Dear Friend,
The new year has begun! If this fills you with a slight sense of dread and urgency, fear not. Advent, which began yesterday, starts a new year in our church calendar. These four weeks, marked each Sunday, will help us move from the hope of a new season into its reality.
This takes time, and it takes work. When the entire world is pushing you to consume, rush, wrap, host, revel, delight, and rejoice… well, it’s hard to do any of these things with any sense of wonder or peace.
Being a follower of Christ has always meant one thing: doing things that are a challenge to the world’s order. The earliest followers of Jesus were fighting against religious customs and political norms. The story that unfolds after Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection is not one of peace and stillness. Jesus was born into a broken world, chased from Bethlehem under threat of his life, remained a refugee in Egypt, and continued to flee Death’s pursuit until the cross seemed to win its battle over God’s very being.
Our challenge as Advent begins is to find a way to cultivate anticipation when the world is pushing for us to be ready NOW. Frederick Buechner writes, “The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”
This Advent, I’d like to invite you into a time of spiritual and mental preparation for the extraordinary moment that is to come. We are a month away from the calendar year’s end, and our new beginnings are an invitation to reflect and reset.
I invite you, as a congregation, to take this Advent season and pray about your Rule of Life. This is a working document - it is personal, prayed over, and created with the help of the Holy Spirit.
A Rule of Life is “a commitment to live your life in a particular way. It is meant to be crafted with prayer and discernment, in partnership with God, as you consider the way God made you and the values God has inscribed upon your heart. Once written, it serves as a tool that can help you make decisions for your life and determine how best to order your days.”
A Rule of Life helps you create order out of chaos. It can help you build the life of which you dream. A Rule of Life is not a list of resolutions, ambitions, or aspirations. Your Rule of Life should be a reflection of your hopes, your talents, and your very being. It should be your guide on the way, and when your path begins to wander, it should be the thing that helps to guide you back.
Consider your values and priorities.
What do you value in your:
Spirit | Body | Mind | Relationships | Home | Work | Resources
Take some time this week to pray about these seven aspects of your life. Ask yourself what you value about each one, and consider your priorities as you work to build your own Rule of Life. You may notice overlaps or consistencies in your language; take note of this. The words that surface continually are likely to be important to you.
There are some wonderful resources which can be a help to you.
The brilliant writer, Annie Dillard, reminds us that:
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
Let us take this Advent season to pray, hope, reflect, and get ready for the next extraordinary thing.
It is an honor to be your pastor, now and always.
Blessings,
Mandy