the valleys go.

In this video and song by Michael Franti and Spearhead: Hey World (Don't Give Up Version), I imagine God is singing to the world, "Don't give up on me, I won't give up on you. Just believe in me like I believe in you."

What do you hear?