To enter Advent is to choose to be out of sync with the wider world. The church’s colors are purple and pink, the music reflective, the readings are about being watchful, repentant and expectant.
Scrolling through the news feed, spiritually grounded people can feel out of sync with the world. Like when audio and video don’t match up, we can feel awkward and frustrated with the priorities of the world in the headlines.
The theme to focus our worship and personal reflection this Advent is generosity. A generous person is a giving person. And to be generous, truly and fully is about more than money, it is also about our manner and attitude. In a materialistic society generosity is often narrowly defined. But in Jesus we learn that generosity stems from the heart rooted and grounded in God.
To be a generous person begins counter intuitively with being generous to yourself. This is the focus of the first week of Advent.
Like when my phone is out of sync and not backed up properly it can start doing strange things; apps don’t function correctly and a call might get dropped or a message lost. So we can get out of sync with ourselves. And we don’t function quite right.
In these all too human moments, generosity becomes work. Instead of gentleness with problems we get impatient, instead of responding with grace we feel resentful, instead of bringing joy into a room we feel put upon.
It is human to get out of sync with ourselves; our diet, exercise, sleep, emotional connection and balance of work and play all contribute to an inner sense of generosity.
Taking care of your health is not selfish it is important for hope and faith and love to be visible in your life.
What do you need to be in sync with God; what would nurture a healthier life? What would nurture your spiritual heart? What would guard you from being weighed down by problems and worries?
Those who draw near to Jesus will naturally feel out of sync with the pace, focus, and priorities of the reported mainstream world.
Jesus does not want us to just notice how out of sync things are but to bring hope in our little spheres of influence. Listen for the ways God is nurturing you and inviting you to live whole and fully alive to Love.
With you on the journey,
