Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day-Work

“The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must only work on ourselves, to grow in grace. The only thing we can do about people is to love them.”
― Dorothy Day

Work.

Revelation 3:1-6

¹"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:

"I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.

The picture above isn’t from my garden. Nor is it as appealing to look at as say a sunset or a picture of my dog, Tecumseh. What makes this picture noteworthy at this time of the year is the work that isn’t seen.

The work I’m referring to here isn’t the work the farmers are doing now: machine maintenance and prep work for the spring. Though, this most certainly would work for the word of the day (see what I did there?). Instead, I’m talking about the work that is happening beneath my garden (& perhaps the field).

Apparently, there are millions of microorganisms in the soil year-round. Part of their work is to push the nutrient cycle forward even in their death. I love what one soil scientist said about this process: “There are so many more creatures in the soil than the many we already know about. We know these countless others exist and that they maintain important functions in the soil system, but we don’t know who they are or what they do. That is pretty astonishing!"

It is astonishing. It's as if the soil knows that to produce the best crops or fruits or whatever, it must work on itself. So it does. And thanks be to God that science, and soil scientists, can explain that work! 

Work.

In my experience on more than one occasion, I have found myself stuck. Or, if I wasn’t stuck, I felt like the field above looks—like nothing is happening, let alone something moving me in a positive direction.

That’s the thing about God—God is always at work, moving us towards the place of wholeness even when we may not see it…or feel it.

Knowing this is also why we must keep working for justice and peace. We are co-creators with the Creator who has promised never to forsake us—who has gifted us with the Christ—who has been, who is, and who will always be working in our midst.

As we prepare for the coming of Christ, there is work to be done. We must continue the work in making room in our hearts for the return of the Light; we must continue to work with each other in seeing that those who are marginalized are brought to the table; we must work with God in God's restoration of all things. 

It is slow work. But as one mystic said, we must trust the slow work of God. In the meantime...

while we are waiting, may we be astonished by the subtle reminders of God’s work in our world…