Advent 2009

Greetings!

Tis the season to blog again -- Advent -- preparing my heart afresh for the coming again of Jesus Messiah...

I hope to blog throughout the Advent season -- probably for me much more than for you -- I need the change of life's seasons to re-focus me [especially spiritually]...

Blogging through the Lenten season was spiritually enriching for me -- hope you enjoyed the journey as well...

I have spent the last hour getting ready to start -- I almost quit before I got started [ha! ha!]...

Resetting my password since I had forgotten it since Lent -- oh well...

I am sitting on the front porch and it is actually cool in Tampa tonight -- so I had to go find my favorite Tractor Supply hoodie... Looks like I may have to go find some shoes too... My shaved head is pretty chilly too...

Pandora's internet radio is dialed in to Jimmy Buffett...

I have a bottle of red wine -- for my heart and to stay warm [of course]...

I have been choosing resources for my [hopefully our] journey for quite some time...

One booklet is from Henri Nouwen -- aren't you shocked [ha! ha!] -- it is entitled LIVING IN HOPE...

My other resource is my new devotional for 2010 -- RADICAL GRACE by Richard Rohr -- a Franciscan priet from New Mexico...

I also read my Bible tonight -- don't act so shocked [ha! ha!]...

But never fear -- I am almost ready to start -- maybe just a few more minutes for the wine to release more deeply spiritual thoughts...

So, what do i want out of Advent this year???

It is my favorite time of the year -- I LOVE THE HOLY SEASON!

I have been so giddy today that my family was afraid they were actually going to have to institutionalize me for "being too happy" [or maybe "acting too stupid"] -- sounds great -- I will apply for disability and take an early retirement for mental reasons [ha! ha!] Bet there is a lot of time to read on the "inside"...

I almost celebrated the beginning of Christmas by going to get me a new dog this afternoon -- a beautiful Golden Retriever I found on the internet -- but Nancy's "look" appeared too dangerous [and the boys wouldn't support me since Josh wants a Boxer and James always votes with his Mom because he does not like dogs]...

So, I am dogless, but still happy...

[I may still win this battle after we get back from PA for Christmas...]

I want fresh JOY, HOPE, PEACE and LOVE for 2010 out of this Advent journey...

My heart is full of anticipation and expectation -- I sense God is about to do "something"...

Nouwen says that there is "great expectation in the Advent season..."

I think he is right on -- I am looking for fresh and meaningful epiphanies of the Christ child throughout this season...

I bet some of my hospice patients will teach me so much about Christmastime -- for many, this will be there last one here on earth...

I am expecting spiritual encounters that will deepen my contemplation and move me to action...

I love the way Rohr says it when he speaks of the "primacy of action" in our spiritual journey...

"God can teach me in my taking care of the needy around me -- in moving toward the world as it is. I think when we respond to need as it is right in front of us, usually we are NOT as susceptible TO OUR EGOS! Life in front of us pulls us out of ourselves and we have to do it because it is there. That's how I see people being purified. That kind of spirituality I can trust. If your life is not moving toward practical action in this real, living world, with other people, WITH THE NOT ME, don't trust your spirituality. But your engagement must happen in tandem with contemplation, the inner disengagement with ego and openness to God. Contemplation is the Divine Therapy that purifies our work and involvement. Action and contemplation are the two polarities that regulate and balance the faith-filled life. It saddens me that most Christianity is right in the middle. It's neither radical interiority nor radical engagement. You don't learn much in the medicre middle, and you don't have too much to give." [321]

Observation: I am fully convinced that much of the personal pathology in our world is the direct result of EGO CENTRISM -- people are help captive by their own EGO -- we cannot find or live out of our TRUE SELF because we are consumed by US -- we make sure that EVERYTHING centers around US!!!

The most powerfully lived worship chorus of our day goes "It's ALL ABOUT ME dear Jesus, it's ALL ABOUT ME!" [rather than "it's all about YOU dear Jesus"]...

We are not engaging life and need around us in such a way that it is "pulling us out of ourselves" -- too often, we have a lazer focus on our needs, our wants, our pains, our wishes, our comfort, our control, our manipulation, and on and on and on -- there simply is not room for ANYTHING else since it is ALL ABOUT US!

I see it all around -- it is one of the realities of our post-modern culture -- we are fixated with ourselves!

This Advent -- I vote for being pulled [probably kicking and screaming] out of myself -- I will be a "person for others" [as Bonhoeffer described Jesus] -- I will embrace the need that will save me from myself -- I do NOT need the personal pathology of self-absorption -- I do not want to be imprisoned by my EGO...

Sounds fun...

Wanna join me???

Shalom...

Guy

I still want my dog [and I may not stop until I have it] -- it could teach me so much about serving God's creation [ha! ha!]...