Repentance - 8th Day of Advent

Today's word, to my way of thinking, is related to yesterday's journey. Repentance is a part of a journey.

Jesus was eating with the "undesirables" of society and the Pharisees questioned him.  His response was in Mark 2:17:  When Jesus heard it, He said unto them, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

I recently read a short story that had a line that stayed with me:  "No one knows better the true value of virtue without being acquainted, at least once, with vice."

Repentance is a journey, because it requires change.  Change in attitude, change in behavior, change in how you proceed forward in life.  There's a great article on the 5 Steps of Repentance that talks about how Psalm 32 has the answer to, how do I repent?  The 5 steps are:

1. Be honest about your need for repentance.
2. Acknowledge the danger of sin and the damage of guilt.
3. Fully confess your sin.
4. Hide in God
5. Seize the hope.

None of us are perfect - we follow the One who was.  We all have habits, directions, choices that we make and take that we are well aware are sins.  The thing about repentance is that you have to be willing to make a change - to cease doing the sin - for repentance to be real.  Each week, we participate in a congregational confession of sin, a very generalized record that can fit every need - but I would challenge you to be more specific in your heart and mind.  When you confess your sins, be honest and make a decision on whether you're merely confessing, or if you're repenting also.  The latter will require more action on your part.

Activity for the Day:  Today, we light the second candle in the Advent wreath for Joy.  Your task today is to smile at everyone you meet and brighten their day with the joy that shines from your own heart!

And because today's Reflection is completely awesome, and talks about repentance in a concrete manner, I thought I'd share it too.

Journey - 7th Day of Advent

33 “Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is. 34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.  35 Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh — at evening, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning —  Mark 13:33-35

So we're reviewing a lot today of being awake, being ware, and coming.  But today's word focuses on journey.  Specifically in the message above, the Son of Man is taking a far journey, but we, too, as we wait for His return, are on our own journey.  Where is yours taking you?

Activity for the Day:  Make a homemade gift for someone - a card, a scarf, any sort of gift, and find someone special to gift it to.

Shaken - 6th Day of Advent

Many things come to mind with the word "shaken", but for our purposes here, the Bible tells us that the world, even the very heavens must be shaken before the Son of Man appears in the clouds.*  Shaken appears to be synonymous with "change", and change can be good or bad, but many eminent psychologists and philosophers believe that no change can occur without a significant emotional event.  Events that touch our hearts, minds and spirits would likely qualify - but here, we're actually looking for events that change not just one person, but the whole world.

In this time of Advent, we know what event we anticipate, but have you ever really thought about how the birth of one child really did change the course of the world?  This wasn't a world connected by the Internet and telephones or even the Pony Express.  It was a world of disparate places and peoples - and yet Christianity, over 2000 years later reaches to every corner of the world, is the most widespread and populous religion on the planet.  The child we are waiting for changed the world, which is an absolutely huge thing to contemplate.

So for today's meditation, think about how that child, born two millennium past, has changed or shaken your world.  And how much more might your world change if you decided to be part of the change that shakes up the world?

Activity for the Day:   Gather up loose change around your house (doing laundry always helps me in that task), and donate it to the Salvation Army, local Food Bank or ERD.  Think about the alternative meaning for "change" as you do so - and how this might be helping to change someone else's world for the better.


*Matthew 24:28-30; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-27

Grace - 5th Day of Advent

Today's word for meditation is Grace.

And the video below may help you with your meditation today.

Activity for Today:  Let someone in line get in front of you.  Yes, your time is valuable, but sometimes, you really need to slow down, appreciate the day and SMILE at the people around you.

Restore - 4th Day of Advent

Psalm 23 is a favorite of many people, and while it talks about knowing that God is with you through everything, it also talks about the restoration of the soul.  In some ways, it's a promise of the coming of Christ, to restore the souls of all mankind:

He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  - Psalm 23:3

Throughout the Gospels, we watch as Christ physically restores health to those who are ill, sight to the blind, strength to the lame, food to the hungry - but it is humbling to know that it takes His very life to restore the soul of humanity to the condition where we might walk the paths of righteousness once again.

And later in this liturgical year, we see God's love also restore life to Christ once again.  

Restoration in our personal lives can be reflected in restoring a house to cleanliness, a beat-up old piece of furniture to its original beauty, an owie of a child finds the skin restored and pain removed with the kiss of his mother, even polishing a candlestick or silverware to restore the original shine - as a symbol of what Christ restores to us, it's a great place to begin your working meditation today.  Choose something to restore - and think about all that God restores in your own life, as you give a new look to something that also needs restored.

Activity for the Day:  Clean out and donate to Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity,  or whatever your favorite charity is today!

Beware - 3rd Day of Advent

And on the 3rd day of Advent, our word is "Beware."  Interestingly, it is not a contraction for "be aware", but rather comes from the Old English verb "warian", which means "to take heed of, to guard against, protect, defend."  So we're once again referred back to being "awake" so that we can be ware of what's "coming."

The Bible actually refers in several places that we should beware, but since this is Advent, we're going to focus on two of the Gospel verses that talk about being on guard against the falsity of men:

Matthew 7:15: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Matthew 10:17: "But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues,"

There are many other areas in the Bible that use the word "beware" - Bible Gateway is a great place to look things up, and it's very easy to use.

So in your meditation, think about what and whom you need to beware; think of how you will guard against it; think of how prayer might be worked into it.

Activity for the Day:  Take food to a food bank.  If you're unable to do that, volunteer some of your time to help them out.

Coming - 2nd Day of Advent

Today's word is "Coming", and when you look that up, three phrases stand out most broadly - "coming soon", "coming home" and "coming out."  For now, we'll focus on the first.

From Matthew 24:27 and 30, we know:

For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ...

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. 

So we know from Christ, Himself, that His coming to Earth will be visible to all.  It's not something that will be hidden - but we must be "awake".  From Matthew 19:15-16, "Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.  But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear."

Something else to consider - if God (and therefore Christ) is outside of time, "soon" doesn't really have a meaning - it's something that implies linear time.  Something to wonder about is how the perception of God changes between the Father and the Son, since the Son actually experienced linear time, and the Father is the one who set it up, but lives outside of it.  Mysteries of faith - they do always give us things to meditate upon.  And that's what this exercise is for - to meditate; to allow your mind and spirit to take you on a journey that will hopefully lead to broader understanding.

Activity for the Day:
Our second task - Meet someone for lunch (or maybe have leftovers from Thanksgiving and invite someone in - or take leftovers to someone shut in and spend some time in fellowship with them).