Healing is often a profound and deeply perplexing topic. Unlike other gifts of the Spirit, healing is intertwined with the most tender and sensitive parts of our life; pain and suffering. But when we experience the healing of God, we are given a trail marker, a signpost: a compassionate beacon pointing us toward God's Kingdom and the world to come.

Communication is messy. Within the communication act there is a sender, a message, and a receiver; and at any point in that process confusion, hurt, or misunderstanding can occur. Yet, spoken communication remains the primary conduit for connection, beauty, story, instruction, and love. In the biblical narrative, God’s love is communicated through the practice of prophecy; hearing and speaking God’s voice on behalf of an individual or group.

In the Post-enlightenment, Western society we tend to be compartmental in our thinking. We easily imagine human beings as segmented; mind, body, emotions, and soul. But the story of Christianity is that humans are deeply interconnected, and the practices of tongues, or unlearned languages, can help us become that integrated whole.

As late-modern Jesus-followers we can often limit ‘knowledge’ to data, information, or facts; content that can fit well in a book or spreadsheet. However, the great danger to that perspective is believing that we can think our way to God. The story of the Bible testifies to a God that is known through experience and encounter. And Jesus’ invitation in John 20 is to know God through the reception of His Spirit.

Consumerism deceives us into believing we can achieve earthly immortality. We look outside of ourselves to find the solution to what is going on inside of us. And we begin to hope in the things we are consuming. But the invitation of Advent is to embrace a hope born on Christmas; a hope robust enough to carry us through all of life.

I shop (and shop, and shop)... therefore I am. The goods and services the market provides becomes the source of our redemption. Oftentimes we can turn to consumption, to buying things as a coping mechanism a form of therapy. But Advent challenges that coping mechanism inviting us to find joy in the child from Bethlehem.

Everywhere we turn we are sold a story about prosperity. Prosperity is having the nicest house on the block. Prosperity is the two brand new cars. Prosperity is a certain type of Christmas complete with gifts under the tree. But the advent story challenges us to redefine the life of prosperity; as a life of trust in God with us.

I shop, I don’t Ask, I don’t Tell. The liturgies of consumption ask us to learn and live in ignorance. Instead of asking where our goods come from, it invites us to believe in a sort of magic, that all of these garments arrive with no moral problems and disappear when they are disposed of. Through the birth, life, and death of our Lord, we have seen a vision of what our God wants for the world; that vision challenges how we consume.

The Story of Secularism is that humanity will eventually build a utopia, with our hands and in our image. The Story of Christianity is that our God is making all things new and dwelling with us.

The Gospel of Jesus is an invitation to follow and join in the healing of the world. Those who accept His invitation are called disciples, and by learning to walk in the Spirit those disciples develop the character of Christ; what the Apostle Paul calls “the Fruit of the Spirit.”