3rd Advent
1 Thessalonians, 5, 1-8, 23, 24
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| Sulamith Wulfing |
About time spans and right moments, dear brothers,
I have no need to write to you. You know very well yourselves that the Breaking
of the Day of Christ comes like a thief in the night. When people say, ‘Now
peace reigns, and all stands secure, then suddenly catastrophe breaks upon
them, like the birth pangs of a woman with child, and there will be no escape
for them.
You, however, dear brothers, are not to remain in
darkness, so that the breaking of day will not surprise you like a thief. For
you are sons of light and sons of the day. Our being is not filled with night
and darkness. So let us not sleep like the others, but rather cultivate an
alert and sober state of mind. Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who
are drunk are likewise of nightly nature. But since we belong to the brightness
of day, let us be sober, clothed with the breastplate of faith and love, our
head armed [protected] with the hope of healing….May God himself, however, the
source of all Peace, hallow and heal your whole being. May your complete and
undivided being,
Spirit
Soul, and
Body
remain pure and unclouded at the coming in the
spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord. You may trust in him who calls you. He it is
who also lets you reach the goal.
3rd Advent
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| Sulamith Wulfing |
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-8 and
23, and 24
“When people say, ‘Now peace
reigns and all stands secure’, then suddenly catastrophe breaks upon them, like
the birth pangs of a woman with child….” 1Thessalonians 5:3
Since the beginning of
mankind, the birth of the new has been accompanied by pain. The Lord said to
Eve, the mother of all life, that in pain she would bring forth children. Genesis 4:16. This is usually heard as a
curse, a punishment; but if we were to think about it a bit further, we may
come to hear it rather as a promise: that pain will bear fruit. When we are in
pain, we are also in the process of bringing something, someone, to birth. When pain and catastrophe break into our
lives, what is it that is trying to be born?
What is trying to be born is
the Light, the Daylight of Christ. This is the Light that nourishes and
supports life; it is the Light of His Love. His Light of Love shines before us
on our path, showing us the way toward wholeness and healing.
This is the birth toward
which we are all laboring. To help us to do so, we surround ourselves, clothe
our hearts, in trust and in love. We keep our thoughts directed toward the goal
of humankind’s wholeness and healing. We concentrate, attend to the birth of
the Christ in us, through us. For humanity is the woman giving birth to the
Christ.
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