Halfway through Advent - John the Baptist has wandered back into his desert with his ax...and frankly, I'm glad to see the back of him! What with his grousing about wrath & winnowing and his rough calls for repentance. I want to listen to upbeat Christmas music and head out to do some shopping and today holds both of those activities for me. But when I return I know I will not have found lasting comfort in them. Sure, it will be a fun diversion, but I will be aware once again of that deep longing within -and the realization that some family members are hurting, and I have friends struggling with depression, and that the world is in desperate need of love - the kind that covers the deepest of wounds. And then John the Baptist's words will ring in my ears, once again, advising me to share my coat and my food, to be honest, and to be content with what I have, but more importantly to remind me that the One who is yet to come is the love that I've been waiting for. Come quickly Lord, come quickly!
(and yes, that is Hagrid of Harry Potter fame, but to me he is the perfect John the Baptist!)
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3 comments:
I am in the same position as you. The shopping got the better of me at the weekend !! So now I have to get back in a spiritual groove before I suucumb to complete decadence !
Happy Christmas to you
Keep up your blogs . They are great and you have a neat sense of humour too.
Phil at Blue Eyed Ennis Blog
Thanks for that,
big Christmas hug to you,
love Laurie
Roberta, well said! And I agree about the picture as a fine version of The Baptizer. As you know, Advent was not part of the church calendar in the church of my youth. That's both good and bad. "Advent" is the Latinized version of what the New Testament writers called the "Parousia," a special use of the everyday word which means "presence." Since God came into his creation and became one of us, the Presence is always and continuous. So we Baptists of Jackson County MO celebrated the Presence, although in far too exclusive a way.
Now in Advent at St. Paul's we re-celebrate the time before the Presence every year, in the darkest and coldest part of the year (here anyway). You've hit it exactly - we remember all over again how much we need that Presence, how important it is to us.
Thank you for another year of sharing your inspirations!
Love, Brad
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