Through Stained Glass: Advent Word of the Day--Created

Day 2:  Created

In the beginning, God created… [Genesis 1.1]

I thought about posting a picture of the meal I created last night with chicken, peppers and onions, olive oil and a little seasoning, which went over rice.

I thought about posting a photo of a space I created in my study that tells the story of my faith journey:  my infant baptism certificate, my Pope Francis figurine, a couple of icons, the Tanakh, among other significant items. Together these objects make a type of altar, a reminder of the vocation to which I am called.

“And I knew that the Spirit that had gone forth

to shape the world and make it live was still

alive in it. I just had no doubt. I could see that

I lived in the created world, and it was still being

created. I would be part of it forever. There was

no escape. The Spirit that made it was in it,

shaping it and reshaping it, sometimes lying at

rest, sometimes standing up and shaking itself,

like a muddy horse, and letting the pieces fly.”

― Wendell Berry, Jayber Crow

Then I remembered the picture I took last night just before I went in to the local rec center to run 3 miles, an added discipline to a routine/schedule that I created with some of my friends.

Before I went in to accomplish running regimen I created that would surely aid in burning left over Thanksgiving calories, I had to stop and take in the view. With the cold December air on my face, I stood and marveled at what appeared to be 2 worlds colliding together, creating a beautiful display of color.

A world of darkness.

A world of light.

Heaven.

and

Earth.

I stood admiring the beauty right in front of me. On this green and blue planet full of so much pain and brokenness, the evening sunset reminded me of God’s good intentions when God created.

Creation has a way of doing that, doesn’t it? It discloses a power that baffles our minds and beggars our speech. From the sight of a well-turned double play, which was created by a lead off base hit by the sweet swinging Anthony Rizzo, to the Rocky Mountains rising up out of the horizon created by years of those tectonic plates underground crashing into each other, have a tendency to leave us in wonderment.

We stutter and stammer about God’s creativeness, God’s goodness, and God’s ability to create selflessly—creating

you

and

me

not only good but also

in God’s very own image.

John Calvin once said, “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.”

Advent is a time to rejoice in the peace found in the Creator taking on flesh and becoming one with creation. Advent is a season where we are reminded of the One in which we are created in and from…

Emmanuel.

In the beginning and

right now

and in the days to come,

God created and calls it all

good very good.

What will you create this Advent season to tell of God’s goodness and love?

Below is one of my favorite poems about creation. It was written by Baptist preacher James Weldon Johnson and can be found in his book God's Trombone.

Through Stained Glass: Advent Word of the Day--Way

For an Advent practice I have decided to participate in a "word-a-day" exercise that welcomes a reflection based on a line of scripture. I will use each day's word, verse, or story, as a starting point for an image, a poem, a song, movie clip, or anything else Advent related. I invite you to play along!

Day 1:  Way

“Prepare the way of the Lord…” Mark 1.3

It isn’t always easy.

Nor is it always difficult.

But it is always before us, whether we know it or not.

Some days it is wide. Other days it is narrow.

Before doctrines and denominations Christianity was simply referred to as “The way.”

At the center of Jesus’ own teaching is the notion of a ‘way’ or a ‘path,’ which is where the early followers of Jesus got their name:  the Way.

 As much emphasis as we pleace on that which divide us in our denominations, Jesus was more about what unites us:  our shared humanity. In fact, this idea of Christianity being about ‘believing’ and that faith is about ‘belief’ are a modern development of the last few hundred years. Long before Christians worried about walking down Roman’s Road; well before Presbyterians pondered predestination; and even before Christians became ‘inquisitive’ with questions about salvation and eternity, the Way wanted to reside not in the head

Advent Suggestion

The best way to find yourself is to

lose yourself in the service of others.

~Mahatma Gandhi

but

in

the

heart.

As one Christian writer and scholar has noted, “In the Bible and the Christian tradition, the ‘heart’ is a metaphor for a deep level of the self, a level below our thinking, feeling, and willing, our intellect, emotions, and volitions. The heart is thus deeper than our ‘head,’ deeper than our conscious self and the ideas we have in the heads…. Faith is the way of the heart, not the way of the head.”

Sometimes we worry on the way as to whether or not we are smart enough, good enough, or simply enough.

What Advent reminds us, what the Way of Jesus reminds us, that our faith, your life, my story, is about beloving God and all that God beloves. Our life together is about beloving God and all that God beloves.

If we want to find our way, the Way, we must allow our hearts to not only love God but be loved by God.

If we are scared to do so, to open our hearts to the way of love, to the way of vulnerability, I offer these words of encouragement from poet and farmer Wendell Berry:

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

Prepare the way of God, for today begins the way of the heart…