I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service.

I acted and behold, service was joy.

-Rabindranath Tagore-

Here are a few examples of acts of kindness taken from the challenge container in the gathering space

*Generous to the environment: 

Shorter showers to save water*

*Generous to the global community: 

Packed food at  Feed My Starving Children*

*Generous in my local community: 

Helped a neighbor after surgery*

*Generous with money:

Gave money to a friend for car repairs*

Can you believe that we are only one week away from the end of our 8 week generosity challenge? Wow! We have been challenged to look at generosity from many different perspectives; with our words, at work or school, in our environment, in our families, in our greater communities, through giving/money, with global sharing, and lastly (my personal favorite) with our time. 

With all these unique ways of being generous I wonder how you did with the challenge? Is your booklet almost empty or did you only get a chance to complete one or two acts of kindness? If you were not successful with completing the whole challenge, there is one week left... that means you still have time! I challenge you to be brave this week and to do one act of kindness, write it on one of the extra sheets of paper at the information desk and place it in the container.

Be a part of the St. Bart's generosity challenge! 

God knows your heart and with each act no matter the size,

He is well pleased.

"To let yourself be loved means breaking down your walls of self-sufficiency and letting yourself need and opening your hands to receive." -Ann Voskamp

 

I've been pondering my capacity for giving and I've realized that I've been missing a major piece of the spiritual puzzle that actually doesn't start with how I give, but instead with how I receive. I can't help but question the idea of receiving other people's kind acts and, most importantly, how I will prepare myself to receive Jesus on Christmas.

After much prayerful, spiritual struggle trying to clearly hear the Holy Spirit, this is how I see one way of following the giving and receiving instruction manual.

I imagine I am a vessel, and in order to be used by God, I must be empty. To be emptied, I embrace prayer, silence, reflection, and saying yes to God's will. Once I'm emptied, I can fully receive Jesus; his love, his words, his gifts, his grace, and many times this also means I can receive Jesus in others. Lastly, I'm filled up by all Jesus gives me and be so overflowing with love and joy that I cannot help but "pour" it into others. Just like at the foot washing on the night of the last supper, Peter taught us that one must receive from Christ himself first, then be the example and go out to love others fully. 

In the spirit of giving and receiving, we can also take a look at the story of Mary and Martha. Below you will find Father Mike Schmitz making sure we understand that Mary and Martha both were doing the right thing. We should be servants to others, but let us not forget that God is calling us to be aware of his son Jesus and to receive from him first.

My prayer for you this advent and Christmas season is that you might humbly find ways to empty yourself, so that you can be filled up with Jesus, who is "the way, the truth, and the life" and in turn love others more fully, only so that you can live wholeheartedly with Emmanuel, Christ with us.