1st Advent 2020, Everything You Need

1^st Advent

Luke 21:25-36
 
And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth, the nations will be constricted with anxiety and doubt with the advent of these spiritual revelations, as before a roaring sea and waves. And people will lose their inner strength of soul out of fear and foreboding of what is coming over the living earth: for the dynamic powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, in the sphere of life, with dynamic power and great radiant glory. 

And when these things begin to
happen, stand upright and lift up [raise] your soul to the spirit, for your deliverance draws near.
 
And he gave them a comparison, saying, ‘Observe [behold] the fig tree and all the trees when they burst into leaf. Seeing this, you know yourselves that summer is near. So also, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
 
Amen, the truth I say to you: this present age of being human shall not pass away until all has happened.
 
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
 
Guard yourselves lest the perceptive power of your hearts be smothered by an excess of food and drink and by over-concern with the cares and worries of life, and the light of these spirit events break upon you suddenly like a snare, for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. So be awake in the spirit at all times, praying, so that you may have the strength to live through all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

1^st Advent Sunday
November 29, 2020
Luke 21:25-36
 
A woman who is about to give birth experiences pain. Wave after wave of contraction sweeps over her, hard labor requiring endurance and strength. But in the end, she and all around her experience the radiant wonder that a tiny human being, surrounded by angels, has arrived on earth.
 
Today’s reading is a description

Jolan van Eyck

of the birth pangs of humanity. Constriction, anxiety, and doubt wash over us as world events, earth events, sweep over us. They require our strength and endurance.
 
These birth pangs also require our wakefulness. For this birth is not a physical one. It happens instead in the realm of life that permeates both us and our earth. It happens within perceptive human souls. For the outcome is the birth of the Son of Man. To perceive this birth, we struggle to stay awake amid the excesses of the season. We labor to remember that angels surround us.
 
Many are the human beings who, in their hour of extreme need, have raised their souls to the spirit in prayer. And in their soul is born the power and radiance of a paradoxical peace. A calm settles over them, and they feel the nearness of God. They sense that angels surround them.
 
Perhaps we can sense, as the poet David Whyte describes:
 
These are hard paths we tread
…..
I know that …

Larissa Khimich

storms break over,
…and you will not move
while the voice all around
tears the air
and fills the sky with jagged light.
 
But sometimes unawares
those sounds seem to descend
as if kneeling down into you
and you listen strangely caught
as the terrible voice moving closer
halts,
and in the silence
now arriving
whispers
 
Get up, I depend
on you utterly.
Everything you need
you had
the moment before
you were born.*
 
*David Whyte, “Waking”, in Where Many Rivers Meet

www.thechristiancommunity.org