"Each moment that God is at our sides, the light grows."
Photo by Yaoqi LAI on Unsplash
As millions around the world observed the lighting of the first Advent candle on Sunday, hope and change are in motion. It’s an invitation to a season of preparation that we receive every year. How will this year be different for you? How will we all see that this year is ripe with opportunity to cultivate the best in all of us? How will we become the light of joy, hope and love blazing against the darkness of violent death, famine, war and destruction.
Throughout the season of Advent, we have the chance to encounter God and encounter one another. By opening our minds and our hearts we can:
- Look for opportunities to risk the unknown and discover the light that some will try to snuff out.
- Start conversations of depth with the commitment to taking action.
- Risk comfort for the sake of reaching out to another.
- See our differences not as liabilities but as avenues of learning and appreciation of diversity.
As we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, it will mean not just going through the motions of another season, leaping forward to celebration, but making room.
Isaiah sparks our call to imagination by sharing a vision of unity and peace with God as our leader and loving one another as the litmus test for action. Do you see his vision?
Each time we encounter the light of God we are changed. We choose to be open to risking the known for the unknown, to take action when it would be easier to maintain a routine, to be a witness in times that try our souls. Each moment with God is at our side, the light grows. Preparation for the kingdom of God is not confined to four weeks on a calendar but continual. We are meant to be light all year long!
The wisdom of Scripture continues in the first week of Advent in the words from the Gospel of Matthew. Time is short, we cannot afford to be lazy or to be lulled into a false sense of security of endless days. We are called to keep our eyes on God. To remember that we will one day be asked how we loved.
Discerning religious life will pose hard questions for you. Advent is a great time to ask yourself if you’re willing to make room for Jesus and the world in your life Are you called to the prophetic life as a vowed religious?
Advent in action:
What are you noticing in the world around you?
What are you committing to do for the good of another this Advent season?
Are you discerning religious life? Walking with someone who is? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation.
