Sunday, November 27, 2011

While We Wait

Today begins the first Sunday of Advent, and thus my own journey into this season that I have come to attach great value to.  Mary Lou Redding has written "While We Wait"--Living the Questions of Advent.  As I found myself plunging into her storytelling my anticipation grew for the days and weeks that lie ahead of me.  She scribes a beautiful, thought-provoking pathway to walk on. 

She began today with hope.  And though she had me winding through a maze of biblical stories so "un-advent-like" I felt,...I pushed through with desire.  And hope began to shine through...fresh...wild...God-like.  His redemptive weaving throughout history that can only be spiritually discerned, filled page after page.

"We often use the word hope as if hope were a fragile thing.  We say, 'I hope you can come with us.'  And someone answers, 'I hope so too, but it doesn't look promising.'"  She got me here.  This is so often how I use the word hope.   

"The hope we read about in the Bible is much more robust....biblical hope is a powerful force for change."    Do I ever hope like this?  When waiting on God, pleading with God, listening for God...can I say that my hope is robust?  


"We do not have to understand the whole of what God is doing in order to be part of it."  Mmmm...such powerful, necessary words.  How frequently I "demand" to know the "whole of God" before I step out. 
"What if you and I walked through life with...expectation, waiting for God to show up in the midst of our daily activities,  for gifts of grace and healing to fall into our lives so close that we can reach out and touch them?" 

"Oh Jesus...increase the expectancy in my soul!!!"

"In this season of hope, we are invited to look for the wonders that show us God is still at work in our world and in us.  
'What will you give me?' we ask.
Hope holds with it the promise that God always answers our question by showing up, not necessarily with what we ask for but with remarkable gifts that change our lives and the world."

There is an abundance of ways for my soul to interact with the above words and more.  Throughout the coming week, the author's reflective thoughts and questions will provide me with  a rich space to do just.

I leap into hope.








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