The Sacrament of Advent begins.
- heather
- Nov 30
- 7 min read
Dear Ones,
Today we begin the observance of Advent, the tender, expectant season leading us toward the celebration of Christ's birth and the opening of the liturgical year. Advent asks us to grow wider in heart and perception, to lean into the inherent metaphysical paradoxes at its core. We are asked to be present to what seems like opposites: that Holy Origin, Spirit, and Eternal Logos (Word) entered the world in human form as a vulnerable, preverbal infant, and that same divine reality continues to shine forth in and as each one of us.
This season calls us into an inner posture of wakefulness, expectant waiting, and watchfulness, yet for a presence already here. As Henri Nouwen writes, “The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord” (The Genessee Diary, 1976).
And yet, sometimes the presence of Christ in the world, among us and within us, is difficult to perceive. We look around and see what what we think, sense or feel ought to be whole, just, free. We want life to be different than it is and we naturally grieve when it is not. Still, Thomas Merton reminds us that our faith is not escapism, nor a refusal to name suffering. "We witness to His presence even in the midst of all its inscrutable problems and tragedies. Our Advent faith is not an escape from the world to a misty realm of slogans and comforts which declare our problems to be unreal, our tragedies inexistent" (Seasons of Celebration, 1965).
This is the stretching work of Advent, to allow these paradoxes to widen us until we can hold them without collapsing into denial or despair. We are often discouraged by our sense of inadequacy, by our inability to reveal Christ as we wish we could in our daily lives. Merton speaks to this as well saying, "We may at times be able to show the world Christ in moments when all can clearly discern in history, some confirmation of the Christian message. But the fact remains that our task is to seek and find Christ in our world as it is, and not as it might be. The fact that the world is other than it might be does not alter the truth that Christ is present in it and that His plan has been neither frustrated nor changed... Our Advent is a celebration of this hope"(Seasons of Celebration, 1965).
This work of beholding the paradoxes of the season requires three-centered awareness (intellectual, feeling, embodied) as a prerequisite to perceiving these divine realities through the heart. It cannot happen through the intellect alone. Merton puts it this way, "One cannot enter the 'sacrament of Advent,' the mystery it proclaims, via the intellection. One enters via the monastic virtues subtly present in... the following words: quiet, silence, humble, wakeful, patient, meek... (stability?), gentle, quiet"(Seasons of Celebration, 1965).
As we enter this Advent together, we can prepare all three centers of our being to awaken, soften, and become deeply receptive to the mysteries before us. In this widening, we create room, again and again, for the Coming One who is always already here.
Much love,
Heather
Readings from last week's Daily Contemplative Pauses
*All previous readings & reflections can be found here*
Monday, November 17th
Reading: "The human brain is an extraordinary creation with its large frontal lobes, the cerebral cortex. This is the site of our most wonderful human capacities: clarity, compassion, patience, empathy, imagination, forward thinking, and thoughtful responses. Yet our present chaotic culture is so fearful, so threatening, that these finest qualities are shut down automatically. When threatened, we lose the essential human capacities most needed and, at the neurobiological level, we have no choice but to contract in fear…
“To respond rather than react, to override our reptilian brain and engage our rich frontal lobe capacities, requires intention, discipline, and training. We have to want to use our fine human capacities; we have to want to be more open and less fearful. We have to want to be generous, creative, and kind-our human birthright.
“The core teachings from many spiritual traditions teach skills to awaken our better brains and enable higher capacities. In different forms, but from the same wisdom, these spiritual teachings offer practices to pause, settle, open, identify emotional triggers, notice reactions, practice patience, refrain from judgments, overcome bias, make moral decisions. It takes work to be a human being rather than a human animal! Robert Sapolsky, a brilliant neurobiologist whose work has educated me, defines the frontal cortex's role as "making you do the harder thing when it's the right thing to do." — Margaret J. Wheatley
Gospel of Thomas Logion 7, translation Lynn Bauman
Yeshua says...
A lion eaten by a man is blessed
as it changes to human form,
but a human devoured by a lion
is cursed as lion becomes human.
Chant: Blessed is the one who turns around and awakens, blessed is the one who opens blinded eyes — Epiphany Today
Tuesday, November 25th
Reading: When Wisdom is embraced
righteousness, justice, and fairness are known;
all paths are illumined
and you need fear no detour.
When Wisdom enters your heart
and knowledge your soul,
you will perceive the order of the universe
and never despair.
You will be rescued from your own dark inclinations,
and not even the cleverest lies will deceive you'
— Proverbs 2:9-13, translation Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Chant: Spirit of truth [open] my mind, soul of wisdom enter my heart – The Oriental Orthodox Order in the West
Wednesday, November 26th
Practice: A Prayer for Practicing Resurrection by Adam Bucko
[Inspired by the words of Thich Nhat Hanh]
Breathing in, I come home to this moment.
Breathing out, I rest in the miracle of being alive.
Here I am, body and mind together, fully present.
This is the place of resurrection.
When I drift away from this moment,
something else begins to drive my life—habit, distraction, illusion, or desire.
Let me return, again and again,
to the place where life truly is.
Teach me, O Christ, to walk in your Kingdom now.
Teach me, O Buddha, to dwell in your Pure Land here.
May each breath be a prayer,
each step a return to love.
For I cannot love if I am not here.
Presence is the seed of compassion,
the ground of service,
the beginning of showing up for others.
This is my practice of resurrection:
to be alive, truly alive,
to touch the living presence of God
in the here and now.
Chant: Attend to the living presence, here and now – Darlene Franz
Thursday, November 27th
Reading: "Thích Nhất Hạnh teaches us how to listen to God, to life, to one another. He reminds us that there is no other time or place to meet the divine than here and now. “The kingdom of God is available to you at this very moment,” he said. Your calling to live truthfully from the heart of God, in service of compassion and justice, is here and now. The courage to say yes to it is here and now.
But the question is: are you available to it?
Are you really here to see it, to hear it, to say yes to it—or are you somewhere else, lost in a fog of thoughts, scenarios, and social media posts, missing what is being given to you right now?
So let us pause and return to the present moment. Let us practice what Thích Nhất Hạnh taught:
Breathing in, say, I am here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, say, God is here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, say, my life with God is here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, take in all the gifts this moment brings—your life, your loved ones, your community.
Breathing out, say, thank you, God."
– Adam Bucko
Chant: Be right here, in the Heart of God – Henry Schoenfield
Friday, November 28th
Practice from Thích Nhất Hạnh again:
Breathing in, say, I am here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, say, God is here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, say, my life with God is here.
Breathing out, smile.
Breathing in, take in all the gifts this moment brings—your life, your loved ones, your community.
Breathing out, say, thank you, God.
Chant: Just be here, let go be here, keep within, within your heart, just be here, let go be here, keep within, within God’s heart – by Heather Ruce
Saturday, November 29th with Tom
Reading: "As a direct consequence
Of the unitive process by which God is revealed to us,
God in some way “transforms self”
when incorporating us.
So, it is no longer a matter of seeing God
And allowing oneself to be enveloped
And penetrated by God—
We have to do more. We have to disclose God
(i.e. “complete” God) ever more fully.
All around us …And within us, God is in process of “changing.”
– Teilhard de Chardin
Chant: Pour out through [us, God] of glory, [God] of grace, that all may see, thy eternal radiant face – Darlene Franz
Sunday, November 30th
Readings:
“One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home.” – Michelle Blake
“The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.” – Henri Nouwen
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