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| Barbara from AnnaBella's took this beautiful picture. |
This is the
first week of Advent. For Christians
this is a time of waiting, waiting as Mary did for Christ to arrive. Of course we are really imitating the wait. For 4 weeks of the year we try to stop and
listen a little better and to see a bit more clearly. At the end of the year we try to weed through
the chaos and muck of the world and prepare our hearts for more. The candle we lit on our Advent wreath this
past Sunday was the candle of peace, which seems appropriate given the anxiety
of the world. I imagine many people are
waiting for a little more peace right now.
I shared last Sunday that my niece
(who is now 22) loved when I would tell her the story of when she was born. When my sister brought Maggie home from the
hospital, her husband was away at a good friend's wedding, I was more than
willing to jump in and help out while he was away. She loved to hear how we were so happy for a
girl after so many boys--4 between the two of us! She loved to hear about how
we dressed her in every cute outfit, how we would lay her on the bed and just
look at her smiling. She loved to hear me tell of this time and I think in part
it was not only what I said but the way I said it, she could hear the fullness
of love in my heart in the telling.
It seems that the Advent story is
one to be told in such a way that people can hear that fullness in our
telling. What would it mean to imitate
the waiting in such a way that when we spoke of it, it would bless all people?
I love this picture of the stop sign
outside of the church in Richmond. My reaction flip-flops as I look at it.
Does it mean: "Stop! Don't go
in!" Or "Stop! Don't pass us by!"
We know that people are skeptical
and resistant of going to church, not just our church but any church. Many people stop outside the doors of a
church thinking this is not the place for me.
Maybe thinking the church is judgmental, out of date and deaf to the
needs of the world. We know these
thoughts, the church knows change is necessary but change is hard. Real change
takes time and for great change to happen we need a change agent.
"A change agent is a person
from inside or outside the organization
who helps an organization transform
itself
by focusing on
such matters as organizational
effectiveness,
improvement and development."
Advent is the time of waiting for
the greatest change agent of all, Jesus Christ.
So if you have been wondering about church, if you have been remembering
the story of a birth you love to hear, and if you are waiting for change and a
fullness of peace that the world cannot offer; I suggest that you stop and not
pass us by.
Change takes great courage, and
patience; at the end of a crazy year we offer a place to sit and imitate Mary,
so that we may be vessels of transforming peace.
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