“And these songs are not ordinary songs. They speak of making great the works of God in the life of the world. They are as much acts of resistance as they are outpourings of joy. Resistance and glorious visions of justice for the oppressed ring throughout our gospel today.”
“I’ve since learned that that particular feeling corresponded very nicely with the definition of what people call thin places or spaces. It means a place, time, or both that is invisible but can be felt in an almost tangible way. It’s a feeling that there’s only a step or two between heaven and earth, and any second you could take that step through what some call the veil of heaven.”
“This is not the kind of life path a chronic doubter would take. Yet, poor old Thomas will probably be known as “Doubting Thomas” for many generations to come.”
“Spotting Love becoming manifest in the mid-winter world feels a little like that. It takes being still for a long time in order to see Christ emerge into the dark stillness.”
“May I walk in paths of justice and mercy that my life may testify to the power of the Holy One.”
“Advent invites us to sit in these waiting periods and trust that something bigger is happening. Advent says to us: I see you. I see your desires. I see your work. But rest and wait. Someone is preparing the way for you.”
“But we are in Advent, the time of waiting, expecting, the time of contemplation and meditation and prayer. What we can learn from this reading is that prayer is not empty or useless. It is the dynamic communication we have with our God. And we are his.”
“I know that I am something of a hard case when it comes to really following God, but I suspect that I am not alone. You, too, may have made some false, even foolish, starts in your effort to “prepare a way for the Lord,” to make it possible for God to come and live with you and be a revolutionary force for change.”
“I know that the times that I have walked labyrinths, I found it to be a calming experience, one that allows me to just be empty in my mind and not having to concentrate on running into somebody on the sidewalk or reaching a corner and having to stop to allow traffic to go by.”
“This year I am facing a change in that fundamental part of my life. Mom died back in April and even then, I wondered what the holiday season would be like without her.”