advent

Here we are on the 1st day of December 2010. I can't even believe its the end of the year already!
I've just started my advent readings that I got from MCC...here are some excerpts I'd like to share:

According to an ancient Jewish midrash, someone asked Rabbi Joshua, “Why did God speak to Moses from a bush?” Rabbi Joshua replied, “God spoke from a bush to teach that there is no place where the Divine is not present, not even in a lowly bush.”


A Hasidic story tells of a rabbi’s son who used to wander in the woods. The rabbi asked his son, “I wonder why each day you walk in the woods?” 
The boy replied, “I go there to find God.” 
“That’s very good, son. But, don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?” 
“Yes,” the boy answered, “but I’m not.”


And so it is with us. We need tangible signs of God’s presence. When we enter the emotional, spiritual and physical winters of our lives, no matter the reason, let us eagerly anticipate that day when a new branch will burst forth from the leafless icicled branch we have become. In this Advent season, may all trees be for us Christ-mas trees, signs of hope, worthy of our decorating and celebrating – Christ, the Righteous Branch, has come into our lives, Christ will come again.

Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NRSV)
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

I found this imagery of new branches really helpful. Even in the winters of life, we retain a hope for the future; for the inevitable spring that will arrive because of the hope we have in Christ Jesus.

I know that God is the same every place I go, but I am not. And so as I grow, adapt, and change in a new environment, my prayer is that I would continue to seek God and appreciate the new and different ways his unchangeable character is being revealed to me each and every day.

My prayer for all of my friends and loved ones this advent season is that you would find places where you cannot remain the same, and in those places, appreciate God for who He is, and how he might look different from your new vantage point.

Even though my images of advent include lots of cold and snow and cozy memories, I am learning to appreciate the anticipation of Christmas even in 75 degree weather :) Hope you are warm (sitting inside or outside) wherever this finds you.