Seeker

This Advent season I'm following the daily image and reflection at Advent Word . On this blog I am responding to each day's given word.  Today's word is 'Journey'. The word journey evokes many images in my mind:  holidays, commuting to work, refugees travelling in hope of finding safety, a spiritual journey from darkness to light, pilgrimage, searching for meaning, searching for God. Which to write about? None of these ideas inspires me today. What does grab me and always does is the idea that God journeys to where we are. We're looking forward to celebrating Christmas, the feast of God-with-us, of God coming into human life, so surprisingly in the form of a vulnerable new-born baby. What a journey, for God to come to us like a child, bringing heaven into the ordinary. If only we can journey each day to see and live by that great truth. One of my favourite Advent season poems is about God coming to us like that and when all seems mos...

Advent begins next Sunday. What? Already? where did the last year go? The trouble with Advent is that it rushes at me and by me too quickly. It can be hard to make best use of it in a 'watching' and 'waiting' sort of way. Perhaps it is the same for you? I've found that planning ahead can help. It seems odd to think about preparing for Advent, when Advent itself is a preparation season. On the other hand when I don't plan to prepare I don't prepare well. If you are wondering how to take a few regular quiet moments for prayer or reflection during Advent, here are a few suggestions to choose from: Dreaming of a "White Christmas"? Why not dream of a green one instead? Better still - do something about it. A Rocha has an  online Advent Calendar 2014  with daily "life-altering tips and ideas for a greener Christmas and beyond" .  Jon Kuhrt has a simple Advent Challenge to use between 1st and 24th December. The idea is to set aside...