Seventeen years ago, I had a
dream about Jesus. I still remember it;
it was very vivid. I’m not going to
share the details here because I don’t think that is the purpose of the
dream. My spiritual director (whom my
son calls my “spirit guide” LOL) suggested that I may want to be quiet and
journal about the dream, that there was more to learn from it. I took some quiet time to just be open to God
after I put it off for fear that He wouldn’t show me anything. I know, I know. You’d think I’d be over that by now. Today, as we talked and unpacked the gifts of
this dream, I saw a cardinal fly on a tree branch outside the window. We both stopped to watch it. She asked me if I knew what a cardinal
symbolizes. I didn’t. The cardinal is a symbol of holiness.
I shared that I decorate our
bedroom in cardinals for Christmas which includes the bedspread and a tree full
of cardinals and other birds. If you’ve
never had a Christmas tree in your bedroom, I highly recommend it. It’s very romantic. Anyway, I explained that I am one of those
people who decorates for Christmas before Advent so that when Advent comes,
I can sit back and relax. I am not
celebrating Christmas; I am preparing for Christmas. In the Episcopal Church, Advent is the month
or so before Christmas when we prepare our hearts to receive the incarnate God
as the Christ child but also to prepare for Christ’s coming again. We’ve been waiting over 2,000 years and it
could be another 2,000 years or it could be January. On the back end, I celebrate all 12 days of
Christmas and occasionally have a “fifth day of Christmas party” or the
like.
My home church, St. Mary’s, is
sharing a video to prepare for Advent. www.stmaryscypress.org (Click on
Advent at St. Mary’s if it doesn’t pop up.)
It’s about simplifying our lives to prepare for Christ. I’d been pondering what I could do to observe a Holy Advent. I already know the shopping part
will be simplified because we simply don’t have the same budget as prior years
(this is good thing). As we dug into my
17 year old dream, it became clear to me that there is nothing to DO during
Advent. I am to just BE. And the way I’m going to do that is to be in
each moment that God gives me. If I am chopping tomatoes, I’m
only going to think about the chopping and not what I need to do after
dinner. If I am driving, only focusing
on driving. As I do the laundry, just
think about the task at hand. As I wrap
a gift, just focus on the beautiful paper.
Now, this is not natural for me.
I have been rewarded in my career for my multi-tasking ninja abilities. And I am a pathological planner. But this
Advent, I am going to just BE.
I stopped to run an errand on the
way home and almost fell over when the piped in music outside the store was an
instrumental of “Tis the Gift to be Simple.”
[Hymn 554 for you fellow Episco-Nerds]
This hymn is probably the simplest hymn in the book. One verse:
‘Tis the gift to be simple. ‘Tis
the gift to be free. ‘Tis the gift to
come down where we ought to be. And when
we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to
bend we shan’t be ashamed to turn, turn, will be our delight till by turning,
turning we come round right.
Is God calling you to just be
with Him? What would that look like for
you?
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