peaceful anticipation

(there is this time between Thanksgiving and Easter... Advent)

Peaceful anticipation

One of the things I miss from “back in the day” is the intentional observance of the season of Advent.  Each Sunday we would talk and sing hymns about a different part of the Christmas story and have a chance to dig deeper into the unique aspects of each.  It was a time of peaceful anticipation of the coming miracle of Christ’s birth. 

“A voice of one calling: 
“In the wilderness prepare
 the way for the Lord; 
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, 
every mountain and hill made low; 
the rough ground shall become level, 
the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, 
and all people will see it together. 
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:1-5

Too often we’re bombarded now with the messages of Black Friday, Cyber Monday etc., as if Christmas exists merely to keep the retail sector of the economy afloat.  It’s a hectic season, filled with things to do and places to go.  The peaceful anticipation has given way to exhausted relief when December 26 arrives. The giving of gifts, sending of cards, and trimming of trees are all recent additions to the observance of Christmas…and none of them are bad in and of themselves.  But when they become our focus, rather than the simple and profound truth of the manger we can miss the best part of Christmas.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 29

Background Noise

(pick up a shell and hear the ocean!)

We just took a trip to the North Carolina coast and spent several days enjoying the beach and the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. What an incredible vastness the ocean has. It helps me remember how small and insignificant I am. At the same time there is no more soothing sound than the constant crashing of the waves against the shore. It’s as if those waves are washing away all the stress and discordant parts of my life. Sometimes I think I could sit there on the beach forever.

But nothing lasts forever, and eventually duties as a husband, father and employee beckon. With that, the stress and discord eventually start to creep back in. I wonder then, is there something that can provide a soothing “background noise” back home?

The obvious answer is to buy a CD of recorded surf sounds! Or to listen to music, classical perhaps, or jazz, or Christian praise and worship music. Music can provide a pleasing backdrop for the day. But it’s much deeper than that, of course.

Periods of silence can help. Jesus often sought solitude to recharge or just to start the day on the right note. Quiet and prayer are central to the example He gave us.

But I think maybe the real key is to remember how the ocean made me feel like a mere grain of sand, and how incredibly vast our God is. He set the heavens in motion and is still in control of it all. Even my small, insignificant life.

Brian

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