THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
This second week of Advent we focus on John the Baptiser, but specifically on his message, which was for the people to “Prepare the way”. Advent always calls out words like “waiting” and “preparation,” and they are important words because, in our instant world, we are not good at practising them. Too much of our lives are spent in reaction to events, people, ideas, and circumstances. Too much of our time is filled with busyness and noise. It is hard to slow down, to listen, to wait, to prepare thoroughly for anything, let alone God’s coming. Yet, John’s message remains true – God is coming to us, and we need to prepare our hearts, and make a way into our lives for God to enter in.
Many spiritual teachers through the centuries have recommended silence and stillness as a way to prepare. These are good habits to nurture, but for many of us, our fast-paced lives make it very difficult to carve out time to be still and silent. For this reason, it is important that we also learn to do the work of preparation within the activities of our lives. When we can slow our minds and hearts down in the midst of conflict, we can find more helpful ways to communicate and find solutions. When we can slow down and prepare well for projects, events and people, we can ensure that we don’t have to repeat work that wasn’t done properly, or we can ensure that we have the necessary resources at our disposal.
Preparation is a big subject, and one that is crucial for our spiritual health. This will be the focus of our meditations this week.
To download this week’s reflections in PDF format, click here.
