Jone is hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday.
Read her post on light, darkness, silence and hope. Then click on Mr. Linky for the posts of other SJT participants.
I
did not grow up with a religious tradition that focused on Advent.
However, I am increasingly drawn to it. I've collected a few quotes, some links, and a poem that I am enjoying during this season of Advent.
1. From my small devotional book, Christ the Light of the World by Thomas Kinkade:
"... in the days to come I ask you to sit quietly with the images from my brush and imagination, images that are meant to beckon you into a world of stillness. Allow your heart to wander on a reflective journey through the season of Advent even as you attend to the demands of December. 'The journey begins with Advent,' wrote author Jan Richardson. 'Advent is a dance set to the rhythm of waiting. We wait for the holy, we wait for the birth, we wait for the light . . . Advent reminds us that we are a pregnant people, for God calls each of us to bring forth the Christ.'"
I love the words, "Allow your heart to wander on a reflective journey..."
2. This concluding paragraph in the essay "Dirty Feathered Hope" by Lorren Lemmons from Wayfare:
"Jesus brought unfaltering hope into the world quietly. Only those who
were already oriented toward Him could see it at first: the magi
watching the skies; the shepherds who followed the angelic summons to
witness Him in the manger; the imperfect but willing mother who risked
her social standing, her marriage, and even her life to bring the Savior
into the world. Hope might have felt far away to the families whose
babies were killed in Herod’s decree or the followers gathered at the
foot of the cross in Golgotha. It might feel far to you as you navigate
the bruises and pains of mortality, tangled in situations that feel like
they have no solution. But Jesus Christ keeps His promises. We can’t
see the way it will all work out quite yet, but we can hope with surety
and without shame. The Light has come into the world. Every one of us
will fly again."
3. Poet Georgia Heard's newsletter Tipping toward Hope, packed to the brim with 10 heartbeats worth sharing. Don't
miss her gifts near the end of the newsletter: A Daily Advent of
Writing Invitations and Poems and Invitations for the Solstice and
Returning to Light. Her newsletter is a resource to treasure.
4. This poem (which I first shared for Poetry Friday in 2014) from the book Christmas Blessings: Prayers and Poems to Celebrate the Season compiled by June Cotner:
For Christmas
May you have joy
in the mad rush
of preparation:
may you know peace
in the tiny margins
of time around
the busy days;
may you have star-shine
in clear night skies
for looking at:
may you have silence
now and then;
and above all-
beyond all else-
may you have love
to give
and to receive.
- Elizabeth Searle Lamb
Dear blogging friends, I wish you joy, peace, star-shine, silence, and
love "...in the tiny margins of time around the busy days..."
Enjoy this season of darkness while waiting for the light!
with all kinds of poetry fun. I've been
absent for awhile, but I'm glad to be here again.
