A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.And so it is not only with great story telling. The beginning of most things is the time to ensure that the balances are correct - that there is a common understanding - that definitions are shared. With this in mind, let us examine the meaning of a few key words relevant to this season and specifically to the First Sunday of Advent.
The word "advent" (not capitalized) refers to the coming into being of something (the advent of the 21st century) or of something coming into use (the advent of the automobile). The word "Advent" specifically refers to both the time starting four Sundays before Christmas as well as the birth of Jesus Christ (the Incarnation - the Word made flesh). Given these definitions it is fitting that the advent of the Church year is marked by the Season of Advent.
The Advent Wreath is a tradition shared among many different Christian religious practices. The wreath is made of evergreen boughs, has four candles around the wreath and a large candle in the center. The meaning of the four candles around the wreath varies by tradition. The center candle is usually referred to as the "Christ Candle" and represents our belief that Jesus Christ is the light calling us to a new way of living. The meaning of the four candles varies depending upon the Church tradition. I usually think of them as representing Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. This is by no means universal. The candles are also seen as representing Hope, Christ as The Way, Joy, and Peace or Prayer, Penance, Preparatory sacrifices / good works, and the Sunday of Rejoicing (Gaudete Sunday). There are those who say that these four candles were initially just a countdown of the four Sundays before Christmas. Given this variation in the traditions of the larger Church it is possible - even likely that I will focus on something during these reflections that does not mesh with your tradition. I pray that this is not seen as an opportunity for dismissal, rather an opportunity to engage, share ideas, and post your beliefs and opinions.
The meanings we assign to the candles of the Advent Wreath are representative of one of the primary challenges of religion in general - confusing tradition with Truth. There is an entire reflection on that topic that I am sure will be written at sometime but not today. I ask only that as you read this that you seek some seed of truth that may be contained herein.
So all this being said - I will focus the balance of this reflection on Hope. Hope is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as "to cherish a desire with anticipation; Trust; to desire with expectation of obtainment; or to expect with confidence." We can see here that Hope is very different from a wish. A wish is more a desire - sometimes for something that is unattainable such as wishing to be able to live a part of one's life again. The key difference, it seems to me, is that a wish lacks expectation whereas hope is built upon expectation.
Given these definitions it seems a good fit that the theme for the First Sunday of Advent in many traditions is "Hope." In this context in the short term we expect the coming of Christmas. In our larger tradition we expect the coming of The Kingdom of God. With this in mind, let us turn to the scriptures for this year.
Jeremiah 33:14 - 16:
33:14 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.Okay so first of all this is an Old Testament passage - a Scripture from the Jewish tradition. It is interesting to me to reflect upon the idea that Christianity is impossible to understand without a firm understanding of Jewish faith and history. To understand this passage we need to remember that the book of Jeremiah comes out of the period of Jewish history when Judah fell to Babylon and many Jews were exiled to Babylon while others fled to Egypt. Given this background, I understand this passage to be the promise that God will restore Israel and that a descendant of David will rule once again. The prophecy gave the Nation of Israel the hope of a restored relationship with God.
33:15 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.
33:16 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."
If we let this light shine upon our second passage for this Sunday we see the theme of Hope shine through as the expectation that God forgives and protects those who learn and follow God's Ways.
Psalm 25:1 - 10:
25:1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.1 Thessalonians 3:9 - 13:
25:2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
25:3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
25:4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
25:5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
25:6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
25:7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
25:8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
25:10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
3:9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?1 Thessalonians is believed to be the earliest existing Christian text written about twenty years after The Crucifixion. What must it have been like to be a member of the church at Thessalonica in those early years after the death of Christ? Generations of Jews had lived the promise of the coming of the Messiah. Many believed Jesus of Nazareth to be that Messiah. To have lived during the period when Jesus was alive and ministering must have been an amazing and uplifting time for believers - to have been followed by the Crucifixion had to have been disheartening. Many believed that The Messiah would come to establish His Kingdom on Earth. For Jesus to die without major changes in the geo-political situation must have been devastating for many. Is this the reason that Jews do not recognize Jesus as The Messiah?
3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
3:11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
3:13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
What courage it must have taken to remain a member of the Christian faith in those times - to adhere to a practice of "you have heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matt 5:43/44) and a faith based upon Love. This passage foreshadows the theme of the Second week of Advent as Paul offers a prayer that they will increase and abound in love for one another - and for ALL. What a departure the suggestion of loving even those who were not members of their community must have been... And how difficult is it for us to love those whom we see as being the outsider even today - but again that is a meditation for another time.
Christian tradition comes full circle with the final passage for this Sunday.
Luke 21:25 - 36:
21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.In this passage, Jesus points to a time to come and feeds the expectation - the Hope of the time when the Kingdom of God is established.
21:26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
21:27 Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory.
21:28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
21:29 Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees;
21:30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near.
21:31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
21:32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.
21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
21:34 "Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly,
21:35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.
21:36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Reflecting upon these passages leads me to reflect upon my own life. I recognize times when I have lived my life wishfully - hoping that things would be something that they cannot be. There were times when David was ill that I wished with all my being that his cancer would be cured. I realized even in the midst of that wishful thinking that it was probably not going to happen. The initial diagnosis was Stage 4 - in upper and lower lobes of both lungs and mets to the brain and bone. There may be those of you who read this and believe that perhaps I simply lacked faith that God could / would heal David. If that is true for you then I admire you for your belief but that is not how I view things.
I do not believe in deus ex machina. Well actually, I do believe in deus ex machina... I do believe that God has worked through the hands of scientists and doctors and that there are a great many times when healing happens because of these dedicated people who have spent their lives researching and developing treatments and cures for diseases - but to date there is no hope for a cure with this initial diagnosis. What I do not believe in is the invisible healing hand of God working miracles such as healing in situations such as these. It is not what I observe to happen and until such time that the human hands of God working in the labs discover a cure for cancer I believe it is rational to place hope elsewhere - that God's grace, expressed through the love and support of friends, family, church, doctors, nurses, and all caregivers is sufficient to see us through such difficult times.
Hope is active. Hope is desire with expectation. Hope is a call to action. My hope was that through the experience of living with the situation that David and I would grow closer, would care for each other more than we ever had before, and that somehow the energy would be there for the living of the next moment, the next, and the next. You see, HOPE means not giving up - even when you know how the story is going to end. What joy could there be in life if the moment that we each realized that we too were going to die we stopped investing in making life better - we ceased to act upon the call to be the Hands of God in the world?
My prayer for all of us is that we will not live wishfully rather that we will all live HOPEFULLY, expectantly, and that this hope propels us into action such that the way we live brings the Kingdom of God on Earth ever closer - one act of loving kindness at a time.
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