We Hope ...

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    We begin the Advent season with Hope. We hope because we need it. We hope because sometimes that is all we can do. We can hope because our hope is based on a person, on Jesus, the one who's coming we prepare for.

    Even as our hope is based on the love, life, death and resurrection of Christ we still sometimes struggle.

    Hope often wanes when we worry, when we look towards the future and see no way out, as we experience pain and loss. Hope wanes as we see and suffer injustices. Hope struggles as it seems there is more evil than good in the world.

    Hope requires waiting, it requires trust and it demands blindness. Hoping is not easy ... yet it is true.

    It is true because it is found in a person, it is found in Christ whose coming we celebrate and whose second coming provides us a vision of re-creation, all things made new, our hope being fulfilled.

    So I invite you to Hope. Hope in the one that can fulfill all our hopes and leads us to live lives of hope.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

He Knows Your Name

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

“But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, 'Rabboni!' (which means, Teacher). John 20:11-16

    Some of us wonder if Jesus knows our name. Even in our pursuit of Him, for whatever reason, sometimes we cannot see Him.    

    I love this story of Jesus and Mary. I love her vulnerability and her pursuit of Jesus. I love Mary’s desperation to find Jesus. Yet in her great desperation she did not recognize Jesus. I do not know why she did not recognize Him. Maybe she was blinded by her pain, focused on her pursuit of Him, still reeling from the empty tomb. I do not know. What we do see is that she recognizes Him the moment Jesus says her name, “Mary”.

    Jesus knows our names as well. We cannot see Him but He sees us. You may be in a time of life where you cannot hear Jesus say your name. You may not be able to hear or feel anything. Consider Mary and remember that Jesus does know your name. He has not forgotten and He is with you.

**Sit in silence again for as long as is available to you.**

The Gift of Inquiry

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    The gift of inquiry can take you deeper. The gift of inquiry helps to see farther into the words that we say and the beliefs that we hold on to. This gift can unleash the truth of our actions, reflecting why we do what we do. The right inquiry, the best questions often lead us to fuller, richer and truer understandings of ourselves, others and God.

    Inquiry comes in many forms – a good question, silence waiting for a response, a reflective statement or open-ended statement. A friend of mine asks many questions. Her questions are good, probing and demanding that I dig deeper into the words I exclaim. I often found myself frustrated because she would not just let me talk. She was giving me a gift, a gift that brought forth truer and richer things, things that I would have never seen if she did not slow me down.

    Jesus inquired often as well. He would ask a question that would slow someone down, possibly change the direction of their thinking and reveal their hearts and sometimes God’s heart. As you spend time in prayer, consider what Jesus might be asking you.

    How might you slow your prayers down and consider why you are saying what you are saying? How might Jesus want to take you deeper?

    PS A great inquiry statement/request when you offer this gift to another: “Tell me more.”

**Sit again for as long as is available to you.**

Advent Joy

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

JOY -
n: the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires;
v: to experience great pleasure or delight.

    According to Webster, joy is dependent on our emotions and experiences. Our joy is subject to our well-being, the well-being of those we love, success and/or gaining the desires of our hearts. I can relate to this. Yes, joy is an emotion and can be found in experiences and I LOVE to feel joy!
    Jesus also speaks of a joy that is grounded, not fleeting and not at the mercy of emotions. Joy is found in a person – Jesus.
    Jesus is constant, steady and true. He is not based on emotion or experience. He IS. If joy is found in a relationship with Jesus then this joy grounds me and is not dependent on experience and emotion. Experience and emotion are there but our joy is not based on those things. Our joy is based on something more stable.
    Yes, joy is felt and joy can go missing but our TRUE joy, the joy that grounds us is found in the person of Jesus, whose birth we look forward to with great anticipation.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Jesus Wept

    “Jesus wept”. The shortest verse in the Bible contains great power. It contains power that meets us in our grief, in our sorrow and with the pain of death. In this verse God meets us in our humanity and reminds us that we have a God that identifies with us. He is not unfamiliar with grief.
    Jesus was planning to resurrect Lazarus from the dead yet he stopped to grieve with Mary and with the people. Resurrection was on his mind yet he allowed time for grief and met people in their grief. He legitimized the reality and need for tears.
    I cannot imagine the horror, the sorrow, the pain, the grief, the “I cannot breathe” feeling that the families and community of Newtown, CT. I know that God can redeem the greatest of sorrows, the greatest of evils and can re-create anything. I would like to caution against moving too quickly to redemption and not allowing grief to have its place and its time. Let us grieve with one another and for one another. Let us grieve with God knowing that Jesus weeps as well.

