A couple of months ago I was asked to help plan a retreat for The Well for the Journey organization in Baltimore.  (I’ve been a part of their Women At the Well group for the past year so they are aware of my work here with Journeys.)   The topic was “Listening to the Heartbeat of God During Advent”.   I responded to their request by saying that while I would be happy to participate in the planning, I knew very little about Advent and very little about Christian music, so I wasn’t sure how much help I would be.  They responded by saying, “Just bring your creative spirit.”  So I agreed to help. Well, then I got sick for several weeks and unfortunately missed the first two planning  meetings.  Two weeks before the retreat, I attended the last planning session - my first.   You can only imagine my surprise when I was handed an outline of the schedule of events and saw my name beside the last hour of the retreat - the Closing.  When I asked if this was a typo or was there another Michele, they laughed and so “no, we thought you’d be the perfect person to do the Closing.”   Whatever gave them that idea I do not know and despite my protests they continued to think this was a good idea.

Two and a half hours later, after I had them take me through the entire retreat experience and answers all my questions, I said “Okay, I’ll do it.”

I then went home and read everything I could about Advent and prepared my closing. 

Being asked to participate in the retreat, which took place last weekend, was such a .gift.  I learned the messages of Advent are truly universal and that these ideas were ones that I could not only relate to, but embrace in my own life. 

Quite honestly, I’ve struggled with bringing deeper meaning to the Christmas season.  Especially as a mother, knowing how to explain the importance of Christmas when I’ve had so many questions of my own, has been difficult.  But this year, because of my experience with the retreat and my new found understanding of Advent, I’ve been able to experience this season in a way that is much fuller, and in way that I am very comfortable sharing with my children.

I’ve learned that you can participate in Christmas, and the four weeks preceding Christmas Day, or Advent, regardless of your faith, and do it in a way that both honors the origins of the holiday, honors Christianity, and is deeply meaningful as well.

I’ve learned that Advent is a time of reflection.  In this 4 week period leading up to Christmas day, there are several themes Christians are supposed to reflect on as they move through the Advent season.  I realize that many of you are familiar with all of this and I would like to ask you today, to act as if you are hearing all of this for the first time, “wipe the slate clean”, so to speak, and really open yourselves up to the possibility of learning something new or perhaps shifting your perspective. 

Specifically, as a Christian you are to reflect on three things: the birth of Christ, the presence of God in our midst, and hope.   What we’d like to do today is to make look at these Christian responsibilities and make them accessible to all of us, regardless of faith. We’re going to explore these themes and find ways to make them relevant in our lives through music and reading and, because Advent is meant to be an internal process, we’ve also built in some meditation time for each of these themes.

But before we begin our exploration of the separate themes, we want to pay homage to Christianity, whose holy season has been somewhat usurped by the secular world with a reading from the Bible and a song for Mary.  

We would like to not only pay homage to the origins of Advent, but to embrace it’s universal message.

PART 1 - Reflecting on the Birth of Christ - How do we birth God into the world?  How are we channels for God’s love?

If you are Christian, the first request of Advent is to reflect on the birth of Jesus and to remember with humility the pain and struggle of Mary and Joseph’s journey and also of Jesus’s life on Earth.   If you do not interpret the Bible literally, what is the true relevance of this story?  How can this story be reflected in your life?   

The women at the retreat had a beautiful way of explaining the relevance of this story to our lives today.  They said, just as Mary was an empty vessel who was open to being filled with God and then brought God into the world, so can we open our hearts, minds and souls to the divine spirit and be the channels of the spirit.  We can give birth, men and women alike, or bring forth the divine spirit into the world.  In the Luke in the Bible, after the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she is going to give birth to the son of God, Mary goes to stay with her cousin Elizabeth.  There is a lovely passage called the Magnificat, or Mary’s Songs of Praise.  In the very first line, she says “My soul magnifies the Lord”. 

“Is your soul magnifying God into the world?”

                                OR

“How are you giving birth to, or bringing forth, the spirit of the God of your understanding, into the world?”

PART 2 - God In Our Midst

The second theme or point to ponder is the idea that God is in our midst.  God is with us, but it is up to us to bring the awareness, to be present to experience God in the ordinary, the everyday.

Second Reading:  Excerpt from The Vigil  by Wendy M. Wright

“When all is said and done, in the tradition, angels are messengers of God.  Winged words.  Hovering visitations.  They are the medium through which God touches our lives.  But we must be alert for their arrival, open to hear their words.

In this season especially, we are invited to be alive to their nearness, anticipating their arrival in our time.  Who then are our angels that come to us, as it were, out of the clear blue sky?  Who in our lives are the messengers of God?  Who are those around us - spouse, children, parents, friends, colleagues, members of the congregation, strangers - who come to us as the medium through which God wishes to touch our lives?  Have we eyes capable of the simple vision and hearts capable of the wonder needed to discern what they have to say?”

I’d like to ask you now to take a couple of moment and reflect on Ms. Wright’s question:

“Have we eyes capable of the simple vision and hearts capable of the wonder needed to discern what they [angels] have to say?”

                                                          OR

“Are your heart and mind open to the presence of God?”
PART 3 - Hope

The third theme of Advent is one of Hope.  For those who interpret the Bible literally it is not only individual hopes but also the grander hope of the Second Coming of Christ.  For those who do not interpret the Bible literally, it is a universal message of hope.  It is a call to reflect on what our hopes are for ourselves, our families and friends and for the planet. 

We’re going to give you a moment to meditate on your personal hopes in a moment, but to lead your there, we’d like to start off with a guided meditation for Advent that incorporates all three of the themes we’ve discussed. 

Guided Meditation for Advent

“First let’s become present”

Be aware of the chair as it is under you and behind you.
Let it hold you for a moment.
Allow it.

Let this become the Great Holding of God.

As in the Psalm -”Like a stilled child in a Mothers lap”

Receive the holding.

(Pause)

“Then take your attention inward, even while you are aware of the holding of you”:

Let your attention be drawn to your Center - to that inner

Sanctuary where as it says in John’s Gospel,

“God makes a home in you”

Experience this Light, let it burn within you.

Receive the Light.

(Pause)
“Now even while you are aware of the Great Holding of God, and the Christ Light,” 

Pay attention to the breath of life within you.

Let your breathing breath through all things as they are.

Let this breath be the very breath of the Spirit,

always renewing, always transforming.

 (read these slowly aloud)

• THE GREAT HOLDING SURROUNDING US
• THE LIGHT  WITHIN
• THE BREATH OF SPIRIT BREATHING THROUGH ALL THINGS

 (pause)

“Listen in silence to the call of Advent.”

• LET US WALK IN THE LIGHT OF GOD
• PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
• STAY AWAKE
• FOR THE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIVINE 
• LIVE IN PERFECT HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER
• PRAY THE REIGN OF GOD IS AT HAND
• SAY TO THOSE WHOSES HEARTS ARE FRIGHTENED: BE STRONG, FEAR NOT.
• GOD SETS CAPTIVES FREE
• AND THEY SHALL CALL HIM EMMANUEL, A NAME THAT MEANS
  “GOD IS WITH US”

(Pause)

Now take a moment to reflect on your hopes for the coming year.

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