Posted to Blog Carnival on Engaged Spirituality: Engaging Advent. Also posted to a synchroblog on 'Light and Dark as Motifs of Spirituality', on the web on December 10th.
Check out some great thinking and processing on 'light and dark' in the following posts:
Phil Wyman at Phil Wyman's Square No More
Adam Gonnerman on being "In Darkness"
Lainie Petersen at Headspace
Jeff Goins is "Walking in the Light with Jesus"
Ellen Haroutunian at Ellen Harountunian: Searching for Real Church
Bethany Stedman thinks Light is Coming
Julie Clawson walks through Darkness and Light
Kathy Escobar will Take a Sliver Anyday
Susan Barnes at ...and here's a photo of one I made earlier
Joe Miller thinks you can Discover Light in Darkness
Liz Dyer says What the Heck
Sally Coleman muses about Light into Darkness
Steve Hayes with the Lord of the Dark
Josh Jinno with Spiritual Motifs of Darkness and Light
KW Leslie contrasts Darkness versus blackness
Erin Word writes Fire and Sacrifice
And of course, the rest of this very long post... Advent: Awaiting the Ancient and the Ever New
This post is a blog carnival on engaging the spirituality of advent. It will be the last carnival I host, as it has become clear that bloggers are indiscriminate and post to everything in the carnivals--even when the host is asking for a specific topic. It has become irritating and no longer fun...so here is my last go at the carnival--which, by the way, is a great idea with poor execution, at least for this type of topic.
My Christology is low, meaning that I tend to relate far more to the humanity of Jesus than to his divinity. (Not too surprisingly, I might say that that is how I relate to myself as well.) When it comes to certain aspects of Christianity, the low Christology gives a framework for a more personal and less traditional or orthodox understanding.
Here is my Christian theology in a nutshell. I consider myself a follower of Jesus. But I do not think that he was any more divine that you or I. He was much more aware of his true relationship to his 'Father' than most--he was an avatar. I do not believe that he actually said that the only way to the Father was through believing in/on him. And I don't believe that his dying saved me--that's my job. I think that what he was trying to teach us was that our divinity is really encased in being fully human. However, as I've lived and struggled my entire life with who he, I've come to see Jesus as someone who was so clear and compassionate about his relationship to both the human and the divine that I've come to call him my teacher. A cultural Christian, yes, but far more than that. Within that broad boundary, I tend towards Gnosticism and Celtic Christianity--both of these strands of the lineage of Jesus the Jewish Rabbi's teachings are mystical and earthy--they teach us to see ourselves as just a part, no more or less, of the whole creation.
In my finer days, when I'm in tune, I feel connected to Jesus in a way that is hard to describe. When I'm in my more usual state, his teachings and love seem like a thought structure and a belief system, rather than a living, inter-active mentorship. It becomes a doing rather than a being. Advent for me is an opening to the 'being' that Jesus embodied.
In the liturgical year, the actual season of Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas and has particular rituals in many churches. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means coming. Customarily in the Christian tradition, the focus has been on these two comings of Christ--his birth and his second coming. However, St. Bernard in the 11th Century identified a third coming that Advent leads us to await—the coming of Christ in our own soul.
A watchful Advent reminds us that we wait for what is already within us--possibly dormant or overwhelmed by earthly 'doing'. We can live in expectation of the movement of Christ in and through every moment of those days. Even though we are frequently distracted and diverted from attention to this movement within us, the season of Advent reminds us to turn inward yet again and await the birth of awareness of our humanity...and our divinity.
Advent is a time to notice the longing that runs through our souls' silent crevices. It helps us learn to wait in patience for that longing to be filled rather than hiding it or numbing it. It is also a time to embrace silence and stillness in order to see more clearly and hear more keenly the movement of Spirit. We do not tread these days in isolation--in fact we are part of a community that seeks the dawning and birth of the Spirit of the Christ. Finally, Advent is a time to rejoice with hope and expectation that what we say we believe will, in fact, be revealed in the ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives.
So, this Advent season, I am seeking stillness and silence and finding not a lot of it. Advents past have taught me that actively pursuing these intangibles usually leads to frustration and irritation. Releasing my need for silence and spaciousness brings what I seek--a lack of barrier between me and what is being born in me, yet again, ever new and yet ancient.
My dreams become more vivid and insistent during Advent, as they also do during other seasons--most notably all soul's day. The seem to be in cahoots with other parts of my psyche, trying to get my attention...
And so I wait and watch. Patient and expectant, in liminal space, pregnant with potential. Filled with all manner of contradiction and humanity. Aware that my divinity is dawning. Aware of how unaware I am of the mystery that we swim in.
Flickr photo used with permission by chevychic
The artist said, ‘the photo was taken in Kelowna B.C. Canada, in and around Christmas time, which is fitting for your article..There is something special about Kelowna in the winter because it's in a valley or tea cup as the locals say and the lighting there when it's cold is unique.’ Thanks, chevychic for your permission to use this depiction of lovely winter light.
