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Advent Adventure |
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Article by Tom Gilbert —
December 2004
Advent is a time of preparation, the four
weeks leading to Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Christ.
Of course our society makes the true celebration of this time
harder each year. Most people spend December in a flurry of
activity that includes shopping for gifts, holiday parties,
decorations, sending cards and lots of rushing. There is very
little waiting
Very Mysterious
This Advent can be an adventure for you.
This adventure can be one of truly entering more into the mystery
of the Divine becoming human. I don’t know how much time
you may have spent contemplating this mystery. As for me, I
know that it has not been nearly enough. I really need to spend
more time in quiet contemplation of it. It’s not about
trying to figure it out or logically absorbing the content.
That’s impossible. But I can spend time in the mystery
and that means I must make time for that.
The inescapable fact of our lives as believers that God has
and does enter into our lives in a very real way – particularly
as the “Word made Flesh” – means we won’t
figure it out. A mystery it will always remain. But, is there
anything wrong with this? I find that some mystery in our lives
is a good thing.
Mary, as we recall from the Gospels, contemplated the things
she heard from the Angel Gabriel. She submitted to God’s
will in a way that the rest of us find difficult to appreciate
(). She was carrying the
Christ-child in her womb!
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On the Way
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was
surely a difficult one. These days women in the late stages
of pregnancy are discouraged from travel. Scripture doesn’t
tell us exactly how Mary and Joseph made the trek, but the popular
guess is he walked and she rode a donkey or colt. Imagine a
bumpy ride on the back of an animal while nine months pregnant.
Joseph, too, was wondering what was going on. He had some “mysterious”
dreams that told him to proceed ().
The journey for Joseph and Mary was the beginning of the end
for the waiting for the Messiah. Today our life journey can
take us deeper into the mystery. It’s an inside job, one
that requires letting go of preconceived ideas and letting go
to the notion that we are in charge of our lives.
Our Advent adventure can be one filled with hope. We can place
our trust in a God that loves us so much He became one of us
so that we can become one with Him. Identifying in such an intimate
way is marvelous, but especially when we consider that God’s
journey on Earth was one of humility, rejection, poverty and
suffering. And, despite this, the message of love and true joy
was brought to us. How can this not give us hope?
What’s Your Message?
What message are you carrying inside you
this season? Let it be a message of true peace and rejoicing.
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved
throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible
Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
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