Meditations During Advent: Journeys and Surprises

The stories that are told to us from Scripture during the Advent and Christmas Seasons are often stories told of folk on a journey…

An Angel pays a visit to Mary in Nazareth to let her know that she will be the God-bearer. Mary goes on a trip to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. Mary and Joseph go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be counted as part of the census. The shepherds are with their sheep in a field as they encounter angels who proclaim news of a Messiah born and they travel to Bethlehem to see this baby and his parents. Kings make a long journey following a star to visit the one for whom they have been waiting. 

We are invited on a journey during Advent as well; both a journey into the stories of our faith and tradition and the memories and feelings that those stories conjure and an inward journey, as we ponder and reflect on our belonging in the heart of God and in the heart of this St. James community.  What we find on our Advent journey may be surprising…and we can know that we are in good company with our surprise. That, too, is part of the Advent story. Imagine Elizabeth’s surprise, and Mary’s surprise, and the shepherds in the field at night, or the wisemen… 

What we can be grounded in on this trip through the pages of our holy stories and in the inner workings of our heart is that we are held in the heart of the Beloved as we make our trip. And that we may be surprised by how we experience God’s love and work as we journey during this season.

 

- The Rev. Mary Catherine Cole