Take a moment to center yourself. What do you hear around you? Note: If you are deaf, or as an alternative, I would invite you to focus on the sensations you are feeling instead of what you are hearing. Is it quiet/calm? The noises/sensations that you hear/feel – are they comforting? Jarring? Familiar? Unfamiliar? Can you hear/sense your own breath? Try to slow down and deepen your breathing. Think about the sounds/sensations that you most enjoy. What is it about them that gives you pleasure? Is it the sound/sensation itself or memories you have attached to them? When was the last time you heard/felt those pleasurable sounds/sensations? Pause. How does that make you feel? Sit with that feeling as you take five deep breaths.
Psalm 100
Shout for joy to God, all the earth.
Worship God with gladness;
come before God with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is Creator who made us, and we are theirs;
we are God’s people, the sheep of their pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving
and their courts with praise;
give thanks to God and praise their name.
For the Lord is good and God’s love endures forever;
their faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100 was the first scripture that I remember memorizing and it was one that stuck. Through the years, whenever it was read, I would return to the memory and feeling of pride once I’d committed it all to memory.
Many of us find ourselves in this Advent navigating the tension of deconstructing various aspects of our religious upbringing. There is dogma that has hurt us. There are questions that haunt us. Perhaps cynicism is nipping at our heels. We feel the disorientation of losing some of the certainty we once had – and the sense of security that went with it.
At the same time, as Christmas approaches, there may be the stirring of memory, perhaps a strange mixture of trigger and joy. Maybe it feels a bit like we’re in exile but longing for home. Caught between the desire to go back and recapture what was good and knowing we can never return to that same place.
Perhaps this Advent we can simply pause. Come present to what we’re hearing and sensing. Receive that which feels life-giving as gift and allow that which doesn’t pass by. Let’s resist the urge to disconnect, to disappear, to dissociate. In the places where we remember and experience pleasure – let us give thanks. And in the places where we feel the pain of longing – let us try to embrace this gently – for this longing reminds us that we are alive and created to desire that which is good.
To the One who knows and understands us, give us the courage to open our hearts. To come honestly present to the longing, the memories, the feelings, the joy and the pain. Might we know in that vulnerable place that we are not alone. Show us the way to peace.
Amen.