We live in a world that is stripping people of their dignity. People are being “othered” for having the wrong skin colour, the wrong residency status, the wrong history, the wrong tattoos, the wrong clothes.  A love for God and neighbour will remove shame, restore dignity, and tell a counter narrative around identity and worth. 

In life, there are seasons of epiphany when the goodness we long for draws near. When the season passes, we carry on, holding the goodness we knew within us. 

Salt and Light: a meditation to soften defences, find safety within, and expand

Listen for a brief meditation on the beatitudes, as well as an introduction to the movements of Relational Prayer

What was it like for Jesus to be baptized? What was it like to feel the cool water close over his head and return back into the sunshine?  What feelings moved through his body as he heard the words “This is my beloved Son” spoken over him? 

Looking for the light, watching and waiting for the ways that God is breaking in: where will the manifestation of God come this year? where will it lead us? what will we be invited to do?  As we stop and look and watch and wait, we ground ourselves in Love. Today we remember the presence and the power of Love in our stories of last year.

Fear usually isolates us, but a "theology of proximity" imagines fear leading into deeper connection. "Give me your hand” is that movement towards greater proximity. 

Boyung Lee in her 'A Sanctified Art' commentary redefines faithfulness from following rules to drawing near to those who are vulnerable. Faithfulness risks joining those who are at risk. It means being vulnerable, and risking letting people draw near to us. Even when that feels scary to do so.

Even knowing the road ahead will be painful, disorienting and with a high risk of death, what is it that prompts both Mary and Jeremiah say "yes" to what is asked of them?

We do not always witness the where and the how of God’s work.The movement of God does not always arrive with clarity.  At times, it is almost imperceptible because it does not resolve as we had imagined.  And yet, we are still invited to pay attention and to tell each other what we see:  “Now it springs forth—do you not perceive it?” “Tell what you hear and see.”

“Every Advent, we light candles, sing carols, and pray for Christ’s coming because we believe God entered a frightened world to bring good news… God chose to take on flesh in the time of Herod. God intimately knows the fears we experience. Instead of donning some kind of armour, God chose to arrive in the most vulnerable embodiment: that of a newborn baby without a sure place to rest… We can join God in choosing vulnerability in the face of fear.” — A Sanctified Art

When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope? Can we name our fear and believe that God’s Love is drawing near? 

This Advent, you are invited to notice where fear is present—both in the Advent story and in your life. You are also invited to notice the reservoirs of hope deep within you.  As we make room for the vulnerability of both deep hope and honest fear, we wait for God to draw near.