Greetings Brothers and Sisters
We are fast approaching the end of the First week of Advent. Some would say that Time flies, some would say that 2020 can not fly by fast enough.
With that in mind, I looked over the suggested readings from the three different advent resources that I have
Unity suggested Romans 5 1 to 7
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Episcopal church readings include Jeremiah 1 4 to 10
4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
But in the end, it was the Catholic reading that spoke most to todays devotional to me at least Jeremiah 33
It is a time when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among humanity. "It is "Christmas is the time when God quit requiring people to come to Him, and came to Humanity instead."
To me, Advent is about Hope, Love, Mystery and Fulfillment.
Certainly, our works through charity reflect this. While
It was there that I received instruction on a more spiritual and even Mystical understanding of Christmas, with far less on the materialism. 14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 “‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
Now to clarify, I am not a "catholic" I am not a "Protestant" or anything else. I am a seeker and follower of God, the Very Soul of the Universe. Advent holds a special meaning for me. When I was a child, we never knew about Advent. it was not until I made good on the promise that at age 18 I would leave the religion in which I was raised and seek out a more meaningful and real path to God. It was actually in the Methodist church, (No, I am not a "Methodist" either) in which I learned about Advent, and discovered the meaning behind it. I have had a deep and profound appreciation for it ever since. Over the years, the material becomes less important and the Spiritual more so. It is a time of Quiet reflection, meditation and exploration of the Mystery of God, which someone summed up once as saying
"It is the Time when God stopped requiring people to come to Him and instead, came to Humanity"
While we ponder the mystery of God's Coming, we also think of the joy and pleasure of the season.
Certainly, our charitable works reflect the love and excitement of the season, more on that later. But we always must keep in mind that the time leading up to Christmas is the time we prepare to celebrate Christmas, not through tinsel and wrapping and decorations, but through the inner preparation to allow our Hearts to receive the birth of Christ within.
We are fast approaching the end of the First week of Advent. Some would say that Time flies, some would say that 2020 can not fly by fast enough.
With that in mind, I looked over the suggested readings from the three different advent resources that I have
Unity suggested Romans 5 1 to 7
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Episcopal church readings include Jeremiah 1 4 to 10
4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
But in the end, it was the Catholic reading that spoke most to todays devotional to me at least Jeremiah 33
It is a time when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among humanity. "It is "Christmas is the time when God quit requiring people to come to Him, and came to Humanity instead."
To me, Advent is about Hope, Love, Mystery and Fulfillment.
Certainly, our works through charity reflect this. While
It was there that I received instruction on a more spiritual and even Mystical understanding of Christmas, with far less on the materialism. 14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 “‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
Now to clarify, I am not a "catholic" I am not a "Protestant" or anything else. I am a seeker and follower of God, the Very Soul of the Universe. Advent holds a special meaning for me. When I was a child, we never knew about Advent. it was not until I made good on the promise that at age 18 I would leave the religion in which I was raised and seek out a more meaningful and real path to God. It was actually in the Methodist church, (No, I am not a "Methodist" either) in which I learned about Advent, and discovered the meaning behind it. I have had a deep and profound appreciation for it ever since. Over the years, the material becomes less important and the Spiritual more so. It is a time of Quiet reflection, meditation and exploration of the Mystery of God, which someone summed up once as saying
"It is the Time when God stopped requiring people to come to Him and instead, came to Humanity"
While we ponder the mystery of God's Coming, we also think of the joy and pleasure of the season.
Certainly, our charitable works reflect the love and excitement of the season, more on that later. But we always must keep in mind that the time leading up to Christmas is the time we prepare to celebrate Christmas, not through tinsel and wrapping and decorations, but through the inner preparation to allow our Hearts to receive the birth of Christ within.