The following poem from my friend Maria Hodkins puts this Advent wait into a solstice longing...
Winter Solstice
I notice more than anything
how dear the light is
in these December days
and nights...
Like an infant’s face
that first light in the morning
full of promise.
A rosy-cheeked dawn,
waking me with its insistent cry.
Life! A new birth--
The light shatters the seduction of dream
“Come, I will light the Way.”
From the dark shroud of sleep
I leap,
throwing back the drape,
scooping the light into my face.
I turn the plants
to gulp their sky chai
and straighten their pose
for they have been praying, hoping.
leaning into the light, in spite of its leaving.
Arctic blues, powder, smoke, and wisps of white
dress you, sky, in Day’s gown and cape
cold taffeta attending the Earth ball,
my eyes squint in your harsh winter light
and I wait, wait for the warm return
a sun, now so far, so cold
like the heart of a lost lover.
Light of sunset, breathtaking sky
hues too deep for words
dazzling sherbet of periwinkle and peach
Delightful, Trickster, Magician
I bow to your light gifts
luminous mystery
where light hides in the shadows
and halos mountain peaks
And when the night moves in like lava flow
over the land...
The houses sing furious light carols
bright, white, glaring carols
red, green twinkling carols
desperately holding light space for the sun,
everybody’s darling.
Come back, Sun, come home--we miss you!
How dear the light
how I crave the light, drink the light,
lift my glass to the light,
oh Holy light
through this longest night,
you soothe my soul.
--Maria Hodkins
Paonia, Colorado
The following posts were posted to the request for blogs on Advent on the 'engaged spirituality' carnival. I deleted about 75% of the posts as they had nothing to do with the topic, from my perspective. The following have tangential relationship to the topic. Hope you enjoy!
Erin Pavlina presents 2012 and the End of the World posted at Erin Pavlina's Blog, saying, "I’m sure you’ve heard about it. The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, and there are signs in so many places … the world is going to end in 2012. I get at least 3 or 4 emails per week asking if I believe the world will really end in 2012 or if there will be a spiritual awakening, or if God is coming down to select his top 100 people to take to Heaven while the rest of us go to Hell."
Carole Gold presents Learning Through The Pain posted at McKay Today, saying, "How Compassion is the road to enlightenment and it's own reward that transcends adversity."
Kathleen Gaga presents What's in your spiritual toolbox posted at Daily Awareness, saying, "Ask ten people what spirituality means and you are likely to get ten unique answers. To one well-known Internet Marketer, spirituality means having a great toolbox of tools to help out with the inevitable situations life offers us."
Karen Shanley presents Grasping the Concept of a Reflection posted at Karen Shanley.
Corinne Edwards presents HURRICANE IKE - and Jesus posted at Personal Growth with Corinne Edwards, saying, "Can Jesus really find a contractor to repair the damage from Hurricane IKE? My corner grocer, Jose, suggested I ask since Jesus was a carpenter. Happy ending here!"
Jason presents ExecutedToday.com » 1569: Dirk Willems, for loving his enemy posted at Executed Today, saying, "Hmm. I'm not sure if my blog is grounded, quirky and deep -- it's more of a one-trick pony, really -- but this gentleman's exemplar of engaged spirituality in resistance ... well, it's a thing to behold. No worries at all if this isn't the sort of thing that you want to use."
Astrid Lee presents Pope’s Mass in Paris Brings Focus on Practical Spiritually posted at World Healing, saying, "Together with a quarter million French people, I managed to participate in the special public mass held in Paris by pope Benedict XVI on September 13. I felt privileged ... It was an unusually calming and healing experience... (pictures)"
Adam Schaefers presents Reflections from the Marshall Islands posted at Majoring in minors because our little things are our big things, saying, "My reflections from two summers spent in the Marshall Islands. Learning Marshallese, a new culture, and serving the poor."
CG Walters presents A Spiritual Teacher IS..... posted at Into the Mist, saying, "It is not the teacher before you that manifests what you perceive as an awakening, but the awakening within you that manifests what you perceive as a teacher."
Ella Moss presents SERENDIPITY « Zodiac Times posted at Zodiac Times, saying, "remarkable real life story"
Phil B. presents Past, Present, and Future posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "Buddha said "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.""
Erin Pavlina presents Dreams and Predicting Future Events posted at Erin Pavlina's Blog, saying, "I get a lot of emails from people who have had strong, powerful, clear dreams that something disastrous is coming. Some dream that their deceased relative tells them someone in the family is going to die. Some dream of world disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes. Some dream something pleasant like a future wedding to the person they love. But how can you tell if a dream you have is prophetic?"
Erin Pavlina presents What Happens When You Die? posted at Erin Pavlina's Blog, saying, "I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking me variations on this question so I thought I’d do an entire blog entry on this subject to help everyone understand what I believe happens."