Advent

Advent always begins with a reading that sounds like Chicken Little and "the sky is falling."  But it is truly a season of hope and encouragement.  The falling sky is a prelude to a new heavens and a new earth.  I do long for fulfillment of all that I hear God promise us--peace, life, joy, holiness.  But then I spend a lot of my daily life asking "why?"  Why isn't it all here as I envision it?  This advent I want to stop asking "why?" and start resting in a trusting attitude.  After all, the rest of today's readings also talked about God being our justice.  I want to trust that God's justise, which I am too limited to completely comprehend, is at work.  And then it is my role to be patient, hopefilled and about the task of making the world "good news" to the best of my ability.

Big Moments

Thanksgiving tales around the table remind us of our ancestry.  We recall all the larger than life people who have in some way passed genes or personality traits on to us.  Of course, the tales are like sagas which get bigger and bigger and more bizarre or more heroic as the years pass.

However, they do hold some truth and offer some help for us in looking at who we are.  What are the stories from your family that you can identify as describing something essential about yourself?  This might be a good piece of your discernment.  Who are you?  At the same time we are not determined by our ancestry.  We may find that we are quite different from the people in the stories we are hearing.  Who are you?  Where has God been in this process of you becoming who you are?  What do you want to claim from the past and what is uniquely new in the center of your heart?  God is giving you your past and forming something new in you right now.

Some opportunities for discernment exercises at this time of year.  Be grateful for all that has gone before and all that is in you. 

Casting Nets

Help me be like Peter. He was humble enough to listen and follow the instructions of Jesus even though Peter was the expert in the fishing business and had done everything correct all night and still caught nothing. Teach me to follow.

Clarity

Looking for clarity? It is a favorite pastime of mine. I always want evidence right here and right now. I seem to test God, asking proof of love and care. Yet I know that it is only in trust that I can open myself to the love God desires to give me. Calculating and measuring destroys love in human relationships and does not belong in our love for God either. When I desire clarity in deciding what God desires for me, I must be willing to let go of my need to know with certainty. God give me the grace to respond to love with love and to risk giving my life without certainty about the path. All I need is confidence that the path leads to God and God's perfect love.

Discernment Ideas

Discernment about God's will involves being aware of what leads me to loving relationships. At the end of the day it is good to be in touch with the movements of my heart during the day. What types of interactions led me to be more tolerant of others, more compassionate, more caring and more at peace with who I am? That will give me some clues about where I should be moving in my life.

God is Providing

God is providing a day to get things done, but mostly another day to praise God for all the wonders of life. The crocuses and daffodils are really popping up. It got cold again, but the green shoots remind me that life is hidden in the winter depths. God provides rest for the life of the plants and for me. God hides life where I least expect it. Open my eyes.

Thoughts on Thinking

I have been reading a book by Kathleen Norris called "Acedia and Me." It has some material early on about very old writings on spirituality. She pointed out that before we started talking about the cardinal sins, monastic writers spoke of "bad thoughts." It got me to pondering how the way I am thinking, the pattern of thought that I allow to continue in my head and heart, leads to some negative attitudes and then behaviors that are hurtful to others. I want to clean up my judgemental thoughts and my worrying. I have a feeling that will lead to more virtue in my life.