Turn your face to the sun.

 HOW WILL YOU PRACTICE THE APOCALYPSE TODAY, AND LOOK FOR THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST WHEREVER YOU ARE?

     "ADVENT CALLS US TO PRACTICE THE APOCALYPSE: TO LOOK FOR THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST WHO ENTERS INTO OUR EVERY LOSS, WHO COMES TO US IN THE MIDST OF DEVASTATION, WHO GATHERS US UP WHEN OUR WORLD HAS SHATTERED, AND WHO OFFERS THE HEALING THAT IS A FORETASTE OF THE WHOLENESS HE IS WORKING TO BRING ABOUT NOT ONLY AT THE END OF TIME BUT ALSO IN THIS TIME, IN THIS PLACE." --JAN RICHARDSON

                As I pondered on this thought of noticing beginnings in the midst of endings I thought about going off to Richmond to see the dedication of the new bridge.  The new bridge spectacular in size next to the “Old Bridge” the rickety metal bridge that scares most people as they drive across, praying no other car will approach.  Of course there are some who love the thrill of the old bridge, the originality, the history and they will miss this bridge. Side by side the bridges stand, new and old, past and future. 

                While unloading my car, thinking about whether or not to go drive over the new bridge, I caught sight of this swing in the midst of the debris from a recent storm, and then as I took the picture there was my shadow.  Well there it was—the end of a tree limb, an empty swing and a dark shadow, and yet there is the sense new beginning.  Summer will come and a grandchild may swing in the warm air, the tree still stands and will heal in time, the sun will shift and shadows will change.  But in this moment, while I see possibility, the emptiness remains and it is okay. 

Jan Richardson continues:

This blessing
will not fix you
will not mend you
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.

It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.