    I realize the story about Lazarus doesn’t end there. The story ends with some of the people saying, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” The answer is yes, Jesus could have, yet he did not. If we consider the question they are asking, they are really asking the questions of why he did not stop Lazarus from dying. I don’t know. I don’t know what he didn’t keep those at Sandy Hook from dying. I don’t know.

  For the bible story mentioned above see John 11:17-37.

A Hopeful Hymn

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**
   

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices and yonder breaks a new and glorious morn” – O Holy Night

    O Holy Night is one of my favorite hymns. It always reminds me of my college years which I absolutely loved. (If you went to Texas Tech, you know what I am talking about!). This verse from the popular hymn touches something inside each one of us.
    We can all relate to weariness and the longing for hope that it brings. We want a break, some rest. We rejoice at the THRILL that hope is as we consider the coming of Jesus – the breaking dawn that He is. The specific hope we have is that we longer have to strive to be reconciled with God. Our weariness in trying to reconcile with God is met with the promise of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.  This is the new and glorious morn that is coming.
    So, whether you are weary from life, weary from trying to strive to win God’s approval, weary from distance from God for whatever reason, there is reason to HOPE – Jesus is coming and with Him comes the glorious morning – a new day.
    Sit today with this hymn, listen to a version of it wherever you can find it. Sit and meditate on this line from O Holy Night and let it resonate with your soul.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

The Foundation of our Hope

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**
    You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. – Psalm 119:114

    We hope for many things and place our hope in many things. If you think about it our hope is quite scattered and does not always have the strongest foundation. I love to daydream, picture a glorious moment or a great feeling. Many times these daydreams are hope, wishes and dreams but are not based in reality. Often when these dreams do not come to fruition I get disappointed. Quite a bit of energy spent on something that is not real!
    The hope that I want you to consider is a hope that is based in the promises of God. Hope that is based in God’s word and ultimately hope that is placed in the person of Jesus.
    Henri Nouwen says that hope is open-ended, fulfilled according to the promises [of God] and not just according to our wishes. I had never thought about basing ALL my hopes on God’s promises. Some of my hopes are based on God’s promises and others are wishful thinking. Hoping is more than wishful thinking, it is based on the promises of God. This hope does not disappoint. A hope based on my wishes alone will most likely disappoint but hope based on promises, found in God’s Word, will never disappoint. Read God’s word, become familiar with His promises. Promises create hope and you can hope in God’s promises!
    This Advent, THE Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of our greatest hope.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Advent Hope

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Advent is defined as “coming” or “arrival”. As we consider the Advent season of Christmas we look forward to the coming and arrival of Jesus.
    In the midst of other Christmas traditions, there is God’s call to sit, listen and prepare for the arrival of Jesus. I confess that I probably spend more time preparing for the arrival of a house guest than I do for Jesus.
    In Christian tradition there are four themes of Advent which include Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Various churches focus on these themes in the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and in various orders. I am following the order of our church and will start with Hope.
    Consider how God may be calling you to prepare for the arrival of His Son, Jesus through Hope.
Spend time in prayer today focusing on Hope. Ask God to show you whatever He would like you to see in relation to Hope and Jesus.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

The Gift of Taking Notice

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Through the Bible we read of Jesus who took notice of people. He took notice of those who were overlooked, those who were noticed by others for what they did wrong and those who were desperately seeking Him. He took the time to notice when no one else was or was noticing for the wrong reasons. Story after story in the Gospels we read of this gift that He gave people – He noticed them. He noticed, even commended them at times and told others to take notice of them as well.
    To notice someone is a gift. There are so many people that feel overlooked every day, that wonder if anyone cares or sees them. Does anyone really hear them, does God hear them? Does God see?
    We have opportunities each day to be the hands and feet of Christ and care for another by the simple act of noticing. Taking notice of them, commending them, encouraging them, sending them a link from an article or picture you thought they’d like. Let them know that you think of them. Often this is a tangible reminder that God thinks of them as well. I wish we would all consistently believe God loves us and notices us but we all have our insecurities and our struggles and we need reminders.
    Be a loving reminder of God’s attention to someone today.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Have more than two minutes? Read Luke 7:36-50 about Jesus who took notice.